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As we step onto the building’s first floor, we’re greeted by the echoing of ringing phones, the whooshing of papers being moved, and people talking. It’s a much bigger town hall than ours, but the population is also much higher. We have just over sixteen hundred residents, whereas Cedar Grove has close to ten thousand.

We find Mayor Payne’s office at the end of the hall on the second floor, and we poke our heads in right away. Perhaps prematurely.

“Hi there,” I say with a bright grin. I figured he’d have an office within an office-type situation, and his receptionist would be front and center to greet us, but no. The door is open, and he isn’t alone.

He’s speaking in hushed tones to two hulking men who are standing over him wearing matching scowls. When the three of them see us, they shut up immediately.

“Oh, sorry,” I offer, feeling sheepish. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I step inside the office and hold out my hand. “Mayor Payne, I’m Mayor Emma Crane from Mapletown. We have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but I wanted to stop by today and say hello.”

“We’ve just come from the mall,” Ezra adds, holding up their many bags.

“Yes, we had the best time.”

“Ah, Mayor Crane,” Mayor Payne says, wiping sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief before shaking my hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

There’s a heavy silence as the two surly men cross their arms as they stare at us.

Again, I say, “I realize we barged in with no warning. Apologies.”

Still, they say nothing.

I wait for Mayor Payne to introduce us, but he doesn’t. With the way his hairline continues to dampen with sweat, and his hands can’t stop fidgeting, I’m not sure I want him to.

He’s several inches shorter than these guys, and it’s clear their relationship is strained at best. Are they in the mob? Is the mayor involved in some unsavory dealings? The theories begin to flood my mind, and after another beat of silence that makes me feel like I’m dying, I take the hint.

“Well, we won’t keep you,” I say. “Looking forward to chatting with you tomorrow morning. I have a feeling our partnership is going to be a smashing success for both our towns.”

“Yes, can’t wait,” Mayor Payne says, gesturing back out into the hallway.

Whatever he’s discussing with those men, he clearly doesn’t want any witnesses. Ezra and I share a Did you see that shit? look as we head back outside and book a rideshare.

We spend the night in the hotel ordering room service and trying on our new clothes. The next morning, we head down to the lobby for breakfast as we go through the ideas we saved on Ezra’s tablet.

We expect the meeting to be a disaster that goes nowhere, given how yesterday went, but the opposite happens. Mayor Payne is a completely different man today, and by man, I mean horse shifter. He’s calm and confident and chock-full of partnership ideas.

Our enthusiastic brainstorming session has the meeting running long, and by the time we’re done, we’ve agreed on several themed days throughout the year wherein our residents can travel via portal to each other’s towns and take advantage of all our biggest attractions, while getting exclusive discounts.

We’re laughing and enjoying a catered lunch of pulled pork sandwiches with locally made Carolina gold sauce when Ezra leans in and asks Mayor Payne, “So who were those scary dudes yesterday?”

It’s not like them to pry, but with how well today has gone, I’m feeling a level of trust and comfort that wasn’t there yesterday, so I get it.

Mayor Payne sweeps a dismissive hand in front of him as he says, “Oh, them. Nobody, really. Just dealing with a bit of a local headache.” He turns to me. “You know how it is.”

“I do, indeed,” I reply, but I see the tight lines forming around his mouth and the cagey look in his eyes as he anxiously folds and crumples the napkin in his hands as if it’s the only thing preventing him from shouting what he really wants to say. They’re clearly not “nobody.”

After using several wet wipes from Mayor Payne’s personal stash to get the barbecue sauce off our hands and face, we confirm next steps and say our goodbyes.

Ezra and I head back to the hotel and grab our overstuffed rolling suitcases from the front desk before making our way down the street to the portal that’ll take us home in a heartbeat. There’s a line, as there’s only one portal, and it travels to one destination at a time, but Ezra and I don’t mind. “Who do we think those dudes were yesterday? Bookies? Gang members? Let’s place some bets,” they say.

I shrug. “I’m putting my money on run-of-the-mill townie hecklers. They looked like the type to go to all the town meetings and offer only complaints.”

Ezra scrunches their nose as the line moves closer to the portal one inch at a time. “No way. Did you see the way Mayor Payne was sweating? He’s in deep with them.”

“If he’s eating pulled pork with that spicy sauce every day, the sweating makes a lot of sense.” I turn and notice we’re the last ones in line. The platform is completely empty after us. When the last person ahead of us disappears behind the portal door, I realize there’s not a local staffer or police officer guarding it. No one to punch in our destination and turn the key, and from what we’ve seen, there haven’t been any issues with people getting to where they need to go. “Maybe it’s time for us to make the Mapletown portal self-service,” I suggest. “It would free up one of the officers from standing there all day.”

Ezra nods as the door opens, and we step inside. “Yeah, we could. It seems risky, though, don’t you think? We don’t have the proper surveillance in place yet to track the comings and goings of people without having one of our local cops there manually entering it.”

A second before the door closes, a black-gloved hand appears in the opening and tosses what looks like a tiny steel beer keg into the portal with us.