Page 24 of Candy Cane Dreams
Jack opened the church door for Kate and held it while she walked through. The warmth pouring out was welcome, and he could see her relax as she walked in. It always took a little while after the first cold weather of the season to acclimate to the weather before it stopped bothering him.
It was a good thing, getting acclimated, allowing oneself to be cold. He'd read the latest research and knew that the uncomfortableness was good for his body. That didn't make it any easier.
The entire way from his candy shop to the church, he'd been thinking about Kate. She just seemed to fit beside him. Better than anyone ever had, and he felt comfortable with her. She was a good friend. And obviously she cared about Lilly. He appreciated that probably more than anything, since he felt totally inadequate to be raising her by himself and appreciated any help he could get.
"Thank you," Kate murmured as he walked in behind her, allowing the door to close and keep the rest of the cold air out.
He lifted his hand as they walked in, and Noah Parker, the music shop owner two doors down from the candy shop, smiled from the podium.
"Hey, Jack. We've been waiting on you."
"You didn't have to hold the meeting up for me," he said, surprised, but pleased that they did. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised; it was a small town and they looked out for each other.
He could see the McBride family sitting to the left, and he moved in that direction.
"Do you want to sit over here with me?" he asked Kate, who seemed to be standing uncertainly. He felt a little bit bad because he'd kind of dragged her along with him. Maybe she hadn't really wanted to go.
Relief moved over her face.
"If you don't mind, yes? I know a few people in town, but I feel a little bit out of my element here."
"Everyone's pretty relaxed. Obviously, since they held the meeting up for us."
"You, not me," she said with a smile.
"If they knew you were coming, they would have waited on you too. You show up to two meetings in a row, and everyone will assume you're a lifelong member."
He moved a chair and held it for her while she sat down, and then he sat down beside her, nodding at Judd and Jones, who had married two of the McBride girls.
"All right, now that Jack is here, we can call the meeting to order." Noah tapped a gavel on the stand. Even though the meeting was always very informal, Noah looked serious and businesslike as he conducted it. It helped set the tone.
"We just got news that Big Bolts has requested approval to put a store in just outside of town, and we already knew the state is in the early stages of planning on making a bypasswith an easy on, easy off ramp for Big Bolts and the shopping conglomerate that will probably go with it." Noah lifted a shoulder. "Everything is in the early planning stages, but as a small business owner, this concerns me."
"As well it should. If this happens, the downtown of Mistletoe Meadows will die, like every other small town that's had the big box store go in along with the bypass. It takes all the traffic and routes it around town." Marjorie McBride spoke up, and although she seemed very tired, her words were firm.
"Exactly. We definitely need to fight this. There's no way we can allow this to happen." Jones, married to Amy McBride, nodded at his mother-in-law. "Amy and my veterinary clinic doesn't exactly depend on the traffic going through town, but if our town dies, our business will die as well."
"Same here. As the town doctor, the box store isn't going to affect me, nor the bypass at first, but eventually, as people lose their livelihoods, it will. Also, not to muddy the waters, but I've been so busy in my practice that I'm thinking about hiring a second doctor to help me." Terry, who used to be Terry McBride, sat beside her husband, Judd.
There were murmurs that went through the crowd, probably both about what she had said about the bypass and about her hiring a new doctor.
"Well, that's good news about the second doctor in town. I like to hear about business expanding." Noah spoke from the podium.
Jack figured that, while he was not for the box store nor the bypass, he ought to present the other side. Because there was another side.
When several other people stood up and spoke, but no one spoke in favor of either one of the two happenings—he decided that it was probably his turn to stand up and say what maybe he didn't really want to.
As quiet settled over the meeting, Noah looked around.
"I think we've heard from about everyone. Except you, Jack. I'm sure that you're against both of these things."
Noah said it like it was a given, and it pretty much was, but there was another side.
Jack looked down at Marjorie McBride. He did not want to disagree with her or start an argument or fight with her. The woman was too kind to hold it against him, but he didn't want to be disrespectful either.
Wondering whether he should speak or whether he should just let it go, he glanced at Kate.
"You have something to say. Say it," she whispered to him.
