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  I glanced around to look for Mac but didn’t see him or Chuck Shilling.

  “Ashley Williams is not only a council member but someone who does live in the country club neighborhood.” Leah looked at Ashley, who had a prestigious spot at one of the tables.

  Ashley stood up and adjusted her clothing on her way to the podium to address the crowd.

  “I’m Ashley Williams. As you know, I sit on the city council and was appalled to hear the city commissioners held a meeting and approved the new annex for the sale of the country club, giving Chuck Shilling, the majority stakeholder, the ability to sell the club—without the consent of Dennis Kuntz—to Mac Tabor. We have to stand together always if we care as much as we say we do!”

  Ashley’s voice got louder. She pounded the podium with her fist. Her shoulder-length brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail that swung from side to side with each thump, creating a more dramatic effect.

  “There is strength in numbers! And thankfully, our systems of government are designed to submit to the consent of the governed, which is you! Not money, not power, not influence, nothing else! Mac Tabor only wants to make a quick buck, and he will do that at the expense of our community.”

  The crowd cheered. Dennis Kuntz was the loudest.

  “Last night, I couldn’t sleep. I watched my daughter, who was lying in her comfortable bed, and thought about our peaceful community. I moved to the country club neighborhood so I could give my daughter a better life. One where she could run around the street and be home when the sun went down, not worry about the traffic over three hundred new homes will add. I sat there and worried about my daughter getting hit by a car and how I was going to have to keep her inside.”

  Leah was doing a great job instilling fear in everyone. She spoke with a deliberate tone and made good eye contact.

  “At five p.m. today, the city commissioners have agreed to meet at a larger location, the Agriculture Learning Center Building at City-County Park at the fairgrounds, in anticipation of a greater citizen turnout as they decide the immediate fate of the one hundred twenty-seven acres of golf course, restaurant, and pool.” Her eyes lowered. “Mac Tabor and Chuck Shilling are supposed to be there. Chuck has agreed to put the contract signing on hold. So I’m encouraging you to grab a SAVE OUR COUNTRY CLUB sign.” She picked up a sign that had been lying on the podium. “Take several, and give them to your friends and neighbors today. I, along with Mayor Burch and a few city council members, are going to be going door to door with these signs. Please. You have a voice. What Mac Tabor and Chuck Shilling did, going behind all of our backs and not getting the voice of our community, was wrong, and they should be held accountable!”

  She smacked the podium, and the room went crazy.

  It was my cue to get out of there. My first stop was going to be Mac Tabor’s house.

  THREE

  I made my way over to Little Creek Road, which was located on the west side of town. There were only about ten houses on the right-hand side of the street, while on the other side ran Little Creek; hence the name.

  I had to cross a small bridge over Little Creek. Eagerly waiting for me was the town duck, who knew I always had a treat for him. Today, he was getting one of the biscuits Mom had sent with me to give to Harriette.

  I watched the duck devour the bread and give a little quack of thanks before he swam off down Little Creek, maneuvering his way around the rocks. I knew that at the end of the street, the duck would be waiting for me under the other bridge so he could get the other half of the biscuit.

  I looked up from the bridge and down Little Creek. Neither the autumn sun and the crisp fall air nor the news of their neighbor Mac Tabor buying the country club would hinder the front porch ladies, which was what I lovingly called the four widow women who lived right next to each other. I could see that their blue-tinted hair was as shiny as the sun as they perched on Harriette’s front porch.

  My eyes feasted on the orange, yellow, and red mums planted in all of the yards. Neighborhood residents kept their yards nice and tidy, decorated with seasonal themes. Even Mac Tabor’s house had a couple uncarved pumpkins sitting on the wall of his porch. And his house just so happened to be my first stop.

  As usual, the ladies knew the time I generally came with the endless junk mail of the Publishers Clearing House, value coupons, and the monthly copies of Guideposts they eagerly awaited. They were going to have to wait a little longer today, because I had some questions about this country club deal for Mac Tabor, and I wanted answers. After all, Mac and I were practically family.

