Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
By Thursday nothing out of the ordinary had happened at Terra Marique, despite Jack’s concern, so Lizzie felt comfortable going to Tall Tales to make sure everything was set up, and check that the camera crew from Boston Today was going to be as unobtrusive as possible.
The store was abuzz with activity and looked transformed. Jay had moved several of the bookshelves to the side, Ben had the food and drinks beautifully displayed on a long table at the back of the store, and the borrowed tables and chairs looked great.
Anika, huge smile on her face, sees Lizzie and runs over to her. “Isn’t this amazing?” she says, using a sweeping gesture, like she’s presenting a new car you could win on The Price is Right.
“It is! Where did all these cool plants come from?” She sees all sorts of beautiful ferns, philodendrons trailing over shelves, and some spring bulbs in pots. “They add so much life and color to the space.”
“Don’t they? It was Jay’s idea. We’d been wanting to get some plants, and the owners over at Plant Therapy said we could borrow these for the event, and then buy what we want to keep!” Anika says, delighted by the deal. “They’d heard about the event from customers, and apparently a couple of their employees are coming, so a total win/win!”
“I just love that, local businesses working together and helping each other out,” Lizzie says.
“Oh boy, you’re getting your ‘Cranberry Harbor is the dreamiest place,’ look on your face,” Anika teases. “I know it well, I have it at least twice a day. And you’re right, it’s the best.”
“Okay, so everything is set to go,” Ben says as he walks toward them. “The regular and decaf coffee carafes are clearly marked, so people won’t get mixed up and find themselves wired at 3am,” he says. “So, yeah, it’s all good.”
“Ben, everything looks amazing, thank you,” Lizzie says, walking back with him to the table full of delicious treats. She pulls out her phone and takes a few photos. “For the paper’s Instagram,” she says, taking a moment to post it. “If anyone is on the fence about coming this will make it impossible to not want to come.”
“A part of me would love to stick around for a little bit to see how many people turn out, and how it goes, but I have to get home, Sean has a Zoom meeting with a gallery in New York who might want to rep him. I tried to tell him carrying a baby around as he shows them his work might clinch the deal, but he disagreed, so I have to run.” He puts on his jacket, and pulls his hat out of his pocket and puts it on. “Let me know how it goes!”
“I will for sure,” Lizzie says, giving him a hug. “Right now I have to see how Leah and Justine are doing and meet the TV person. Thank god they only sent one person and not a whole crew.”
Lizzie made her way to the tall table where Leah and Justine are set up, and she’s getting nervous about people feeling like they’re in a fishbowl while trying to meet someone. She’s worried that she’s really blown it by getting too much media attention. Between podcasters and a TV camera, it’s feeling a little weird, but she doesn’t know how to unplug it all.
“Hi? Are you Anthony? I’m Lizzie, from the Cranberry Harbor Gazette,” she says to the man with the small, hand held camera, wondering if it would be incredibly rude to ask him to leave. Yes it would, she decides.
“Hey, Lizzie, nice to meet you in person. This store is great, the whole town is amazing,” he says.
“Have you been to the Cape before?” she asks, trying to get a feel for how married to this story he is.
“I have, I came here a lot when I was a kid, our cousins used to rent a place in Wellfleet, but I’ve never been here in the off-season. I got here earlier today, and wandered around, it’s really great.”
“That it is, Anthony,” she’s stalling and trying to think of how to make this whole situation less like a reality show. “So I had a thought--”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I did too,” he says. “Would you be really disappointed if I didn’t film much during this event? It’s so pretty, and small, I don’t want to feel like I’m a cameraman on The Bachelor. You know?”
Lizzie reaches over and puts her hand on his shoulder, “Oh my god, you just completely read my mind! I was starting to panic that this was going to be so cheesy and feel so wrong, thank you!”
“I shot some footage around town today, and in here before everything got set up, and a little of it looking like this now, and I thought I’d get a few seconds of people in the store, but I pitched it to my producer saying I thought a story about a Cape town in the off-season and the sense of community was a better story than a singles event.”
