it were supporting her, a monarch alighted on her shoulder and sat there, spreading its wings. “All these people with me are Ellingsworth residents, and they don’t want this either.”
“Save our habitat! Our town, our say!” the townspeople shouted in response.
Di Ria narrowed her eyes. “This is ridiculous,” she spat. “I already have a contract.” She looked back at the guy in the excavator. “I’m calling the police. You’re all trespassing,” she said, loud enough for all the protesters to hear. “Don’t worry, Rick. We’ll get this mess taken care of immediately.” Sniffing, she pulled her cell out of her pocket.
There was a murmur through the crowd.
“Don’t worry.” Gloria spoke again, calmly. “We’re peacefully protesting. Just don’t escalate it when the police arrive.”
Another car crunched onto the gravel as she spoke. Pinky narrowed her eyes. It was a silver BMW. “Is that…?”
Dolly gasped softly. “Is that your…?”
“Mom,” Samir said, smiling at her. “That’s your mom. And a special guest.”
Pinky couldn’t quite believe it as her mom got out of the car in an Armani pantsuit with creases sharp enough to draw blood: full-on Shark attire. Then the passenger door opened and out stepped Mayor Thomas.
“The mayor?” she said, looking at Samir in utter shock. “What’s my mom doing with him?” Holy crap. Pinky’s palms began to sweat. Were they here to stop the protest? Was her mom going to drag Pinky away? To slap everyone with a restraining order, telling them not to get close to her minor daughter?
“I think we—and Gloria—should be a part of that conversation.” Samir inclined his head toward them as her mom and Mayor Thomas walked over to Di Ria, who was lowering her cell phone.
Pinky turned to Dolly, shaking her head. Her entire body trembled, and she stiffened her back in an effort to look marginally braver. “I’m going to go do this, I guess.”
“Go.” Dolly nodded seriously. “Good luck.”
Heart hammering, Pinky grabbed Gloria, and she, Gloria, and Samir walked through the field, past the excavator, and joined the small group of adults.
“But I have a contract,” Di Ria was saying. “This is completely ludicrous.”
“Look at the support of the townspeople, Diana.” Mayor Thomas waved a hand toward the group. “I mean, just look at that. I never thought we’d see support of this magnitude.”
Wait, what? What was he saying? Pinky looked from him to Di Ria to her mom, hoping for some clarity.
“Be that as it may,” Diana said, glaring around at them all. “As I said, we have a contract. A legal right to continue with this.”
“Actually, Ms. Kumar and I read the contract together this morning.” Samir stepped forward. From his pocket, he pulled out his phone and consulted the screen. “And according to page eight, there was a feasibility clause built in. Here’s what it says: ‘Seller shall have a period to determine the feasibility of proceeding with this transaction. In the event that Seller is not satisfied, in its sole and unreviewable judgment and discretion, with the feasibility of Purchaser’s acquisition, financing, and ownership of the Property, this Agreement shall automatically terminate.’ Which, in non-legalese, means that if the city residents are angry about this development, the project isn’t feasible and can be terminated before closing. And as I understand it, the feasibility period doesn’t end until you break ground.” Pinky stared at him, her mouth open. Ho-ly crap. Who even was her boyfriend??
Samir paused and looked at Pinky’s mom, who was smiling. “Am I correct in the way I read that?”
“Absolutely,” she said, nodding. “Well done.” She turned to Diana. “So, in essence, you could get nothing and be forced to abandon this plan altogether.” Diana’s face got very, very pale. Pinky wanted to leap into the air and click her heels together, but she refrained. Just. “However, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Samir and I had an emergency meeting with the mayor this morning, and it does seem like your condos could bring in more revenue to the town, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. It’s the location that the residents object to.”
“Exactly,” Gloria said, her eyes dancing with the excitement Pinky was feeling.
Pinky’s mom continued. “So, we have a proposal based on some excellent research Pinky and Samir did. There’s a patch of land, just past the highway, that’s currently unoccupied. It’s hard to build on, but you have the resources. You can have it for a fraction of the price that this would cost you. And we think it would be much more beneficial