Page 27 of Candy Cane Dreams
Jack did not want to, but someone needed to do it.
“We need a shop to feature at the Festival, and I propose that if Jack takes that position, we feature his candy cane shop at the Festival this year.” Marjorie McBride spoke clearly. Her words caused a murmur to go through the room, then several people called out an assent.
"I will." Jack knew he needed to answer the call to help his town, and adding the Festival shop feature made it a no-brainer. He hadn't thought about it any farther than that, but he supposed he didn't need to. He was hoping that someone with a cool head, who could see both sides, would be in charge, and... apparently that was him. Did he have a cool head? He thought he could see both sides.
The meeting broke up not long after, and he found himself standing beside Kate, talking to the McBrides.
After a few minutes, they walked away, with the McBride children seeming to want to get their mother home.
"Would you like me to walk you to your car?" Jack asked Kate. There was just something in him that said that since they'd walked there together, he was responsible for getting her home safely, even though he knew that there really wasn't any such thing. She was perfectly capable of getting herself to her car.
"I'd love that."
They spoke to a few more people on their way to the door, where they grabbed their coats and put them on before heading out into the night.
"You did a really great job in there. I was completely against both ideas until you spoke, and then you really made me see that while I still am not super excited about the changes that might happen here, it might be a good thing for the community in general."
"I think so, if we do it in a smart way. I didn't mention it at the time, but some of the tax revenue that's generated by the big box store going in could be used to advertise the downtown. That might mitigate the loss of revenue. I don't know if we can put that directly into any agreements that we make with them or not."
"That's an excellent idea."
"Yeah, I don't know. I suppose we'll see how it pans out. I mean, there will be taxes coming in from that, obviously. So we might as well make good use of them and try to use them to offset any of the negative consequences. I was also thinking that perhaps people who commute through Mistletoe Meadows could somehow have some kind of permit, similar to an EZ Pass, where they're allowed to use the bypass as well, you know?"
"That's a great idea. You should have said that back there." Kate huffed out a breath. "I guess if you're in charge, though,you'll be the one talking, and you can present those ideas to the various people who need to hear them."
"Yeah, I guess I just didn't have everything organized in my head. I wasn't expecting to have to speak on that tonight...I would have been more prepared had I known."
"You did a great job."
"I hope I didn't push you into helping with the Christmas festival if you didn't want to."
"Oh, not at all. I'd planned to get involved in the community. I love that kind of thing, and I thought I would do more of it at my last job, but... it just didn't work out that way. So actually, you did me a favor. Even coming into this meeting, I told myself that I wanted to get involved."
"Well, you're definitely going to be involved. The community Christmas festival is a really big thing."
"I don't know. Maybe people will find out I'm doing it and decide to stay away. Sometimes small towns can kind of circle the wagons against newcomers."
"I can't disagree with you, but I don't think Mistletoe Meadows is like that. Especially since you know the McBrides. That gives you an in that not a lot of people have."
"You would know, having grown up here."
"True. Although I grew up outside of Mistletoe Meadows, on the farm out there."
Kate seemed to hesitate, and then she said, "Are you just in the candy shop because of your late wife?"
Wow. That was a question he wasn't expecting to have to answer today. It wasn't something that he typically talked about with anyone. But he didn't want to ruin the rapport that he'd developed with Kate, and he found himself wanting to answer her anyway.
"It's for my daughter. That's her heritage. So yeah, I would rather be on the farm—that's mine. That's what I love, and it's what I wanted to pass down to my children."
"Lilly is yours too," Kate said.
It was a simple statement, but it hit hard.
"You're doing so much to keep the candy shop alive because it was important to Lauren, but in the process, you're losing what was important to you, if I am not mistaken." She paused for a moment and then she said, "And if I'm not overstepping my bounds, either."
"You're not overstepping. You... said something that I hadn't even dared to think. Or maybe I just hadn't considered it. After all, I guess I assumed that Lilly would want what was her mother's."
"But maybe she wants what was her dad's as well."