Lizzie is so relieved, her heart has stopped racing and she feels her whole body relax. “I think that is a great story! If I can help you in any way please let me know. I can connect you with people, anything you need,” she says, feeling like she just dodged a huge error that could have ruined this whole event.
By 6:45, Tall Tales is filling up, and Lizzie is happy to see, it’s not just women who are arriving. Men are showing up too. As soon as she sees Alexis arrive, she makes a beeline for her.
“Hey! I wasn’t sure where you’d landed on coming, I’m really glad you’re here!” Lizzie says. She feels a little out of place not being single, but she’s there to support the Patels, and to be able to write a follow-up story.
“Of course, what made you think I might not be coming?” Alexis asks, “I always planned on being here, we’re the architects of this event!” Lizzie sees her looking around the room.
“I haven’t seen him here yet,” Lizzie says.
“Whoever do you mean?” Alexis says, smiling. “I’ve given up on him getting in touch, we had a nice couple of hours together, but clearly he’s not interested. Maybe he’s never dated a Black woman, there could be that.”
“I’d find that really hard to believe, he strikes me as pretty worldly and not exactly sheltered. I’m betting there’s a reason we just don’t know,” Lizzie says, keeping an eye on what’s going on. She’s happy to see that people are taking the cards they had printed up with the questions and seem to be finding a person to sit and have a conversation with. “Alexis, look, Ian just came in, and I think I might know why you haven’t heard from him.”
Alexis turns her head to see where Lizzie is looking and walks over to him as he makes his way through the crowd on crutches.
“Oh my god, what happened to you?” Alexis says, looking concerned.
He laughs, “This is my friend, Tyler,” he says, “He was nice enough to offer to drive me, because, well,” he looks down at his right foot that is encased in a very large, gray boot, “clearly I’m not able to drive right now.”
“What happened?” Lizzie asks, also concerned and curious.
“It’s such a stupid story, I’m kind of embarrassed,” he says. “During the last storm I went over to help my mom dig out her car, and I fell on some ice that was hidden under the snow and I just landed the right, or wrong way, and fractured my ankle. I seriously wish I had a much more interesting story, like I was repelling down a mountain in Canada, or was saving a cat stuck in a tree, something more heroic than shoveling my mom’s driveway and slipping on ice. This feels like an old man injury,” he laughs.
“Would you be more comfortable sitting down?” Alexis asks.
“That would be great,” Ian says. “Dragging this boot around does get pretty tiring.”
“You two go sit down, I’m going to look at some books, and maybe have some coffee,” Tyler, his friend/chauffeur says. He and Lizzie leave them to chat.
“When your fiance sent Ian an email about this event he told me he really wanted to come see your friend, so when he asked me to drive him, of course I had to,” Tyler says.
“That’s really nice of you,” Lizzie says. “And I’m glad he wanted to see her. She’s my best friend and is pretty amazing, so if she likes someone they must be pretty special.”
Lizzie and Tyler make their way to the food and each get themselves some coffee and a cookie.
“Ian’s a really good guy, I’ve known him since film school. We work together a lot; I’m an editor, so we team up.” They find a spot to sit to have their snack. “When he told me about his ankle I decided to come out from New York for a few days to hang out. It’s pretty isolating out here when you can’t go anywhere.”
“Are you two gearing up for any new projects? Your whale film was incredible, by the way,” Lizzie says, wishing she had taken more than one cookie.
“Thanks so much,” he says, “Uh, so you don’t know?,” he says, glancing a little uncomfortably over to Ian who’s engrossed in talking with Alexis. “We got funding for a film about Terra Marique, I’m here to check a few things out before the crew arrives next week.”
“No, Jack didn’t tell me,” Lizzie says, feeling a little weird that he didn’t share something so big.
“We only just heard this week about the financing, so it wasn't certain until very recently. He’d said he didn’t want to disappoint anyone again, I’m not sure what that means, but that he wasn’t going to say anything to anyone until it was certain,” Tyler says. “Now I feel awful that I said anything.”
“No, please, don’t!” Lizzie insists. “Your secret is safe with me. I know him very well, and he worries a lot about disappointing people, and himself, so I get it. This is really exciting, I can’t believe you’re going to be documenting this project!”
