Chapter 1 Kit #4
We followed behind Nick. Aunt Rita was slightly ahead of me.
She was wearing a cute corduroy skirt, tights, and a sweater that I was pretty sure was mine.
As we walked through the lobby, Aunt Rita raised her hand and gave her fingers a flirty waggle of a wave at two men walking out of the social security office.
I rolled my eyes when she looked over her shoulder at me and gave me a wink.
Nick turned to me as we walked and asked, “How are things at the library, Kit?”
“Great. Things are busy as usual. Our circulation numbers are up. Trent is doing a great job with the programming,” I said, shifting into work mode.
I knew that Nick may be young and a little goofy, but at the end of the day, he was the mayor, and the library depended on funding from the city every year.
“That’s great to hear,” Nick exclaimed as we entered the conference room, which was as festive as the rest of the building.
A small Christmas tree stood in the corner of the room and tinsel and garland adorned every corner.
When we entered, I saw that one person sat at the conference table waiting, the man from the coffee shop.
“This is Kit and Rita Campbell,” Nick introduced us. “They own the riverfront property at the end of the city limits.”
“That’s a wonderful property.” The man extended his hand and gave Aunt Rita a firm handshake, “Great to meet you. My name is William Philips from Braithway & Randall.”
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine,” Aunt Rita said flirtatiously.
William turned to me. I could tell from his expression that he recognized me from the coffee shop that morning. “Nice to see you again,” he said with a curt nod and extended his hand. His hand was warm and soft, but his handshake was firm.
“Are you from the area?” Aunt Rita asked coyly. I gave Aunt Rita a look to tone down the flirting.
“I work out of our New York office, primarily,” William said. “But I do find myself in Atlanta quite a bit.”
“How lovely. New York must be so wonderful this time of year,” Aunt Rita marveled, then added, “We love living here in Creekstone, just two hours from Atlanta. Close enough to the big city, but far enough away to enjoy the mountains. The quiet life.”
“That’s great.” William smiled warmly at Aunt Rita. I saw his eyes dart over toward me and then back to Aunt Rita. “The two of you live here in Creekstone?”
“Oh, yessss,” Aunt Rita said with an extra thick Southern accent. “In addition to the property by the river, Kit and I own a house here in town, just over on Fifth Street.”
“It’s a beautiful historic home,” Nick added as he gestured for us to take a seat at the table across from William. “They converted the bedrooms into studio apartments and rent them out.”
“Oh, yes. With just the two of us now, the house is much too big. We had to find a way to use all that space.” Aunt Rita smiled much too eagerly.
“Well, first I want to say thank you for joining us today,” Nick started.
“Of course, Nick,” Aunt Rita said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs. “We’re always happy to find out how we can help Creekstone.”
“Well, I think we’re at an exciting point in Creekstone’s history,” Nick said.
“For the first time in decades, we have a potential development project that could help keep our young people in Creekstone. You know as well as I do that to make a decent living, you have to leave Creekstone as soon as you graduate high school. You have to move away to go to college. You have to move away to get a decent paying job. This kind of out-migration is hurting not just Creekstone, but all the rural communities.”
Aunt Rita and I exchanged glances. What Nick was saying resonated with both of us.
We both had to leave Creekstone to go to college, and the only reason either of us returned was because my mom got sick.
Since returning, we were barely getting by on Aunt Rita’s nursing pay and my librarian salary.
The rising cost of living and steadily rising property taxes were killing us.
We decided the only way to make it work was to convert our upstairs rooms to rentals.
“The development firm Braithway & Randall approached me when I first took office about some redevelopment opportunities for Creekstone.” Nick looked at William.
William started, “Creekstone is a lovely community. Braithway & Randall has worked in several communities like Creekstone.” William picked up a remote for the projector and started moving through slides.
He explained that there were opportunities to redevelop areas of town that were run down and opportunities to develop areas that had never been built on before, like our land.
