Page 63 of Home Town

Nothing was going to be perfect in this mess of a situation, but this seemed like the best option for everyone to save face and save the event.

They just had to stay the course.

Glancing up at Corey one last time, she reached out and rang the doorbell.

It took a solid minute, but finally Mrs. Forester pulled opened the door. Her gaze moved from Josie to Corey and back again.

Josie saw the recognition in the other woman’s expression. Of course she should recognize both of them. She knew Corey from being his mother’s friend and she’d just seen Josie at the library on the very day she’d stolen the compass. She had to realize why she and Corey were there, right?

Or maybe not, because she was sure playing dumb as she delivered a smile that looked too bright to be real and said, “Hello. What can I do for you two?”

“You can go get the compass, for starters,” Corey said with an edge in his voice.

His sore ankle must be making him cranky. Either that, or he hated that they were implementing Xander’s plan instead of his—which had been going to the police with the evidence against the old woman.

Mrs. Forester paled as the smile faded and her eyes widened.

Oh, yeah. She knew that they knew what she’d done. That didn’t mean she was going to turn the thing over to them willingly though.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, looking everywhere but at them now.

“I’m sure you do,” Corey said, taking a step closer.

Her diminutive form looked even smaller this close to him.

The gray-haired woman seemed to shrivel and shrink as she gazed up at Corey… and then the tears began. “I just wanted to have it back. It rightfully belongs to my family?—”

“Then you shouldn’t have donated it to the town,” Josie pointed out.

“I didn’t! That was my son’s wife’s idea. She likes to act like the queen around here, being all generous, donating things that don’t even belong to her. That compass belonged to my husband’s grandfather, then his father. He and I taught my son how to use it when he was little. It should have been passed down to my grandchildren. She had no right to give it away.”

Josie drew in a breath. She wasn’t without empathy for the old woman. She understood her feelings. The emotions. The resentment toward her daughter-in-law. But none of that mattered because she couldn’t let Mrs. Forester keep the compass just because she felt bad for her.

There were other people involved here. Like the entire town. People and organizations counting on that artifact to be the guest of honor at the event that had turned into a legitimate fundraising gala thanks to Xander.

“Mrs. Forester—can we sit and talk for a moment?” Josie asked.

Scowling the old woman nodded and spun to lead them into a living room filled with modern furnishings that belied this woman’s obvious love of antiques.

“You have a lovely home,” Josie said, figuring it couldn’t hurt to butter the old lady up a bit.

Her plan backfired. Mrs. Forester frowned deeply. “It was. Until my daughter-in-law got rid of all my stuff and redecorated.”

All righty. No more mention of the furnishings or the son’s wife. Got it.

A plan began to form.

A wonderful, horrible plan that might make everyone happy. Well, everyone except Mrs. Forester’s daughter-in-law.

“I totally understand. And actually, I think I have an idea you might like,” Josie began.

As Corey shot her a confused sideways glance and Mrs. Forester looked actually interested, Josie thought, let the games begin…

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Corey pulled onto his mom’s road quite a bit later, after they’d gone to the library and returned the compass to its designated shelf in the archives and then had a celebratory burger and beer at the Muddy River Inn.

It felt a bit like a date. Like they were a couple. The fact that didn’t freak him out—that he actually liked it—had Corey believing even more firmly that he and Josie needed to give this thing between them a try.

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