But it was hard to feel any joy or satisfaction when Isla looked so pale and anxious next to me. The rest of the town was frowning at Declan, clearly annoyed by him. But Isla? She looked hurt—like seeing him poked at an old wound that still hadn’t healed. What the hell had hedone?
“Thank you for that invigorating presentation, Declan,” Jo said, the words ground out between her teeth. I’d never seen her behave so frostily to anyone. Not even toward Weston’s arse of a cousin at last year’s summer festival. “You’ve given Braeburn a lot to consider.” She glanced down the table at her fellow council members. “And we don’t make this decision lightly. You can take your seat.”
Declan nodded, still maintaining his smile even if it now looked uncomfortably strained as he made his way back down the aisle to his chair.
My heart crashed against my ribcage as Patrick rose to his feet. “We’ve heard two proposals,” he said. “Now it’s time to help Mr. MacRae choose the way forward for Braeburn. All in favor of the factory proposal given by Sargentis Industries?”
Isla latched onto my hand, squeezing hard enough to make the bones grind together. Was she anxious because she was hopeful for me? Or was her distress all to do with Declan after all? This vote was what I’d waited for,workedfor, but now that the moment had come, the only thing on my mind was the woman by my side.
“Do you need to get out of here?” I whispered in her ear, but she shook her head hard.
“I’m not going anywhere until we know for sure that you’ve won,” she insisted.
Looking around, I noticed only a small scattering of hands raised around the room.
Jo counted off the votes, making note of it.
“And now,” Patrick said. “All in favor of the hotel proposal given by Fraser Developments?”
More hands went up. Alotmore hands. Isla and Weston and Mel. She took baby Lucy’s hand and raised that too, drawing some chuckles from the crowd. I turned around, watching the hands fly up around me. Dougal watched, too, his eyebrow arched to his hairline.
Isla shook my hand, a laugh tumbling free as she twisted and turned. Jo’s hand was up. Patrick’s hand was up. Even old Tam’s. Maisie had popped in from the inn to vote, and so had Weston’s groundskeeper, Callum. Agnes and her knitting circle were back there, hands up, nodding as they murmured to each other.
It was obvious that my proposal had won by a large margin. I didn’t bother trying to hold back a smug smile. I’d had my share of victories over the years, but really, winningnevergot old.
“And there we have it!” Jo said. “Congratulations, Mr. Fraser.”
“The town wants the hotel!” Isla squealed under her breath, looking at me with a huge grin that lit up her face. She was still a little paler than I’d like, but how could I fuss when she looked so happy?
She leaned into my shoulder, and I pressed a kiss to her temple. We’d bloody well done it. We’d won the popular vote. Now all we needed was for Dougal to actually keep his word and make the sale.
He rose to his feet. “Thank you everyone for coming out and voting,” Dougal said. “I appreciate your input.”
“And that closes out our meeting,” Patrick announced.
The room broke into a flurry of chaos as everyone fell into chattering while they got up and gathered their things. Greetings sounded. People gushed over Agnes’s scones and tittered over the vote. Weston clapped my shoulder, pulling me out of all the chaos as he congratulated me.
“The hard part’s over,” he said.
“Looks that way, but I’m not counting my chickens before they’re hatched,” I reminded him. The last big deal I’d arranged had fallen apart at the finish line. Until Dougal had signed his name on that contract and handed me the deed to the property, I wasn’t letting myself get carried away.
But still, it was definitely a moment to enjoy.
“I’m gonna go let Lena know,” Weston said. “See you at Lochbrae.”
I lifted my hand in goodbye. “I’ll be around later.”
Isla pressed herself against my side, and my hand automatically wound around her waist.
“Guess congratulations are in order.”
I glanced over my shoulder to find Declan standing there. He’d finally dropped the smile, and his earlier swagger was gone.
Isla frowned, her eyebrows knitted together. “What do you want, Declan?”
He clapped in her face. “Easy to see who won the breakup as far as the town is concerned. Never really stood a chance, did I? Not when everyone’s little princess was sitting in the front row, pouting.”
“I’m not responsible for the mess you made of your reputation in this town,” Isla said, her jaw clenched tight.
