Page 57 of Back to You

Cam glanced around the lot behind the hall surprised at how full it was. “It looks like the whole town is here.”

“Nah. Too quiet. But this is something. What do you think they want?”

Cam shrugged. “Figured it was just some questions from the insurance guys, but… I mean, this is Starlight Harbor. It could be anything.”

He’d expected to have to push his way through the crowd, but as they moved forward, people just got out of their way until they made it to the middle of the excitement.

In the center, standing in front of the sleigh were two guys in suits who stood out from pretty much everyone. In Starlight Harbor, suits were for weddings and funerals… and for some kids, the prom.

These guys weren’t feds, so they must be the insurance people.

The older one in the red tie seemed to be in charge. The younger one with the blue tie looked confused to even be there.

So sorry our national treasure is too kitschy for you, Mr. Blue Tie, huh?

Selectperson McCreary stood between the suits and Jonathan on one side and the lairds on the other. Off a bit from the two groups, notebook in hand, Spence tried to blend into the crowd. He was doing a much better job than he would have a month ago.

Cam glanced at Jamie to see if he had any take on what was going on. With a shrug, Jamie took the last step out of the crowd, knowing he’d be standing with Cam.

“Camden. It’s about time.” Selectperson McCreary motioned to him.

Cam just stared at her since she’d only called him seven minutes ago. After a moment she cleared her throat and said, “Thank you for coming up so quickly.”

“Of course.” He turned to the suits and introduced himself. “I’m Camden Ross.”

“Right. Mr. Ross.” Red Tie gave him a nod and glanced down at his notes. “I understand you’re the local artist who would like to lead the renovations of the sleigh.”

The tone immediately felt like an interrogation, so Cam decided to act accordingly. And hoped Jamie would too.

“Yes.” Answer the question asked.

Red Tie waited as if Cam would add something to that, but he didn’t know what the guy was looking for.

“And your qualifications?”

“You haven’t been given my specs page?” Cam was already losing patience because this felt like the build to an attack, not to mention a complete waste of time. Professionals had pages for this very reason. He was incredibly easy to research, not to mention the town had the entire specs page for when someone reached out to the tourist center.

“I have, but I’d like you to go over it and also we’ll need to verify them.”

“I’m incredibly easy to verify if you Google me. The state of Maine, the governor's office, Havester’s estate, several local colleges I’ve spoken at, a list of state and federal buildings my pieces are photographed in… I could go on?” Cam left it as a question.

Blue Tie gave him a half-apologetic look behind Red Tie’s back.

“We’ll need a list of verifiable sources.”

“As I stated, they’re on my website.”

“You can send—”

“I’m going to stop you right there. You have my info. You have my verifiable list available to you. I’m not a businessman or the owner of this sleigh. I’m an artist—a well-known, well-paid, highly trained artist who the town has hired. You do your job, I’ll do mine.”

From the back of the crowd, a voice shouted, “You tell ’em, Cam.”

When it came to Starlight Harbor, there were guests and there were outsiders. It was obvious which group these two fell into.

Guests were something closer to visiting family.

“We’ll take a look and be in touch.”

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