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The women all groan, as if they know something we don’t.
Chloe turns to them, frowning. “What?”
“It’s just that Alberta Jenkins is the head of the town council,” Lucy pats Chloe’s elbow, which is near her own face. “And she doesn’t take kindly to outsiders.”
“Oh.” Chloe flops back onto the couch and puts her chin in her hands. Bites that bottom lip. “Well, we’ll just have to convince her. Throw a little of the Chloe Effect her way.” She glances up at me.
I laugh.
The others look confused.
“The what?” Marilee asks.
She winks at me. “I’ve been told it’s a thing.”
“Oh, it is, Princess,” I say. “It is.”
twenty-one
CHLOE
Turns out, Alberta Jenkins is the Al of Al’s Grocery Store.
As in, the person I once imagined as being so anti-system that they refused to adhere to the town’s standardized naming convention for their Main Street storefronts. The person I imagined having something in common with.
But I’m not sure I have a single thing in common with this woman. Taller than Frederick and twice as wide, with a head of bottle-red hair despite the wrinkles and liver spots dotting her skin, she’s got a steely gaze that’s scary as a snake about to strike a mouse.
And to be clear—she’s the snake and I’m the mouse in this scenario.
“Come to order!” She bangs a wooden gavel against the high-top table where she’s sitting inside Rainbow Ice, apparently the only building in town that can accommodate this many people on short notice since there’s no official town hall. Bathed in fluorescent light, the place is a hodgepodge of colors with a huge rainbow painted behind the counter where a chalkboard menu of ice cream flavors hangs. Scattered throughout the room are a mix of high-top tables and booths, which are filled with people. There’s standing room only left, and in fact, the crowd spills out of the place.
At Alberta’s announcement, someone shouts to the group on the back deck that overlooks the beach. “Be quiet, you lot!”
I’m standing not far from Alberta between Frederick and Lucy, both of whom are holding my hands. After Kelsey broke the news to us about the vineyard being available just a few hours ago, the women have gone to bat for me, calling up Alberta and the other four town council members. Two of them are out of town at the moment, but Burt is one—and he’s firmly in my corner, thank goodness—while Simone Zalenski, the owner of Red Sauce Pizza, is the other. She’s a complete wild card, though the women have assured me she’s pretty fair.
I only need two of them to approve the permit. Majority rules.
They truly have no reason to deny me. Except for Alberta’s glare, telling me she’s already against me. Simone will have to be my saving grace, then.
“I said, order!” Alberta bangs the gavel again. The woman’s clearly power hungry as her eyes roam the crowd. I recognize a lot of townsfolk I’ve met over the last week since I arrived. Bea, Stephanie, Jordan, Landon, and a few of the Loveland brothers. Even Greta’s squeezed onto a stool in the corner, eating a bowl of what looks to be vanilla ice cream. That would be very Greta of her if so.
Each person whose gaze I catch nods at me. They’ve got my back.
This town is literally the best. It breaks my heart to think about leaving in four days. But once the wedding is over, I’ll have no reason to stay.
At least I have a brilliant life waiting for me back home, with Frederick.
“We’re meeting tonight—at a most inconvenient hour, I must say”—Alberta glares at me—“to discuss the matter of whether a last-minute event permit can be issued to Loveland Winery for a wedding”—she spits the word—“between Chloe Marie and Frederick Shaw.”
“Is this really necessary?” someone yells from the crowd. “I just wanted some ice cream, but now I can’t make it to the counter.”
“Shut up, Earl,” Alberta yells back. “Your feedback was not requested.”
An older gentleman grumbles and flicks his fingers across his white mustache.
Alberta continues, reading off of a piece of paper in her hands. The woman has no need for a microphone. Her voice booms through the small restaurant. “Hallmark Beach by-laws state that a town council meeting is required to issue permits for events over thirty people unless an establishment already has a year-round permit for events.”
Frederick leans close, and the scent of his masculine aftershave tickles my nose. “It’s going to work out, love.”
