Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JOANIE
Sunday, two days after Greg’s bombshell about his father’s legal action, I gather him, Nate, Mia, and Rae at Greg’s house for a strategy session. I’ve done enough research. It’s time to get this incorporation ball rolling. And maybe it’ll be a good distraction for Greg.
“Okay, folks,” I begin, spreading a stack of papers on the coffee table. “I’ve reviewed the codes and procedures for incorporating a town in Washington state and consulted with some lawyer friends who specialize in this area. Here’s what we’re looking at.”
I look up to make sure everyone’s with me. Greg slides his hand over my thigh encouragingly, and I look at Mia and Nate on the other corner of the sectional, then at Rae, who is sitting on a floor pillow by the window. They all nod that they’re listening, so I begin by outlining the key steps.
“All right. We have to propose town boundaries and then determine the population within those boundaries, which I can do using census data since it doesn’t have to be precise; that’ll come later.
“We also have to decide whether Alpine Ridge will have a mayor, which is an elected position, or a town manager, which is similar in function but is appointed by the town council members.
“Once we have those, we can file the incorporation proposal. I’ll handle the paperwork portion since it’s mostly legalese,” I assure them. “But we’ll need a surveyor or someone like that to help with the boundary map. Does anyone know someone?”
Nate raises his hand. “I’ve got one that did my property before we built. I know he’s worked with the county plenty, so I’ll call him and see if he can do that.”
I nod. “Great. Now. Should we ask the town for input on the mayor versus manager question or pick an option ourselves?”
Rae leans forward. “I think we should involve the community as much as possible. Builds trust and buy-in.”
“I agree,” Mia chimes in. “What if we go even further and hold a series of meetings? Give people a chance to learn about the options and voice their opinions?”
We all agree it’s a good idea, so we plan to hold three meetings next weekend at the community center: one Saturday morning, another that afternoon, and a final one Sunday afternoon. Not Sunday morning, less due to potential church conflicts, and more because Saturday night is apparently a big night for folks to hit the tavern.
In any case, Nate offers to make a flyer, which Mia will take to the mail shop post office to distribute to every resident of the area. Finally, Rae will post the flyers in all the local businesses she can. Though we all agree Jerry probably won’t let her put them up at the tavern or coffee stand.
“Hopefully, this will help generate some early support,” Greg muses after we draft the flyer’s wording. “We’re going to need it.”
I nod my head in agreement. “Especially since after the initial filing, the county’s boundary review board will hold a meeting to give everyone a chance to say their piece for or against the incorporation. Best to have as many people behind us as possible by then.”
“When will that happen?” Mia asks.
“Code says within thirty days, but I did some preliminary poking around, and it seems like Kittitas County is pretty good at getting things done quickly,” I respond. “But we’ll see. I’ll let you know as soon as I know. Either way, that’s just a bitch fest, and I doubt it’s going to sway anyone one way or another. The biggest hurdle comes after that. We’ll have about six months to get signatures from at least ten percent of the population, which will mean a lot of answering questions and hand-holding. I’m hoping to get that done as quickly as possible to get it over with. And, the sooner, the better anyway.”
Mia’s eyes light up. “What if we throw a big St. Patrick’s Day event? Food, drinks, games, and a petition signing booth. We could get a huge chunk of signatures in one fell swoop while people are in a good mood and a little liquored up.”
Rae snickers, though we all agree it’s actually a brilliant idea. The timing is perfect, and we’ve already established that the folks here can’t resist pastries, drinks, and holiday-themed events.
“All right. Good plan, guys,” I say encouragingly. “After that, we file the paperwork, and the county auditor reviews — and hopefully approves — the petition in about a month. Then, there’s one final boundary review board meeting to formally approve the incorporation plan. Which is, incidentally, where my role in this hootenanny ends.”
Mia’s brow furrows. “That’s it, then Alpine Ridge is a town?”
I huff a laugh. “Um. No. Not even close. After that is the voting phase. First, a vote of the affected residents to approve the incorporation. Assuming a forty percent or higher approval, it goes on to a vote to nominate town officials. Then, finally, a vote to elect those officials. Those’ll all be pretty spread out. And even once that’s done, it’s up to the new town council and mayor or manager to finish the incorporation and start setting up town services. Which could take years.”
“Shit,” Nate mutters.
“Yup. We’re just getting started here, kiddos. Strap in for a long, hard ride. And probably not the fun kind,” I tease.
Greg laces his fingers through mine, and I glance over at him. “You said ‘we’,” he murmurs. I suppress a smile, but I do lean in and kiss him. Because he’s not wrong. I’m already thinking of myself as part of this kooky town. When the hell did that happen?
I look up to find everyone watching us with doe eyes, and I roll my own. “All right, back to business,” I snip jokingly. “So, as I was saying, the actual election process will need to be handled by someone else, alongside the county. You’ll need someone who understands the electoral system, or can at least figure it out, and can support and organize the candidates.”
Mia perks up. “Carrie’s getting her master’s in political science in June. Maybe she could take that on?”
Rae hesitates. “The townsfolk might not take kindly to an outsider running things, even if she is your sister. We should look for volunteers locally first.”
