Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. ~ Albert Einstein Mitch had prepared some final paperwork for Hazel. He wished he could talk her out of giving in to this eminent domain and fight until the bitter end. Or at least let Maggie know what was going on with her family so she could help out. Hazel wouldn't hear of it. She didn't want to bother Maggie with it. Belle wasn't interested in the farm, so Hazel wouldn't fight any more and would let them have the land-land that was going to turn cozy Grandberry Falls into the outlet mall capital.

There was no way he was going to walk past the falls and not make a wish. Mitch tucked the envelope under his arm and rubbed a quarter between his fingers. He had to stop himself from wishing the same thing he'd repeated for the last twenty-five years. His friends would wish for a pony, stick of candy, or some other present, not Mitch. He wanted to be part of the Greenlee family-only he didn't realize his heart already belong to a Greenlee.

The quarter flipped high in the air, and he watched it sail through the night breeze ending with a plop in the pool of water below.

"Don't tell me you still come here every night to make a wish?" Maggie leaned over the hand rail to see that the quarter had made it into the falls. "All those years were you wishing you'd become Mayor of Grandberry Falls?"

Mitch stepped back. He knew the falls were magical, but after twenty-five years, was his dream coming true?

Her eyes danced when she looked at him. Her soft features were only accented by the trickling water. Many times they stood here talking about life, listening to her debate her future, and now-twice in a few weeks.

"Caught me." Mitch threw his hands up in the air. He never missed a good coin toss while walking by the falls-not when he was a kid and not now. Especially when the Greenlees were involved. "To what does Grandberry Falls owe the pleasure of you visiting twice in a few weeks? Are you here to celebrate the annual Jubilee?"

Sure, he'd heard all the gossip from Wendy and her friends, but he wasn't going to let them know he was listening. Nor could he deny becoming a Facebook creeper on Wendy's account to see what everyone was saying.

Maggie's profile picture was still of her and Grady in front of the Statue of Liberty. Grady might have been all teeth in the photo, but not Maggie. Her eyes talked to Mitch, there was something missing.

Grady was the one who ended the engagement, but Mitch didn't know why or if they planned it that way so Grady's reputation wouldn't be tarnished. It was hopeful thinking to believe Maggie didn't want to marry Grady after all.

"Mitch," Maggie whispered so low, he had to lean in to hear her, "please don't pretend with me. You know I have no place else to go." She crossed her arms across her body almost like a defensive little girl and trembled.

She did have a place to go. Here! Home where she was loved and could do good work, not only for her family but also for the community.

He couldn't help himself. He was use to making bad situations all better for her and helping out Hazel was no different. Mitch rubbed the sides of her arms. It was an instant reaction-protect Maggie Greenlee. "I've heard the usual town gossip, but I haven't heard it from you. Are you okay?"

Maggie's laughter bounced off the rocks, echoing through the street. "I'm not sure how to answer that." Then she broke down in Mitch's arms.

He stroked her long pony-tail, welcoming the feeling on his hand. She was reaching out for comfort and he was glad to be there.

"Shhh." He buried his head on the top of hers. "It's going to be okay. I'll make sure of it."

Maggie couldn't help but find comfort in Mitch. She questioned why it felt so good in his arms. Shouldn't she be grieving her broken engagement? Or maybe it was just having someone who cared. Either way, she didn't pull away. She nuzzled her head in the curve of his neck, inhaling deeply taking comfort in Mitch's smell. He never strayed from his musk cologne.

"We better stop all this or we will be the headline for The Grandberry Chronicle again." His welcome laughter filled the empty spots in her heart.

"You never know what will happen when the two of us get together." The memory gave a wry, twisted smile to her face when she recalled the cow tipping trouble that made headlines.

Reluctantly, she gave a last squeeze and let go.

His presence gave her joy she hadn't felt in a long time. She was use to going home from a long day and climbing into bed-exhausted, and doing it over again in five or six hours. She sure wasn't going to miss the five a.m. alarm clock.

"You know the big hoedown is this weekend, movie day and all. Before the big Jubilee." His brown eyes met her brown eyes. "Why don't you come down for some fun?"

She tried not to fidget when she noticed him staring intently at her like she was going to explode. She was going to be okay, she could feel it. She also knew she was going to be on display for everyone to see. Not only how she dealt with her broken engagement, but how she would deal with Wendy and Mitch dating.

"I'll think about it." She lied.

She wasn't going to think about it anymore than she was going to think about moving on with her life. The energy escaped her. What she was really mourning was how her life had changed so quickly. One minute she was helping Van Meter and a.s.sociates s.n.a.t.c.h people's property as an eminent domain lawyer, and the next minute she's standing in front of a waterfall hoping this was the quarter that was going to make it all better.

"You better." Mitch handed her the large envelope. "Can you give this to Hazel?"

