39. Making Plans
Chapter thirty-nine
Making Plans
Paul
Jo Ellen’s phone call startled me as I sat on the front porch checking my blog comments. I’d posted some of my content from late last night and comments were already pouring in so fast I couldn’t keep up with them.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked distractedly.
She blew out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness you answered. Look, I know you boys must be exhausted from yesterday and busy making up chores today to boot, but could you come down to the diner in a couple hours? We’re all meeting here at one to talk about the festival.”
A lick of dread nipped at my neck. “What’s wrong? Buck had it all set up for tomorrow, right?”
“It was set up,” she emphasized, “but the storm that put out the fire also flooded the field where we usually have it. Tore down the banners, too. Now, we’re basically starting from scratch or we’ll have to call it off this year.”
My stomach dropped. “No, we have to have the festival. I’ll bring my brothers. We’ll help figure something out.”
When I hung up, I headed to the barn to explain the situation to my brothers.
Sawyer was the first to speak up after I was done. “What about Leena’s daddy’s land? It’s pretty flat. Plenty of room for parking.”
I shook my head. “If it ain’t gravel, the cars and trucks’ll get stuck in the mud. We need something in town.”
Josh’s face brightened. “What about the old school? Building ain’t worth shit, but I play with some kids over there in the parking lot sometimes. It would make a great place to have this.”
I nodded slowly, thinking through it. “Let’s hang onto that idea and keep thinking of any other places like that. Are you all up to go to the diner at one?”
They all agreed.
“They’re desperate if they’re calling me, so let’s make this happen,” I said, ruffling Rob’s hair.
The guys seemed pretty excited about it, still bouncing ideas off each other. I kept a note in my phone of all of their suggestions for later.
Until we left for Steeplegate, tension built up in my chest. I needed Maggie to remember the fun side of living here, not just the hard work and potential for disaster that was yesterday. Maybe I could encourage her to want to come back here to stay if she remembered some of the good old days.
By the time we reached the diner, my brothers and I were among twenty other townspeople all worried about the fate of the Summer Festival.
Mayor Sandoval led the meeting. “While we will forever be grateful for the deluge of water yesterday at the time we needed it most, it has caused significant flooding on the road to and in the field where we usually have the festival. And most the signs have been torn or damaged that were up in the downtown. So, we’re starting at square one, here people.
Let’s start with ideas for a new location. ”
My brothers eagerly contributed, shouting out their ideas for the school and the old mill. Others had similar ideas. One even thought the square in the downtown could be big enough for it. Parking would be limited in most of those locations, though.
Mayor Sandoval lifted a brow. “Downtown does have its perks.”
I stood. “But parking ain’t one of them.
It’ll just snarl traffic to try to get everyone right here in the downtown.
But the school or the old mill gives some additional parking space plus a place to put more booths if we do it right.
People could park in the downtown and walk to those locations, especially if we blocked off the road and put vendors all the way down to the main event with the stage at the mill. ”
Everyone gaped at me.
I put my hand on my belt and glared at them. “Yes, I have ideas. Now, come on. This is the best shot we’ve got, and we don’t have much time.”
When Connor agreed to my plan to block off a road, forcing parking where we wanted it instead of congesting the downtown, then things started to look good.
A few businesses agreed to pay for the printing of new signs with their logos on them as sponsors.
One of the more affluent landowners stood and offered to give hayrides where they would also transport people to and between the school, mill, and the downtown area.
While we would usually have a bonfire, no one was particularly eager to see a big fire right now, so Jo Ellen and Mrs. Baumgartner offered to collaborate on a s’mores station instead, roasting marshmallows above a few camp stoves.
When we finished with planning, Connor gave us the news on Kyle’s land.
“Went out to Kyle’s place before I came here.
Siding is melted on the front and side from the intense heat.
It also conked out their air conditioning unit and destroyed their front stairs.
The house is deemed unsafe at the moment until they can repair it.
Even after the insurance company comes out, they’ll have a five-thousand-dollar deductible.
Probably means it’ll be a while before they can get back into their place yet. ”
I spoke up. “Let’s take a collection for them at the festival then. Every little bit helps.”