Mia concedes the point, and we agree to start recruiting election volunteers once the incorporation is approved. There’s no rush, considering that it will be anywhere from four to six months from now.
With the plan laid out, a sense of excitement and purpose settles over the room. We’re really doing this.
As the conversation shifts to more casual topics, I turn to Rae. “Hey, have you thought about what you want to do with the museum?”
She leans back against the wall, considering. “It’s a great space with a lot of history. Maybe we could turn it into a community center annex? Offer classes, workshops, events that Greg can’t accommodate?”
Greg nods thoughtfully. “That could work. Or what about keeping it a tourist attraction, at least partly? Play up the gold rush angle and give people a reason to stop and spend money in town. Keeping it low-key, of course, nothing too flashy, so it’s in keeping with the feel of the town.”
We discuss a few more ideas but agree to decide later — one step at a time.
But as I think we’re wrapping up, Nate’s expression turns serious. “Guys, what will we do about Ned in the meantime? It could be a year or more before we have a police force.”
A heavy silence falls over the room. And it may be just that I’m more tuned into him, but I can feel Greg’s unease. Yet Rae is the first to speak.
“We can’t just let him keep preying on women,” she says firmly, her usual friendly smile notably absent. “But we also can’t take the law into our own hands.”
“What if we encourage anyone who’s had a run-in with him to file a complaint with the county sheriff?” Mia suggests quietly, twisting her fingers together. “Establish a pattern of behavior, even if they can’t act on it immediately.”
“That’s a good start,” I agree. “And we should spread the word for women to be cautious around him and report anything immediately.”
Nate snorts. “Oh, believe me, everyone here knows. It’s outsiders I’m most worried about. Like Carrie.” He grimaces and slips his hand around Mia’s.
Mia nods her head in solemn agreement. “Especially if this whole plan to draw more people to town works. But what can we do?”
Greg runs a hand through his hair, his frustration boiling over. “I hate feeling so powerless. Not that I want him to do something so awful again, but I wish there were a way to catch him red-handed if and when he does, so there’d be no question of his guilt.”
“Except, we kind of already did,” I point out. “I saw him put something in Carrie’s drink.”
“So did I,” Nate agrees, his tone laced with anger and frustration.
Mia nods again, slowly, sadly. “I’ll talk to Carrie about filing a report. If she doesn’t, maybe you two still can?”
Nate squeezes her hand, and I nod somberly. Carrie’s something of a little sister to me, too, after all these years. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.
A dangerous idea starts to form in my mind, but I keep quiet. I know they’d never agree to me putting myself at risk, no matter how noble the cause. But if we can’t catch him red-handed accidentally … maybe we can on purpose. There’s a fine legal line to walk there, though, and I’d have to be smart about it, so they can’t call it entrapment.
Still, someone needs to do something about this guy before he gets away with something horrible when we’re not there to do anything about it. The exact scenario I know Greg is tearing himself up over these days.
As everyone starts to leave, I watch Greg as I hug Mia and Rae goodbye. He’s talking lowly with Nate, looking defeated again. It makes me want to wrap myself around him, and not even in a sexy way, which is big. My chest aches for his obvious struggle, and I wish we hadn’t ended on such a sad note.
I sigh internally as the door closes behind our friends, and Greg turns to me.
“Thank you for doing all this,” he says softly, slipping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my hair. My arms circle his neck almost automatically. “I know it’s a lot of work, but it means the world to me. To all of us.”
“That’s just how I am. Point me at a problem, and I’ll fix it,” I murmur, still struggling with how to fix Greg’s feelings of failure. Even though I know that’s not my burden. It’s his. Still, I don’t want him to carry it alone.
God, I feel protective of him, I realize. That’s a first for me with a man.
I pull back a bit and look into his bright blue eyes. And in another first, I feel those three words catch in my throat. No, not “fuck me now.” The serious ones that show how far gone I am for this man. I shake my head, refusing even to think them. It still feels too soon, like we haven’t been together long enough, gotten to know each other well enough, for the urge to say those words to be coming from a real place. It could be just lust and the intensity of it all.
“I know,” he replies. “It’s one of the many things I love about you.” He leans in and presses a tender kiss to my temple. Between his words and his actions, I melt inside. The backs of my eyes prickle with tears.
Despite myself, I feel so much I can barely stand it.
I just need time. We need time.
And orgasms. Lots of orgasms. Yes, that’s always the answer.
So I push up and cover his lips with mine. He groans into my mouth as he responds, his hands sliding over my ass.
“Let’s go to bed, and I’ll remind you of everything else you love about me, mountain man,” I murmur against his lips.
I feel his grin on my mouth and his hardness on my stomach. “Fuck yeah, city girl.”
Greg lifts me, and I wrap my legs around him as he carries me to his room.
Greg’s dad? Ned? They’ll get theirs. I’ll make damn sure of it. But right now, all I care about is getting mine. And Greg damn well gives it to me all night.
When we finally come together, when he whispers dirty sweet words in the dark, I realize I can’t fuck my feelings away. Because it’s all I can do to swallow those three words down when they climb from my throat to the tip of my tongue as he holds me while we drift to sleep.