Chapter 30 Sebastian
“In the matter of bringing back the four-day festival known as Township Days, we have a motion from Mr. William Kimball and
a second from Mrs. Josephine Stoddard. We’ll now open the floor to discussion, prior to holding a vote of the council.”
While it was true they weren’t used to an audience, Sebastian still didn’t understand why everyone was being so formal. From
Jo narrating the proceedings like a David Attenborough wildlife documentary to Bill using words Sebastian assumed he’d picked
up from a little light reading of the Harvard Law Review , it was a total farce. And he wanted nothing more than to be in the back of the room where Brynn, Laila, and Cole were whispering
and laughing and no doubt offering gripping analysis worthy of C-SPAN. Andi sat nearby, laughing at occasional things they
said. But no. He had to be at the table with the Adelaide Springs Repertory Players.
And Doc. Doc was normal, of course. But Doc also hadn’t said a word the entire time.
And now that the floor was open to discussion, he still wasn’t saying anything.
Thirty of the fifty or so people in the room made general statements in support of bringing back the festival.
Things like, “We need to do something to bring this town back to life,” and “Remember how much the kids used to love churning the butter?” (It was at that point that Brynn and Laila both shot their hands into the air, no doubt to issue opinions of dissent, but Cole pulled their arms down and the giggles erupted again.)
“If there is no more discussion from the floor,” Jo said once the comments had slowed to a trickle, “we’ll turn it to a vote.”
Doc may not have been saying anything, but he was sure looking at Sebastian like he thought he should.
“I think I’ve said all there is to say, Doc,” he leaned over and whispered.
“You sure about that?”
Sebastian stared at Doc a moment, then furrowed his brow and leaned in farther. “I’m clearly in the minority—”
“All in favor of bringing back—”
“Sorry, Jo.” Sebastian raised his head to look at her. “Can you give me just a second?”
Jo nodded and Bill grumbled, and hushed speculation filled the restaurant as if Sebastian were Atticus Finch about to deliver
his closing statements.
Sebastian turned back to Doc. “What are you suggesting I do?” he asked quietly. “You’ve made it pretty clear you think we
should bring it back too.”
Doc shrugged. “Eh.”
“I’m sorry... ‘Eh’? Not once have you indicated you would vote no. And if I’m the one holdout now—”
“So what if you are? As I recall, you were the one holdout in favor of letting Brynn come back to town, and the one holdout
against you taking responsibility for her time here. I’d say that’s all turned out pretty well, wouldn’t you?”
Sebastian closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
Doc had gotten him there, and he knew it.
The one time he thought he might just let the inevitable play out without putting up a roadblock.
Without exhausting himself standing up for principles no one else shared.
Without being the reason everyone had to wait longer for cake.
He opened his eyes and immediately saw that every other eye in the room was on him, but it was the two really stunning chestnut
ones in the back that he sought out.
Her ideas were good. He’d turned them over in his mind and looked into their potential more than he cared to admit since Tuesday,
and he knew they could work. There were so many little towns within an easy drive that were every bit as close to dying as
Adelaide Springs. And just like Adelaide Springs, they were refusing to die because they were home for everyone who lived there. A restaurant here and a hotel there. Some food trucks could be brought in and, like Brynn said,
the journey could be the best part of choosing Township Days as a destination.
They hadn’t made any commitments to each other, but he knew he couldn’t get this train rolling unless he made a commitment
to Adelaide Springs. He would have to see it through. And it wasn’t like he’d planned on following her back to New York, but
if he made this happen, the option was gone. The decision was made.
She smiled at him and tilted her head, no doubt attempting to interpret what was causing him to concentrate so hard. This really is all your fault. He smiled back at her and then pushed his chair back from the table.
“I make a motion that we postpone—” The chatter and indignation began at the mere word. Cole jumped up from his seat and looked
ready to step in as Sebastian’s security detail if necessary as the noise level grew.
“We’ve postponed this vote enough, Sudworth!” Bill shouted at him, and Sebastian did a double take. He’d actually said his name properly.
Sebastian raised his hand and let out an exasperated groan. He raised his voice in an attempt to be heard over the disgruntled
herd. “Can I finish what I was trying to say?”