  As the fatal night of Richard’s accident played in my memory, I couldn’t help but recall how Mac had been a good friend and insisted he go to the crash site and take care of what needed to be done there so I could focus on Grady. Mac had been great. He’d encouraged me not to look up the details online, because Richard’s car had been so badly mangled that he knew Richard wouldn’t want me or Grady to see it. That was why I’d never gone looking for photos of the scene or even gotten the report of the accident. The only thing that mattered was that from that day forward, ten years ago, I would be living life as a single mother to Grady and would never date or remarry. I didn’t need to do that. Richard had been the love of my life, and I was his. It was unlikely to find that twice in one lifetime.

  And here we were today. Mac was still single and always willing to help me out. He’d become a big figure in Grady’s life. Mac had been there for every milestone: Grady’s heartaches, graduations, and giving the father toast at Grady and Julia’s wedding. So I couldn’t help wondering why he’d kept a big deal like buying the country club a secret from me.

  “Bernadette, you okay?” Mac answered the door without his shirt on after I knocked. I blinked a few times, a little taken aback at his physique. I had known it had to be somewhat good, since he did spend a lot of time with Grady at the football team’s workouts.

  He unlocked the screen door and pushed it open, his biceps bulging nicely.

  “No.” I gulped and busied myself with making his mail into a taco shape in my grip to hand it to him. “I…um…I heard…”

  His gaze drifted down to my hand and the personalized letter on top of the pile. I recognized the handwriting from some previous letters. There’d never been a return address on them, only a postage stamp from the college town Mac had attended.

  “You heard what, Bernadette?” He took the mail and stared at me.

  “About the golf course. I mean, it’s the talk of the town, and I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you’re buying it,” I blurted, sounding a little more hurt than I should have been. “You love that golf course. Are you really going to turn the land into condos? No one in town is happy about it. What about your company? If no one trusts you anymore, they won’t hire you.”

  “Wait right here. Let me grab a shirt.” He shut the screen door, taking a step back into the house. “You want a cup of coffee?” he asked. He thumbed through the mail, taking the letter on top with him.

  “I don’t want anything.” I was careful not to have too much to drink while on my route. My bladder was the size of a peanut, and there were only a few places along the way where I felt comfortable using the bathroom.

  Besides, one of the front porch ladies always had a glass of sweet tea waiting for me. I glanced next door to Harriette’s house. The four widows jerked around as if I didn’t feel their eyes searing the back of my head to see what Mac and I were talking about.

  “Sorry about that.” Mac walked back out. This time he wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, the perfect outfit for this type of seasonal weather. It was chilly in the morning and hot in the afternoon, only to return to cold at night. Mother Nature seemed a little more cynical in her decisions this time of the year, but it was still my favorite time.

  “And you’re not at work.” I started right in on him as I leaned back on the porch’s railing to ease the heavy mailbag off my shoulder.

  “Whoa, let me sit dow
n and get a sip of coffee in me before you go all postal,” he joked, though I didn’t find it very funny. “Okay, bad joke.” He smiled and sat down in the Adirondack chair on his front porch.

  “Harriette, what did he say?” I heard Ruby Dean trying to whisper across the yard, but it was hard for her.

  “Turn up your ears so you can hear,” Harriette spat back.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see four little heads popping up over the brick wall on Harriette’s porch. No doubt they were trying to get some insider information on the sale of the country club.

  I returned my focus to Mac and watched as he took a few drinks of his coffee.

  I always wondered why he was single. Mac Tabor was a catch, at least in the looks and friendship department. He had thick brown hair that he always kept nice and tidy, not too short but long enough to run your hands through. Not that I ever imagined doing so, but Richard would come home telling me all sorts of stories about how girls adored Mac and fawned all over him. Then there were his deep brown eyes that told you he had more than just looks. He had some brains and substance. His teeth showed how well-groomed he kept himself. They were as white as snow, and from the dental reminder cards he got in the mail, I knew he kept up on his appointments.

