Chapter 3 #2
Whatever might have come next was interrupted by a loud thump next door, followed by a crash in The Mystic Menagerie.
“Now what’s been broken? I swear…” Elwood shot up from his chair and stormed into the next room to check the damage to his inventory.
He scowled at the man seated at the foot of the table.
Everyone else watched agape, which was fair.
Elwood rarely got angry enough to storm anywhere.
He was much more of a make-love-not-war kind of guy.
“Let’s all introduce ourselves,” Elwood suggested again after he’d returned.
He still appeared flustered, but he pasted on a smile that almost appeared genuine.
“So that Declan can meet everyone. Why don’t you go first, Rue?
” Elwood said. I sat on his right, and he motioned to the person on his left to begin.
Leon looked apoplectic as he squeezed his fountain pen.
“We’ve met, but I’m Rue Bell. I own the Twinkling Thistle Café,” Rue said with an enchanting smile. “And, now that I know you do PR, I’d love to chat with you while you’re in town.”
Oh. A potential client already? Huh. Elwood might be on to something.
The woman beside Rue leaned forward to see me around the others and nodded at me.
Her dark hair was styled in a bob haircut and had a streak of silver in it, which was striking.
“I’m Mei Li. I own the local craft store.
I’d like to meet with you, too. I still haven’t figured out how to make one of those reel things.
Now I heard I shouldn’t bother with that.
Something about demographics? I have no idea what to do.
” She held up her hands as if surrendering and laughed.
“Of course. I’d love to chat with you. And it’s nice to meet you,” I said. Wow. Two potential clients. My day was looking up.
“Yes, yes, yes,” the next person, who sat at the foot of the table, muttered impatiently.
Based on the way he sneered at everyone else, I suspected this guy thought this meeting was beneath him, which made me wonder why he’d come.
Weren’t organizations like this run by volunteers?
He wasn’t obliged to attend. He tapped his manicured fingers on the table.
“Can we move this along? I don’t have time to listen to everyone’s marketing woes.
Let’s cut to the chase. What’s your problem now, Leon? ”
“If we’d started the meeting properly, you’d know by now.” Leon cast a jaundiced eye at Elwood.
Several people snickered.
“Enough!” Leon’s nostrils flared as he slammed his hand on the table.
The table wasn’t the most stable structure in the world.
Coffees and teas sloshed in cups all around the table.
Leon cleared his throat. “Apologies, everyone.” He sucked in a deep breath and unclenched his hand.
It appeared to take considerable effort.
“As much as it pains me to admit it, I agree with Winston. Please, just say your name and move on. We have a lot to cover tonight. And, while I have everyone’s attention, I would like to officially start the meeting now, too.
Mason, please record the time.” He glanced around the room. “Wait, where’s our secretary?”
“I’ll take the meeting minutes,” the woman dressed in green on Leon’s other side said. She waved at me. “I’m Avery, by the way. Florist.”
“But… but… where’s Mason? I realize Arthur couldn’t attend tonight because of the problem at the library, but that doesn’t explain Mason’s absence.”
“He said he wouldn’t come back until you apologized. Have you apologized?” Avery spoke, as if she knew exactly how he’d answer and wasn’t shy about calling him out for his bad behavior. Oh, I liked her. She was fun.
Who knew a committee meeting would be so entertaining? I should’ve made popcorn instead of buying pastries.
“I’m Winston Wilcox,” Mr. I’m-better-than-everyone-else with his fancy manicure announced from the foot of the table, as if he hadn’t tried to disrupt the introductions. He brushed his hand over his slicked-back hair.
Oh, right. The guy doing renovations next door. The one who’d dated Tulip. My first impression of the guy told me Tulip was lucky to be rid of him.
The woman from The Witch’s Brew was next.
She was still dressed in the same cheap business suit as earlier, which had struck me as an odd clothing choice for a barista, but she’d dialed up her makeup.
She batted her fake eyelashes at Winston as she took a sip of her coffee.
She immediately spat it back into her cup.
“What’s this crap? Where’s the coffee you bought from me? ”
“Sorry! That’s my fault,” I said, trying not to look at Gideon. “I had an accident on the way back from your coffee shop.”
Her scowl told me she wouldn’t be calling me for a consultation anytime soon.
“Don’t forget to say your name,” Elwood reminded her.
“Lily,” she muttered as she pushed her coffee cup away.
“I’m Azar. Most people call me Az. I own Brimstone Books,” the next man said. He was attractive, but I couldn’t figure out why I found him attractive. Some people were naturally charismatic, I guessed.
When it was Gideon’s turn, the heat of my earlier embarrassment rushed through me again.
I waved awkwardly after he stated his name.
I opened my mouth to say something charming and delightful about his new shirt.
Yeah, I had no idea what that would’ve been, but it didn’t matter because Leon was already talking.
“Then there’s Henry and Avery, who’ve already introduced themselves, and me, Leon. I own and operate the antique store,” Leon said.
“More like a thrift store,” Winston muttered to Lily at the end of the table. She tittered and batted her eyelashes at him again.
Leon ignored them. “Now let’s finally address the reason I’ve invited all of you here tonight.”
Avery’s hand was poised over her coiled notebook, ready to record what happened next.
Leon stood and cast his gaze slowly around the room. He cleared his throat and brushed his hands down his sweater vest. It was all ridiculously dramatic. “This emergency meeting is necessary because Winston is destroying everything we’ve been working for.”
“Hey, now,” Winston said, straightening from his nonchalant slouch, but Leon talked over him.
