“I don’t know.”
“The mayor didn’t really say anything,” Aiden spoke up. “Just that we’re supposed to sit tight, but Jonah texted me that if we get through the night, we should be okay.”
“The water’s gone down outside.”
“Flooding up north can affect us, too,” Bubba said.
“I know, but my home’s safe. I built it high enough.”
“Nothing’s safe,” Aiden muttered to herself. “You can’t expect anything to be immune to the weather, even if it’s got money behind it.”
Robbie stiffened. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Bubba didn’t say a word.
“No.” Robbie pushed forward. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“This have to do with your dad staying at my place?”
“No.”
“Or was that some poke at me because I’ve got money?”
“You’ve got more than some.” Aiden sat up. “You took a pretty penny with that settlement you won.” She explained to Dani, “Robbie came to town to help with Julia’s lawsuit.”
Erica’s settlement.
She turned back to Robbie, “And you got partner because of that. You’re one of the few attorneys in town. You make more than all three of us together right here.”
“Not Dani.”
“What?” Aiden and Bubba looked up.
“Dani’s got near a million in the bank.”
They all looked at her, and Dani asked, “How do you know that?” But she knew as soon as she asked. Kelley Lynn. “Never mind. I didn’t realize your secretary came back into the bank. I thought she left. I love how everyone is connected in small towns.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“You have almost a million dollars?” Aiden cried out. “Where’d that come from? Does Jonah know?”
“Is it any of his business?” Dani countered, but he did know. And she didn’t remember him having the same response. “Do you not like people who have money?”
Aiden frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Is it the money thing? Because you think they’ll turn into your father?”
“I can’t believe you just said that to me.” Aiden sucked in her breath, taken aback.
What she had in her bank account was her business and no one else’s, along with the reason of why it was there, too. “Yeah, well, my money is personal, Aiden. You don’t have a right to demand to know that or command me to tell Jonah.”
“I wasn’t—”
She was, and Aiden knew it.
“Maybe we should call a breather?” With his hand behind her, Bubba ushered his wife away.
“Don’t worry about Aiden. She’ll get over it. She’s just worked up ’cause her dad’s in town. A person can’t see straight when they’re all riled up inside.”
“Yeah, I’m seeing that.” Dani gazed around the center. “You think this is some government conspiracy, too?”
Robbie’s eyes rounded, but he didn’t pretend he didn’t know what she was talking about. He lifted up a shoulder, picking at some lint on his pants. “I wasn’t here when all that happened back then. Aiden said the town got pretty ugly when Jonah said no to some company’s building proposal.”
“Mae was hinting some people might be thinking that again.”
“Sometimes they think that. You know, the small guy gets worked over by the big guy. Do I think it’s some conspiracy? No, but do I think people aren’t thinking right? Yes. Some of ’em anyway. Small towns don’t like being told what to do, especially when it comes to their homes.”
“There’s gotta be some reason why we’re all staying here.”
“They aren’t sharing, whatever it is.”
“And there’s gotta be a reason for that, too.”
“I think there is, and you think there is.” Robbie gestured between them. “But I don’t think most of these folks agree with us.”
Dani sighed. “Everyone knows each other’s business and everyone’s got an opinion about it, no matter how wrong they are.”
“A lot of these folks didn’t get schooling past high school, and if it is, it’s from the local community college. They got their knowledge the real-world way. You and I, we left. We saw what else was out there, but people can get set in their ways. The world’s a lot smaller than people think. You get humbled when you realize how small you actually are. Folks who don’t realize that, they just have a different way of thinking. That’s all.”
“That can be dangerous sometimes.”
“You’re not getting an argument from me.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Dani murmured as she watched the crowd. More and more small groups were forming. The whispers were buzzing. It wasn’t going to end well—whatever was happening.
“There’s Jonah.” Robbie gestured toward a side door.
He moved through the crowd, stopping to talk to his sister. The crowd moved away from him.
Robbie shook his head. “It’s never surprising how they’ll turn on someone they used to worship the day before.”
“Was this how it was before?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t here at that time, but it got ugly. Jonah only had a few friends, but when the report came out that the company actually would’ve poisoned the water supply, Jonah was hailed as the town’s savior.” Robbie stood up as Jonah headed in their direction. “The town’s not remembering that today.” He nodded in greeting. “Jonah.”