Chapter 24
Logan
Logan made a beeline for the Little Free Library after he parked downtown. It was almost time to head over to city hall for the community forum, but he was anxious to see if Lucy had been by and found the book. He’d wanted to go all day, but had forced himself to sit at the dining-room table in his cottage and go over the plans from both the cruise line and the company that operated the casino boats. They’d both be in attendance tonight to give their formal presentations, and Lucy’s environmental experts would be there to poke holes in the plans.
Although he’d managed to sit there all day, he wasn’t sure he’d absorbed anything. His mind had drifted again and again to Lucy, to the Little Free Library, to the way she’d seamlessly fit in with his family at dinner, to how she had a habit of biting her lip and tucking her hair behind her ear when she was nervous. He couldn’t get her out of his head.
The numbers for both the cruise ship and the casino boat looked good. They were solid revenue generators for the city, and the cruise line had the potential to benefit virtually all the businesses downtown. Admittedly, it was impossible to have their environmental impact be zero, but a small cruise line like the one he was proposing had minimal impact. The benefits outweighed the disadvantages by a wide margin.
Approaching the Little Free Library, Logan opened the door as he’d done so many times before and hoped to see his book gone from the ledge. His eyes scanned the books waiting to be shelved and then moved to the nonfiction shelf. It wasn’t there. A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. He wished he’d been able to see her reaction. Had she been excited? Skeptical? He was pretty sure she wasn’t angry, based on their conversations as Lucy and Logan and the fact that she’d worked the whole thing into her book proposal. Maybe he could find a way to bring up the subject later without her getting suspicious. He needed to know how she’d felt about the letter.
When he entered the council chambers, Lucy was already there along with a woman he assumed was her environmental expert. The woman was dressed in a black pencil skirt and a pale-pink cardigan set. She was testing a slide on the projection screen, but much to his disappointment, it gave nothing away.
“Evening, ladies.” Logan had nearly walked all the way up to them before they noticed him.
“Oh, Logan. I didn’t hear you come in. Maybe you can help us.” Lucy turned to the woman. “He’s much better with technology than I am.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” he said under his breath in a playful tone. He smiled at them both. “What seems to be the problem?”
“I can’t get it to go into presentation mode.” The other woman clicked the mouse a few more times to no avail.
“Here, let me.” He waited for her to move aside and, with a few clicks, he had the presentation up and running.
Lucy smiled. “You do realize you just helped your opponent, right?” Her eyes sparkled. The frustration with him and his waterfront ideas was gone, replaced by a sense that she now saw him as a worthy opponent.
He smiled. “I like a fair fight.” She was in a good mood. Maybe because of his letter in the Little Free Library? Forcing his eyes away from her, he turned to the other woman and offered his hand. “Logan Lancaster.”
“Miranda Clark.” She shook his hand firmly. “Southeastern Clean Water Foundation.”
The sound of the back door opening attracted their attention. It was Mark Sandberg from the cruise line. Logan had met with him earlier in the day before he’d gone back to his hotel to change for the meeting. No sooner had he entered than one of the gentlemen from the casino boat, with whom Logan had only spoken on the phone, walked in behind him and introduced himself.
As the townspeople started filing in, they moved to sit in their usual groups. He nodded at those he recognized, like Pam, Pete, Missy, and Mildred, along with some of the men he’d met at the Freemasons’ lodge. All the council members filed in and took seats in the front row, where they were joined by the mayor.
Logan and Lucy had already agreed to begin with a presentation by Logan on the ideas from the last meeting, which he’d now had time to vet and go over with the council and the mayor. They’d lay out which ones were still on the table and which had been deemed untenable. Then they’d have presentations from the cruise line and the casino boat before hearing the opposition from Ms. Monroe and opening the floor to members of the community to offer their support or opposition for any of the remaining ideas.
After detailing his plans to continue moving forward with research, vetting, and proposals on a number of ideas ranging from food kiosks to the rental of paddleboards and other watercraft, Logan prepared for the part he knew was going to be more controversial. He’d already discussed it with Lucy, and Mildred was there to speak as well.
“The one idea we feel everyone is behind is the establishment of an open-air seafood market. I’m pleased to say that we believe we’ve found a way to move forward with that part of the plan.” He paused, clearing his throat before continuing.
“Mildred Banks, who I’m sure you all know as one of the owners of the Waterway Café, has asked to speak to the audience.” He motioned to Mildred to join him.
Mildred walked tentatively toward the front of the room, not meeting anyone’s eyes as she focused on the floor. Logan was nervous she and Marty had reconsidered, but she gave him a smile before she turned to the crowd.
