The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(46)

Noah chuckled. ‘Okay, so what’s new with you, then?’

‘Since you saw me this morning?’ she asked and heat zipped through Noah’s veins at the memory of what they’d done in her office before the bookstore opened that morning. Hazel on her desk, her legs spread wide...

‘I found another clue.’

‘Really?’ He’d almost forgotten about them, about how this had all started. About how lucky he’d gotten with those damn clues.

‘Yep.’ Hazel was looking at him now, studying him, like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

‘So what did it say?’

Hazel pushed her glasses further up her nose. ‘Something about drinking hard cider.’

‘I know just the thing!’

‘You do?’ Hazel’s eyes narrowed like she was suspicious.

‘Yeah, there’s this great new brewery I’ve been wanting to try. They do beers and ciders. We could go this weekend?’

Hazel muttered something that sounded an awful lot like ‘how convenient’ but Noah didn’t have time to question it before Mayor Kelly was doing his damnedest to start the meeting.

‘Attention, Dreamers!’ he called over the din. ‘We have a lot to get through tonight so if everyone could settle down ...’

Mindy’s whistle pierced through the noise and the mayor flinched. The crowd quieted and he cleared his throat. ‘Right. Thank you, Mindy.’

Pete adjusted his glasses ‘So, first order of business. We have a new resident in town. Ms Kira North recently purchased the Christmas-tree farm up on Old Spruce Road.’

The crowd started to glance around, whispers about this mystery resident were quickly circulating through the room. Noah couldn’t help his smile. This town was too much sometimes.

‘And where is she, Pete?’ Tim asked the mayor from the front row.

‘Well, I invited her tonight to discuss her plans for the land.’

‘Is she going to reopen the tree farm?’ Nancy asked.

‘The place is in shambles,’ Tim quickly pointed out.

The crowd took this as their cue to shout out whatever they saw fit.

‘I used to love going there as a kid.’

‘Used to have the best trees around.’

‘And Santa! Remember in the old sleigh?’

‘We have to convince her to reopen! Right Pete?’

Noah almost felt bad for the flustered mayor.

‘Now hold on!’ he shouted over the voices of his constituents. ‘I’m sure we’ll figure it out!’

The loud creaking of the back doors interrupted the room’s excitement. Heads turned just in time to see a woman enter the room. A woman who clearly had not expected to be facing half the town’s population.

She froze in the doorway. She had straight black hair with blunt bangs and holes in her baggy jeans. That’s about all Noah managed to notice before the crowd reared up again.

‘Dear God,’ Logan groaned beside him, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Mindy whistled again.

The woman held up a hand in greeting. ‘Uh, hello.’

‘Kira, welcome!’ Mayor Kelly beckoned her toward the podium and the poor woman had no choice but to make her way through the crowded room. ‘Thank you so much for coming.’

Kira glanced around, a shell-shocked look still on her face. ‘I ... uh ... didn’t realize it was this type of meeting.’

Pete’s eyes widened in dismay. ‘Oh, I probably should have specified.’

Hazel sighed. ‘Oh, Dad,’ she whispered, shaking her head. Noah gave her hand a squeeze and she gave him a grim smile. ‘He has good intentions.’

Noah chuckled. ‘I know.’

‘The town has a rich history of discussing town business in a public forum.’ He smiled but Kira just scowled back.

‘And my property is town business?’

‘Well ... uh...’ Pete cleared his throat. ‘We were so delighted when the land was purchased. That tree farm holds a lot of special memories for the town and...’

‘I’m going to stop you right there.’ Kira held up a hand and Noah was impressed with her bravery. But he also worried about how the town would react. His nerves swirled in his gut thinking about his own little presentation and how it would hold up under town scrutiny. The old shacks were technically owned by the town so if he couldn’t get the council on board, the whole idea was a non-starter.

‘I’m not reopening the tree farm,’ Kira said, voice firm. ‘That’s not why I bought the land.’

A hushed disappointment rolled through the room but no one spoke.

‘I’d love to discuss it further, uh, privately if you prefer,’ Pete pushed on.

‘There’s nothing to discuss.’

‘It’s just that you might change your mind. You see, I had a dream that...’

Kira shook her head, ignoring Pete’s bizarre dream-claims, a feat Noah found impressive. ‘I won’t be changing my mind. And I need to go. If that’s all?’

The mayor looked crestfallen, Noah really felt bad for the guy. ‘Of course. Sorry for the confusion.’

Kira gave a curt nod and made her way back down the center aisle, not bothering to glance at anyone else on her way out.