Page 16 of The Map Home
“But Curtis owns the paper, doesn’t he?”
“Yup, but it turns out Honey is a minor partner, so she has some say. Maybe he has a good reason to be worried? Honey is a force to be reckoned with—and not always in a good way.”
Tad was almost positive Honey made up most of the letters for her advice column because she was a shit-stirrer. When anyone—Curtis Lewis—tried to call her on the questionable content, she’d claim freedom of the press. He doubted that applied to gossip columns. It wasn’t as if she was reporting the news, and there was this thing called slander, after all. But what did Tad know?
Tad had been lucky to intern with Lewis at the local newspaper while finishing up his journalism degree instead of having to take a position somewhere else like Jackson or even Cheyenne. And Curtis was a good person to learn from. Even better, Tad and Honey had mutually agreed to pretend the other didn’t exist.
“I bet he’s glad you can step in. You said yes, right?”
“Of course I did. It won’t be for too long though. Just until Curtis is mobile again. Through New Year’s, he thinks, but I think it will be longer.”
“Cool, cool.”
“It means I have to go into town first thing tomorrow because I’m covering the craft fair and tree lighting. My first legit story—‘Collier’s Creek Tree Lighting Goes Up In Smoke.’ Well,” Tad added, chuckling, “hopefully notthat,but I do hope something interesting happens.”
“Dude, careful what you wish for. Interesting times and all that.” Dakota sipped at what was left of his drink.
Tad stared back at him, wishing more than anything that he could lick the moisture that remained behind off of Dakota’s lips.Gah. But he couldn’t that, and not just because his whole family was sitting close by talking about premium cattle feed or, in Boone’s case, his fiancé. From almost the time they’d met, Dakota had friend-zoned Tad so hard that if Tad had been a football player, he wouldn’t have been able to see the goalposts from where he was on the field. Maybe he was in the nosebleed seats.
“What are you two talking about over here?” his mom asked, coming to stand next to Tad. All innocent, as if she hadn’t been doing her best to eavesdrop.
“The tree lighting and fair tomorrow,” Tad said quickly.
“It’s going to be so much fun this year!” his mom gushed. “I’m so excited.”
“Mom, it’ll be the same as every year,” he said, rolling his eyes dramatically. “There’ll be the speech, and then at dusk, the mayor or his ‘celebrity guest’ will flip the switch and the tree will light up. Whoop.”
Secretly, Tad loved this time of year, especially when the Christmas tree showed up in the town square. At night, the whole area lit up with a soft glow from the thousands of lights wrapped around it. It was too easy for him to imagine an alternate universe where he and Kota were together, maybe walking hand in hand, all wrapped up in heavy coats and scarves, with just their noses and eyes showing. If it was late, maybe he’d be brave and kiss Kota.
“Don’t be so grinchy,” Penny scoffed, interrupting his little fantasy. “Many of the local businesses will have booths out on the sidewalk, and there are tons of independent crafters too, more than we’ve had in the past. This year, there’ll be a beer garden on one side of the square and an outside speakeasy sponsored by Odette’s on the other. We’re going to go into town for the day and then get the decorations up at the house later.”
Odette’s was a new European-style bar in town. The owner had found old-fashioned French posters to hang on the exposed brick walls of the building’s interior. The food was supposed to be great and the atmosphere was laid-back but still classy. Sometimes on the weekends they even had live jazz. At first, some of the old-timers had pronounced it too fancy, but they’d quickly changed their minds.
Penny kept her finger on the pulse of Collier’s Creek, and she was a huge fan of the new bar with its art nouveau posters, funky artwork, and, from what Tad had heard, excellent food.
“Great,” he heard Dakota mutter, “booze on both ends of the event guarantees chaos.”
“I heard they’re saving the beer garden for the Holiday Bash,” Tad offered.
The Bash was the last Saturday before Christmas and, in Tad’s opinion, was really just a way for all the perennially late shoppers to go to one spot in town and buy everything at the last minute. Or maybe it was tradition, and the last-minute folks liked the endorphin rush they got while panic-shopping.
Penny ignored both observations. “Plus, the Kids-In-Need program will be kicking off with donations from you know who!” She grinned and pointed at herself. “Dad and I bought a whole bunch of special stuffed bears this year. They have cowboy hats on their heads, little boots on their feet, and are hugging a little bear of their own.” His mom sighed dramatically. “They almost makes me wish you and Boonie still liked that sort of thing.”
“That’s nice of you, Mrs. G,” Dakota said diplomatically. “Kids will love those.”
Tad opened his mouth to tell his mom about Curtis being in the hospital. But at that moment, a log popped loudly and sent sparks up into the sky. Most everyone stopped talking to watch them, so they all heard Burl say, “—heard the other day.”
“Oh, dear,” said Penny, while Waylon, Kit, Boone, and Larry all exploded into variations of “What the fuck?” as well as, “That is not fucking happening.” His mom didn’t even give the older men a hard time for bad language.
“What’s going on?” Tad asked Waylon.
“I didn’t want to say anything about it tonight, but”—Waylon sighed, looking around at everyone—“Burl and Nash have heard a rumor that some developer wants to build a housing development on the plateau between our land and the Simpsons.”
“Shit, really? How did that happen? And this is the first we’re hearing of it?” Dakota asked. “I thought there was all sorts of environmental stuff that needed to happen first?”
“There is,” Penny said hotly. “But this jerk thinks he can convince someone in the county or state government—or both—that he’s got a great plan. We don’t know how he got ahold of the land either. There was a dispute over his will after Carter Pickering passed away, and as far as we knew, it hadn’t been settled yet. Guess we were wrong.”
“This is terrible news,” Tad said quietly.
