Page 77 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
The article went on to explain how the showcase would work and how prospective buyers could help send at-risk teens to college. It even had a few photos of the entries featured at the bottom of the article.
“This is great press,” Josh said, trying to see the problem.
Margo silenced him with one arched brow. “It’s a disaster! I received a call from the paper earlier, asking if I wanted to go on record about this photo.”
Josh looked at the stunning picture of a three-story silo on the river’s edge. On the tallest cylinder was a picture of a starling. The bird’s crown was a brilliant blue, its chest iridescent teal. From a distance, it looked like one giant image, but upon closer inspection, each feather was an individual image, making the bird a mosaic of smaller starlings.
Woven into its chest were the words,In numbers we hide,and down the bird’s beak was the artist’s signature: Bex.
It was impressive and stunning and, according to the article, it was another way vandalism was scarring Portland’s urban terrain.
“Defacing the city? Are they serious? This is amazing. The article posed the question of how to distinguish art form graffiti, and if the Ladies of Portland were making a stand in favor of trespassing and vandalism.”
“I find it odd that Kitty had lunch with the journalist, and the next thing my name is mentioned in a controversial article.” Margo turned the page. “And candidate Russell Heinz makes a pledge to clean up Portland.”
Of course, he did.Heinz would make a pledge to imprison his own mother if it would win him a few votes. Even worse, he had a pretty good idea who Bex was and that he’d seen more of her work spray painted around the city.
Rhett took the paper and studied the photo. “I think these are the silos on the river front. I know the owner. If you want, I can give him a call since he owes me a favor. I booked his kid for a show at Stout.”
“You will do no such thing. I had one rule. One.” Margo flicked a single finger in the air. “That everything must be approved and vetted. Your lady friend personally agreed she would oversee each and every entry.”
“We still have no idea if the property owner gave Rebecca permission,” Josh pointed out, praying to hell that Rebecca hadn’t done what he thought she’d done.
“The owner notified the police, who came to see me aboutRebecca,who I assume is one of these Skye’s the Limit girls.”
“She is.”
“Of course, she is,” Margo said as if the information excited her. “Kitty played innocent about the entire matter and sent them my way. I have been told that the only way to access the property is by either scaling an eight-foot barbed wire fence or cutting their way through. They located a hole on the back entrance and wire cutters. As far as I’m concerned, this young lady is lucky she isn’t getting arrested.”
“Arrested?”
“Then there’s Piper. Since I doubt Clive Kessler would break and enter, Piper must have been the one to take the photo. What was her plan? She had to know we would find out.”
“First, we don’t know if she took it.” Josh thought back to Rebecca and the missing camera. “And we don’t know if there was any nefarious plans. It’s some teenager painting a rusting glorified tin can. And I don’t think Piper shot it. Rebecca took, uh, borrowed her camera a few weeks back.”
Josh knew he should have tried harder to convince Piper to file a report. Not that he wanted to see Rebecca get in trouble, but at least Piper’s name wouldn’t be attached to the incident and it wouldn’t blow back on her.
“Well, then you might want to tell someone because if anyone will be held responsible, it will be Piper.”
Josh ran a hand down his face. Piper was going to be livid, then she was going to be devastated because Josh knew where this conversation was going. “Before we make any rash decisions, let Rhett reach out to the owner. Mom, you and I can talk to the Ladies of Portland.”
“Oh, the board made their stance clear. They want to get as far away from this mess as possible, and I suggest, for the sake of your campaign, you do too.”
“Can’t they at least give me a couple days to make this right?” he asked. Margo’s expression wasn’t all that encouraging.
“I doubt it. My mind is already made up, as I’m sure the other members’ are as well.”
Josh understood why his mom was taking such a drastic stance; it came down to his dad’s memory. But why were the other members digging in? It was a puff piece on page eleven of the society pages. Margo avoided his gaze, and a sinking feeling hollowed in his chest. “Mom, what did you do?”
“I did what was best for the charity and what is best for you.” Margo smiled sadly. “You might not care about the optics, but I know how these things play out.”
Josh scooted forward and took his mom’s hands. “This isn’t about Dad.”
Margo yanked her hands back as if burned. “Of course, this isn’t about your father. But we all saw how one misappropriated comment can take down an entire family.”
She was talking about how Heinz nearly toppled Stout because of one employee’s mistake. He’s sold alcohol to a minor who had a fake ID. Heinz got the ATF involved and temporarily froze Stout’s license, which almost bankrupted the bar. The employee was immediately fired, but his dad spent that last years of his life fighting a lawsuit that was eventually thrown out of court. But the damage had been done, and his dad passed not knowing if he’d had a legacy to pass down to his sons. So he understood his mom’s over the top concern, but like Piper had reminded him, the why was more important than the what, and until he heard the entire story, he wasn’t about to pass judgment.
“No one is taking down anyone, Mom. This is about teenagers showing their art, and until we know what happened, let’s take a breath.”
