Lara is Principal Amy Crandall’s younger sister, about eight years older than me, and the self-appointed crusader working to defund the Volunteer Fire Department.She kept her maiden name after marrying Dale Hutchins, a state trooper, and one of the most decent men in this county.
Lara sees Winslow Grove ashers.Yet if anyone has any claim, it’s Eddie and Oliver Winslow, seeing as their ancestors founded this town.Even still, Lara does carry real clout with a fair number of people, and whatever she says, some people follow, and she knows it.
Why is Grace talking to her?
I watch them for a moment longer than I probably should.Grace tucks her hair back and tilts her face toward Lara, and something moves through me that I don’t have a clean word for yet.Only that it feels like recognition, like arriving somewhere after a long drive and realizing only when you stop how tired you’ve been, and now you feel safe, ready to rest.
I cross the street.
“—don’t see how this is any of your business.”Lara’s voice is sharp as I step in beside Grace, close enough to make things clear.I’ve got Grace’s back.
“Good evening, Lara.”I dip my chin.
“Oh, hello, Maddox.”Her red lips curve into the kind of smile she gives when manners require it.
Grace’s eyes find mine, and something moves across her face—surprise first, then warmth, before settling into something quieter beneath both.
“Hey.”
She emits only a word, just one, and it does something to the weight of the past—loosens it, or maybe just reminds me it doesn’t have to be permanent.I smile down at her, Lara briefly forgotten.
Grace pulls her gaze back.“Ms.Crandall?—”
“Surely you can call her Lara.”I can’t help cutting in, if only to watch color climb Lara’s neck.
“Yes.Of course.”Lara’s arm crosses over her chest.“You were saying.”
“I’m genuinely interested in hearing more about your plans.”Grace’s pause is deliberate, and Lara leans into the silence without realizing it.“I might have a solution where everyone wins.”
Lara sniffs.“I can’t see how.Mayor Malone’s office has the budget for one town grant, and it’s currently allocated to the VFD.Tax dollars only stretch so far.”
She talks down to Grace like the concept might be a little much for her to wrap her head around, and I want to chuckle.Lara Crandall couldn’t be more wrong.She doesn’t know it yet—Grace may look like a movie star, but she’s a barracuda.
“I understand.”Grace’s tone is warm and patient.“That’s exactly why I’d love to take you to Beyond the Cake, Pop’s, wherever you’re comfortable—and talk through your plans and what I have in mind.I may be wrong, but I hope I’m not.”
Lara relents and takes Grace’s phone to put her number in, then she leaves in heeled boots, spine straight, her head held high like she’s doing everyone a favor.
Once she’s gone, Grace turns to me.“You came to find me.”
It isn’t a question, simply a fact she’s placing between us.Maybe to see what I’ll do with it.We haven’t talked after our night together, not for lack of trying.At times, I sense she’s as conflicted as I am, and then there’s time when it feels like we’re both all in.
“Yeah.”I turn toward her, close enough that whatever comes next belongs only to us.“I did.”
She searches my face the way she does when she’s weighing how much to ask.The thought did cross my mind that she’d press for details of my conversation with my mom and sister.
Her eyes are soft in the low light, patient in a way that undoes me, a little.“You okay?”
“Getting there.”I reach out and tuck back the strand of hair the wind has already stolen loose again, my fingers grazing her jaw.“Better now.”
The corner of her mouth shifts upward.
I let my smile rise in greeting, just slightly, and nod in the direction Lara disappeared.“What was that all about?”
“Hearing about the VFD situation got me thinking.”Her hands find her pockets again as the wind gusts between us.“Depending on what Lara wants, there might be a way for the town grant to stay with the VFD while still getting Lara what she’s after.I meant what I said; I might have a solution.”
“Really?”
“Really.”