Page 21 of Dante
"I'll make sure Mr. Livingston hears your concerns," she said, voice gentle. "You shouldn't have had to come alone. Is there anyone with you? Anyone else fighting this?"
He managed a half-smile. "Just some of the other shopkeepers. Most are tired, some resigned. But I had to try. My father started that store the year after the war. It's all I know."
Courtney felt a curious kinship with him, a sense of something precious at risk. She reached for a notepad. "If you'd like, I can take down the details for Mr. Livingston. And if you need anything else: more tea, a moment's rest, please say so."
Ian nodded, the fog in his eyes clearing just a little. "Thank you. I'm grateful someone's listening."
The phone rang, sharp and sudden, slicing through the haze of worry. Courtney rose to answer it, already feeling the day shifting beneath her feet.
"Go ahead, please. I'm keeping you from your work." He waved a hand and managed to smile.
She went to answer the phone, jotting down details and noticed that her boss was off the phone. He had a meeting in ten minutesand usually she would never intervene or interrupt his schedule, but this called for a change. The man seated across from her desk had the look of someone who had lost something vital in his eyes.
"Give me a minute," she advised. "And please drink your tea. It was made special." She did not add that it had served to quiet her stomach for the time being.
Knocking briefly, she opened the doors and shut them at her back. He was standing at the window, a cup of coffee in his hand and turned from his contemplation of the view when he heard the door.
It irritated him completely when he felt the familiar jolt at the sight of her. She was wearing peach today. A dress that molded the slender curves of her body and suited her perfectly. Her short blonde tinted brown hair was styled in some sort of windswept do that suited her small face. Her lipstick matched the tone of the dress.
"Yes?" His tone was deliberately cool and impersonal.
"There's someone here to see you."
"I don't recall--"
"He doesn't have an appointment." She came forward and wrapped him around in her perfume. Damn her! He had to force himself not to retreat when she came closer. "His name is Ian McLean, a nice gentleman who's very confused about the upheaval on Penn Street." She folded her hands at her waist. "He owns one of the stores."
"What the hell do you want me to say?"
"That it's for progress. That this man is not going to be uprooted just because of profit." Ignoring the flare of anger in his eyes, she rushed on. "That he can be convinced to give up his livelihood, one that has been his father's before him, for a very good reason."
"Be careful," he warned softly.
"Of what? All I'm asking is that you hear him out."
"The deal is all but sealed."
"He needs to hear that from you. Shall I ask him in?"
Their eyes did battle and to his amusement, he noticed she was staring right back and not in the least intimidated. She had guts. And he admired that in anyone.
"Show him in," he waved a hand and walked over to his desk. He remained standing when she brought the old man in. His amusement increased when she closed the door behind them and inadvertently became the man's protector.
"Mr. McLean, what can I do for you?"
"Would you like some more tea?" Courtney ushered him gently into one of the chairs and remained standing.
"No, thank you." The man took her hand in his and smiled at her. "You're very kind."
"So is Mr. Livingston," she lied as she sat next to him. "Please hear him out. And tell him of your concerns."
Dante sat and proceeded to outline the plan for the area with the man, something he wouldn't normally do. The move to put a mall on that particular street had been well researched and studied in detail. He had a healthy respect for business owners and would never take over a company or an entire section without doing his homework.
The place was crumbling, the shops dilapidated and outdated. It needed uplifting and had tremendous potential. There was a museum a few blocks away that was going to be redone as well and several galleries that were going to go through renovations, a project taken over personally by Jackson Colby.
The history would be restored and maintained, he would personally see to it. And that was what he explained to the man.
"My shop means the world to me."
