Page 159 of Sugar & Shadows

The rest of the team beat me to the library. At the sight of them, emotion washed over me. I expected scorn and judgment. Instead, I found a group of women ready and willing to fight.

“Where’s Marigold?” I asked.

“Home,” Mom said softly, her face ashen. “She just came back from New York. She’s very tired.”

That was strange. Marigold usually had the energy of someone forty years younger. Last week she’d overseen the senior center charity auction and then gone line dancing.

My chest tightened with worry. Before I could ask for more information, Harper piped up.

“I have a full containment strategy,” she said. “I think we counterattack.”

Around her, the multiple monitors glowed, like she was in some kind of military command center instead of a library conference room where she ran maple syrup social media.

“I’ve already buried four defamatory hashtags and redirected traffic using bear content. And I have that video of Gabe chugging maple syrup going viral again.”

Nina smiled at her. “Hot farmer content for the win.”

Harper held out her fist and Nina bumped it.

“She bullied the algorithm into submission,” Nina said proudly.

I held up a hand. “Girls.”

The room quieted.

“This is a distraction. Someone is weaponizing my past to keep us from succeeding in our mission.”

Harper scoffed. “But⁠—”

“I appreciate your loyalty, but this isn’t about me. It’s about Maplewood. There are forces out there that want us to fail. That want this town to suffer. But it’s more important than ever that we stay focused.”

“How?” my mom asked, “with this news everywhere?”

“I went to Birch Hollow yesterday.”

The collective gasp made me smile.

“Did you take weapons?” Nina asked.

“No. But it quickly became clear that this is bigger than we thought. It’s not just a small-town rivalry. There are people out there who want Maplewood to fail. They want us divided, exhausted, and scared. Because they’ll profit from our demise.”

My mom’s face turned red. “Do they know who they’re fucking with?” she asked, her voice deep.

“No.” I smirked at her. “How about we show them?”

“We will not allow outsiders to take us down,” she gritted out.

“Exactly. And the bigger our success, the more violently we destroy them,” I said. “We’ve got to be laser focused.”

Everyone leaned in, eager to listen. And I was ready to dive in. This was my domain, strategy, pressure points, and how to work inefficient systems to my advantage.

“The priority here is getting the Maplewood Games budget amendment passed at the town meeting.”

I plucked a marker from the table and headed to the whiteboard.

“This means three things, turnout, investment, and public pressure.”

Harper cracked open another energy drink from her stash and handed it to Nina.