Chapter 40
Grace dressed for the night in a pair of white capri pants and a soft yellow blouse. She”d been as nervous as a cat in a room of rocking chairs all afternoon after Sid called and the police stopped. She opted to come home when Sid suggested it. At least here they had cameras and the police were able to patch into their security system to be alerted when someone breached the cameras. They didn”t do that often, but they did do it when necessary, such as now. Also, the threat of bodily harm from the bikers, mixed with the acts of violence they”d already demonstrated helped their cause.
She took a deep breath and moved toward the kitchen. Sid was in the shower and would want something to eat before they went to the council meeting.
She fed Chiefy, then looked into the refrigerator for something to eat.
”What are you looking for in there that”s taking so long?”
She whirled around, startled at his voice. ”Oh, you scared me.”
He shook his head. ”Honey, I”m sorry for that. I surely didn”t mean to scare you.”
”It”s just...” She motioned around with her hands. ”Today.”
He pulled her close. ”I know. Let”s go to town and attend our meeting. Let”s do what we can to get them to leave our town.”
”What if they don”t leave?”
”I don”t know. Do you know how to use a gun?”
”It”s been years. But, I was trained in the Army and then after, I used to practice with girlfriends. We had a shooting club back home.”
”Okay. Do you have a gun?”
”Not anymore.”
He nodded. He sat at one of the stools at the center bar. ”We”ll remedy that tomorrow. Also, tomorrow, I”m officially buying the Garage. And, I need a new sign made. I think I want a logo and everything.”
”Oh, honey, that”s awesome.” She hugged him close and closed her eyes as she let his love seep in.
”Thanks. It”s all because of you. You”ve given me my life back. You”ve given me love. You”ve given me my confidence.”
”Oh, honey. You had all of that in you. If I helped to bring it out of you, I”m so very happy. You deserve everything good in life.”
”I have it now.”
She squeezed him again, and his arms tightened around her waist. They stood like that for some time, each of them needing the other.
”I was going to make you something to eat.”
He pulled away slightly. ”I”m sure you don”t feel like making me something to eat with the council meeting pending. And, to be honest, I”m not sure I could eat. So, how about we go down to the meeting, then we”ll stop at the Sandbar afterwards and eat.”
”That sounds good.” She stepped back and looked into his eyes. ”I can”t leave Chiefy here, Sid. If they come here to do something to the house, she”ll be injured. I can”t...”
Her voice cracked and she didn”t say anything further. He nodded. ”We”ll take Chiefy with us. I think they”ll allow her in the building as my emotional support dog. She”s well-behaved and she”ll be with us and safe.”
”I”d appreciate that.”
He chuckled. ”Honey, we”re a family now. I feel that in my heart. You and Chiefy are my family and I”m yours.”
She teared up. It was fast and hot and the emotion hit her right in her heart. She swallowed and nodded. ”We”re your family and you are ours.”
”Right.”
A tear fell and she dabbed it away and took a deep breath, then blew it out. ”Okay. I think I”m ready.”
Sid chuckled and it sounded so good. ”Me too. Let”s go get those bikers.”
She chuckled. ”Let”s go get ”em.”
Chiefy jumped up and pranced around as if she knew what was going on. Grace pulled her leash from the hook by the door, Sid pulled her portable water dish from the cupboard and a bottle of water for her.
They strutted to the truck together. She and Sid, hand in hand, Chiefy on the leash beside her.
Sid turned into the city hall building and they were both shocked. The lot was nearly full. People turned out for the meeting.
She perused all the vehicles and her mouth dropped open. ”Wow.”
Sid chuckled. Even Coop had driven over tonight.
They entered the building, Chiefy in tow. The clerk looked over the counter at Chiefy, then up to each of them. ”Emotional support?”
Grace smiled. ”Yes.” She was in all aspects. She may not have that exact label or the vest, but she was surely her support and had been for a number of years. Then, by choice, she became Sid”s support. So, she was surely that.
”Come on back.”
They followed the clerk through a set of doors where a large room was filled with the townspeople. The far wall, where the council sat, was a beautiful built-in half-circle desk made of oak, and behind it eight chairs and microphones.
Folks nodded when they saw them, many smiled. Grace recognized so many of them from last night. It was amazing. There weren”t any seats available, they likely didn”t have meetings with this kind of turnout very often. So, Sid steered them over to the far corner where they stood.
Soon a door behind the council desk opened, and eight people emerged, one of them the clerk.