“This is the type of thing that could be a total game changer, so we really want to capture it to show people who can be real arbiters of change,” Tyler says.
Around them Lizzie sees people pairing off, and Anika approaches her.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you think we should do anything? Like a group game, or just let people keep talking to each other? They seem to be getting along quite well without us intruding on them,” she says.
“I vote for letting them be,” Lizzie says. “What do you think, Tyler? Oh, Tyler, this is Anika Patel, owner of the store with her husband, Jay.”
“Nice to meet you, Anika,” he says. “I’m kind of with Lizzie. Everyone seems to be having a nice time, though there is one guy all by himself over there who has looked over at me a few times. Would you be insulted if I went over and talked to him?” He stands up and pats down his shirt. “Do I look okay?” he asks, looking nervous.
“Not insulted at all, and you look fantastic, go have fun!” Lizzie says. “This is why we had this event, for people to meet each other!”
Lizzie wanders back over to the food table, she hasn't had time for dinner and is very hungry. She makes herself a plate with some of Ben’s fresh baked French bread, some cheeses, and she can’t resist taking another cookie. Okay, two cookies. As she turns to find a place to sit, Alexis comes over and takes her elbow, leading her to a corner.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lizzie asks, taking a bite of bread and cheese. “Everything good?”
“Yes, very good. Oh my god, I flipped out over nothing. Why do I do that? I created all these scenarios in my head, completely convinced myself that the connection I thought we had was all in my head, that he just found me to be a small town, boring person, whatever…”
Alexis is very keyed up. “How much coffee have you had today?” Lizzie asks, laughing. “You are wired!”
“Believe it or not, just one, and that was first thing this morning.” She takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. “I only have a minute, he had to take a call, but anyway, he broke his ankle the day after we met, and he said he didn’t want to ask me out and have me have to come out to his house, because he couldn’t go anywhere at first, he had to have it elevated all the time, and he said he wanted to do the whole thing of asking me out, come and pick me up, and since he couldn’t he waited, and then he waited so long he felt self-conscious, so when he heard about this, and that I’d probably be here, he decided to come. It was all really sweet.” A huge smile sweeps across her face and she looks more relaxed than she has in the entire conversation. “I really do like him, Lizzie, he’s a good guy.”
“I’m so glad you got an answer as to why you hadn’t heard from him. It makes total sense that he got nervous after waiting so long and didn’t know what to do. Isn’t it nice knowing that guys don’t have it anymore together when it comes to dating than we do? Whenever Jack confesses some worry or concern about something it makes me feel so much less weird, like he has the same fears and worries I do.”
“Totally,” Alexis says. Ian is heading toward them, looking like a pretty good expert on his crutches.
“Hey,” Lizzie says. “We can go find a place to sit if you like, I’m sure it’s not comfortable to stand with the boot and crutches.”
“Thanks, but it’s actually nice to stand for a few minutes. I've been doing a lot of sitting for the last couple of weeks. I’m not at all used to that. I run, usually every day, it’s been frustrating to not be able to move.”
“When do you plan on beginning shooting at Terra Marique? It could be tricky being out on a building site” Lizzie asks, wondering how he’s going to navigate the uneven and rough terrain on crutches.
“Luckily, my doctor thinks I’ll be able to just be in the boot, no crutches, and put weight on it next week. I’ll have a chair around of course so I don’t overdo it, but I’m excited to get back to some normalcy.”
Tyler comes back over and joins them with Jeremy, a very nice guy who Lizzie learns has only recently moved to the Cape year-round. As she looks around she sees lots of people who seem to have paired off.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she says, “I’m going to go find Anika”. She wants to congratulate her on a job well done. She finds her behind the counter ringing up a book order. Not only are they connecting people, they’re selling books too. “Nicely done,” she says. “You and Jay must be so happy!”
“This has been better than anything I could have imagined!” Anika says. “People have been so nice! I saw a few people talking to Justine and Leah, letting them record some comments, it was really nice. One guy said something about how it felt so good to connect with people in real life rather than on an app. I think we kind of forget that, you know? We’re all so plugged in all the time. It’s really important to have actual face-to-face interactions with people.”
