Page 83 of A Novel Summer
“Is Dad around?” he said.
Shelby stood. “I should get going...”
“Don’t rush off,” Carmen said. “And no, your father’s at the restaurant. What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on,” he said unconvincingly.
“Well, you’re here instead of at work.”
Justin paced a few steps, then joined them at the table. She could smell the salt on his skin and feel the heat radiating from his body. It took effort for her not to lean closer to him.
“I found out who bought the wharf building,” he said.
Shelby wasn’t sure what he was talking about but could tell that it wasn’t good. “What’s the wharf building?”
“It’s a property on MacMillan Pier that the town trust hoped to buy to turn into affordable housing for workers. So we can fix the staffing shortages that has everyone scrambling this summer. But someone outbid us.”
“Who?” Carmen said.
“The Hendriks.” He said it almost like it was a question, like he didn’t quite believe it. Shelby didn’t understand. Wasn’t Hendrik’s buying Land’s End?
“That doesn’t make sense,” said Shelby. “They’re supposed to be buying Land’s End.”
“They bought both. Kate’s brother is opening a hotel on the water.”
Carmen let out a low whistle. “She hid this from you?”
Justin shot her a look. “No. Shetoldme. That’s how I know.”
“Well, she told you now. After it’s a done deal.”
“Ma, please. This isn’t helpful.” He stood up. “I’ll catch Dad at the restaurant.”
It seemed unfair that someone from Boston could just sweep in and buy their way into town, when someone like Colleen who’d lived there her entire life couldn’t sustain a family business.
“So, instead of affordable housing we get a hotel. That seems about right with the way things have been headed.” Carmen stood, her chair legs rumbling against the floor. “You’re on a dozen committees, but none of them can fix the fundamental problem, and that’s the human weakness for selling things to the highest bidder.”
“I’m not trying to change human nature,” Justin said. “I just hoped that this time, the highest bidder could be one of us.”
Shelby turned to Justin. “What happens now to the money the Community Trust raised to buy the wharf building?”
“I haven’t even gotten that far,” Justin said. “Why?”
She took a beat, an idea forming. “Could you...use it to make a counteroffer on the bookstore?”
Justin leaned back in his chair. She saw his eyes narrow behind his glasses. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Shelby said, her thoughts becoming more clear. “I guess I’m thinking, the trust buys the bookstore and Colleen can run it. Does that make any sense?”
He nodded slowly. “It does. It actually does.”
“We’d have to talk to the Millers, of course.”
Carmen clapped her hands together, beaming. “Well, isn’t this a great idea.”
Justin held up one hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The sale to the Hendriks might be signed and done. Even if it’s not, the trust would have to approve the purchase. Certain criteria have to be met.”
“What criteria?” Carmen said, with an emphasis on the wordwhat. As if it were an absurd suggestion.
