Page 62 of Manors & Mischief

“Let me in,” Devon calls out.

I roll my eyes and then open the front door again. I’ve barely cracked it when he steps in front of me, grabs my chin, and kisses me. My body responds, pressing myself to him as if giving him invitation to devour me.

He pulls away too soon. “Good night, Sweetheart.”

He closes the door, then waits until I slide the lock into place before I hear his footsteps walk across the porch and then down the steps.

“Damn,” Bea says. “I knew I should’ve left.”

22

DEVON

“Oh, come on. This is ridiculous!” I snap.

Mom frets over her lip. “I’m not happy about it, but I’m in a difficult place. I’m here to uphold the laws of Harvest Falls, and he can prove that it is a law.”

I’m not mad at her, but I can’t hide how pissed I am that Nichols has stepped out of place and is doing this to Ember. Bright Ember who only wants to make Harvest Falls a better place.

I know I don’t need to say that to my mom though.

“Since he’s suddenly starting to enforce this law, then surely, she should get a warning this time, Mom. They can’t just decide to do something that’s always been there and expect people to know what’s happening because past practices say differently.”

“I tried to talk to him about that, but he sees it very differently. As you know, Jim Parsons died before Ember got here, so he hasn’t changed his practices in her presence, and he can’t answer to what Jim did.”

I blow out a big breath, trying to tame the angry beast inside me. I don’t just see an injustice, I see this as picking on someone I’ve grown to care very much about, and I’m livid.

“Do some mayoral decree or something.”

She sits back in her black leather chair, surrounded by dark wood bookcases and the enormous desk that takes up most of her office. Her eyes tell me how troubled she is by this information, too. “Devon… I can’t just make an exception for Ember because you care about her. If I speak up and do something, this is going to be brought up by the next Nichols who decides they want to run against me for mayor. I can’t play favorites, and I read the code myself. That’s what it says.”

“This might ruin her. She might have to leave. Sell the house.”

A soft smile claims her lips, but I don’t say anything because I know it’s obvious to everyone now how much I really do care about her. “I’m happy to hear that you’re more interested in her than the house.” She takes a tissue and blots at her eyes. “My hands are just tied.”

“I can’t have her be disillusioned with the place before she even really settles in. What does Nichols get to decide next? Can he stall her requests? Can he deny her any improvements she wants to make?”

Mom leans forward in full mayor mode now. She puts on her glasses and flits through some paperwork on her desk. “The code is very clear on what she can and cannot do. As long as her requests keep with the historical nature of Sleepy Hollow Manor, everything should be fine. And trust me, I will be watching him like a hawk. If he wants to enforce every little thing, I will, too.”

She clicks a few screens on her computer and prints out the entire historic place code for Harvest Falls. It spits out on her printer in the corner of the room.

Mom motions toward the chair opposite her side of the desk like she wants me to sit. It’s the last thing I want to do because I just want to go find Nichols and punch him in the face. Squirrelly little rat. But since it’s my mom, I do as she asks and sit. “I don’t want to intrude, but how’s it going with Ember? You really do seem to care about her a lot.”

“She’s an impressive person. I just had to get out of my own way before I saw it.”

“And she thinks you’re…?”

It’s hard to have these conversations with your mother. I certainly can’t have the same one with her that I had with Trav. “She likes me, too.”

Mom claps her hands. “Oh, I’m so happy. I should have you two over for dinner soon. What’s her favorite meal?”

“I don’t know yet, but you’re also assuming she’s going to be around to ask over for dinner. Ember doesn’t have a lot of money, and I don’t think she has enough to pay the fine.”

“She’s resilient. Plus, there’s nothing in the code that says she has to pay the fine all at once. Nichols should work with her, and if he won’t, I’ll write a proposal that says fines can be split into payments. We just never had to worry about this sort of thing with Jim. It’s like the Nichols do everything in their power to rid Harvest Falls of its very essence.”

“Which is why you always win when they run against you.”

She knocks on the desk. She’s a superstitious lady, so she needs to complete the “knock on wood” adage before continuing on. “So far, I’ve been lucky.”