  “Now, what was it that you’re so upset about?” he asked.

  “The country club and what it’ll do to the people who use it.” I dropped my mail carrier bag between my feet and sat down on the half brick wall that was built around his porch. I told him my concerns about the country club but left out how I was wondering why he was still single.

  “First off, the country club isn’t making money for Sugar Creek Gap. I’ve looked at all the numbers.” He smiled.

  Even with his hair all mussed, he still looked like a million bucks.

  “No one in the fancy neighborhoods wants to pay the Home Owners Association fee to keep the pool and golf course running, so someone might as well buy it and make money. Dennis and Chuck have damn near gone bankrupt over it, and I’m the only one who can buy it. Why would I buy a dying country club and keep it when I can make money on prime real estate for condos?”

  He let out a long, deep sigh and turned his gaze past me. I looked over my shoulder to see what he’d seen, because the disapproval on his face wasn’t hard to notice.

  The mayor, along with three of the city council members I’d seen just a few minutes earlier, was crossing the street with the signs I’d seen earlier under their arms.

  “Stand with the citizens of Sugar Creek Gap against Tabor Architect Firm,” I read out loud. “Wow. The whole town is against you. I just came from the emergency city council meeting. Did you know they’ve got a commissioners’ meeting at the fairgrounds tonight at five?”

  “They can’t do anything. Just want to create a lot of ruckus for me. That’s all.” He was as cool as a cucumber as he dragged the coffee cup up to his lips, his eyes barely looking over the rim at the mayor and her gaggle of sidekicks. “Planning and zoning already approved it, though Dennis Kuntz is giving me a little problem. I don’t know why, because he’s going to make forty percent off my deal unless he has something else up his sleeve. I’m signing the paperwork tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” I questioned, because I’d heard from Trudy that he was signing later today. But now I knew to chalk it up to gossip. This was why I had come straight to the source to get the real story behind all the tales swirling around out there.

  “This deal has been a long time in the making. Dennis is always saying he wants to have something when he retires. If he takes my full offer at the signing, he can retire. He can get out of Sugar Creek Gap for all I care.” He nodded toward the mayor and her crew.

  “Well, okay.” I pushed myself up and hoisted the bag back onto my shoulder. “I’ll see you at the game.”

  “Yep.” He got up from the chair. “I almost forgot.” He blinked several times. “I can’t believe it’s been ten years. Are you okay?” he asked with sincerity.

  “I’m fine.” My voice cracked. “Ahem.” I cleared my throat and looked at my good friend. “You lost someone special too. Are you okay?”

  “I’m all good, but I need to know that you and Grady are doing good today. I made a promise to myself when Richard died that I’d take care of you and Grady.” He reached out and touched me.

  I was thankful I had on long sleeves so he couldn’t see the chill that ran up my arm. My mind was having a hard time processing what this was. There was no way I was attracted to Mac. I smiled, shaking off the notion that I could possibly have an attraction to Mac. He was honoring his friendship with Richard. I had been alone for so long, I’d bet if the duck touched me, I’d get goose bumps.

  “We are fine.” I took a step back, teetering on the top step. “I release you from your promise.”

  His large hand reached out and grabbed me by my arm.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” he questioned.

  “I’m just clumsy.” I smiled and turned around so he wouldn’t see me roll my eyes at how stupid I felt. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Yes, you will.” He pumped his fist in the air when I turned back. “Go, Grizzlies!”

  Without another thought about the country club, I walked next door to Harriette Pearl’s house, where the front porch ladies were all waiting for me.

  “Morning, ladies.” I greeted Harriette, Ruby, Gertrude, and Millie. They were all spread apart on different chairs with their hands busy with cups of coffee, chatting as if I hadn’t heard them say Here she comes, be quiet when I unlatched the gate.

