Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
Lizzie hadn’t been out to the Terra Marique site in a few days, and wow, it was moving fast. Really fast.
“I hope it’s okay to stop by for a quick visit,” she says, walking into the trailer.
“Hi, honey,” he says, moving some plans, rulers, and a T-square to make space for Lizzie to sit on a bench seat. He gestures for her to sit down. The trailer was already a mess, and Lizzie was using every amount of restraint she had in her to not get up and start straightening things out. She wasn’t sure how anyone could find anything, let alone think in this place. Every possible surface had paper, tools, or clothing on it. Gloves and hats seemed to be reproducing in captivity, and there were also lots of boots, many single ones which led her to wonder where their mates were.
Jack was watching her look around. Knowing that she liked things more organized it was easy to read her face. “You want to clean this place up, don’t you?” he says, smiling at her. “This is driving you crazy.”
She clears her throat, and takes a sip of the coffee she brought. She shakes her head, and then unconvincingly says, “Hmm, no, I’m, I’m fine. This place just looks very…lived in. And so quickly! There’s clearly a lot of people coming in and out, and I’m sure despite appearances there is a method to its madness. You could probably put your hand on just about anything you need…” She takes another sip of coffee and offers up a forced smile.
Jack laughs. “You do realize who you’re talking to, right? I’ve known you forever, this is driving you nuts. It’s probably making you break out in hives. And you’re wrong, I cannot find a damn thing I need,” he says, laughing. “I just spent a half hour trying to find my phone and a file I needed. It's driving me crazy, but with so many of us using this trailer as a central office, it’s hard for me to crack down on the messy ones and ask them to be organized.”
Lizzie stands up and starts surveying the mess. “I think a big part of the problem is you have no place to put things. You need some shelves, maybe some rolling carts to put files in, you don’t want big, heavy file cabinets, but files need to go somewhere.” She begins to pick up papers, put things in piles and tries to create some order.
“Honey, this isn’t your mess, or your responsibility, please, I don’t want you to come here and feel like you have to clean. I want you to see how much progress is already being made, it’s really incredible. You want to take a walk around?” he asks, standing up.
“Yes, that would be fun,” she says. Putting the papers back on the table where they were is killing her. She wants them to have an actual home, a place to go, but she walks away from the table, puts on her coat, already wearing proper work-site footwear. “Okay, show me around!”
Jack opens the door to the trailer and they step outside. Lizzie had been so focused on not spilling their coffee, and looking for where to park, she had completely missed how much things had changed in the short time since she’d been there. “Wow! Look at the community buildings, it’s fantastic!”
“Yeah, remember I told you about this company we found in Oregon that is making these amazing energy-efficient, green prefab structures? Ta da! These are the ones, incredible, right?”
They walk over to where the commercial kitchen will be, where chefs will be able to use the space to create products to sell to local restaurants, farmers markets and grocery stores
“Almost all the material used to make these is either recycled or upcycled and it’s much more affordable. And on top of that, they go up super fast,”
Lizzie is thrilled to see how excited Jack is. “This is amazing, sweetie, I am stunned by what’s happened already!”
“We’re so happy with this company, we are thinking about using them for more of the structures which will mean we could be up and running much earlier than we ever could have imagined. And with so many people unable to find places to live right now, the faster we can have people move in the better.”
They keep walking around the property, and Jack is pointing out where things will go.
“Oh, did you know this spot over here,” he sweeps his arms out, “this is all going to be set up for charging up to 30 electric cars. The houses will all have their own charging stations. We know not everyone will have electric cars right away, but we want to be ready for it.” He’s so engrossed in what he’s doing, Lizzie can see his mind going a mile a minute. “Speaking of cars, we’re negotiating with a manufacturer who might want to donate electric cars to people living here in exchange for being the official car of Terra Marique. We’re mulling that over, we want to make sure there’s no political ties or anything we might regret down the road.”
