Page 13 of Sunset Tides
“Like the president?” She downed the rest of her small glass of wine.
“Sure. No relation, though.”
She stared at him for a beat before adding, “Did you know Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act?”
Rob wasn’t sure where she was going with this, and he felt slightly embarrassed for not knowing anything about the former president who shared his surname. “I did not.”
Lucy shrugged, her cool recovered. “Yep. 1925 – no, 1924. Just a bit of history for you. We’re big on history here.” She stood from her seat. “How lucky that you were able to get a table tonight. Enjoy the rest of your evening, and enjoy your trip back to New York.”
Rob sat back. He felt like he’d been slapped in the face. It wasn’t her disdain that had done it – that was nothing new for him, and she wasn’t even particularly mean, compared to what he was used to.
What shocked him into silence was his own confusion after trying to keep up with her in conversation. He was pretty sure she’d insulted him, but he didn’t understand how. And how did she know he had trouble getting a table?
She was something else.
He stared at her, unable to think of anything to say, and watched as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked out of the restaurant without looking back.
“Man,” he muttered quietly, shaking his head and getting his papers back on the table.
It wasn’t worth it to engage with her. He needed to focus on work.
Lucy was overflowing with confidence, though. Had she actually managed to find a better deal for the farm? Or was it just hubris?
It didn’t matter. He knew what was going on. No one on Orcas Island was making decisions. Grindstone Farm was owned by Carriageway Holdings, and Rob was the only one whoknew what they needed. He would finish this deal before Lucy knew what hit her.
Chapter Seven
It was wrong of her to taunt Rob. Lucy knew that, but she couldn’t resist. His smug face had set her off. He thought he could just show up and take their farm, despite the fact that he knew nothing about farms, or Orcas Island, or even Calvin Coolidge!
Ha. Such a hotshot, except he could barely find a place to eat on the entire island. Lucy had personally made sure it would be difficult for him. She’d sent out an email to all of the restaurant owners she knew – well, that she and Claire knew – explaining what was happening to Grindstone and why Rob was terrible.
Almost all of the restaurant owners had responded enthusiastically about refusing to serve Rob, and they offered donations for the Kickstarter.
Theonerestaurant that hadn’t responded to her email let Rob in. It was terrible luck, but Lucy talked to the owners – a couple in their sixties – and cleared everything up.
They weren’t the most technology-focused people, so Lucy wasn’t surprised they had missed her email. They were horrified when she told them about the prospect of Grindstone being sold off. They offered to add ten five-course meals to the growing list of Orcas Island experiences that Lucy had created for the Kickstarter campaign, which was extremely generous.
The list was getting long, and top donors would have a chance to do things like a personalized wine tasting at the winery, whale watching boat rides, and even a private helicopter tour above the islands.
The response from the community had been a bit overwhelming, to be honest. Islanders were so gracious and so willing to help. Lucy was in awe of how they pulled together, and the message was clear: Grindstone was not for sale.
Rob would eventually get the hint.
Still, she shouldn’t taunt him. Lucy hadn’t figured out all of the details quite yet. They were moving in the right direction – they’d just surpassed the two hundred-thousand-dollar mark for their fundraising – but that wasn’t enough to buy the farm back at auction.
She had a feeling she was onto something big, though. Just the prior night, she’d gotten a sympathetic message from a local celebrity, Valerie Villano.
It was surely Margie’s doing – she really knew everyone – and Lucy appreciated it. Valerie was a San Juan Island native turned 90’s country pop star.
Sure, she wasn’t as big as Taylor Swift, but she had been famous once! When Valerie had heard about Grindstone’s plight, she’d asked Lucy if she could share information about the fundraising efforts on her Instagram page.
Lucy jumped at the idea, sending Valerie pictures and videos of the farm to use, and even offered to give her a private tour. Valerie said she was in LA, too far for a tour, but she promised to post something tomorrow morning.
Lucy couldn’t wait. This could be just the boost they needed.
She was so excited that she stayed up until two o’clock in the morning editing a new video for the Kickstarter. She needed to get more footage of the island to show off how beautiful it was, but that would have to wait until the morning, and probably the next video…
After a refreshing four hours of sleep, she got back to work, and by the time Valerie made her post at ten, Lucy’s new video was live and ready to go.
