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“Yeah, that. It came out of nowhere and suddenly paid for so much. A lot of us depend on it. That kind of money doesn’t stay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“There’s not a single other town it’s worked for. It’s just us. And none of us know why. For a while, I thought I could find them. Maybe understand why they did this and thank them. Now I’m worried it was all for development.”

“Didn’t they do nice things for people or something?” I asked.

“To earn our trust.”

It never occurred to me to think about it like that. Money was money. Why would they question it?

“Anyway, I had some ideas. It took me chasing Jackie’s raccoon to find some answers. Or what I thought were answers.”

I had to pause for a moment to take in what she said. “What is with Jackie and the raccoons? I keep hearing talk of them, but I don’t understand. Is it a euphemism for something?”

“No, it’s not. They’re literal raccoons that she keeps as pets. The one I chased down today is named Ciabatta. He’s in a pink tutu.”

“He?” I asked.

“Hey, don’t bring your gendered colors to the raccoons. They deserve better, you know. Male raccoons happen to love pink.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. This was one of the most ridiculous conversations I’d had in a while, but I was also having fun.

Jade leaned forward when I did, smiling softly.

“That cheers me up.”

“What does?”

“Making you laugh. I remember when we were in high school, I’d make the weirdest jokes just to get a chuckle out of you.”

“How many beers have you had?” I asked, trying to ignore the way my body warmed at the mention of our past.

“Why?”

“You seem a little drunk.”

“This is my first. It’s just been a weird day.”

“You’re saying it’s a weird day?” I asked. “What could have possibly happened?”

“I chased a racoon through Hugh’s Antiques.”

“That . . . would classify this as a weird day, yeah.”

“And that’s not even the half of it,” she muttered. I waited for her to elaborate. She never did. “How did your meeting go?”

Clearly, Jade was hunting for a distraction. I’d done my best to get what information out of her I could, but she would never say something she wasn’t ready to say.

I decided to let her have this one. If she wanted a distraction, that was what she would get.

“I still don’t know what’s happening. They’re considering letting the girls join late.”

“Wouldn’t they need to be enrolled in the meantime?”

“Maybe. Probably.”

“Truancy is a thing.”