Page 65 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

‘Yeah, there’s this great new brewery I’ve been wanting to try. They do beers and ciders. We could go this weekend?’

Hazel muttered something that sounded an awful lot like ‘how convenient’ but Noah didn’t have time to question it before Mayor Kelly was doing his damnedest to start the meeting.

‘Attention, Dreamers!’ he called over the din. ‘We have a lot to get through tonight so if everyone could settle down ...’

Mindy’s whistle pierced through the noise and the mayor flinched. The crowd quieted and he cleared his throat. ‘Right. Thank you, Mindy.’

Pete adjusted his glasses ‘So, first order of business. We have a new resident in town. Ms Kira North recently purchased the Christmas-tree farm up on Old Spruce Road.’

The crowd started to glance around, whispers about this mystery resident were quickly circulating through the room. Noah couldn’t help his smile. This town was too much sometimes.

‘And where is she, Pete?’ Tim asked the mayor from the front row.

‘Well, I invited her tonight to discuss her plans for the land.’

‘Is she going to reopen the tree farm?’ Nancy asked.

‘The place is in shambles,’ Tim quickly pointed out.

The crowd took this as their cue to shout out whatever they saw fit.

‘I used to love going there as a kid.’

‘Used to have the best trees around.’

‘And Santa! Remember in the old sleigh?’

‘We have to convince her to reopen! Right Pete?’

Noah almost felt bad for the flustered mayor.

‘Now hold on!’ he shouted over the voices of his constituents. ‘I’m sure we’ll figure it out!’

The loud creaking of the back doors interrupted the room’s excitement. Heads turned just in time to see a woman enter the room. A woman who clearly had not expected to be facing half the town’s population.

She froze in the doorway. She had straight black hair with blunt bangs and holes in her baggy jeans. That’s about all Noah managed to notice before the crowd reared up again.

‘Dear God,’ Logan groaned beside him, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Mindy whistled again.

The woman held up a hand in greeting. ‘Uh, hello.’

‘Kira, welcome!’ Mayor Kelly beckoned her toward the podium and the poor woman had no choice but to make her way through the crowded room. ‘Thank you so much for coming.’

Kira glanced around, a shell-shocked look still on her face. ‘I ... uh ... didn’t realize it was this type of meeting.’

Pete’s eyes widened in dismay. ‘Oh, I probably should have specified.’

Hazel sighed. ‘Oh, Dad,’ she whispered, shaking her head. Noah gave her hand a squeeze and she gave him a grim smile. ‘He has good intentions.’

Noah chuckled. ‘I know.’

‘The town has a rich history of discussing town business in a public forum.’ He smiled but Kira just scowled back.

‘And my property is town business?’

‘Well ... uh...’ Pete cleared his throat. ‘We were so delighted when the land was purchased. That tree farm holds a lot of special memories for the town and...’