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Georgia and Zach are both okay with Paradise growing and changing. They don’t see what we’re losing every time a local sells their wide-open space, so someone who doesn’t know or love Paradise can build a giant house on it. Georgia and Zach see dollar signs and more opportunity.
I don’t begrudge them that. I see Georgia’s point: if Paradise doesn’t grow and change, it will die.
But when the pond is gone, a piece of Mom will be gone with it. I won’t have kids before she’s gone, too. I’ll never be able to take them skating on the pond while telling them all about how their Grandma Heidi taught me to skate there, too.
It’s not just my current team I want the pond for. It’s every team that comes after them. Most importantly, I want it for the family I hope to have one day.
Georgia catches up to me before I get to the front door. She grabs my arm before I can push it open, and I’m forced to look back at her.
“I’ll talk to Cassie about the cats. No one’s saying she didn’t cross a line. But you crossed that line first, Bear. She gave back exactly what she got.”
I look at her hand, then back to her and she lets it fall from my arm. “Really, Georgia? You’re really going to blow this off? If it were Zach who couldn’t breathe, would you feel the same way?”
She blinks hard, and I finally see understanding in her eyes. Imagining Zach in the same situation gets her to see how serious it was.
But it also hollows out my chest.
Zach, Adam, and Seb all have someone who loves him so much she’d do anything for him. That used to be Mom for my brothers and me. I don’t blame her for not being that person anymore, and I love my sisters-in-law. I’m happy for my brothers.
But I guess I’m also jealous. I miss having someone love me as fiercely as Mom did.
“Bear,” Georgia says gently. “You’ve been rude to Cassie since she got here. I know she embarrassed you last summer, but you both need to let things go. Can you make the first move? She’s one of my best friends, and she’s going through a really hard time, just like you.”
I press my lips together and give her a tight nod. Georgia doesn’t go for my tepid response. She throws her arms around me, then makes me bend down so she can kiss my cheek.
She releases me, then gives me a cheeky grin. “You know, if Cassie stays in Paradise, you might get a second chance with her.”
I roll my eyes and walk out the door. I don’t get far before I’m wondering what she meant by Cassie going through a “hard time.” Cassie always seems calm and put together. Not even all the mice got to her.
She didn’t even panic when I had my asthma attack around the cats. In fact, she handled the whole situation before it turned into an actual emergency, talking calmly, getting me to take slow breaths. I have to give her credit for that, even if the situation was her fault to begin with.
This and a million other thoughts about Cassie swirl through my brain as I stand outside. A squirrel darts past me, then another, and there’s one more not far behind, so I look to see where they’re going.
One squirrel I wouldn’t normally pay much attention to. Two might be mildly interesting. But three means Lynette, Paradise’s resident alien-conspiracy-theorist and squirrel hoarder—not tobe confused with Harvey, Paradise’s resident Taylor Swift conspiracy-theorist and cat hoarder—is nearby.
Lynette is also about to add local millionaire to her bio since she’s the same Lynette whose land and pond behind the shop Zach is selling to developers. Her squirrels decided this winter to move to the town square in front of City Hall—which is near Zach’s office.
Seeing them gives me an idea, so I switch course and do what everyone does when they want to find Lynette: Follow the squirrels. If I want to keep the pond, why not go right to the source and ask Lynette if there’s a way we can work something out. It’s a long shot, but I’ll try anything at this point.
I don’t want to call Lynette crazy, but she has an official diagnosis of some sort. She’s supposed to be on meds, but she’s harmless, so we all just let her do her thing. And her thing is to wear tinfoil hats to protect her from aliens reading her mind while hand-feeding the squirrels of Paradise. The two aren’t necessarily related—she just does them both at the same time.
The hats help her feel safe, so no one is interested in telling her she doesn’t need them. In fact, my brother Adam makes them for her on the regular.
Her band of about a dozen squirrels—besides being the inspiration for my teams’ name—have become a nuisance. They’re a little too used to being fed, and not afraid of people anymore. When Lynette’s not around, they expect to be fed by whoever is, and they don’t take no for an answer. Or, if no one is around, they get aggressive about eating what they want.
Like all the mistletoe for Paradise’s Yulefest this past Christmas. Hope and my dad had to fight them off the boxes Dad had in the Christmas tree lot.
The squirrels won.
I turn the corner and see Lynette and her squirrels in the middle of the town square. As I approach, I also see Mayor Voglmeyer ahead of me, and I almost turn around to leave.
But then I remember the mayor has been on a mission to rid Paradise of all the squirrels after the city had to dig into their budget for more mistletoe. Lynette may need some backup.
Darlene reaches Lynette first. “I’m glad I caught you, Lynette,” she says in the kind of professional manner that only confuses Lynette. “I’m sorry, but since you’ve ignored the city’s warnings, I’ve had to call an exterminator to take care of them.”
“You don’t own this square. It’s public property,” Lynette says.
I stop before reaching them. The mayor hasn’t seen me, and I don’t want to risk escalating things if I can avoid it. If I defend Lynette, the mayor could turn this disagreement into a full-fledged war against Lynette.