Jo Ellen nodded in agreement. “I can put a can in the diner, too.”
Others agreed to do the same. It made me proud to live here.
Leaving the mayor to work out the details with the festival committee, I led my brothers back out to my truck. We had things to do.
Before we left, I tapped a quick text to Maggie explaining why I wouldn’t be able to meet her today. Well, sort of. I told her something unexpected came up, but I hoped I could surprise her for dinner.
When I didn’t hear back from her right away, and Josh was being stupid through the window as I waited for a response, I reluctantly left the downtown.
Driving past the park, I didn’t see her there.
But her car wasn’t in front of the hotel either.
I was pretty sure she would tell me if she left, but not sure enough not to worry about it the rest of the day.
The afternoon dragged on the longer I didn’t hear from Maggie.
She didn’t respond to my text from earlier or any of the others I’d sent since then.
It made me so anxious that my stomach felt twisted up.
Was she driving back to Chicago? Or was she just taking some time to help Suzie? I wished I knew.
I was so worked up about the whole thing that I jumped when my phone lit up with an incoming call.
“Mags?”
“Hey, what’re you doing?” she asked, her voice sounding almost cheerful.
I tried to slow my heart rate, but it wasn’t working. “Just finished up with chores. Need to shower, then I’m free. Why?”
Her voice sounded a little shy. “I’m up in Mainview. Want to meet me for a less fancy dinner this time?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Sure. Where?”
She described a little park just off the beaten path that wasn’t far from the college. “Do you know the place?”
Checking my watch, I estimated the time. “Yep, I can be up there in about an hour and a half. An hour if I speed.”
“An hour and a half is fine. Take your time. I’ll have dinner for us. See you then.”
When she hung up, the knot twisted a little tighter. She sounded okay, but I wondered what she had been doing up in Mainview all day. Or maybe she hadn’t been there until recently? I wondered if she would tell me.
After a cold shower, I dressed in a dark gray T-shirt, fresh jeans, and boots.
I grabbed a fresh blanket, since it would be better for dinner than benches, then hopped in the truck and thought of the last time I drove up here with her.
How she wrapped her lips around my cock and swallowed me down.
My pants felt tight at the memory of seeing her lipstick on my shaft that night, so I breathed through it.
No matter what happened tonight, I’d feel better seeing Maggie.
We hadn’t been intimate since our date. Life always got in the way, and it probably had something to do with the whole town watching us all the time.
Shifting in my seat, I hoped we could find a way to be together tonight.
I missed the feel of her skin under my fingertips.
I missed the way she vocalized how much she enjoyed the way I made her feel.
But most of all, I missed the way she seemed so free with me, expressing everything she felt without worrying how it sounded.
It was easy to get wrapped up in worrying about other people’s opinions here.
Small towns were dangerous for that. Made Dad seem like a bit of a maverick, I thought, when he refused to go to the new church when it opened.
Even though my best friend was the preacher’s daughter, we never went to church.
For weddings or funerals, we went to pay our respects, but we never heard a sermon.
Dad taught me to believe in science, what could be seen or proven.
Sometimes, I wondered whether having something more powerful to believe in could be beneficial in times of loss.
But then I saw Maggie and how her daddy’s beliefs never seemed to have helped her.
From what she’d said, they weren’t meant to soothe, though. They were only meant to control her.
By the time I reached the park in Mainview, the place was pretty empty. It was too hot for most people to consider having a picnic. Humidity spiked after the recent rain, too, so it almost felt like you were baking in a convection oven.
As I approached her, I made sure she knew I was coming. “Hey.”
She turned, her chestnut hair twisted up off her neck. “Oh, good. You brought the blanket.”
I smiled and laid it out in front of the park bench where she sat. “Tell me about your day. What brought you up here?”
With an excitement I didn’t remember seeing in her lately, she told me all about how she traveled up here to take some photographs.
A lot of them. She said she felt really inspired when we came up the other day and wanted to come back and explore on her own.
We ate while she talked on and on about the light and how she finally felt the urge to pursue her art again.
“Happy for you, Mags.”