Page 90 of Grit
“Don’t worry,” Melissa said. “I know it’s them.”
Daisy looked around. “I am so lost right now.”
“The holding company trying to develop the land next to my ranch—the land that used to belong to Jeremy’s grandpa—is partly owned by my late husband’s parents. They’re trying to put two thousand condos and a golf course on it for rich retirees.”
Tayla gasped. “Jeremy and I had our first date there. They can’t turn it into a golf course!”
“They’re trying,” Cary said. “The council is supposed to vote on it next week.”
Daisy asked, “Oakville people are usually pretty private. Why would they want this?”
“Because of the budget shortfall,” Melissa said. “No one wants to lose the middle school and high school.”
“Oh, that’s rough.” Daisy shook her head. “But surely there has to be another way.”
Adrian lifted a flyer. “Melissa, you mind if I take a couple of these?”
“Take as many as you like,” she said. “Call me or my mom if you have any questions.”
Cary asked, “You know Les Arthur?”
Adrian nodded. “I know Les.”
“He’s on the council. Might be worth talking to him.”
Tayla turned her eyes back to Melissa and Cary. “Just because you’ve distracted us with a big bad real estate developer, don’t think you’ve escaped giving us more details about your love life.”
Cary put his arm around Melissa. “Okay, Lizard. Sure thing. We’ll get back to you on that.”
“Lissa!” Ox’s booming voice cut through the crowd, and Melissa turned to see her baby brother—all six foot and two inches of him—walking through the crowd.
“Ox!” She walked out from behind the table, grateful that most of the crowd had drifted down Main Street to where the band had started playing. “You weren’t in the shop earlier.”
“Nope.” His grin was half a mile wide. “Come here.”
He motioned her to a quiet bench across the street from her booth. “Check it out.” He pulled something from his pocket.
Melissa stared. “Ox, that’s a ring box.”
“Yep.” He opened it. “It’s Emmie’s grandmother’s ring.”
Melissa’s eyes went wide. “Are you—?”
“Yep.”
She threw her arms around him. “I’m so happy for you! I know she’s going to say yes! I know it. But how did you get the ring? Did Emmie already have it? Have you already talked about getting married?”
“Well, yeah.” His face was a little red. “In general. Not in detail. We both want to, we just haven’t made it official yet. But she doesn’t know about the ring. See, when I went to talk to Spider—”
“Oh Ox. You didn’t ask for hispermission, did you? Emmie is a grown woman. She doesn’t need permission to get married from—”
“Chill.” He held up a hand. “I went to get hisblessing. He’s the closest thing to family that she has.”
“Okay, that’s cool.”
“And a few days later he calls me, says he and Daisy have Betsy’s old wedding set. She’d given it to Spider because Spider didn’t have any money when he asked Daisy to marry him. Well, Daisy only wears her wedding ring because she works at a bakery all day. So she and Spider both agreed that they wanted Emmie to have it back.”
Melissa put a hand over her heart. “Oh Ox.” She had tears in her eyes. “It’s perfect. The ring is perfect. Spider and Daisy are the best. And Emmie is perfect for you.” She threw her arms around him. “I’m so happy for you.”