“It’s so true. I hated using dating apps when I was in Boston, but it was so hard to meet people organically, which I know sounds weird, but even in Boston, I felt very alone sometimes,” Lizzie says.
Anika looks at the clock on the wall and it’s nearing 9:00, the time they’d decided to end the event. “Would it be rude of me to tell people we’re going to start winding down?” she asks, a little sheepish.
“Not at all! Hey, they’re all welcome to continue any conversations over at Murphy’s if they want, you’re a bookstore, which normally closes at 5, it’s fine to give a hint,” Lizzie says. “I think I’m going to head out myself, it’s been a long day, need I tell you!” She goes to the back of the store where she’d left her coat and purse, then she goes to say goodnight to Alexis.
“I’m headed out, but wanted to say good night. Ian, it was so nice to see you again, I hope I will again soon. Take good care of that ankle,” she says. She gives Alexis a kiss, “I’m sure I’ll talk to you tomorrow, and Tyler, it was wonderful to meet you too, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you as well over at Terra Marique.”
They all send her off with a wave, and she feels so happy that Alexis is happy. When she gets outside she takes her phone out of her pocket.
“Oh no, I’ve missed seven calls from Jack,” she says, out loud to no one, trying not to panic. She starts walking quickly to her car while calling him back.
Jack answers on the first ring. “Hey, you must have had your phone off at Tall Tales, I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I saw. Are you okay? You’re not sick, hurt” she asks, worried.
“No, I’m fine--”
“Your parents, my dad?” She's trying not to freak out and failing miserably.
“No, yes, I mean everyone is fine, it’s Terra Marique, it might all be falling apart,” he says, sounding like he might cry.
“What, why, I mean, how--” she can barely get the words out.
“It’s Billy Taylor and Bud Mackelroy, they’ve filed an injunction against the project, and are suing me for building on what they say are historic grounds. I’m completely and totally screwed.”
“Okay, calm down, we can fight this, Jack, where the hell did they ever get the money or the wherewithal to do this?” She’s silent for a minute. “Oh my god, I bet they've got a developer who’s behind them, am I right?”
“Yup, it’s that company that wanted to come in and build all those McMansions years ago, Gobel and Green, four people with axes to grind found each other and are now suing me,” Jack sounds awful.
Lizzie starts her car. “Look, I’m going to come right over, okay? You’re at Terra Marique, right? Or are you home?” she asks, slipping on her jacket.
“Yeah, I’m here, all the workers have left.” He sighs. “This is just like last time, Lizzie, I’ve messed up again and the town is going to hate me.”
“No one hates you, hang tight, I’ll be there in five minutes.” She’s just about to leave, and then thinks, she should go get Ian and Tyler, this needs to get out there, how those two malcontents are trying to kill this project. She runs back into the store and finds them with Alexis.
“What’s going on?” Alexis asks, she can tell Lizzie is upset. “Is Jack okay?”
“Yes, he’s fine, well, not fine, but he’s not sick or anything. Billy and Bud have filed an injunction against the project. They’re being backed by those billionaire builders who wanted to develop the land a few years ago. Apparently they’re claiming it’s historic land and can’t be built on, I guess if they couldn’t have it they don’t want anyone else to either,” she says. “Jack feels like it’s four years ago and that he’s got another business idea collapsing in front of him, so I have to go.”
“We should all go too, don’t you think?” Alexis says, looking at Ian and Tyler, “I’m the community planning director, I need to be there, I understand if you don’t want to.”
“No, we should definitely go,” Ian says. Tyler runs to grab their coats.
“Billy and Bud need to find a hobby,” Lizzie says, fuming, as they head out. “Those two are the worst, they never, ever do anything positive for the town, but are always there to say no to anything progressive or positive for the town or the people, I can’t stand them. I want to have a word with them.”
“Don’t say anything yet, we don’t want to give them any ammunition to hold over Jack,” Alexis says, “who knows, they could accuse you of ‘slander,’ sue the paper, or something stupid. Sit tight, and let’s see what our lawyers will have to say.”
“You’re right, I’ll be quiet, but boy, it’s not going to be easy.”