As we stood there, it dawned on me, and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t realized it before. “I suppose you’ll also be buying and tearing down the building Annie owns where Eck, Meck & Dreck is located?” The question was somewhat rhetorical because I had already deduced the answer. “So, you’re planning to eliminate the place where I work, where I hang out, where Courtney works. Why don’t you demolish our house too, while you are at it?”

“Abby, what we will be building will be bigger and better. We are improving the town.” He probably meant for his words to reassure me, but they just made me feel worse. I didn’t think our town needed any improving. I liked it just the way it was.

“Better for whom?” I finally asked him.

He looked slightly surprised by my question. “It will be better for everyone.” He looked at me as if his opinion should be taken as a fact.

“Not for me,” I answered him sadly, before turning on my heel and leaving his office.

21

I spent the rest of the week trying not to worry about what Sam was planning to do to my town. Annie kindly suggested that she would refuse to accept the offer from Davis Industries for her building, if that was what I preferred. I told her to do whatever she wanted to and tried not to sound sad as I said the words. The thought of losing Annie’s companionship, even if it was only some of the time, frightened me.

Courtney and Seth tried to bolster my spirits by talking and laughing about everything under the sun, except the elephant in the room – the fact that my lover was acquiring and transforming our beloved little town.

I wondered if Sam was indeed still my lover. I hadn’t had any contact with him all week. The last I had seen him was when I had barged into his office unannounced, trying to persuade him not to force Joe out of business. That visit had been a complete bust. Not only had I not changed Sam’s mind in the slightest, but also, I was now concerned about how much time Sam was likely spending with that tramp, Emily.

To be fair, Emily probably wasn’t a tramp at all, but the vision in my mind of her perched on Sam’s desk would not go away. I wondered how often they spent time together and what they did with all of the sexual tension that must exist between them.