Page 163 of Story of My Life
“Originally, I had an idea I wanted to run by you. But on my way here, something happened that convinced me we need to do something.”
“I’m officially intrigued,” Laura said.
“I take it this doesn’t have anything to do with the book you’re working on,” Pep guessed.
“It’s about something Cam said.”
“Try not to take it personally,” Pep advised. “He can be a bit of an ass, but we still love him.”
I choked on my second lemon square. “Uh, no. It actually wasn’t anything like that. He said he was tired of Dominion stealing from us and that it would be nice to steal something from them for once.”
“I’m in. Do we need ski masks? I’ll be the getaway driver,” Laura volunteered.
“Maybe. First, I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this, but since the town meeting is tomorrow night, I figured it wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve done since moving here.”
“Is this about the sewage treatment plant upgrade?” Pep asked.
“How did you—never mind. Small town. I forgot. Anyway, so you also know we don’t have the money for the upgrades, right?”
“None of us are looking forward to that tax hike,” Laura said.
Pep shook her head. “This is gonna chase even more folks out of town.”
“Well, it’s either higher taxes or we walk around knee-deep in shit,” Laura pointed out.
“Unfortunately, there’s even more at stake,” I said and quickly filled them in on my restroom eavesdropping and what Nina had said.
“That sneaky, manipulative little turd,” Pep said, slamming her palm down on the table when I finished. “A golf course? What’s she gonna do? Bulldoze Story Lake for the ninth hole?”
“We’ve got a rat on the inside. I’m gonna need some wine for this.” Laura pushed back from the table, then wheeled around the end of the kitchen island to the wine cooler.
“I’ll get the glasses,” Pep said.
“I think I have an idea about where we can get the money,” I said when they returned to the table and started pouring. “But I need you two to tell me if it’s stupid and doomed to fail.”
“Why did you come to us? Cam’s on the council, and our dear teenage mayor thinks you’re the Story Lake equivalent of Batman come to save us,” Laura pointed out.
“Cam is going to shoot me down no matter how good my ideas are, and Darius thinks I’m a genius and would throw his support behind anything I suggest no matter how terrible it is. You two know this town better than anyone.”
“You’re staying for dinner,”Pep decided.
I looked up from my notebook, which now contained more save-the-town notes than work-in-progress notes. “Huh?”
“Text your brothers,” she ordered her daughter.
Laura smirked. “Cam’s already on his way since he found out Hazel was visiting.”
Crap.
“I should go,” I said.
“Not gonna happen,” Pep said cheerfully. “We’ve got twenty-four hours to prepare for the town meeting. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation, and that means we call in the boys. I’ll start the meatloaf. You should invite your friend Zoey. Someone withher background might have a few ideas on how we can pull this off.”
“Mom’s meatloaf is basically the best ever,” Laura told me. “You don’t want to miss out, even if it means sharing a table with the three stooges I call brothers.”
We all heard the slam of a truck door, and I flinched. I’d know that slam anywhere. Cam.
“I guess I’ll go call Zoey…somewhere that’s not here.”