William had a deep, clear voice while he was presenting.
I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t smile much as he talked through the slides, but his face was still very handsome.
Each time William clicked the remote a new slide with an impressive artistic rendering of our town glided across the screen.
“Wow.” Aunt Rita said as she admired the proposed new buildings. “This is really impressive.”
“Thank you,” William said. He had a reserved, polished manner. I caught myself staring at him and made myself look back at the slides on the screen.
Nick picked up where William left off. “You can see that the proposed development includes quite a few infrastructure improvements for the town, stop lights to improve intersections, road widening, storm water drainage. All kinds of boring stuff, but if we don’t have those things in place, we can’t build new buildings because our infrastructure couldn’t support more people. ”
“I get that from my experience at the library,” I smiled encouragingly at Nick. I turned to William, “And your company would build these things as part of this development plan?”
“That’s right,” William nodded, measured and polite.
“And this plan requires us to sell our land to your company?” I asked.
“Well, not exactly,” William started slowly. He remained composed. “We can still build on the land that we do purchase, but your land, with the riverfront, provides us an opportunity to build something the entire town can enjoy.”
“Like a park?” Aunt Rita asked.
William used the remote to return to a slide he’d shown us previously. The drawing was not even recognizable as Creekstone, but in the distance, I could see the buildings that looked like the ones on Main Street. “We would work with our engineers and architects to build something like this.”
“So, a shopping mall,” I said flatly.
“Well, a mixed-use development,” William said, turning to look more directly at me.
I tried not to squirm under his cool gaze. “It looks like a strip mall with houses on top.”
“Ha.” Nick let a nervous laugh out. We all turned and looked at him. “The truth is, we need affordable housing, and the apartments and condos that could be built would positively impact our whole community.”
“I think apartments are great, Nicky,” Aunt Rita said gently. Like me, Aunt Rita was trying to be supportive of the mayor. “But you know, old timers around here won’t go for apartments.”
“Well, that’s why we were hoping that you and Kit would show your support for the development by selling your property. I think it would show the town that you support the idea.”
“We do support the idea of development,” I said.
Nick’s eyes lit up with hope. “I’m just not sure about giving away control to a company that wants to profit from apartment and commercial rentals is the way to go.
What would stop developers from going back on their promise to create affordable housing? ”
“Are you trying to develop the land yourself?” William asked. I turned to him. I didn’t like his tone. He seemed to be pushing back.
“Let me be honest. I am here as a courtesy to the mayor and my aunt. I like the way the land is now. Untouched. Natural beauty,” I said.
“And what about the people in Creekstone? The development would offer tremendous opportunity economically and socially for them.” Willam crossed an ankle over a knee and leaned back in his chair.
My cheeks burned red with anger. I looked down at the floor and took a deep breath.
I couldn’t believe that someone who had never been to Creekstone before would be so bold as to tell me what was best for my family and for the town.
William tried again, trying to restrain himself from seeming rude. “It’s just that…”
I interrupted. “It’s just that if we sell the land to your company, we give up our control over how the land is used.
Not just Aunt Rita and me, but the entire town.
We have to trust that your company will do what it says it’s going to do with the land—and that it won’t bring in dollar discount stores and storage units.
Just look at what happened in Shelbyville. ”
I kept my gaze fixed on William. I wasn’t going to back down. Willam pushed his lips together tightly. I saw his broad chest rise as he took a deep breath. He said slowly, “So what would it take for you to feel comfortable selling your land?”
“A Christmas miracle,” Aunt Rita quipped, and raised her eyebrows. I could tell she was as interested as Nick and William in what I would say next.
“Well,” I started, “I think I’d only feel comfortable selling to a company that had more of a stake in the community.”
“Well, I’m local. And I’m very invested in the positive outcomes of this development,” Nick chimed in. Then he nervously added, “I mean, otherwise, William would have to just move to Creekstone and become a local.”
