Chapter 10 #2
‘I’ve seen his proposal advertised in the local papers and on the council website for weeks now,’ said Sam. ‘So that’s the public notification period covered.’
‘Yeah, but he’s got to engage with people. I’ve checked the regs. He needs to hold at least two public meetings.’
‘In addition to an online submission portal, drop-in sessions — which he’s already done — and a written submissions period that’ll have a couple of weeks to run yet, I reckon,’ Sam added.
‘It’s the public meetings I’m going to focus on. He needs to engage with a minimum of twenty-five percent of affected residents.’
‘What’s “affected” mean? The whole village?’ Kate asked.
‘Unfortunately not,’ said Sam. ‘Probably within about a one-kilometre radius. But there’ll be a quota of individual submissions he’ll have to receive, and he’ll need at least fifty people at the meetings. And he’ll have to demonstrate that he’s considered the feedback.’
Lucy slammed her palm lightly on the table. ‘Damn. That’ll be what those altered plans were for. Changing them to incorporate community space. I’d thought…’ She swallowed the rest. She wasn’t about to admit she’d thought he’d done it for her.
‘A community room? For us to hire?’ Kate’s face brightened. ‘We could really do with that.’
‘Well, not for hire. He said it would be free.’
‘Oh my goodness. That would be wonderful.’
‘No,’ said Lucy firmly. ‘It would be terrible. He’s allocated the darkest room in the building, next to the bins. It was an afterthought. A sop. And we don’t want it.’
Kate opened her mouth as if to argue, then caught Lucy’s expression and thought better of it.
‘You’ve got to face it, Lucy,’ said Sam. ‘Oliver is quietly going through this process, ticking off the requirements every day. Last week, while we were checking into his background, he wasn’t wasting any time.’
‘So what do I have left to fight him with?’
‘It’s down to the public meetings. That’s where you’ll have most effect. That’s your best chance of stopping him.’
She nodded slowly. ‘You’re right.’
Jen cleared her throat. ‘So, how do you propose to stop people from attending the meetings?’
‘By fair means or foul.’ She left it at that. Her law-abiding family didn’t need to know that, right now, the “foul” options were looking most effective. Changing the time and place of the meeting wasn’t really foul, was it?
‘There is another way, you know, Lucy,’ said Kate.
The table fell quiet. All eyes turned to her.
‘What?’
‘You say that Oliver doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “community”. Then perhaps, rather than sabotaging his efforts, you could educate him.’
Lucy huffed.
Jen smiled. ‘Trust Mum to come up with a solution that involves education. But, you know, I think she’s onto something, Luce. Life is so full of anger and hostility. Why not try the softly-softly approach first? Educate Oliver about what MacLeod’s Cove is all about.’
‘It’s not a solution. Oliver wouldn’t be educated about anything. He’s far too arrogant. He thinks he knows it all.’
‘Believe me,’ said Kate, ‘in my time as both teacher and at the Ministry of Education I haven’t met anyone who can’t learn something, no matter what their personality.’
‘You haven’t met Oliver Perry-Warnes.’
‘True. Perhaps it’s about time I did.’
Lucy did a double-take. ‘You wouldn’t like him and, honestly, Mum, the man won’t be told.’
‘Darling, there are other ways to educate than standing in front of him shouting at him.’
‘That’s not what I’m doing.’
‘It sounds like it.’
Jen looked from one to the other, distress evident. ‘OK, OK, time out.’
‘We’re not arguing, Jen,’ said Kate gently.
And Lucy remembered — too late. Jen had only recently escaped from her husband’s control and abuse. Disagreement of any kind upset her.
‘It’s OK, Jen,’ Lucy repeated more softly. ‘Honestly, Mum and I might bicker but it’s only a —’
‘An exchange of views,’ supplied Kate.
‘Yes. An exchange of views.’
Jen nodded, a little too quickly. ‘I’ll clear these things away.’
Kate and Lucy exchanged a guilty glance.
‘I’ll go help her,’ said Sam, following Jen inside. Through the doorway, Lucy caught a glimpse of Jen leaning her head briefly against his chest as he hugged her.
‘I feel terrible,’ Lucy murmured.
Kate laid a hand over hers. ‘No need. We haven’t done anything wrong. Jen is going to have to learn that disagreements aren’t, in themselves, bad things. We can’t all agree on everything. You and I can’t. And nor can you and Oliver.’
Lucy’s face darkened at his name.
‘It’s worth a shot, Lucy. Try and show him how wrong he is before you resort to more confrontational means.’
