“Oh, yeah. Apparently those contractors wanted to buy the land, which is technically owned by some rich guy or something. And apparently, that rich guy or something never actually took the land off the market.”
“So now some other rich guy is going to come and steal our homes,” I say, my mouth dropping open. She nods slowly. “We have to do something to stop this.”
Willow shakes her head with a sad smile. “I think this time might be for real, honey.”
“I won’t allow it,” I say, sticking my nose high in the air. “They’ll have to drag me away if they want me to leave.”
“I know they will.”
“We have to call a meeting. We have to get the town in order. We have to?—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” Willow says, putting her hands on my shoulders as if to calm me down. “It’s bad news, but they might simply leave. We don’t know what’s going on yet. Let’s not jump to any conclusions.”
“Okay,” I say hesitantly. “But the second I get wind of this deal being for real, you bet I’m going to protest about it.”
“I know you will. And you know I’ll be there holding your hand the whole time.”
“Nobody is going to take Havenridge away from us.” I narrow my eyes. “Nobody.”
CHAPTER 4
JACOB
James arranged for us to take my yacht across to the island today, so here I am. The sky above us is screaming with seagulls. Immediately, I’m glad that I don’t have any food because the most annoying thing about being at the beach is when seagulls swoop at you and try to steal your fries or ice cream. They don’t seem interested in me at all, though. Why would they be when there are fishing boats docking, their nets brimming full of the morning’s catch?
The fact that these fishermen have already been up for hours and have been hard at work is mind-blowing to me. Even though in the city I get up early to run, I rarely start work before 8 a.m.
“Welcome to paradise,” says James, sweeping his arms wide open. I grunt in response. “Did you not drink enough coffee this morning?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow.
I glare back. “Very funny. But now that you mention it, I could go for another cup.” I don’t function well without enough caffeine in my system.
“That can probably be arranged. Doesn’t every town have a coffee shop?” James says.
I grunt in response to that too.
I brought a couple of lawyers with me to see what they think about drawing up eviction notices. As we all make our way into the port, the wooden boards creaking under our feet, we look around, breathing in the salty air, the distinct odor of fish hitting us. Less than pleasant, but it is good to see this place bustling with life.
It makes it seem like something out of a TV show, one of those with cardboard actors and the same boring, repetitive plots over and over again about how wonderful life is in such a tiny, idyllic place.
I hate stories like that. I especially hate them surrounded by smelly fish. Whatever. When I live here, I won’t be down on the docks at any time of the day.
When. Notif. The certainty of the thought takes me by surprise.
This place is beautiful. I already knew that. But I hadn’t expected to like it quite so much. Not enough to fall in love the second I set my eyes on it. Nowthatfeels like something out of a sappy TV show.
But it is beautiful here.
We reach the end of the boardwalk, and I look back across the sea. The smoky towers of LA are just about visible in the distance, looming over us like a reminder that we can’t escape its pull. Part of me misses the bustling streets of the best city on earth already, but not a single one of these common country folk have come up to me or ogled me.
That’s more refreshing than anything else. Maybe I do like this place enough to live here forever.
“Come on,” says James. “I’ve arranged for us to meet with the town mayor. We’ll take a walk through the town on the way so you can really get a feel for the place.”
“Great,” I mutter. I really can’t be bothered to sit through a presentation on why this town is the best town in the whole world and why I should give them all lots and lots of money, but I have to be polite.
After all, if I’m going to win these yokel locals over, I’m going to have to put on my best smile. That’s the kind of thing they’ll be expecting.
I could really do with another coffee.
