Page 89 of Manors & Mischief

I shrug. Not that I don’t want to talk to Devon, but the feeling of being abandoned is overwhelming. Of having my voice taken away. Of having decisions made for me that I didn’t agree to in the first place. It’s like he hit every button that boils my blood.

At the same time, I get it. He’s hurting, and hurt people hurt people. Even if they don’t want to.

It’s just hard to reconcile the man who would wrap me up in his arms to the one who said those things.

“I had an ulterior motive to get you out here though.”

“You did?”

She nods, her lips trying to tease upward into a smile. She’s bursting with that excitement again. “I wanted you to see just how much Harvest Falls really loves you. How much the people here have taken to you.”

I stare at her blankly. I have no idea what she’s even talking about.

She turns me toward the mayor’s office, and it takes a moment for me to comprehend what I’m seeing. There are people lined up, walking in a circle. I spot my neighbor to the right, and Rose. Even the gentleman who was at my door earlier.

“What?”

Then I spy the posters in their hands and some on long sticks. Bold lettering scrawled across like warning signs.

LET HER HAVE THE HAUNTED HOUSE.

SAVE SLEEPY HOLLOW MANOR.

NICHOLS, HELP HF, DON’T RUIN HF!

“That’s Harvest Falls people for you, Ember. Mr. Cordoroy arranged it this morning. He said he had a nice chat with you, and he wanted to do something to help. He used to be mayor, you know? He retired.”

“I didn’t know that,” I answer, but that’s not really the thought bouncing around in my brain. I can’t believe these people did this for me. Taking time out of their day. They’re protesting.

While I watch, a family that came in yesterday joins the line and starts walking, and I’m too shocked to cry, even though the emotion is welling up inside me like a boiling pot threatening to spill.

“Will it work?”

“Nichols, just like the rest of us, is voted in. I’d say he’ll work something out with you if he values his position. In fact, I think I’ll march in there right now to demand an emergency board meeting. That sounds like fun.”

She starts to walk away. As always, she’s a woman on a mission, and her mission is always about bettering this beautiful town. The residents here are more than lucky to have a woman like her in their corner, and I’m counting myself lucky, too.

“Oh.” She stops in her tracks and turns toward me again. “I love my son, but I’m going to say this one thing. Don’t let a man chase you out of town. I know you’re hurt, and you have every reason to be. I want you to end up with Devon, I truly do. You two are soul mates. I can tell. But if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive him, don’t let him take all of this away from you. I didn’t let mine.”

With a nod, she leaves again, and I have to lean against the tree to steady myself. I was not expecting that. In fact, those were the last words I was expecting out of her mouth, but they might have rung truer to me than anything else. I love Devon. That’s true. Regardless, what she said matters as well.

Harvest Falls is my town, too.

I place one foot in front of the other. Mayor Lachey is walking through the crowd now, applauding them, but she soon emerges on the other side where I can’t see her anymore. I walk quickly across the street until a voice calls out for me. “Ember.”

Turning, I spy Bea running toward me. She has a huge grin on her face, pointing at the crowd circling across the sidewalk. “You see?”

“I see,” I tell her as she loops her arm through mine, and we walk up to the crowd. Instead of me applauding them, they give me a round of applause as I approach. Bea starts a chant, “Em-ber, Em-ber, Em-ber.”

Everyone else joins in, and I’m so flustered I don’t know what to do with myself. Mr. Cordoroy saunters toward me. “Every once in a while, I get the itch again to make a difference. It just didn’t sit right with me what that Nichols boy was doing. It wasn’t hard to find people who were willing to come down here and do this, which means I was right. You are as special as I thought you were.”

I hug him. I hug his frail shoulders, squeezing him. I’m at a loss for words but I can do this.

He laughs in my ear. “You’re welcome.”

The chant dies down, which is fine by me. It gives me a chance to go up to everyone and thank them. The two children who had arrived with their parents last night beam up at me. “We had such a good time last night, and we really want other people to experience it too.”

“Well, I’m so glad,” I tell them. “You two are my superheroes.” Their eyes get big, almost cartoon-like. “Thank you for helping me.”