‘I don’t know why you’re so worried about him. He’s used to aggro.’ She scoffed. ‘I reckon his whole life revolves around it.’
‘I’m not thinking of him. I’m thinking of you.’ Kate’s gaze softened. ‘But, actually, I am beginning to feel a little sorry for him if his whole life is one big feat of aggression.’
Lucy gritted her teeth. She didn’t want another argument in front of Jen. ‘So what do you suggest?’
‘I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought. What kind of things do you think would sway him?’
‘Um, maybe a lynching?’
‘Come on, think. Give my way a chance first. Show him a gentler side to life than the one he’s used to.
Maybe…’ Kate’s face brightened. ‘I know. How about a family barbecue? With Dan still around we could make a thing of it. I’ll invite Megan and Ryan, and George can keep Liam company.
I’ll see if Dan wants to bring someone. What do you think? ’
Lucy groaned inwardly. ‘So what do you think our happy family will show him?’
‘That we’re happy?’
‘And you think that will stop him from demolishing the hotel how exactly?’
‘I don’t know, darling. It’s just a thought.
Sometimes these corporate types stop thinking about how their actions affect real people.
We become numbers and percentages. If he sees we’re real people who love our village and what the hotel means to us, then maybe he might rethink.
At least it would give him a different perspective. ’
‘Hm. If Dan gets hold of him, it might make Oliver bring the demolition date forward.’
‘True, it might backfire,’ said Kate. ‘But it’s worth a go, don’t you think? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’
‘I’ll think about it.’ She already had, and she thought it a terrible idea, but she’d break the news later. She pushed back her chair. ‘I have to go.’
Kate rose too. ‘Lucy, I’m going to ask you a question and I’m hoping you won’t bite my head off.’
Lucy opened her mouth to protest. She couldn’t believe she ever bit anyone’s head off — least of all her mother’s.
Kate smiled faintly. ‘I know you. When you get as impassioned as this, the world — including your family — needs to watch out. But most of all, you need to be careful.’
Lucy felt suddenly deflated, as if someone had switched off the adrenaline supply she’d been running on. She sank back into the rattan chair.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be crazy, it’s just he’s driving me to it. Of course you can say whatever you like.’
Kate nodded. She almost looked nervous. ‘There’s something more going on here than the hotel, isn’t there?’
Lucy opened her mouth, then closed it.
‘You like him, don’t you?’ Kate went on gently.
‘How can I like a man who’d try to trick me, the community, everyone, in the name of profit? He’s awful, he’s everything I dislike.’
‘And yet you more than like him, don’t you? And that’s what’s eating you up.’
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and huffed a deep sigh. There was no point denying it. Her mother could read her too well. ‘I don’t know what to do, Mum.’
Kate’s hand came up to cup her cheek. The loving smile, the crinkles around her eyes, the quiet sympathy — suddenly Lucy wanted to cry.
Cry for the girl she’d once been who’d opened her heart to love, only to have that love thrown back at her.
That man had been Laurent — her teacher, her first lover, her promiser of a world he’d never intended to give her.
And now there was Oliver. At some point in the evening they’d shared together, he’d slipped past the defences she’d built around her heart.
‘It’s stupid. I mean I hardly know the man. But before everything went wrong, everything seemed to be going so right. I thought we had a connection. No, I know we had a connection, and I let myself hope. And that’s been crushed and it hurts, Mum. It hurts so much.’
‘I know, darling.’ Kate drew her into a light embrace, then stepped away.
‘And I also know you. You’ll sort things out to satisfy both your heart and your moral standards.
You will. Hand on heart, I couldn’t say that about everyone, but you have so much strength and love and determination that I know you’ll get what you’re looking for in the end. Just keep being you.’
Just keep being you.
Lucy rose and nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
‘Think about it, Lucy. And we’ll catch up later, yes?’
Lucy cleared her throat. ‘Yes,’ she said, kissing her mother’s cheek.
Just keep being you.
Kate’s words echoed in her head as she walked around the outside of the house — she couldn’t face the others — and got into her car.
Easier said than done. But her mother’s faith in her bolstered her.
She could do this. She could. But her mother was wrong about one thing.
She wasn’t remotely interested in satisfying her heart. That ship had sailed.
Her moral standards, though? Those she could work with.
She supposed the tactic of educating Oliver could be added to her arsenal. It wouldn’t hurt. It would appease her mother at least.
And it would just be her being herself.
She’d invite Oliver to a family barbecue and then let the family do their worst. But she’d leave it until the end of the week. Give him time to worry. The consultation meeting wasn’t until next week. She had time on her side. But it might be all she had.