Lizzie has been very quiet while they’ve been walking the property, deep in her own thoughts, and wanting to let Jack share all he wants to with her. Then what she’s been thinking about comes out.
“Would you ever think of having our wedding here? I know we talked about the Marshview, but,” she turns around taking in the beauty of the place, “but this could be perfect. And so special.”
Jack is looking at her wondering if she’s seeing the same muddy, messy construction site he is.
“Really? Honey, look around, this place is a mess, and it’s not like it’s going to be all finished and looking ready for prime time in eight weeks or so. I think we might be better off with the Marshview, don’t you?”
“I don’t know,” she walks over to him and puts her arm around his waist, and her head on his shoulder. “It’s just that this is Cranberry Harbor’s future, and it seems like it might be the perfect place to start ours as well. You’ve worked so hard to make this happen, I can’t believe what’s already happening here. It’s more than I ever could have imagined, and believe me, I imagined a lot.” She leaves Jack's side and walks to a spot that has a beautiful view of a marsh leading out to the bay. “You know better than me what this is going to look like in a couple months, so if you think that would be pushing it, I don’t want to put any more pressure on you or the crew.”
“I love the sentiment behind the thought, I really do, but I think it is being overly optimistic to think this place could be ready for a bunch of people to be here. We want people to be able to dance, and sit down, and not lose a shoe in the mud,” he jokes. “We could celebrate our first anniversary here, that would be a doable goal.”
“You’re right, I was getting swept away by sentimentality and the beauty of the place. But I need to remember that I’m a person who always thinks a painting project that will take two days can be done in two hours. I have project optimism and amnesia,” she says, laughing.
“I will make sure to remember that the first time you decide we can renovate our kitchen on Monday and have guests over for dinner on Saturday,” Jack says, giving Lizzie a kiss.
“The good news is, that skill, or I guess flaw, allows me to think I can accomplish almost anything, but it does get me in hot water sometimes.”
They hold hands and continue to walk, headed away from the current bustle of construction and trucks.
“Speaking of that, Sean told me that the singles night thing at the bookstore got moved up and somehow you’re very involved in getting the word out and getting people there, how are you going to find time for that with the paper and planning the wedding? Not that the wedding is all yours to plan, but…”
“I know, but this is just a week, I can do it. I just have to find a way to get guys to come.” She stops in her tracks and looks around. “Wait a minute, there’s lots of guys working here, are they all married?”
“Nooooo…. Do not even think about asking this crew to come to Book Lovers,” Jack says emphatically, “The last thing I need is a bunch of folks falling in love and being distracted,”
Lizzie laughs. “Oh, so you’d much rather be employing a bunch of men and women who are lonely and looking for love, but have no idea where to find it on this sandbar?”
“Well now I just sound like a jerk,” Jack says, laughing as well. “It’s not that I want this crew to be miserable, it’s just--”
“You want them to just be slightly miserable until Terra Marique is finished and then they can go and fall in love and be all happy?” Lizzie smiles at him. She loves giving Jack a hard time. They know each other so well, it’s fun to be able to tease one another because they both know how much they love one another. There’s no contempt, no malice, just good old-fashioned chain yanking.
“Exactly! You read my mind,” he says, putting his arm around her.
“You do know that when there is a poster ready I will be posting a few around here on the various crew buildings?” she says.
“Oh yeah, I know there’s no way that’s not happening,” he laughs and kisses her. “I do actually hope it’s a big success. We need more young people and families here. It’s why I’m doing all this,” he says, gesturing toward the property and buildings-in-progress. “I hope you know I’m teasing. Mostly.”
“Of course I do. And besides, people who have recently fallen in love have oodles of energy!” she teases. “I’d better get back to town, I want to get going on the social media for this, and I need to check in with my dad about where this week’s issue is at. Oh! And I need to write something up pretty quickly about Book Lovers for this issue, and maybe design an ad as well. Yikes! Lots to do!” She gives Jack a hug. “I am so excited for you in how this is all coming together. There’s no stopping you now!”
