Page 61 of Pictures in Blue
“There is an overabundance of it!” Tom responds, raising his voice. “Squirrels all over the road. Opossums. Raccoons. You name it. They’re everywhere.”
“And you want us to do what about it?” asks Fran.
“If you hit and kill an animal, just clean it up and throw it away.”
“You’re joking?” Elias says, exasperated. It never fails. Every time there is a meeting, someone gets into it with Tom’s unrealistic expectations, but he always gets his way in the end. I never understand why anyone tries to reason with him.
“It’s not hard to just scoop it up and dispose of it.”
“You’re the one who hits most of them! You can barely see above your dash and you don’t pay attention. Just last week, you almost ran me over crossing the street!” Elias proclaims.
I chuckle. Elias isn’t from here, so he always falls into the trap of arguing with Tom and he never comes out on top.
“He did!” Elias insists. The crowd shifts in their seats, anxious to get to the end of what I’m sure is a long list of issues Tom has to address.
A light comes from Avery’s lap and she glances at the screen. She stands and leaves through the front door to answer her phone. I ignore the urge I have to follow her and stay planted in my chair.
Jacob stands, blue scrubs wrinkled and spotted with stains I don’t want to know the origin of, before either Tom or Elias can say anything else. “I’ll take care of it, Tom. Just let me know where they are after the meeting.”
“Alright, with that settled, Cordie has something she said she needs to bring up.” He moves aside and motions for Cordie to take his place at the podium.
She clears her throat and throws a not so subtle look at Fran in the front row. “As you all know, we have a visitor in town. Avery. I think she stepped out to take a call, but we have an issue. The room she’s staying in has a leak and she can’t stay there until it’s fixed. Elias, I know you’ve been busy with other projects, so there’s not a huge rush, but if you can come help fix it when you’re free, I’d be grateful.”
“Sure thing, Cordelia.” He responds in a respectful tone.
“The rooms that don’t have leaks are full, so Avery needs somewhere to stay.”
“Tom, do you have room?” Fran asks.
He hesitates. “Uhhh, nope, I’ve got a few renovations going.”
“Renovations?” I speak up. “I do all of your renovations, Tom.”
“W-well, I, uh, I’ve been into a lot of DIY-ing recently,” he says, unconvincingly.
Lying old man.
Cordie turns to Jacob. “Don’t you have a spare room?”
“Sorry,” he says, shaking his head. “I have family in town.”
Jacob hasn’t had family in town for years. What are they doing? I catch Fran’s eyes and see the hint of mischief behind them. It matches Cordie’s. The excuses cycle through the crowd. They range from carpets being cleaned to fostering animals from the shelter and it becomes glaringly obvious what their plan is. Well, the plan Cordie and Fran put them up to.
This whole town is against me.
What exactly do they expect is going to happen? Avery isn’t here for an extended period of time. Hardly any time for feelings to develop, much less a friendship. Even though that’s already somewhat happened, we have no plans to take it further.
Ethan chimes in finally. “What about Uncle Hudson?” he turns toward me. “You have lots of rooms not being used.”
“You know, Ethan,” says Fran, not even trying to hide the obvious fake surprise in her voice. “I didn’t even think of that,” she says with a wink that lets me know she knows exactly what she is doing and somehow roped my traitorous nephew into it.
“Traitor,” I whisper and he just turns to me and gives me what I can only describe as a shit-eating grin. The kind kids give when they are about to do something they know they aren’t supposed to. Consequences be damned. Like being a part of a ridiculous scheme concocted by a bunch of busy-body gossips who think this random woman from out of town will be the one I fall head over heels for. News flash…they are wrong. And I plan to prove it to them.
“You know what, Ethan?” I say with as much mock enthusiasm as I can muster. “That’s a great idea.”
Silence. They expected a fight that I am not going to give them. Avery can take whatever spare room for whatever time she has left of her visit and then she can leave. Be out of my life for good, and I can go back to normal in a heartbeat. I can deal with her for a few weeks. I’ll just pick up more orders and bury myself in my work. I probably won’t even see her much.
“Alright,” says Tom, his booming voice breaking the silence. “With that settled, we have nothing else, so, meeting adjourned. Frank, start the drinks.” Frank responds with a grunt, but starts handing out beers and taking food orders.
