Page 82 of Sundown Somewhere

It comes out as a question, his strangled defense already not off to a strong start. I don’t know if it’s a good sign or not that he doesn’t have any idea what this could be about. On the one hand, it’s not like even I know what I’m defending here, but on the other, in this town you’d have to be living under a rock to think I’m not going to be on Hux’s side. No matter what.

“See, that’s not what I hear.” I look down at him, waiting on him to reply, but he doesn’t. “You voted against Hux’s proposal?”

“Oh, that.” He relaxes, crossing his arms. “That I did.”

“What the hell, Seth?”

Okay, now I’m pissed. Because this nonchalance that is suddenly radiating off him is bullshit. Who does he think he is? I’m a firm believer in “everyone is important,” but he’s the plumber for cryin’ out loud. If there is anyone in this town who isn’t royalty, it’s Seth Jennings. Even if he is now on the town council.

“It’s not a good use of town funds, Dolly. And I before you say it, yes, I do realize that Hayes would pay the majority of it, but some of it would still have to come from the town, and I think we can find better uses for that money.”

Do you now…

“Such as?”

He’s been at this job for less than a year. There is no way he has any idea what’s best for Hickory Hills. Especially if the entire rest of the council is for this. If ever there was a tightwad, it’s Rick Babcock, the town treasurer, and he voted in favor. So I don’t buy for one single second that’s the reason.

“Does it matter?” He shrugs.

The move is so cold, so unlike him. Almost as if it’s practiced, pretty much solidifying that something else is going on here. That this isn’t about Hux. Or about whatever it is that he is proposing.

“Seth, what’s really going on here?”

“Look, I get that you two are weirdly joined at the hip and so you’re blindly loyal to him and that family, but I promise you, this isn’t something Hickory Hills needs.”

For fuck’s sake, who died and put him in charge?

“Yet, somehow, you’re the only member of the town council who thinks so,” I snap, unable to hold back. “So, tell me, Seth, what makes the town plumber think that he knows better than the rest of the group? Huh?”

Narrowing his eyes at me, Seth leans forward. “Because I’m not blinded by Hayes money.”

I reel backward, his answer slamming into me like one of those large foam battalions from an obstacle course. Blinded by Hayes money. He acts like Auggie and the boys are out here bribing the town left and right, leaving a trail of corruption and lies in their wake. And maybe in some small towns that’s the way it is. But not here in Hickory Hills.

“You’re blinded by something,” I mutter, keeping the part about it being stupidity in my head. Something that takes an incredible amount of self-control.

“Dolly, if you⁠—”

“Nope.” I hold up my hand, stopping him right there. “I don’t wanna hear it, Seth. Whatever your reason, and it seems you’ve got one, it’s yours, and yours alone. Just know, this won’t be forgotten. In fact, I suggest you find someplace else to satisfy your pastry requirements. Try Oh, My Lard! Alice may choose to be more forgiving.”

I force the most saccharine smile I can, laughing diabolically inside. The chances of Alice being more forgiving once she learns what Seth did are slim to none—although she’s also more likely to try to put salt in his coffee rather than refuse to serve him. On top of that, she doesn’t make cinnamon rolls regularly, only when the whim hits her, and she doesn’t open until ten, well after when he would be trying to stop by.

Not all heroes wear capes, I suppose…

“You can’t do that,” he scoffs.

“Oh, but I can.” Defiance rises up in me. No one tells me what I can and can’t do. “You see, I am the owner of this establishment, and it’s my discretion who we serve.”

Five-dollar words fly out of my mouth so fast I’m almost not sure it’s me who is saying them. Sure, I jokingly threatened to cut him off when I was talking to Hux the other night, but I hadn’t meant it. Then again, that was before. When I thought that I could get him to change his mind simply by reminding him that we’re a community and that we work together, not against one another. Before he’d uttered the phrase blinded by Hayes money.

“Do you even know what he’s trying to build? Or are you supporting him just because?”

“I don’t have to know, Seth. Because I know him. Which means I know he’s trying to better this town. That he’s doing this for Hickory Hills, not himself. Because he believes in this community and making our little corner of the world a better place. And that’s all I need to know.”

“Right,” he huffs out a disbelieving breath as he leans forward on the counter. “And I’m sure that’s exactly what Ewan was doing too when he bought my granddaddy’s shop and gave it that obnoxious name.”

He turns away, muttering something else quietly. So quietly I almost miss it. But I catch the one key word.

Maisey.