“Shhh! Don’t jinx it!” Jack says.
“You’ve never been very superstitious,” she says. “It’s all fine, it’s all happening!” She exclaims as she hugs him again. “Will you be coming home for dinner?” she asks as she walks to her car.
“Can I text you a little later? I might have some Zoom meetings with investors in California and the building suppliers in Oregon. I’m not sure how late those things are going to go and don’t want to hold you up. Your plate is awfully full as well, you don’t need to be waiting for me.”
“That’s fine, shoot me a text and we will see where you’re at. No pressure.” She opens her car door, “Oh! By the way, I bought a wedding dress the other day, so there’s no backing out now!” She smiles at him. “But like I said, no pressure.” She winks at him as she gets in the car.
“I cannot wait to see you in that dress on our wedding day,” he says, blowing her a kiss and heading back into the trailer office.
When Lizzie arrived back at the Gazette office she was surprised to find her dad and Stan laughing and having a wonderful time. It delighted her. Before their angel investor had come along all too often the office had the feel of a dentist’s waiting room - a place filled with dread and anxiety. This was much nicer.
“What are you two so happy about?” Lizzie asks as she hangs her coat on the coat rack.
“Oh, nothing in particular honey, we’re just talking about how good it feels to have the pressure off. We’ve had a lot of very lean years, but thanks to you and Jack, things are great.”
“Well that makes me very happy,” she says, sitting down at her desk. “It is a nice feeling to know we can tell the local and personal stories we want to tell without a corporation breathing down our necks telling us we’re wasting ad space on stories, or worse yet, telling us what we should be covering. Toward the end at the Sentinel, it was horrible how much of what we were or more accurately, weren’t covering, was coming from the top. They didn’t care about the local stories, they wanted vague, non-descriptive stories that could be about anyone anywhere so they could plug them into any of the myriad of papers across the country that they owned.” She sits back and takes in the room. “This is so much better, this is important. Telling the stories that matter to a community.”
Lizzie is then struck, after her Sermon on the Mount moment of the importance of true journalism, that the story she needs to tell right now is about a dating event at a local bookstore. That thought takes a little bit of the wind out of her sanctimonious sails, but she chuckles to herself. These light, fun stories are important too. Okay, she thinks, not every story is going to be life-changing, though that said, if someone meets their person at Book Lovers, it could in fact be life-changing. Hmmm, she opens her laptop. Maybe that’s her angle, it’s not just a frivolous night out, but it’s something meaningful, that’s important. Okay, maybe I’m taking this a little too seriously now and taking all of the fun out of it at the same time. Something she knows she has a knack for and always has to make sure to catch.
“You look very serious over there, honey. Everything okay?” Peter asks.
“Yeah, it’s this story about the singles event at Tall Tales, I want to make it sound fun, but also don’t want it to come across as frivolous or silly, you know?” she says, having a little bit of a think.
She starts to type, “Hey, how does this sound: Cranberry Harbor has lots to offer, but if you’re young, or maybe not so young, and single, Cape Cod can be a lonely place.’ Does that sound like a depressing place to start from?” she asks her dad and Stan.
“How about if instead of lonely, you said, ‘challenging?’ That might sound less sad,” Stan catches himself, “well, not sad exactly, but you know, less…”
“Sad,” Peter says, laughing. “I agree, ‘lonely’ can be kind of a loaded word, I agree with Stan, ‘challenging’ makes it sound like an obstacle one can overcome, where ‘lonely’ sounds like it’s a condition you have, not a circumstance, does that make sense?”
“It totally makes sense, thanks, guys. I want to be honest, but I don’t want to make it sound like it’s going to be a scene from some depressing movie with all these people dressed in black fighting for their last chance to find love in Cranberry Harbor!” They all start laughing.