Maggie took it and immediately noticed it was sealed tight. She shook it.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Just give it to Hazel." He yelled over his shoulder as he walked away.

Chapter 15.

When love is not madness, it is not love. ~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca It was getting late, and Hazel would be expecting her by now. When she saw Mitch standing by the falls, she had an overwhelming feeling, almost confusing, but she chalked it up to the comforts of being home.

Now driving to Hazel's gave Maggie more time to sort out her feelings. After all she was vulnerable and Mitch was always there to pick up the pieces. Only she wasn't going to be able to rely on him anymore.

She had to figure out where she was going to go from here. The way she saw it, she had two options. One was to go back to New York and use her contacts to get another job. Or two, she could open a practice in Grandberry Falls. If Belle could make a living buying the old Hair Pin salon and turning it into an upscale spa, Maggie should be able to get a few clients.

What made her stomach churn more was that she wasn't just worried about making a living in Grandberry Falls. She was worried about making a life without Mitch in it.

The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies seeped under the front door. Maggie's mouth began to water before she even opened the door. Hazel was good at comfort food and her warm, home-made, chocolate chip cookies were exactly what she needed.

"Oh!" The door flew open, and Hazel grabbed Maggie, pulling her inside. "I heard your car door slam. Get in here."

Maggie fell into Hazel's arms. Maybe the cookies weren't what she needed after all. There were no more tears to cry. She needed her heart to fill up with love, and she was at the right place.

"Thank you for letting me come home. I have to figure out what's next for me." There were plenty of options, only none of them interested her.

The line between Hazel's eyes deepened. "This is your home. You never have to have permission to come home."

Maggie sat down at the kitchen table and downed a couple of cookies while Hazel poured some of her famous sweet tea in a Mason jar gla.s.s.

Maggie downed a few more cookies in record time, and threw back the tea as if she was downing a shot of whiskey. She couldn't help but smile watching Hazel stir the four large stock pots cooking the sweet drink on the stove.

"Do you need help?" Maggie got up and put her nose in the stream of the savory steam.

"Nope." Hazel gave Maggie a kiss on her cheek. "I've been doing this for fifty-two years."

Hazel referred to her tea stand at the Jubilee. Everyone in Grandberry Falls loved Hazel's tea, and her tea was the first to sell out at the Jubilee.

"I've already made forty batches." Hazel poured the magic grain, sugar, in the boiling creation without measuring. She always knew the perfect amount. "I hear it might be a record crowd this year."

"I'm sure it will." Maggie drank the sip from the spoon that Hazel held up to her lips. "Mmm, good."

Maggie left Hazel to finish up while she unloaded her car and put her things in her room.

It was like Maggie had stepped back into her old life. Everything was the same, not a knick-knack out of place. Even the sound of Paula from the Home Shopping Channel was a welcome sound. In New York, if Maggie missed Hazel, she'd turn on Paula and drift off to sleep.

"What's the deal of the day?" Maggie plopped on the couch.

The bangles on Hazel's wrist jingled. She pointed to the TV. "Some sort of exercise ball." She rolled her eyes and patted her belly. "Who ever heard of sitting on a ball to tighten your stomach? Good ole farm work."

It was true. There wasn't an exercise place in town. Working on the farm was all the exercise most people around Grandberry Falls needed to stay in shape. The farmers market sold all the fresh vegetables everyone needed, so many canned goods weren't bought.

The manila envelope, sticking out of her purse, caught her eye. She grabbed it and rubbed her finger over Hazel's name. Mitch did have great handwriting for a man. She wondered how their dinner was going.

"What's that?" Hazel questioned.

Maggie held it up and then tossed it over. "Mitch asked me to give it to you."

Hazel s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of the air and put it in the crease of her Lazy Boy. Maggie noticed Hazel didn't open it, she only protected it.

Hazel pushed the envelope deeper and deeper into the chair.

Maggie craned her head to watch Hazel. She was definitely hiding something from Maggie. But what?

"h.e.l.lo?" Belle yelled from the kitchen, her keys skidded across the old country metal table, followed by her hurried steps. "Maggie?"

Hazel and Maggie stood up, Maggie keeping her eye on the envelope. An uneasy feeling found a spot in her stomach. Normally she wouldn't think anything if Mitch sent an envelope. But this envelope was formally addressed, not something Mitch Dozier would do.

Belle twirled Maggie's pony tail and scrunched her nose. "What's up with the tail?"

Not everyone can be built like Belle or have fabulous hair. It was days like today, she welcomed pulling her hair up. "I blame it on a long drive and emotional distress." Maggie's lips turned down.

"Yep, I heard." Belle words were m.u.f.fled after sticking an entire cookie in her mouth. "You and Grady broke up while Wendy and Mitch get engaged. Weird."

Maggie swallowed hard. Engaged? Wendy and Mitch? Maggie couldn't wrap her head around Belle's words.

