Page 19 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

Wow, Dad. Thanks for that. Mia shrank even further into her chair.

“I think we need to set up a goal for her to reach in order to move forward with plans.” Dad used a raised finger to punctuate his point.

A general murmur of assent arose.

Mia glanced across the table. Cody sat back in his chair, face serene. He walked a pen through his fingers. Looking up, he caught her gaze and smiled. Then he winked.

Good old Code. Always on her side.

After almost two hours of grueling debate, they’d settled on the details.

“Okay, to recap,” Tara said, reading off a legal pad, “for the next two weeks, we will gather applications from people who want to move here. Mia, you will take point on that. The applications will come to the email already set up on the town website. Then you can spend a week narrowing those down to a manageable number. Let’s see if Mia and Dani can set up phone and video interviews for the first week of June. I suggest as many of us as possible attend those interviews.” She tapped a pen on the paper as she listed each item. “Near the beginning of June, we will have an on-island event where everyone can come and tour the island.”

“Who knows, they might not like us,” Janine said.

“Or we won’t like them,” Patrick grumbled.

“Hush.” Martha gave her brother-in-law a glare. “Of course they will like us.” She dusted her hands together. “Final decisions about who we will approve will be made as a group. Hopefully, we can make our final decisions by mid-June, then they can start moving in. Cody, will you have everything ready by then?”

Cody snapped to attention. “I’ll know more after I go through the houses, but I don’t foresee a problem.”

“Okay. I’ve got to get back to the restaurant.” Martha stood again. “If Mia can fill fourteen houses and fourteen businesses, we’ll pay off her mortgage. If not?” She shrugged then gathered her purse from the table and left the room, the door banging behind her.

Um. What? Mia hadn’t thought the deal was contingent on a certain number of filled houses.

No pressure there.

She looked around the room. Everyone beamed at her. Except Cody. A line appeared between his eyebrows. Did he think she couldn’t do it? She stiffened her spine.

She’d save her kids’ home. Just watch her.

The rest of the meeting broke up a few minutes later.

Call me.Dani had motioned to her as Patrick cornered her behind the table.

Mia walked out of the conference room and down the tiny hallway. The opposite end of the building opened up into a large room housing the Jonathon Island Museum. She pushed out of the front door and into the morning sunshine.

“Mia, wait,” Cody called from behind her. He caught up and tugged a ball cap over his hair. “How are you?”

She scrubbed a hand over her face. “I don’t know why Dad put Martha and Patrick on a team together. A recipe for arguments, if you ask me.”

Cody shrugged. “He probably knew that no one could accuse him of favoritism.”

“True.” She’d give him that much. She looked down the street. Her heart wrenched. So many businesses still looked forlorn. The old Great Lakes Memorabilia shop had a broken window, and so did a few others. Peeling paint and listing window boxes decorated others. The dark and empty storefronts echoed the emptiness of the streets. Well, she would change that.

“Will you be able to meet this quota?” Cody stood at her shoulder, gaze steady on her.

“I don’t have much choice.” She pulled herself to full height. “I’ll make it work. This is the miracle I’ve been hoping for. My only shot at keeping my home.”

Cody opened his mouth. Closed it. Then, “I know you can do it, Mia. You’ll figure it out. I can come by in a little bit to check out that door.”

“That’d be great. Thanks. See ya later.”

After a brisk walk home and collecting her kids from Constance’s house, Mia sat at her dining room table. Finn played with a truck at her feet, and Maggie sat next to her scribbling in a coloring book. She looked down at the list that she was making.

Develop social media profiles.

Create a website for applications.

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