“Knit vibrator covers?” Ellery glances over her shoulder to stare at Soleil. “Why don’t I know about this?”
“Maybe because I already bought you one for Christmas,” Aspen grumbles.
“Is it Christmas themed? Does it have mistletoe and Santa on it?”
I nearly choke on air. She wants a vibrator cover with Santa on it. What kind of weird obsession does she have with the jolly old man?
“Are you or Soleil prepared to operate the shop?” Forest asks.
“I already have a store,” Feather pouts.
Soleil throws her hands in the air. “Don’t look at me. My pottery classes are a hit with the tourists.”
Suddenly, inspiration hits me, and I stand. “I have an idea.”
Forest pounds his gavel again. “You have the floor, young man.”
“What about a recording studio?” I ask and Ashlyn gasps.
“Recording studio? For rockstars? What kind of rockstars visit Winter Falls?”
“You’d be surprised,” Juniper grumbles, and I nearly lose my train of thought. Are there seriously rockstars gallivanting around Winter Falls?
“No. Not for rockstars. I meant a recording studio for people to record other things. Maybe audiobooks.”
“Audiobooks? Do you mean something similar to what Ashlyn narrates?” Sage asks, and Ashlyn springs to her feet.
She hops on her good foot, and I rush to hand her the crutches. Once she’s stable, she addresses the crowd.
“Who else knows about my narrating?”
Every single person in the room raises their hand, including her parents and sisters.
“Why didn’t anyone say anything?”
Mrs. West stands. “You seemed dead set on keeping it a secret. We figured there was a reason you wanted to keep the business private. I did try to guilt a confession out of you.”
“You’re not embarrassed about your work, are you?” Petal asks before Ash can respond to her mom. “Because it would be a shame if you stopped narrating.” She fans her face. “Because you are good, girl. Real good.”
“I second!” Sage raises her hand and soon every woman in the room has her hand raised.
“You’ve all listened to my audiobooks?” Ashlyn shrieks.
Forest bangs his gavel. “Let’s bring this to a vote. Who’s in favor of Ashlyn starting a recording studio?”
Hands shoot into the air.
“Wait!” Ash screams. “I never said I wanted to operate a recording business.”
Forest ignores her. “The motion passes.” Bang! “What’s next on the agenda?”
“What’s next on the agenda?” Ash mutters as she makes her way out of the room. “Why have an agenda when you’re going to railroad people anyway?”
I hurry to catch up with her before she reaches the steps. I don’t want her maneuvering on those steps when she’s pissed. And she is beyond pissed. Lucky for me, she’s mad at the whole town and not me for revealing her secret. Technically, I didn’t reveal her secret. How was I to know everyone in town knew about her business?