Hazel grabbed the plate of cookies and interrupted Belle, "don't ruin your dinner."

"Okay." Belle paused. There was an awkward silence before she took the envelope out of Hazel's chair. "What's this?"

Hazel grabbed it, walked into the kitchen and put it on top the refrigerator. "Nothing."

What was going on around here? Maggie questioned the envelope and Mitch's engagement. Something was wrong. This only made Maggie even more curious to see what was in there. Hazel always put important and private information on top the refrigerator when they were small children-only they aren't kids anymore. Maggie hoped Hazel would forget it was up there so she could get a good sneak peak when Hazel went to bed.

"Anyway." Belle turned her attention to Maggie. "Don't you worry about what's-his-face. Tomorrow night is the hoedown and I'll give you a free make-over. Hair and all."

Chapter 16.

Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly. ~ Proverb Mitch paused when going into the office this morning. The day of the hoedown was always the Sat.u.r.day before the Grandberry Falls Jubilee, and being mayor didn't change tradition. At the last gentrification meeting, one of the younger citizens suggested they move the hoedown to Grandberry Falls Park. Granted, it would be beautiful using the lake as the backdrop and the gondola rides would make great pictures, but the hoedown had been in the town square near the falls since it started over seventy-five years ago.

There was no way they were going to stray from tradition. The hoedown was going to be in town, just like always.

"Good morning, Mayor." The little boy flipped marbles on the sidewalk just outside of the Trembling Cup. Mitch had seen him a time or two in town by the falls, but couldn't remember his name.

Grandberry Falls was growing due to overwhelmingly low taxes and getting to know all the new citizens was a challenge for him. At the last election, his only opponent had been the previous mayor who had been in office for forty-years was going on eighty years old.

Mitch tipped his cowboy hat and smiled. If he could make any child feel special he would.

"Hey, buddy. Can I try?" Mitch took a marble and snapped it toward the pile causing the marbles to scatter.

The boy's mouth dropped watching them roll about. Mitch spent many nights growing up with nothing to do but hang out with Maggie Greenlee-which was perfectly fine with him- or flipping his marbles.

Mitch tussled the boy's hair and crossed the street heading toward the courthouse to start his daily research on how to save the Greenlee farm. It was research that needed to be done on the down low. He couldn't be mayor and take sides, but he could be privy to all the facts and present them at the gentrification meeting. After all, the committee did give him and Maggie Greenlee the scholarships when they graduated from high school in hopes the two of them would come back and do great things in the community.

Mitch was doing all he could to make good on the promise, but Maggie ended up donating a large sum of money to the fund-her way to pay back the scholarship since she didn't make good on it. Grandberry Falls was in need of a County Attorney. Maggie would be just the right candidate. Mitch knew it had to be her decision and ultimately no matter how much Grandberry Falls embraced her, she wanted more. And Mitch saw what had gotten her-back in Grandberry Falls.

The courthouse was quiet. They weren't open but one Sat.u.r.day a month, and then it was only for the local car dealerships to get the cars tagged, or couples seeking a marriage license. Today wasn't the open Sat.u.r.day, leaving the two-hundred-year-old courthouse eerily quiet.

Mitch flipped the light switch on in his office, even though the sun was shining so brightly through the windows that he really didn't need the artificial stuff.

Mitch picked up his mayor gavel and twirled it in the air. Mitch loved the gavel and how it felt when he had to slam it down on the wood plate trying to keep peace between the older generation and the younger generation when it became heated during the eminent domain meeting. He even pointed it at a few people with a simple warning.

He peered out the window watching all the vendors set up for the big night. He caught a glimpse of a blonde-haired beauty running toward the courthouse. Wendy was in charge of the Jubilee decoration committee and he knew she was going to be running around a lot since the hoedown was the kick off.

He heard her coming and opened the door like a good gentleman.

"I'm sorry, Mitch." Wendy dropped her lashes to hide the guilt. "I wasn't planning on seeing you this early. But I saw your truck, so I want to get this over with."

"I'm glad you stopped by." He tipped her head up, and then reached for her hand. "Get what over with?"

Instantly he knew what this was about when he didn't see his grandmother's antique ring on her finger. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I think you are looking for this." She reached in the pocket of her coat and pulled out the box with the ring inside. "I know you don't love me. I know that. G.o.d I wish you did. I'd hoped you wanted to fight for me and try to get me to change my mind."

Mitch started to speak, but she raised her hand to silence him.

"Since I took over as the buyer for Figure 8 and began traveling, I realized there is so much world out there." She glanced around the office. "More to life than Grandberry Falls."

Mitch could see it coming. She was right. He didn't love her, but he was willing to try and make a go of it. Even though when they were together, there was a distance between them.

"You know it and I know it. We were doing what we were expected to do." Wendy picked up the gavel, and smiled. "And you don't even know that I like sugar in my coffee."