Page 107 of A Spell for Midwinter's Heart
For a moment, there was nothing in the world but the two of them, joined despite the distance, and then a swell of voices roared up to envelop the scene.
The protesters turned to face the conference room, chanting, “By, for, and of Elk Ridge! By, for, and of Elk Ridge!”
Massive lanterns floated up from strategic locations around the crowd. At the base of each of them stood a member of the coven, propelling the lights skyward with lifted arms. Rowan kept leading the chant until it was clear it had taken on a life of its own, and then she stepped back to watch. With every beginning of the chant, her heart lifted. With every ending, it soared.
Until an insistent buzzing in her pocket interrupted the moment.
“You were supposed to call my mom on the laptop,” said Rowan, weaving her way through the crowd with her phone stuck to her ear.
“Well, no one’s picking up, so…” Dade’s voice crackled from the conferencing app on her phone.
She broke through the mass of people and pushed open the warehouse door, making for the thinly carpeted staircase. “I shouldn’t be in the meeting…Me being there might complicate things.”
“Why? You stick your foot in your mouth again?”
“Well, yes…But! That’s not why. There’s someone in there who I’m giving his space.”
“Rowan Midwinter. Did you have yourself a holiday fling?” This time it was Lorena who spoke. She and Dade were both online and waiting to present the final piece of the Elk Ridge pitch to Dennis.
“Something like that,” Rowan murmured.
Stepping out of the stairwell, she was caught off-guard by thefact that three people were huddled on the landing, the meeting room door shut tight behind them.
Gavin stood directly in front of his father, back straight, face firm, and hand gesturing toward the windows while Liliana looked on from a short distance away.
“Is that enough to convince you?” said Gavin. “Because I want to believe this isn’t about the money. That you really want what’s best for Elk Ridge. Because that’s the man I know. The man I love. The man I’m proud to call my father.” His eyes narrowed. “But you’re making that very hard right now. This other guy? Who’d sell out everyone for his own gain? I don’t know him. I don’twantto know him.”
His handsome face blazed, open and ferocious, poised as he drew a hard line in the sand that he would not let his father cross—not without breaking something between them forever. It was just, it was brave, it waseverythingshe’d believed he could be.
Dennis’s eyebrows rose to the top of his forehead, mouth agape, but he was quiet, cowed by his son’s accusations.
“Dennis,” said Liliana, stepping in closer. “You know how Sarah would have voted. We built this for our community, for our kids, and what they’re proposing was exactly what she always wanted for it. A place where everyone in the community would feel included, represented, and where they could thrive. Give them a chance.”
The old man was quiet for a moment. His eyes traveled to a collage of photos on the wall—all pictures from festivals past. In the center was an image of Sarah McCreery with her arm around Liliana Midwinter, standing at the gates of the festival. Their youthful faces alight.
His eyes lingered on Sarah’s face. “God, I wish she were here.”
“So do I,” said Liliana. She ventured to put a hand on his arm, and he stared at it for a moment, eyes shining with tears he would not let himself shed. When he looked back, his face was all business.
“Before you say anything!” said Rowan, making the room suddenly aware of her presence.
Gavin’s expression shifted as soon as he saw her, but she didn’t let herself linger on him, afraid of what she’d find.
Just one more thing to do. One more thing to do before the New Year. Then she could figure out the rest of her life.
She held her phone up high. “I have one more thing to show everyone.”
“Hi there!” Lorena’s voice chirped from the phone. “We’re with the SunlightCorps. I’m Lorena.”
“And I’m Dade.”
“Wait,you’reDade?” said Gavin.
“That’s me,” said Dade, leaning in close to his camera as if that would help him get a better look at Gavin. “Ahhh…you must be the awkwardness.” Gavin shot a quick look Rowan’s way and then averted his eyes.
“We work with Rowan,” said Lorena, moving them along. “She told us a little about your situation, and while we’re still going to need to bring it to the wider group in the New Year, we can see a strong case for picking Elk Ridge as the site of our next build.”
“What would that mean, exactly?” asked Dennis, brow furrowed in concentration.