The man in the middle, spoke into his microphone. ”Good evening. I”m Roark Dinsmore, President of the Blossom Springs City Council. Tonight”s meeting is a special meeting requesting an emergency order regarding the rash of property damage, citizen threats, and general mayhem caused by a certain group of bikers that have come to rest in Blossom Springs. The petition was brought by Grace Murphy. Ms. Murphy are you present?”
”Yes.” She yelled from the back of the room.
”Please come forward and explain your petition.”
She glanced at Sid, he winked and whispered, ”You”ve got this.” She handed him Chiefy”s leash and made her way up the side aisle to the front of the council where a podium and microphone stood.
”Ms. Murphy. Please explain your petition so the council members and townspeople present can hear you.”
”Yes sir.” She took a deep breath and as succinctly as she could, she explained the situations as they happened to her. She finished by adding. ”I know many others in this room have also experienced issues with the bikers. My...” She hesitated. Was Sid her boyfriend. It seemed silly to call him her boyfriend, they were of a certain age. Partner, she could say that. ”My partner and I have both recently moved to Blossom Springs. We”ve both found a beautiful little town and have met the most wonderful people here. We”re both starting businesses, and...” She turned and looked at Sid. ”We”ve found each other.”
Sid smiled and nodded at her and she turned back to the council. ”We don”t want these bikers, who have no ties here, no commitments here, to come in and wreck this beautiful little paradise. I urge you to give police the authority to arrest those bikers every time they cause damage. Personally, I”d love for them to be run out of town. But, mostly, we all have the right to feel safe in our homes, something Sid and I haven”t managed to do since they began targeting his garage. We shouldn”t have to worry that we”ll show up at our businesses only to find they”ve been vandalized. Let”s bring the peace and tranquility back to Blossom Springs.”
The audience clapped and cheered, and her cheeks burned. She”d never presented to a city council before. And, she”d never had such a large audience before.
”Thank you, Ms. Murphy. The council will now hear from the townspeople.”
One by one their friends, neighbors, and fellow townspeople stood before the council and shared their experiences with the bikers. In all, they were there for close to two hours. She and Sid stood quietly in the back, though her feet were sore and tired and her back was beginning to ache, she waited and clapped as each person told their sad tale.
The council excused themselves to deliberate privately, while the folks in the room took the opportunity to chat with each other. Sid took her hand and pulled her toward Coop. They knelt down alongside him, and his old, wrinkled hand patted Chiefy. ”You did a good job, Grace.”
”Thank you, Coop.”
”Did your man here tell you he”s officially the owner of the Garage tomorrow?”
She smiled at him. ”He sure did. You still have some time to back out.”
Coop laughed. ”No, thank you. I”ve had my time in the Garage, it”s Sid”s turn.”
He patted Sid on the shoulder and grinned ear to ear.
The council reentered the room and the crowd quieted down.
She laid her hand over her stomach as it quelled. The clerk glanced her way and, was that a grin on her face? Grace would have sworn she grinned at her.
”The council meeting will come to order,” Roark Dinsmore barked.
The crowd silenced and Roark again leaned forward into the microphone.
”The council has discussed the stories we”ve heard tonight. Ms. Murphy, your petition was required to have five hundred signatures. You brought in seven hundred and seventy-two. Of those, seventy-eight were erroneous and unable to be verified as citizens on the voting rolls of Blossom Springs. That still left you with six hundred and ninety-four valid signatures. Congratulations on managing this in such a short amount of time.”
She smiled. ”I had plenty of help from friends.”
”I”ve heard. You have some powerful friends Ms. Murphy. Remind me to get you on my re-election campaign.”
The crowd laughed and she did too. It felt good to laugh.
”The council voted and unanimously approved the emergency order. It will not run the bikers out of town, so to speak. But, we”ll make it irritating for them to live here. Police will immediately be instructed to arrest the bikers involved in any theft, vandalism, stalking, and threat of bodily harm. We”ll either have them all in jail or they”ll get tired of being hauled in. In addition, the fines for such violations will be doubled until the bikers leave town. So as not to show any profiling and open ourselves up to that criticism, the fines are doubled right now for everyone committing any crime, harassment, theft, vandalism, and/or stalking.” He tapped the gavel to the block. ”Meeting adjourned.”
The council stood up to leave and the room erupted in cheers and applause. Sid grabbed her and hugged her tightly. He kissed her lips. ”Congratulations, sweetheart. You did it.”
”With your help and Jace’s and Quinn”s and Jami”s.”
”You were the driving force.”
People came up to congratulate her and thank her for a job well-done and she met even more people than she had last night it seemed.
As people filtered out of the room, Sid took her hand and Chiefy”s leash and led her to the door. ”Let”s go home and celebrate.”