Page 113 of Small Town Sizzle

“Mason is driving him home,” Ethan tells me as he comes up behind me. “Seems like he’s coming around, though.”

“At least one of them is.”

“Give them both time. I know it feels like it’s taking forever right now, but it’ll be worth it in the end,” Laura tells me as she hugs my arm. “This isn’t something you can work through overnight.”

I nod. I don’t really have the words to say.

“Come to the diner with us, Uncle G,” Chantelle says as she leans into me.

“Yeah, come with us.” Ethan grins.

I agree and follow them out to the parking lot. I look over and see Mason and Alex walking to Mason’s truck. The two of them side by side, it’s almost as though I’m looking back at me and Ethan at that age. There are so many similarities in their hair color, their jawlines. It’s clear that they’re related, and I chastise myself again for not seeing it sooner.

Ten minutes later, we walk into the diner and it’s almost as if the entire place falls completely silent when we walk in.

“What’s happening?” Teddy asks Laura.

She shakes her head as we make our way to a booth in the corner. There’s a family sitting nearby. A blonde woman pops out of the seat and stops in front of me.

“I know who you are, and you’re not welcome around here,” she hisses.

“Excuse me?” I ask as a knee-jerk reaction.

“I know what you did to that poor wife of yours, stealing her mother’s land from her. Blocking your wife from getting any of her mother’s and your mother’s estate. You should be ashamed of yourself. I’ll make sure the entire world knows what an abusive piece of…”

“What on earth are you talking about, Kendra?” Laura asks as she steps in between us.

“This man is controlling and abusive. He…he stole from his wife.” She pulls back and looks Laura up and down. “What am I telling you for? You’re in on it, too.”

“I’m not married,” I say.

“She said you would say that,” the blonde scoffs. “She said you tell everyone that you’re not married so you can cheat on the poor loyal woman. You only pretended to love her so you and your greedy family could take her family’s land.”

“My ex-wife is from California, and she doesn’t have any family outside of that state. I don’t know what she’s been telling you, but I assure you it’s not true. Nothing was stolen from her, and she has no claim to the land my mother purchased before I even married Natalie.”

“It’s not her family’s. You two are still married and she is owed part of that land. She’s an environmentalist and she could do good. You guys are just stripping it for all it’s worth and ruining it and this town. You’re so greedy.”

My eyes flit to Ethan’s, and he shrugs his shoulders as if to say he doesn’t know what’s happening either.

“Kendra, I suggest you sit back down with your family and eat,” Miss Betty says as she comes out of the kitchen. “Ain’t no one hear wanting to listen to your chaos. Everyone in this town knows that land belonged to Greta McAllister and that before that it was Old Man Clyde’s. That woman and man are spewing so many lies neither of ’em can keep it straight.”

Kendra huffs before plopping back down into her booth. She’s still grumbling but she doesn’t cause another scene at least.

Miss Betty leads us the rest of the way to the booth. She shakes her head as she looks me in the eye.

“That woman is trouble. Plays the victim real well, and most of these people don’t think enough for themselves to listen with logic. If they did, they’d see all the holes in her story. Why would a woman who was supposedly abused follow a man across the country and show up in his hometown? She wouldn’t.” Miss Betty shakes her head in disgust before she continues. “I don’t know how they’re doing it—false paperwork, fake promises, probably both—but it’s working. They’re promising jobs, new businesses, and a brighter future for the town. And people are buying it.”

The next day, I sit in the kitchen of Mom’s house, papers spread across the table, trying to piece together how this even started. Our family lawyer, Mike, sits across from me, his glasses perched on the end of his nose as he flips through another stack of documents.

“They don’t have a legal leg to stand on,” he says, her tone sharp and no-nonsense. “Your mother’s estate was settled years ago. The wetlands aren’t even a part of that. It’s part of a trust,and you and your brother are on the board of that. Natalie and TJ are loud, Garrett. And people like loud.”

“Loud doesn’t mean right,” I mutter, running a hand through my hair.

“No, but it means they’re getting attention. And attention leads to pressure, especially when they’re talking about jobs and money.”

I grit my teeth, the frustration boiling under my skin. “I can’t let them take this. My mom’s legacy, the youth center—it’s everything she stood for. I won’t let them tear it down for some damn corporate development.”

Mike leans back in her chair, his eyes narrowing. “Then we need to fight back. Publicly. If you keep quiet, they’ll win the narrative. You need to show the town what’s really going on here.”

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