Chapter 3 #2
There was only one street worse than Boxcar Drive, and that was Railway Way.
If a hot girl named Charlotte lived there, I would’ve known.
The only girls I remembered from the Train Trailer Park were the Bunkman sisters.
The younger one was in high school when I was in elementary school, and she was hot, but her name wasn't Charlotte.
"I'm not the only one who went away and came back." She sipped her coffee and peeled a layer off the top of her breakfast sandwich.
"I'm just here for business." I chuckled. The idea of moving home to Chance Rapids was as likely as coming out of hockey retirement and winning the Stanley Cup again.
Mavis's laugh was hearty. "That's what Charlotte said too."
Charlotte nodded. "I swore I would never come back. Get ready, The Rapids will pull you back in."
"And that's a good thing?"
"The best thing that ever happened to me."
There wasn't an ounce of sarcasm in her voice. How could I not remember a beautiful black-haired girl named Charlotte? As a kid, we all had crushes on the hot high school girls, but Charlotte wasn't one of them.
"Eat." Mavis scolded me like a mom.
While we devoured the sandwiches, Councilman Cooper droned on about his move to Chance Rapids, and Mavis explained the winter carnival activities, as if I hadn't been to the carnival every winter I'd lived in this damn town.
The only change was the ski-joring, which sounded a lot cooler than the ear-splitting chainsaw carving contest.
Charlotte sat back and watched, and I wished I could figure her out. A local girl who lived in Sugar Peaks, would she be a supporter of the new King Complex, or would her small-town roots and nostalgia for the old rink be stronger?
Had Clara emerged from the kitchen? Without turning completely, I couldn't know, but the way the skin on the back of my neck burned told me someone was pouring her angry gaze directly into me.
"They look pretty busy. I'll get these out of the way." Charlotte cleared the plates, and I let my gaze follow her as she delivered them to the back.
Clara, with her antlers, had her back to me, and was frothing milk at the espresso machine. The mole next to her spine peeked out from the collar of her t-shirt beneath the ties of the Sugar Peaks apron strings.
I'd traced that mole a million times, and not just with my fingertips. My lips had kissed that soft skin at the base of her neck, my eyes had focused on that spot when she'd arched her back, moaning when I slipped in from behind…
Fuck. I blinked and forced my eyes back to the brochure in front of me. Rob was still talking, thank God.
That mole brought back thoughts I hadn't had for years. It had also awoken another part of me. Shifting in my seat, I sipped my coffee and tried to calm down the semi threatening to bust through the zipper in my jeans.
Charlotte returned to the table and settled into her seat. The front of her blouse was damp and clung to her chest. "The dish sprayer attacked me." She pulled the fabric away from her chest.
I handed her a napkin, and she dabbed at the water on her blouse.
"Does everyone deliver their dishes directly to the dish-pit here?" I laughed.
The three at the table cast each other a 'look.'
"I own the café with Megan. I’m sure you remember the coffee at the G-Spot. We needed something a little less potent in town."
That brought back another memory. "Does the lady who owns it, I can't remember her name, still put booze in the coffee?"
The laugh that spread through the group told me that she did.
"Now, Beck. How about you tell us all about your fancy new hockey team?" Mavis said.
"Hockey team?" Charlotte paused mid-dab.
"Yes." It was go-time. “My corporation is involved with developing small-town hockey teams. The Northern Professional League is expanding, and we need some smaller centers that can handle a new team."
Charlotte set down the napkin. "Mavis, does Logan know about this?"
That name I recognized. "Not yet," I interjected. "You're talking about Logan Brush, right?"
She nodded.
"I'm sure he will be on board. I'm going to ensure that his Bobcats will be able to use the new rink."
"New rink?" Charlotte crossed her arms. "Mavis, this is a big deal."
My chest puffed. It was a big deal, one that would leave me with a pocket full of the biggest commission I'd ever made, and this little town with a facility way too nice for it.
I pulled out the brochures and handed them to everyone at the table.