  “We are good.” Harriette smiled and nodded. “What do you have for me today?”

  “Well, I’ve come with bad news.” I frowned and reached around in my bag to grab her stack of what I’d consider junk mail.

  “Oh no.” Her gray brows furrowed as she appeared to be considering what it could be. “Is it about…” She hesitated and jerked her head toward Mac’s house.

  “Mac? No.” I shook my head. “What about him? Did he have a woman over there?” I joked, knowing they were trying to get any news about his plans with the country club out of me.

  “Who told her?” Gertrude jerked herself up straight.

  A round of not me come from all of them.

  “Wait.” I was taken by surprise, getting stung by my own joke. “Did he really have a woman over there?”

  “Mmmhhhmmmm,” Harriette hummed through her pinched lips. “Young one, too. Not the first time she’s been there, either.”

  “Really?” A bit of panic suddenly rioted through me, making me all confused. What was this feeling? Not feelings of being attracted to him. Maybe?

  Nah. I continued to have a conversation with myself in my head as the four of them discussed this young girl with brown hair and a fancy car who had been crying when she left.

  Maybe I was panicking a little, because if he did date or get married, where would that leave me and Grady?

  “Bernadette, if his love life is not the bad news, what is the bad news you have for me?” Harriette stomped her black shoe on the concrete.

  “I…um…I.” I swallowed hard and blinked a couple of times. “You didn’t win the Publishers Clearing House.”

  I handed her the mail and the box of biscuits, minus one.

  It was no joke. Harriette filled out that sweepstakes form and ordered all the magazines. She was as serious as could be. I remembered when I’d see her at the grocery store when Grady was just a baby, and Harriette would pick up copies of different magazines, telling me how she swore Ed McMahon was going to be on her front porch one day with a big cardboard check made out to Harriette Pearl.

  “That’s all right.” She eased out of the rocking chair. “I’ll get the new one I filled out and your sweet tea.” She held up the box before she went in. “We’ll have these biscuits with Gertrude’s jam.”

  I forced a laugh, still thinking about Mac’s big lady news.

  Ugh.

  “I didn’t f
orget you, Bernadette.” Gertrude handed me a small glass jar with some fabric on the top tied with a little ribbon. “Jam for you.”

  “Thank you so much. You ladies are too good to me.” I hugged her then took the empty thermos out of my bag and handed it to Harriette in place of the full one she was about to give me.

  I hugged her before she sat back down in her rocking chair. “Now, for you ladies.” I looked at Millie, Gertrude, and Ruby, referring to their mail. “Would you like your mail now? Or I can put it in your mailboxes,” I asked.

  All of them put their hands out.

  I put my bag on the ground and sat on the top step to gather their mail. Plus, one stop for all four of them gave me a little time to chat and possibly find out more information about Mac’s mystery woman.

  “Mac didn’t say a word about a woman.” I shuffled through the mail, not because I had to, but it gave them time to give each other the side-eye and gather their thoughts.

  “Millie thinks he’s lost his mind.” Gertrude nodded at Millie. The two of them were sharing the porch swing.

  “I didn’t say that, Gertrude. You are rude.” Millie shifted on the swing, slightly turning away from Gertrude. “I just mentioned that it was out of his character to buy the country club to make condos when he loves Sugar Creek Gap so much. And now her.”

  “Something ain’t right in his head.” Ruby let out a long sigh as if it was normal to make such a comment before she took a sip of her coffee. “You, Bernadette Butler, are a fine woman. He needs to open his eyes to what is in front of him.”

  I shot her a look. My mouth dropped open then shut again.

  “I heard Kenneth Simpson plum drove the golf course into the ground.” Gertrude continued to gossip. “He spent all they had redoing the golf course and couldn’t afford to pay the pool staff or the upkeep, not to mention the restaurant.”

  “Poor Audrey.” Ruby tsked.