Page 78

—Jessamy’s secret thoughts

Jessamy

“I have it from a very good source in the city that they’re trying to annex us into Bear Pass.” Mr. Laurence crossed his bulky arms over his chest.

I blinked. “We’re four and a half miles in the opposite direction of where the town would technically be considered ‘growing.’ Why would they try to annex that part into their town?”

“I can answer that,” Jack Wellington, a man that I’d saved once upon a time, answered.

When had he gotten there?

“What’s going on, Jack?” Mr. Laurence asked.

“A man by the name of Milton Croon purchased the land that dead ends into y’all’s road. He holds the land between the end of that road and the main drag right through town. As of right now, there’s plans for a ski resort to go in that particular spot. It’ll be a little bit more higher end, and Sawtooth city council will want a part of the proceeds. Amile is the only one that knows that it’s going to be a ski resort right now, hence her trying to get control of that road, and then annexing y’all into the city.”

Son of a bitch.

“A fucking ski resort?” everyone cried at once.

No one, and I do mean no one, liked the idea of a ski resort.

Especially one at the end of our road.

That would mean traffic, and tourists, and people trashing our homes.

No.

That sounded really fucking awful.

“So what do we do?” I asked no one in particular. “How do we prevent this from happening? Even better, how do we get rid of this fucking ski resort?”

“How about creating a new town?” Milo suggested. “We could get ahead of whatever game they’re playing. We could create our own town in between Bear Pass and Sawtooth. Then we put in ordinances that don’t allow ski resorts within however many miles of the town?”

Silence.

Though, not a bad kind of silence. A thoughtful kind of silence.

“So what, we’ll have nine farms, your Camp Grizzly, and a single street in this new town?” I asked somewhat unconvincingly.

Milo nodded.

No wasted movement. No shrugging. No nothing.

Just a nod.

“What are you going to call it, Mr. Founder?” Black asked, startling me.

I hadn’t realized he was even there.

“What about ‘Barely There?’”

“What about ‘Bearly There’ since it’s a bear’s paradise?” another neighbor suggested.

“Bearly There.” I smiled. “I love it.”

“So, how does one go about creating a new town?” Gentry asked.

“The Dixie Wardens have some really good lawyers,” Black suggested. “Ones that are on retainer, and willing to work on this right now.”