Free Wishing on Willows: A Novel by Katie Ganshert

a shadow loomed over their booth and Amanda kicked her under the table.
    “Fancy meeting you here.” The familiar timbre of Ian’s voice—rich, deep, cultivated—grated on her. No one sounded that refined without careful practice.
    Amanda set down her silverware and brought her cup beneath her chin. “You’re looking just as upmarket today as you were yesterday. Even better without coffee dripping down your front.”
    Ian snapped his fingers. “It’s Amanda, right?”
    “The one and only.”
    “It’s a pleasure meeting you again.”
    “Oh, the pleasure’s all mine.” The steam from Amanda’s coffee cup swirled around her chin. “How’s your business going? Well, I hope.”
    Robin rolled her eyes. “He wants to tear down Willow Tree and build condos. That’s his business.”
    “Seriously?”
    Robin gave her a yes-that’s-right-so-you-better-stop-flirting look. Just because Amanda was newly single didn’t mean she needed to fall for this man’s charm.
    Mayor Ford finished his conversation by the door, seated his wife at a table, and joined them at the booth, looking no more comfortable than he had outside of church this morning. “I sure hope you didn’t feel like the rug was being pulled out from under you earlier, Robin.”
    “It was definitely a surprise.” She turned in her seat and addressed Ian. “I’d introduce you two, but you’ve already met. Amanda’s my accountant. And my sister-in-law.”
    He slid his hands in his pockets and winked, like this whole thing was funny. “So she has insider information. That could come in handy.”
    The mayor barked. Caleb looked up from the sticky mess he was making with his pancakes. “What’s so funny?”
    “Nothing, honey,” Robin said.
    Amanda folded her hands beneath her chin. “You two can join us if you’d like.”
    It was Robin’s turn to do the under-table kicking. What was Amanda thinking? They most certainly could not.
    “Thanks for the invitation,” Ian said, “but we have to finalize some plans for our meeting with town council on Friday.”
    Worry gathered in the pit of Robin’s stomach, ruining a perfectly delicious brunch. “Why do you need to meet with town council?”
    “Mayor Ford would like to add the condominiums to the development plan for the south end of the business district.”
    Betrayal joined forces with her worry. She looked at Mayor Ford—a man who came to the grand opening of her café and had returned every Saturday morning after. “You want to knock my café down?”
    His ears turned red.
    The visible discomfort made her equally uncomfortable, but she couldn’t let him off the hook so easily. “I thought you supported Willow Tree.”
    “I’m sorry, Robin. It can’t be helped. I’m proud of what you’ve done with the place. It’s a fine establishment. It’s just in an unfortunate location.”
    “And One Life?”
    “I have an obligation to look out for the town’s greater good.”
    Something strong and fierce pushed aside Robin’s worry. Greater good? How could bulldozing a ministry that served people like Molly be for anyone’s good? She lifted her chin and met Ian’s gaze. “You do know you can’t force me to sell, don’t you?”
    He raised his eyebrow like she was nothing more than a tired child refusing to go to sleep. Like all he had to do was wait and the place that had given her such a sense of purpose over the past four years would nod off into oblivion. “I’m not going to use force.”
    “Of course not.” The mayor gave Robin an uneasy smile and patted hisbelly. “We’ll find a way to work this out. Until then, I’m starving. We should probably get to it, Ian. Robin, I look forward to your meet and greet later today. What a welcoming gesture for the new director.”
    Heat filled her chest. The mayor complimented her for welcoming the new director of One Life, yet he had no qualms about tearing it down? Didn’t he realize the illogicality of such praise?
    Ian dipped his