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“Because you suddenly care? Let me guess, you’re the one who got the grant to go after us.”

“Sure.” It was easier than the truth. “Let’s go with that.”

“Are you covering?” Kevin laughed. “They already reached out to me, even though I’m pretty sure the people in town don’t trust it anymore. Only an outsider would do that.”

“You’ve been doing research,” I said.

“We have. I figured this would be opposed. I’m used to that, really.”

“And you run over them anyway?”

“They can protest. They can cry about it. I’ll still win in the end.”

“And have you ever gone up against something like the STM grant?”

“That’s something I’ll deal with. They’ve clearly had a reason to do this, and I bet they’ll understand the power of a dollar.”

“Or they’ll be willing to come out of hiding to stop you.” I said it slowly, a plan forming in my mind. “You should be worried about the one who’s given everything for the town.”

“It’s clearly a business move. They want to own everything they can.”

“It’s not.”

“How do you know?”

The words hung between us.

“Think about it,” I said. “And then sell me the fucking land when you figure it out.”

45

JADE

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Mollie Wilson: The cows are camping on Main.

Comments:

Kerry Wilson: Oh well . . . what can you do in a town like this?

Marjorie Brown: I call cows nature’s stoplights.

Henrietta Brown: And while you sit there, come by the library! We have lemonade!

There were many things I loved about Strawberry Springs, but one of the best was how annoying we could be when we wanted to be.

Two cows stood eating grass from greenery on the sidewalks. Two others had decided to lay right in the middle of Main Street. Despite the fact that it was hot, we all gathered outside, watching them in the sun.

A few days ago, Marjorie had spotted Kevin racing down the main drag with his loud-ass car. We decided to watch for him to be in town again.

There was no speeding happening today.

The poor idiot sat in traffic for almost an hour while we admired the scene.

“So, when he finally gets the sense to get out of his car, how are we playing this again?” Mollie asked.

“We’re waiting for the cows to come home,” I replied.