“First, I want to say thank you to everyone here who has eaten at our restaurant over the past three decades. Your support and your friendship has meant so much to Marty and me. We’ve always been grateful to be a part of this community, and we intend to be so for a long time to come—” Her voice broke and she stopped. Reaching into a pocket of her dress as she smiled through her tears, she pulled out a tissue and blotted at her eyes.
Regaining her composure, she continued. “We intend to be part of this community for a long time to come, just not as restaurant owners.” She paused again, but this time she smiled out at the audience.
“I know this probably comes as a shock to many of you, and I appreciate those of you who have vowed to fight to help us save the restaurant. I wanted to come here, however, and tell you that Marty and I made this decision on our own. No one pressured us. As many of you know, our daughter recently had our first grandchild and lives in Raleigh, and we’d like to spend more time with them. We always talked about buying an RV and traveling the country when we retired, but I’m not sure we ever would have retired if this opportunity hadn’t been presented to us. And that’s what this is. It’s an opportunity for us all. I promise Marty will buy fish at that market and have a fish fry out at the house every now and then, and the whole town will be invited.”
Despite the tears sliding down her face, Mildred was smiling. Heads in the crowd nodded their understanding, and the mood in the room visibly lifted.
Lucy spoke as Mildred stepped down from the podium. “Let’s all give it up for Mildred and Marty, who’ve kept us fed and happy for so many years.” She began clapping and soon everyone in the room was applauding along with her as Mildred walked back to her seat.
As the crowd quieted, Lucy spoke again. “Mildred, I think I speak for everyone when I say we hope you and Marty enjoy your retirement. You deserve it.”
Logan returned to the microphone so he could explain further. “The Waterway Café has agreed to a buyout of its lease in the marina building. Our plan is to remove the exterior and interior walls, leaving only the roof and necessary supports. After some repairs to the pilings under the foundation, we’ll be able to use this space as an open-air seafood market.”
People were quiet as they processed the information, but they looked intrigued, not disappointed or angry as he’d feared. Logan took a deep breath. He knew his future depended on the rest of the meeting. The ideas he’d detailed so far weren’t enough to bring in the revenue the town needed. If he could get a consensus on either the cruise line or the casino boat, it could be enough to seal the deal. Then he’d only need a council vote and the waterfront development would be off and running.
After introducing Mark from All-American Cruises, Logan stepped aside to let him come to the podium. His presentation was quick and efficient, highlighting the economic impact on similar towns without boring the audience with industry jargon and endless stats. Within ten minutes, Mark was launching into what Logan knew was his closing.
“According to surveys of our travelers, they spend an average of seventy-eight dollars in each port on everything from food to toiletries to souvenirs. In comparison, someone who stays here in town averages one hundred and seventy dollars per day. However, there’s also a cost to that in terms of infrastructure needs like housing, roads, and parking. We think our proposal allows you all to open up to more tourists without having to tax your current infrastructure or add to it. You obviously have small-town charm here in spades, and we think this is a great alternative that allows you to further monetize your waterfront while controlling growth and commercialism.”
Logan surveyed the crowd as Mark finished up. He’d seen a few people jot down notes, but it was tough to tell if they were writing down benefits or making notes for opposing comments later. Overall, the crowd looked more interested than it had in the beginning. Logan’s step was a little lighter as he approached the podium to thank Mark and to invite up the president of the casino boats company, John McIntyre.
On his way back to the side of the room, Logan’s eyes met Lucy’s. She was frowning, clearly unimpressed with the presentation. It wasn’t a look filled with hate and vitriol, but it wasn’t the warm smile he yearned for either. He took a place against the wall a few feet from her, close enough that he could sense a vibration in the air, as if she was a magnet drawing him to her. He was so aware of her he couldn’t concentrate on anything John was saying.
Admittedly, John’s presentation wasn’t exactly riveting. It also wasn’t very impressive so far. Logan hadn’t worked with his company before, but they’d come highly recommended by a friend who’d used them in Cape Canaveral. The economic benefits also simply weren’t as good as they were with the cruise line.
Logan’s jaw tensed as he sensed that John was losing the crowd. He probably should have asked to meet with him earlier in the day to go over his presentation, but he’d been distracted thinking about Lucy and the Little Free Library, and time had slipped away from him. He told himself it would be okay. The cruise line alone could probably generate enough revenue for the town to meet its goals.
They only had Lucy’s expert and public comments left to go. This was the homestretch. All he needed was enough support for the cruise line for the council members to feel comfortable voting to approve his plan at their next meeting. It didn’t have to be unanimous. He just needed four of the seven and he was home free.