Page 76 of Book and Ladder
“I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Why not?”
“This is the third time this week he’s called to ask me out.”
“What?” Her eyes glisten with excitement. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“To you?” I practically snort with my laughter. “The woman who wrote aDear Future Husbandletter on my behalf?Hmmm … I wonder why I didn’t mention my real life suitor to you?”
She looks hurt, so I add, “Besides, I haven’t seen much of Tom since high school. He wasn’t my type then, I don’t think he’ll be my type now.”
Effie strolls up to the counter and nonchalantly assesses my life in one sentence. “When it rains, it pours, I tell ya.”
“And here I am in the Sahara,” Winona practically whines.
“Maybe Tom would like to take you out,” I offer.
Winona rolls her eyes. “I’m not taking sloppy seconds. When a man wants me, he’ll call me, not my boss and best friend.”
“That’s a girl,” Effie praises Winona. “You wait for that man. He’ll be the one.”
Winona actually beams. I wish I could bottle her resilience.
That afternoon we’re a little busier, and it’s six o’clock before I know it. I close up and walk to the parking lot, gazing over at the open field as I stroll to my car.
I picture aFuture Site of Home Martsign sitting right at the edge of the property and my stomach clenches with unease.
“Patrick’s one of them,” I admonish myself. “Don’t you forget it.”
The parking lot at the community center is packed when I pull in. I find a spot, grab my notebook and make my way through the double doors. Craning my neck and searching the crowd, I finally see Winona waving her hands overhead. I excuse myself as I weave past people standing in the center aisle, chatting with friends and neighbors.
“Deja vu,” I say, taking my seat between Winona and Carli.
“Should we switch seats?” Winona asks. “Do you wantEmberleigh or Sydney to sit next to you? Maybe that will trick the deja vu voodoo.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Carli says, peeking her head around me to smile adoringly at Winona.
“You don’t know that for certain,” Winona answers her.
I chuckle. “I like you two right where you are.”
“Anyway,” Carli says. “I was talking to the ranch hands, and they’re unanimous—no way we’re getting a Home Mart.”
I cross my fingers and hold them up, giving them a quick shake. “One can only hope.”
Mayor Briggs opens the meeting. We run through school issues, storm follow up, the fireman calendar fundraiser, and then I’m bracing myself to hear about the last item on the agenda.
“For our last item of business,” Mayor Briggs says, “We’ll discuss the O’Connell development of a Home Mart on the outskirts of town.”
He looks around the room, making pointed eye contact like the seasoned politician he is.
“Conrad O’Connell has done his due diligence, submitting his land surveys and environmental impact report. Those are all on file at city hall if any of y’all want to check them out in your leisure time.” He chuckles. “And everything went through like a butter slidin’ down your granny’s warm biscuit.”
I glance at Carli and silently mouth the word,yikes.
“We still have to vote,” she whispers.
“We will now open the microphone so y’all can come up and share your thoughts about this opportunity,” Mayor Briggs says. Then, with the expression of a father warning his children to behave, he adds, “Keep it civil.”
