Page 120 of Don't Go Faking My Heart

"Patio Diner? That place uses instant grits," Tia says in disgust, earning groans of agreement from half the room.

"And will you put in a Crumbs Cookies or a Parlor Ice Cream where Jorge's is?"

"Crumbs," Philip says. "They have the most popular chocolate chip cookie in the country."

Jorge is aghast. Crumbs sells those huge cookies that everyone thinks they like but they regret immediately after the last bite.

Yuck.

The swaps continue:

Mod Closet for Nico's thrift shop.

Builder's Bench for Chick Parkinson's hardware store.

A Book Nook for the bookshop and bakery.

But some places will vanish completely. No more antiques store—Mod Closet will need the extra space. No more bait and tackle. In its place will be a gym with state of the art rowing machines.

"Because heaven forbid someone row an actual boat," Chick Allen grumbles.

Teddy shoos their concerns like a mosquito. "You don't have to love every change to see how much it will benefit you. Dumfries is offering most of us enough to retire on. Y'all won't have to work another day in your life. Think of all that extra time with your families when you're not working your fingers to the bone."

This earns more than a few begrudging nods. And Philip capitalizes on it.

"Sugar Maple will continue to grow because of the sacrifices you've made to bring so much industry and tourism to the town. With Dumfries Holding at the helm, we can bring in new developers. Who here doesn't want a Sam's Club?"

"Are y'all putting in a Sam's Club?" Chick Hanks asks.

"No, but when the town gets big enough, it'll come. You won't have to drive into Mullet Ridge to go to the hospital or to have your kids play club sports. You may think our stores seem impersonal, but they're quality and they're guaranteed to bring in tourists. People like comfort, and they like knowing what they're ordering, where they're shopping, and what they're getting. We can offer that."

His argument is so weak! How are we losing people? I look at Rusty with desperation, but he's frowning at Philip, who's on a roll now. "Y'all have made this town more charming than any place I've ever been. Jane—all of the Janes!" he adds as if he didn’t know exactly what he was doing, "they know their stuff. If you want to break your backs doing all the extra work they'll bring in, more power to you. But if you want to retire in comfort, I urge you to take our deal."

They're actually considering it! I can feel the yeses slip through my fingers like sand. I stride to Rusty.

"How is this happening? How are they believing him?"

Rusty looks so dejected, I don't recognize him. "I don't know. I should never have gotten involved, Ash. I'm sorry?—"

"What?" I reel. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not the guy to figure out business proposals and convince people what's good for them."

"Are you serious?" I shake my head. "Rusty, do you hear yourself? You're Mr. Sugar Maple. There's no one better for this."

"Everyone is better." He rubs his temples. "Don't listen to me. Check with your friends. You can trust them."

I can't begin to process the self-loathing in Rusty's demeanor, let alone figure out what to do with it. His words make me feel like I'm drowning. Or like he is. I don't have time to parse out what's going on there, though. The final vote is now. If we don't convince the town to incorporate our plan, Sugar Maple as we know it will be gone in five years.

I can't let that happen.

"Guys, don't listen to him,” I say. “I know his offer sounds good, maybe even too good to be true. It's a ton of money, but the price is the soul of the town we all love so much!"

"That's absurd," Philip says. And then he must realize how waspish he sounded, because he softens his tone. "We believe in this town or we wouldn't be here."

"Philip, I worked on dozens of campaigns for Dumfries when I worked for you. You don't just push out companies, you push out people. I notice you've made no mention of the home builder Dumfries Holding owns. You talked about new developers coming in, but you're the developer. You buy up land at what seems like a premium, but then you turn around and put inferior homes on these same lots and anyone in town with dreams of owning a bigger home gets priced out. You build apartments and condos without caring if there's an infrastructure for any of it. You find ways to work around town codes with no regard to roads, schools, or emergency services. You want Sugar Maple to be the next big thing—I believe it! You don't care how that happens, though. We do."

Philip shakes his head. "You're delusional. Teddy is the mayor! Don't you think he's smart enough to see through sneaky contracts?"

---