Page 23 of Love and Loathing

The dots moved for thirty seconds, not that he was counting, then stopped again. Only this time they didn’t start up again. Great, he would be a mess about this now, and Roxy had decided to come into town today. She had a way of figuring out when he liked someone, had since they were teens, and once she knew, her attempts to hook him became pronounced. He and Charlie were supposed to have lunch with her today. Which would also be a nightmare for him. He’d managed to keep a pretty low profile since they’d come to town, but unlike him, Roxy liked attention. He couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do less.

Dejected, he stepped out of his truck and crossed to the trailer, the rush of the Southern Run River meeting his ears even through the sounds of construction. This place really was so peaceful.

Workers with hard hats moved back and forth around the trailer, moving equipment. It was a warm day, and a box fan sat in one of the open windows of the trailer. He met Dave Daley, his project manager, coming out with a twenty-something-year-old man.

“Alex, good to see you,” Dave said. “I’d like you to meet our cabinet maker, Zach Hughes.”

Zach shook his hand. “Good to finally meet you. This is such a great project. I’m excited to be a part of it.” He made no mention of Alex’s films, which made Alex like him immediately.

“Thank you,” Alex said. “We’re always happy to have enthusiastic workers.”

Zach chuckled. “I bet.”

Alex rolled back on his heels. “Do you just do cabinets, or do you have anything else you specialize in?”

Zach shrugged. “Mostly cabinets.”

Dave smacked Zach on the shoulder with a roll of papers in his hand. “He’s just being modest. Aside from crafting beautiful cabinets, he also makes secret doors and hiding spots for people in his off hours.”

Alex grinned. “Really?” That sounded brilliant. His dad would’ve gotten a kick out of that. “Do you have a website?”

Zach nodded and gave him a card from his wallet.

“How’s everything going around here?” Alex asked.

“If the creek don’t rise, we should be right on schedule.” Dave pointed at the trailer. “Charlie’s waiting inside for you.”

The men headed off. Alex’s phone beeped. He opened his texts to find one from Jessie. His breath caught as he opened it.

Jessie: Will have pitch ready on Friday.

Alex sighed. That was three days from now. And her text … anticlimactic. He shoved his phone in his pocket, deciding to text her back later, and went inside.

Charlie had blueprints spread out over a large table in the middle of the room, and he looked agitated. His happy-go-lucky best friend who was always smiling looked agitated.

“What’s up, Charlie? You’re … green.” Alex stepped up to the table, and a cross breeze from an open back window pulled air from the fan in the front window, lifting the edge of the blueprints.

Charlie slammed his hand down on it and glanced up at Alex.

Alex’s eyes went wide.

“Got these in the mail this morning,” Charlie said. “Steve and Kevin have decided to invest.”

Alex grinned and slapped Charlie on the back. “That’s great news.” Except that now they wouldn’t need Jessie’s pitch, which meant he had no reason to talk to her. He swallowed.

“Ifwe agree to do the bigger development they suggested last time we met them.” Charlie dropped a big finger into the middle of the blueprints. “This is what they want to do, and it’s way bigger than what they suggested.”

Alex furrowed his brow and leaned over the table to get a better look. It was a lot bigger. This was one hundred homes, almost all of the remaining river land on the east side of the highway between Harvest Ranch and Charleston, and it would require contractors from out of town to complete. “Are you kidding me?”

Charlie let out a long sigh. “I wish I was.”

Alex stood back, the implications of what this meant hitting him full bore. They’d lose the town. No one would want to have anything to do with them. They’d probably get picketers, and in the end, it would change this small-town forever.

“We need Kevin and Steve,” Charlie said. “We need their contacts to sell these homes. But we can’t do this. In good conscience, we can’t do this to the town. Caroline might never talk to me again.” The last part seemed to horrify him more than any of it.

Alex rubbed the bridge of his nose as a headache came on. “I’ll talk to them. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this. For now, we keep this between us. Okay?”

Charlie nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, mussing his normally perfectly combed hair.

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