“Listen up!” Doc’s voice carried throughout the room, and every person fell silent in an instant. Even if just from shock.
“Sebastian has the right to speak just as much as any of you do. More than most of you. Most of you are happy to sit on the
sidelines and blame someone else for what you don’t like and take credit for what you do, and he’s given more to this town
in a few years than some of you lazy butts have given in your entire life. So we’re all gonna shut up now and let him say
his piece, ya hear? And then we’ll vote. Go ahead, Seb.”
Sebastian was as much in shock as anyone, but he was too experienced to let the dead air last for long.
“I make a motion we postpone Township Days until next year. And here’s why.”
He spent the next twenty minutes laying out the collaborative vision for the event. He’d already placed a few phone calls
to other towns, just to put out feelers, and he reported on the excitement that had been communicated without exception. He
gave a brief rundown of some estimated costs and how they could pay for them. And he made sure they knew how much it would
stay true to and build upon the original 1975 absurdity. When he finally sat back down, the silence continued, and he wondered
if he’d lost them somewhere along the way.
Finally, it was Orly who broke the silence. “I know I’m not a citizen of this town, but I think that’s brilliant, man.”
The affirmative murmurings began bouncing throughout the room, but it was the proud and silent tearful beaming at the back of the room that mattered most.
“Of course it is.” Sebastian grinned. “It was Brynn’s idea.”
***
“Aren’t you going to get out there?” Cole asked Sebastian.
“Yeah, in a minute.”
It was an hour until sundown, and the party was still going strong. Brunch preparations had morphed into dinner preparations,
and between making up for lost time with Brynn and the council’s unanimous vote to bring back Township Days in eighteen short
months, everyone seemed to believe they had plenty to celebrate and discuss. Cole and Sebastian were in the kitchen, arranging
platters of food, as they had been most of the day.
“I can finish this up, Seb. Go spend time with her.”
There was truly nothing he wanted more. But then what? They’d landed on a casual, noncommittal approach to a potential relationship,
and now he was committed to Adelaide Springs for at least another year and a half. And who was he kidding? Apart from knowing
he was going to miss her like crazy, he had no desire to be anywhere else. Long distance was hard, even under the best of
circumstances. And the lack of accessibility to Adelaide Springs was not even close to the best of circumstances. Major airport
to major airport? Sure. If that was their reality, they would have been able to see each other every weekend. But major airport
to connections at a couple more major airports before finally landing in a field outside of town, courtesy of a very expensive
private service? Yeah... not so easy.
They’d stay friends. He knew that. He’d meant what he said about not taking the intimacy they’d shared lightly.
And it wasn’t like he was interested in a romantic relationship with anyone else, so staying connected to her wouldn’t stand in the way of connecting with another woman.
But for her? There were probably one or two or a thousand or a million eligible men in the world who would love a chance to date Brynn Cornell.
She wasn’t a young girl just heading off to college determined to stay true to her boyfriend back home.
That wasn’t realistic. No matter how much either of them wanted to pretend otherwise, they were destined to eventually pull the penny out of their pocket.
“Yeah. Okay.” He popped a blackberry into his mouth before heading over to the sink and washing his hands.
“Hey, Seb?” Cole’s voice stopped him at the door from the kitchen to the dining room.
“Yeah?”
“She’s not gone yet, you know. And if you spend today acting like she is, I’m pretty sure you’ll regret it tomorrow.”
He was probably right about that. Not that Sebastian was going to acknowledge the wisdom. “Did you get that from a fortune
cookie?”
Cole shook his head and smiled. “Nah. It was on one of Maxine’s cross-stitched pillows.”
Sebastian laughed and turned back toward the door, but stopped again when he heard the familiar, unrelenting, pounding repetition
of the same note played on a piano thirteen times and then joined by the musical accompaniment of a typewriter clacking as
it repeated.
“Is that ‘9 to 5’?” Cole asked, hurrying to join Sebastian at the door to see what was happening as people in the restaurant
began cheering.
They inched around the door together just in time to witness Brynn and Laila on the stage, sharing a microphone, singing the opening notes of the Dolly Parton classic.
Laila couldn’t stop laughing and mostly dropped out before they got to the first chorus, but Brynn performed as unabashedly as if she were entertaining the masses at the Grand Ole Opry.