Page 58 of Sunset Tides
Pathetic.
Thankfully, he called her later that night and asked when she’d be free for dinner and “an activity.”
“I’m not sure. Maybe Saturday? It’s hard to get work done on Saturday nights because no one else is working.”
“I hear you,” he said. “Okay, I’ve got a plan. Be ready at three thirty?”
Lucy raised an eyebrow. “What if three thirty isn’t good for me?”
“Then tell me and we can change it.”
Lucy frowned. She had no problem with three thirty. It was a reflex to challenge him. They’d never been a “we” before, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it. “No,” she finally said. “Three thirty is good.”
They ended their call and Lucy got back to work. She was making progress, but she’d feel better once they had their attorney picked out and the FOIA request came back with documents detailing why this was happening. The whole situation was bizarre – why was it so hard to find out why they were being condemned, and by whom?
She did what she could, however, and day by day, she got closer to the truth. All week, Lucy couldn’t help but think how nice it was having something to look forward to. Even if her date with Rob was just a distraction, it was helpful. It pulled her out of her manic state every now and then.
By the end of the week, their fabulous and wildly expensive attorney took over most of the paperwork. That was a relief. Paperwork wasn’t Lucy’s forte.
That gave them more time to focus on other tasks. They decided to divide and conquer – each person had their own strengths. Even Aunt Becca made the trip up to Orcas to try to help. Just her being there seemed to lift Claire’s spirits.
Marty worked on building a website with news, updates, and ways for people in the community to help.
Lillian partnered with Jade to garner community support. They created a petition to save the hotel and surrounding properties. They’d collected nearly eight hundred signatures so far. For such a small county, that was a lot, and the number grew daily.
Lucy met up with her contact at the local paper. They were happy to run an article about the mysterious slew of proposed condemnations, and added a link to Marty’s website at the bottom.
Of everyone, Chip ended up becoming the MVP. He managed to get a hold of everyone who owned land near the hotel. There were several other properties that were slated to be condemned, and some of the owners hadn’t even known, since they so rarely visited or checked their mail.
This proved to be a positive. Chip was able to convince them to give him the freedom to tidy up their land, even going as far as demolishing decaying buildings.
“They weren’t happy about it,” he said. “But it beats losing the land altogether.”
From there, he hired a team of contractors and landscapers to clear out brush and make it look as though each parcel was “responsibly owned.”
It was all coming together nicely. Lucy was still worried about the situation, but it felt good to have a team in place.
By the time Saturday rolled around, Lucy felt relaxed enough to spend an embarrassingly long time planning what to wear on her night out with Rob.
In some misguided attempt at being mysterious, he wouldn’t tell her where they were going. All he said was to dress warm, but to not wear farm clothes.
As if she owned farm clothes.
Lucy erred on the side of elegance, hoping he’d take her somewhere nice, but not too nice. She’d decided to wear a long-sleeved sage colored dress and a knee-length flowing cardigan. She added heels – only three inches, nothing crazy – and Lillian braided half of her hair in a half up, half down look. It was casual, not too try-hard, and even a bit whimsical as little pieces fell out.
Rob picked her up promptly at three thirty and she was relieved to see he was dressed casually – for him, at least. No suit. Just a white button-down shirt, a navy sports coat and a pair of rust colored chinos.
As she got into his car, she announced, “I hope you weren’t planning on taking me to ride a horse in this outfit.”
“No. Not a horse.” He laughed. “A plane.”
She snapped her head toward him. “A plane?”
“Just kidding.” He recoiled, as if waiting to be struck.
She let out a huff and crossed her arms.
“I booked dinner and a private tour,” he said.
