Page 177 of Tessa and Nash

Some backing tradition.

Others hoping for something new.

Boone studies me carefully. “You’re not giving up.”

It isn’t a question.

I stare down Main Street.

Clara’s bakery window shines warm. Kids run past with hot chocolate. A pickup rattles down the road as if it’s any other winter afternoon.

Everything looks the same.

Except it isn’t.

“I don’t know,” I admit.

Boone frowns. “Nash⁠—”

“I mean it,” I say, gesturing back toward Town Hall. “They’re building a wall.”

Dallas closes his notebook slowly. “The land issue complicates things.”

“That’s a polite way of saying it kills the project.”

Boone shakes his head. “It’s a delay.”

“Yeah.” I kick a loose piece of ice across the sidewalk. “And delays have a way of becoming permanent.”

We stand there while the town moves around us.

Dallas finally speaks. “You’ve worked harder on this than anyone expected.”

“That’s not exactly comforting.”

“I’m saying it matters.”

Boone nods. “You’re serious about this, Nash. Everyone can see that now.”

I let out a breath.

Serious.

That’s what I wanted, right?

My whole life, people looked at me as the fun one, the guy with big ideas and no follow-through. Turns out, when you finally prove them wrong, the town still finds another reason not to believe you.

Boone claps my shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”

Dallas adds quietly, “We always do.”

I nod, but the truth sits heavy in my chest.

What if we don’t?

What if this was my one and only shot?

My chance to build something that was mine instead of just riding along on the ranch Boone runs and the paperwork Dallas manages.