“Wanna see it before I post, or should I let it rip?”

“I trust you, kid. Let ’er rip.” He closed his eyes tightly. “It’s only my hard-earned reputation on the line.”

Zoey frowned. “What are you two talking about?”

The room was still abuzz with people congratulating her and patting each other’s backs in celebration. Hazel gave her a playful shrug. “Nothing major. Just fixing your boytoy’s image.”

“Or destroying it,” Mike added.

“He’s not my...wait, what?”

Marty’s gavel came down sharply on the table three times before he called out.

“Okay, okay, have a seat, people! We have more business to conduct tonight.”

She glanced at Mike. “I guess we can go, right?” She didn’t really care about any other zoning decisions right now. To her surprise, though, all of her supporters—friends, neighbors, the book club crew, Mike’s family—all sat down, seeming eager for the next order of business.

Hazel tugged her hand. “Sit, Mom. You’ll want to hear this.” Hazel turned and gave a thumbs-up gesture toward Vickie behind them. Mike sat on Zoey’s other side, so she was between him and Hazel. The two of them kept leaning forward to look at each other with conspiratorial grins. Zoey felt like she was the only one in the room who didn’t know what was about to happen.

“We have a motion,” Marty said, “to allow a one-acre parcel of land formerly owned by Brady College, located at the corner of Main Street and College Street, to be declared a public town park.” He held up a paper and read from it. “More specifically, the park will be designated as a sculpture garden, to be maintained year-round by the town in partnership with the festival committee. The town board has approved the acquisition with the stipulation that the zoning be approved. It’s my understanding that the land will be landscaped by Cooper Landscaping at no charge to the town, with environmentally safe lighting paid for by the Taggart Inn. The pedestals for both permanent and temporary sculptures on display are being donated by McKinnon Law Firm. Maintenance will be paid for by a grant set up by Victoria Pendergast for that specific purpose.” Marty cleared his throat. “With all of that taken into consideration, can we have a vote?”

The room again erupted into applause when the vote was unanimous. Zoey thought it was a nice idea, but she didn’t understand exactly why her friends and her godmother were so invested in a sculpture park.

Wait a minute...

“Mike?” She grabbed his arm. “What have you done?”

At the front of the room, Marty was trying to formally adjourn the meeting, but no one was listening.

Mike slid his arms around her again. “This one is all your godmother’s work, along with her matchmaking cronies.”