“Yeah, that would not be very inspiring,” Stan says. “Not that I’m not always grateful, but boy, this makes me very happy that I’m married and don’t have to think about trying to meet someone special. Especially during the winter in Cranberry Harbor. I love this town, but it’s not exactly a place filled with romantic opportunities, especially in February.”
“After having lived in Boston for several years? I cannot say I felt a whole lot better about dating there than here. The odds were better as far as numbers go, but I didn’t find anyone, that’s for sure,” Lizzie says.
“What’s that old saying, ‘the odds are good but the goods are odd?’” Peter says.
“It may well be that I was the odd one,” Lizzie says, focusing back on her story. “Okay guys, I have to focus now and get this done because I want it in this week’s paper, so pardon me while I tune you both out and write.”
“We will not take it personally,” Stan says, smiling at her.
Within forty-five minutes Lizzie feels like she’s struck a nice balance between advancing the Book Lovers event, and touching on some emotional points about happiness and feeling fulfilled in a small town. She was especially proud of these closing sentences:
Living in Cranberry Harbor brings its own special beauty and joy, but it can be an isolated place as well, especially in the winter. Meeting someone who, as Tom Hanks says in “You’ve Got Mail,” ‘fills your heart with joy,’ can feel like finding a proverbial needle in a haystack. Maybe events like Book Lovers is a way to stack the odds a bit in your favor, and if nothing else, perhaps you will leave with a greater sense of community and a new book to read.
Lizzie sits up and stretches and smiles. This is why she became a journalist, this is the joy of small town reporting, something sorely missing from the industry at large papers these days. Writing about a local singles event in a small, seacoast town may not be the stuff a Pulitzer Prize is made of, but it is the kind of story that makes people feel good, and in turn makes Lizzie feel good to share.
“You look happy, honey,” Peter says, looking at his daughter. “You like your story?” Stan left while Lizzie was writing, but she was so engrossed she didn’t even notice.
“Yeah, I just emailed it to you for a second read. Who says we need copy editors when we have each other, right?” she teases. “It’s a quick read, after you give it a once over, I’ll file it, and then I think I am done for the day.” She looks around. “Jeez, I didn’t even notice Stan left. I really was focused!”
Peter is done reading it in five minutes.
“Yeah, he snuck out about 20 minutes ago. This is wonderful, honey, I love the way you brought it all together at the end. I think this will definitely bring folks out for this. Heck, if I was single, I can’t think of a nicer way to meet someone than over some good books. You can tell a lot about someone by the types of books they read, can’t you?” He says, then he adds, “Or if they read at all, there’s a red flag for you!”
“For sure, Jack and I may like different types of books, but it gives us a lot to talk about,” Lizzie says. “Anything you’d change? Any typos you caught before I file it?” She asks as she herself gives it another look.
“Nope, as always your copy is perfectly clean. You certainly didn’t get that from me, I’ve usually got errors all over the place,” Peter says.
After a couple of more keystrokes, Lizzie closes her laptop, slips it into her bag and gets up. “What do you say, Dad, you ready to get out of here?”
“I’m right behind you,” he says, getting up with a bit of a groan and a stretch. “I just made an old man noise, didn’t I?”
Lizzie laughs. “I’m younger than you and I’ve been known to do it as well, occupational hazard I think.” They both put their coats on and gather their things. Peter turns out the lights.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you, I bought my wedding dress, well, actually you and Mom bought it,” Lizzie says as they go outside. “I’m really getting married, Dad.”
“Yes you are,” he says beaming at her. “And you are going to be the most beautiful bride in the world.” They’re walking to their respective cars and he calls out to her. “Jack Chaoon is one very lucky man,” he says.
“Thank you, Daddy,” she opens her door, shakes her head, and laughs. “Wow, ‘Daddy,’ that’s a blast from the past,” she says to no one. What she can’t see from her car is Peter tearing up as he heads home.