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“I will never leave you alone now.”

Everything grew louder. Henry winced and Piper hid behind Theo. This was getting out of hand, and quickly.

Jade stepped up onto a chair. “Hey! Idiots!” At her sharp tone, everyone quieted. “Fighting among ourselves isn’t gonna get us anywhere. We need someone who has no problem taking charge and will fight for this town.”

Tammy threw her name into the ring, only to be argued with by Hugh. While more names flew through the air, I had an idea.

I stepped up on a chair too. “It should be Jade.”

“What?” Jade yelled.

“Oh, of course you would say that!” Tammy said.

“She just set up a buggy tournament and nearly died in it.” Kerry shook her head. “Is this a good idea?”

“No! Wait!” Mollie said. “He might be biased, but he’s also right.”

“No one has spent more time on this than she has,” Wren said. “She’s planned it all, even closed her shop to make sure this spring stays a spring.”

“And no one can stop her,” Grace said. “She’s from here. She’s not gonna take shit. And she cares.”

“She wouldn’t sell the town out,” Mark said. “And you could pass a law protecting my BBC.”

“BBC protection is one of my top concerns,” Jade said. Her friends all had to cover their laughs.

“And she barely works at the candle shop.” Hugh laughed.

“Watch it,” Jade hissed. “Or I’ll ban ass pictures.”

“Why aren’t they already banned?” Kerry asked.

“I’m merciful.”

“But it’s not just us,” Tammy said. “We have to get other people to vote for you too. We need to campaign, and I know you don’t have the money to.”

I opened my mouth to offer up my own, but Kerry cut me off.

“The grant! Use that!”

“No!” Hugh yelled. “I keep telling you all to stop depending on that thing. If they agree to fund an election, who knows what they’ll ask for in return.”

“But they would say yes!” Kerry said. “If we’re doing this, we need all the help we can get.”

“I’m not voting for anyone who uses it!” Hugh said. “I’m telling you, it’s evil.”

Defensiveness rose in me. My chest tightened, and I spoke before I could stop myself.

“It’s not evil, it’s here to help.”

Everyone turned to me.

“And how do you know?” Tammy asked.

“Yeah, do you know something we don’t?” Mark asked.

It was tempting to walk it back. I could make up some excuse about believing in this town. I could say I knew them if I really wanted to lie.

But Jade was watching me. So were all her friends, and the men that I could potentially be friends with. I was sure that they would cover for me if I wanted them to, but the town had lost trust in something that I’d done for them, and I wasn’t sure I could live with that.