Developers were in a class all by themselves.
A big development could mean millions for the company spearheading the build, and I’d seen them do all kinds of crazy — and illegal — things to move their projects forward.
“You’re probably right.” Bastien seemed alarmed by the prospect that Hearthstone might want Harold dead. No reason to freak him out. “Was there anyone Harold didn’t get along with? Anyone who might have been angry at him?”
“Well, there was that thing with Maggie…”
“Maggie?”
“She owns the Open Book.”
The bookstore was next door to the Common Ground. I’d passed it on my way to the lake, first when I’d taken Evelyn flowers and then when I’d walked with Noah after the Mayor Biscuit Incident. “I’ve never been inside.”
“Maggie does an amazing job with it. She even managed to get that big thriller author in for a signing last year.” Bastien crinkled his forehead like he was trying to remember the author’s name. “Landon Reeves!”
Landon Reeves’ books took pride of place in the windows of every bookstore in the city. “Maggie had a falling-out with Harold?”
“Nothing major,” Bastien said. “We had a budget shortfall last year and Harold wanted to cut funding for the library. Maggie’s on the board — it’s her pet project — and they had a dustup about it. They even got into an argument in the square. Rosie took a picture and put it up on our neighbors.com board.”
Of course she did.
“What ended up happening?”
“Harold relented on the budget because Maggie told him it would be her mission to make him miserable every day of his life if he didn’t.”
“Thanks for filling me in,” I said.
The sun was climbing higher in the sky, and I was starting to feel like my shoulders — bare thanks to my tank top — might be getting burned.
“Anytime,” Bastien said. “Gabriel and I would like to have you over for dinner sometime soon. You can bring your three hot men.”
My face was immediately ten times warmer than my shoulders. “Oh, they’re not?— ”
He laughed, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.”
I suddenly wished for a sinkhole to swallow me. Or an asteroid to strike me down on the sidewalk. Literally anything to get Bastien to stop talking about the possibilities that had commandeered my mind during every waking hour.
“I don’t know them very well,” I said.
He grinned. “I can think of a way or three to get to know them.”
I laughed and shook my head. “You’re terrible.”
“Incorrigible,”Bastien said, mimicking a formal voice that I assumed was Gabriel’s. “It’s one of my better qualities.”
“I’ll let you get back to your work,” I said, hurrying away.
I didnotwant to talk about Beck, Noah, and Dane. I didn’t even know what to think about the situation in my own mind. I was nowhere near ready to talk about it with someone I barely knew, although I had the sense that there could be worse confidants than Bastien in Blackwell Hollow.
Rosie and Lyle were at the top ofthatparticular list.
“Have a great day,” Bastien called out, turning on his hose.
I thought about what he’d said about Harold as I headed for the bakery. I definitely needed to find a way to meet Victor Ames.
But now it sounded like I needed to pay a visit to the Open Book as well.
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