Nick and Aunt Rita laughed to break the tension. Aunt Rita slapped her knee and said, “And he’d have to rent one of our rooms in our boarding house because this town doesn’t have any available affordable housing.” This made Aunt Rita and Nick laugh a little louder.
“I’d do that,” William said, almost expressionless.
“They aren’t being serious,” I said, rolling my eyes. “They’re just trying to get under my skin.”
Aunt Rita gave a little gasp. “I was being quite serious!” She winked at William. I scoffed.
“I believe in the potential of Creekstone. I think the development of your property is the cornerstone for this project. It elevates the entire development, and if moving to Creekstone is what it takes to show that our company has the best intentions with this project, then I’d be happy to do that.
It’s just that my job requires me to be in New York so frequently… ”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course it does.”
William placed his hands in his lap. He took a slow deep breath and then let a little sigh go.
I tried not to shrink in my chair when I realized I had cut him off so rudely again.
William’s handsome mouth twitched a little and he said with composure, “Like I was saying, I think Creekstone is an amazing community. And Braithway & Randall would be lucky to partner with this community. If you’re interested in working with us, we’d love to continue discussions. ”
“Definitely,” Nick said with a smile. He looked nervously over at me.
“Well, this meeting has been really enlightening,” I said, standing up abruptly. “We don’t want to take up any more of your time. Good luck with everything.”
Nick and I shook hands. Nick offered to walk us out, but I told him we could see ourselves out. I nodded curtly at William. Aunt Rita lingered behind me saying goodbye.
As soon as Aunt Rita joined me in the lobby, I hooked my arm into hers and walked with her side-by-side. I whispered under my breath, “Ugh. That was awful.”
I forced a smile as we passed a few people and headed for the door. Aunt Rita replied in a louder whisper, “Oh, stop. I’m sure nothing will come of it, but renters aren’t exactly falling out of the sky, so if that really good looking one happened to…”
“Aunt Rita!” I exclaimed as we pushed through the front doors of the lobby and back out onto the sidewalk. Aunt Rita squinted, looked down into her bag, and fished around for something. She pulled out a pair of stylish, oversized sunglasses and put them on.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure William knew I was just joking,” Aunt Rita said dismissing my worry. She started digging through her bag again, pulled out a lip gloss, and began applying it.
I shifted my weight as I waited while Aunt Rita fussed around in her bag and then said, “So you’re not mad at me for not wanting to sell the land right away?”
“Of course not,” Aunt Rita said as she applied her lip gloss. “Why would you think that?”
“Well, my guess is they would have offered us a decent amount for the land, and well…” I sighed, hating to admit it aloud. “We really need the money, so I was just worried you’d be upset that I didn’t jump at the chance to sell the land.”
“Not in the slightest, my dear. We have to do what we think is right. Trust your gut. That’s what your mom always said.
Otherwise, we’ll live with regret. And that is awful for the soul.
” Aunt Rita patted me on the shoulder. I felt a sense of relief wash over me hearing my aunt say she was okay with how the real estate meeting had gone.
Aunt Rita pressed and popped her lips together to evenly apply her lip gloss. “I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, yeah? Hot date with Roger?” I asked as I zipped up my jacket.
“Hot date with Hank.” Aunt Rita tipped her chin down so that her glasses slid down her nose and she winked. Then she turned on her heel and gave me a little wave as she headed for her car.
As Aunt Rita bounced down the street, waving at strangers, I couldn’t help but think how much she looked like my mom.
I took a deep breath and let it go slowly.
I felt the tension in my shoulders release.
It was such a relief that Aunt Rita wasn’t upset.
It was true that I didn’t trust an outside corporation to develop the land, but I also wasn’t ready for Creekstone to change.
I felt comfort knowing things were just as my mom had known and loved them.
She loved the quaintness and quirkiness of Creekstone. I wasn’t ready to let go of that yet.