"I'm going to make a presentation at the next council meeting, but I wanted to discuss it with everyone here first and hopefully iron out some of the land issues. "
Charlotte took a pair of thick-rimmed glasses from her purse and flipped through the glossy folder. "What's the catch?"
"This looks perfect for the town.” Tom didn’t even bother opening the brochure. “Mr. Shepherd sent me the numbers in advance, and it's going to bring a lot of business here.”
"How exactly?" Charlotte closed the brochure and folded her hands on top of it. Her giant diamond and matching band sparkled, casting rainbow prisms on the walls around us.
This was where I was either going to win or lose the deal.
"Would you like more coffee?" Megan was back with a carafe in her hand.
"Yes." Mavis held up her mug. "Me too." Rob nudged his mug to the edge of the table.
Megan filled Mavis' cup but ran out of coffee before topping up Rob's. "Whoops. I'll be right back."
Charlotte's eyes hadn't left me. "Mr. Shepherd, how is a corporation, a numbered corporation at that, going to profit from a small-town hockey league and build a facility like this one?"
"We can discuss the details in the council report." Rob patted the closed the brochure. "Charlotte, you're here to help us locate parcels owned by the city, ones we can sell to Mr. King with a rebate."
"A rebate?" Charlotte's eyes narrowed. "I'm not following."
Mavis inhaled. "Dear, the town has been struggling a little, and Mr. Shepherd's project will help us unload some undesirable parcels of land."
Charlotte pointed her manicured nail at the glass-fronted multi-purpose building “But, you can't build this out in the middle of nowhere."
She was right. The planned subdivisions and real estate developments that were part of the later phase in the project could be built out of town, towards Windswan, but the arena needed a prime piece of land, one that wouldn't be cheap.
"Charlotte," Mavis said in a grandmotherly tone, "we would like to sell the land at 212 Maple Street to the King Corporation and we would like you to facilitate the trade. At a discounted commission."
Charlotte looked like she'd been slapped.
An arm reached over my shoulder to fill Rob's mug. Heat rushed to my cheeks as the tinkle of bells rang above me. It wasn't Megan.
Play it cool, Beck.
"You want me to sell the Chance Rapids arena, a piece of this town's history, to a developer… and discount my commission?"
The pouring stopped. "What will happen to the arena?" Clara's voice was soft.
"There will be a new, better ice surface." I pointed to the brochure.
Clara set Rob's mug in front of him and picked up Charlotte's. I didn't think anyone but me noticed the slight tremble in her hand. "Beckett. What are you going to do to our rink?"
"Clara," Mavis said, "this is a private conversation."
Charlotte took her mug from Clara's hand. I picked mine up to pass it to her, but she didn't take it.
"You." There was venom in her voice. "You're going to tear down our ice rink, aren't you?" Clara's hands shook, and her hand gripped the carafe so hard her knuckles were white.
"It's going to be good for the town." Yes, we were going to tear it down. The profit from building high-density townhomes would fund William's passion project.
Clara's nostrils flared as she picked up my mug, her hand shaking as she poured hot coffee directly over my crotch. Reflexively, I crossed my hands over my junk, just in case she 'accidentally' overfilled my mug.
Clara slammed the mug on the table, and I was spared first-degree burns to the weiner.
"YOU. Don't live here anymore. You have no idea what's good for this town.
The best thing for Chance Rapids is if you turn around, get in your fancy truck with your stupid shoes, and get the hell out of here before you ruin the best thing in this town.
" Her voice shook. I knew she was fighting to hold back tears.
"Dear, that's quite enough." Mavis dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin.
"Sorry, Mavis, but it's true." Clara's eyes shimmered, and she was about to lose her fight to a tear.
My chest clenched. The last time I'd seen her cry was the day I told her I wasn't coming back after college. Those tears had nearly broken me. Now it looked like I was about to do it again.
Clara turned on her heel, the bells jingling as she rushed away.”What did you do to that poor girl?" Rob chuckled.
I've never wanted to punch someone off the ice as much as I wanted to slam my fist into that grinning idiot's face.