“This year is supposed to put Ravenstone on the map as a major tourist destination again. It isn’t enough to have a unique Main Street anymore.
We need to offer experiences. The festivals are pivotal to our survival.
And Winston is doing everything he can to kill our chances at making a favorable impression.
No one wants a rusty dumpster in their holiday photos.
No one wants all that banging and carrying on when they’re eating lunch at the café.
No one wants you!” Leon shoved a pudgy finger in Winston’s direction.
“You promised us that the work would be completed by now. I should… I should…”
Winston lifted an eyebrow when Leon’s sputtering words collapsed on themselves.
Lily waved Leon’s concerns away. “Don’t be ridiculous, Leon.
Winny’s new wine store is going to bring a new clientele to Ravenstone.
The kind of people who expect perfection and beauty.
The kind with exquisite sensibilities who appreciate new experiences and innovation.
Magic like that takes time. Isn’t that right, Winny?
” She slid her hand over his forearm and tilted her head in a way I suspected she thought would be coquettish but would just give her a cramp if she kept it up for too long. “You’re going to make us all rich.”
The man in question winced, whether at Lily’s nickname for him or at something else, I couldn’t tell.
“No, Lily, this is important,” Leon said, shouting over the latest round of construction noises from next door. “He’s violating at least six different municipal bylaws. See, even now, that construction should’ve stopped an hour ago.”
Winston rolled his eyes and tugged out his phone. He tapped on the screen. The banging noises next door stopped.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Winston said into his phone.
“I need you to wrap it up tonight. You’re breaking bylaws.
” His contractor’s response made him flatten his mouth.
“You’re the contractor, you’re responsible for adhering to whatever bylaws Leon’s going on about.
” His eyes widened. “You can’t walk off the job… I forbid it.”
Winston pulled his phone from his ear and stared at it in disbelief.
Mr. Manicure had been hung up on. Winston shoved out of his seat and glowered at Leon.
“Now look at what you’ve done, you old busybody.
Jim says he’s walking off the job and won’t be back.
If he doesn’t come back, you’ll be hearing from me. ”
He stormed out of the room. In the quiet that followed, I heard the front door of the shop open and close.
Leon dropped into his seat and adjusted his sweater vest. “Well, that went better than expected.”
Really? How much worse could it have gone?
Bewildered, I glanced around the table to gauge everyone else’s reactions and, of course, my gaze caught on Gideon.
He stared at the door Winston had used. Then, as if feeling my eyes on him, he turned and locked gazes with me.
His whole demeanor relaxed. He winked at me, and the corner of his mouth kicked up in a crooked smile.
Around us, the others gathered their belongings.
“What are you all doing?” Leon asked.
“The emergency meeting was to talk about Winston. That’s done. So, the meeting’s done.” The air of authority in Gideon’s voice made me shiver. I wasn’t normally attracted to bossy types, but…
Nope. Nuh-uh. I wasn’t going for any type right now.
Mei, Avery, and Az were the first ones out the door. A moment later, Lily departed on her own. The others followed until only Gideon, Elwood, Leon, and I remained. Leon blinked at the nearly empty room, as if he couldn’t understand what’d happened.
“But… there’s more to discuss,” Leon said. “We didn’t even adjourn.”
“If we haven’t thought of it before now, we don’t need it,” Gideon said firmly.
“Fine, but don’t come to me when things go wrong.” Leon sighed.
Gideon made a very strange noise, almost like a growl. “Have I ever turned to you for answers?”
Leon’s eyes widened. “Oh, uh…”
I opened my mouth to ask about the group’s current social media efforts–since apparently, they were now my responsibility–but Elwood, as if anticipating my thoughts, shook his head discreetly at me.
Leon left a moment later, leaving Elwood, Gideon, and me at the table.
I wondered why Gideon had stayed behind when everyone else had left, but once Leon was gone, he stood as well.
So much for the fleeting thought that he’d stayed because of me.
Had he stuck around to protect us from Leon?
That would be a bit odd, right? What would Leon do?
Force us to carry on with the meeting without everyone else here?
As soon as the chime on the door quieted, Elwood’s mouse raced out of the corner by the fridge.
It scurried with shocking speed straight to Elwood and climbed up his pant leg and shirt until it dove into his pocket.
Elwood put his finger in his pocket and wiggled it around, like he was petting the thing.
It was a wonder the little beast didn’t bite him.
We were probably lucky that Leon hadn’t seen it. He’d probably call for the whole block to be fumigated. But if Elwood and Gideon had known the mouse was there, that would explain why they’d tossed crumbs over there earlier.
“There, there, George. They’re all gone now,” Elwood crooned. Then the hammering started up again. It sounded as if Winston had lured Jim back to work. “Shh… it’s okay.”
Watching Elwood soothe his mouse was weird. I looked away.
“Oh, no,” I said, pointing at the chair Winston had been sitting in. “He forgot his jacket.”
“I’ll take it over tomorrow,” Gideon said, scooping it from the chair. Then he nodded at us and left, too.
Part of me wanted to follow him. Not in a stalker-ish way, but more like I was a duckling who’d imprinted on him. Which wasn’t a very flattering way to think of myself.
And, seriously, I was not in the market for another guy, not for a fling, not for anything.
Elwood turned to me. “So, what did you think of your first committee meeting?”
“I’m surprised someone hasn’t been killed yet,” I said with a laugh.
He didn’t laugh with me. Although that might have been because of the banging next door.
It sounded like they would break through the wall any minute.
I sighed. “Seriously, I didn’t realize festival planning could be so… impassioned.”
“It was certainly quite charged tonight, and it isn’t even a full moon.”