“I understand that.I’m not trying to destroy what he’s built.”
Sally reached over and patted her arm.“We know that, dear.”
Did they?Cassidy looked at her presentation materials scattered across the table.Maybe Bryan was right.Maybe she didn’t understand anything about this town or what the festival actually meant to the people who lived here.
She’d approached it exactly the way she approached everything.Analyze the problem, identify the solution, and implement the strategy.It was professional and efficient.
But watching Bryan walk out, she’d seen something in his face that her data hadn’t captured.The festival wasn’t a failing brand that needed repositioning.It was connected to something deeper.His grandfather.His family.The lighthouse itself.
And she’d stood there with her graphs and told him his way wasn’t good enough.
Mayor West gathered her things.“Let’s reconvene early next week.That’ll give everyone time to cool down and think things through.”
The others filed out.Cassidy stayed in her seat.She stared at her laptop screen until it dimmed into sleep mode.Her reflection appeared in the black glass.She looked tired.
You don’t know the first thing about this town.
He was right.She’d spent days analyzing Starlight Shores like it was a marketing case study, studying demographics, conversion rates, and audience personas.She’d walked past real people having real conversations and saw them only as data points.
The realization settled hard on her.This was exactly what had gotten her here in the first place.Treating everything like a problem to solve, a metric to optimize, and a presentation to deliver.Never stopping to ask if the solution actually served anyone besides her own need to be right.
She closed her laptop.The conference room felt too small suddenly, the air too thick.She needed to get out.
Outside, the morning had heated into a sweltering midday.Tourists wandered past with ice cream cones and shopping bags.A couple took selfies in front of a mural.None of them had any idea that this town was struggling.That’s what Bryan had meant about the bandage.
She walked without direction.Her feet carried her toward the waterfront.She ended up at the public dock where fishing boats bobbed in their slips.An older man sat at the end with a rod and a bucket.
“Any luck?”she asked.
He glanced up.“Not yet.Fish are smarter than I am.”
She almost smiled.“Mind if I sit?”
“Free country.”
She settled onto the weathered wood.Her silk blouse was definitely ruined.She didn’t care.They sat in silence for a while.Gulls circled overhead.The water lapped against the pilings.
“I’m Captain Roy,” he said eventually.“And you’re the one helping with the festival.”
“I was.I’m not sure anymore.”
“Heard there was some excitement at the meeting.”
Of course he had.She’d forgotten how fast news traveled in small towns.“I made a mess of things.”
“Bryan’s got a hard head.He comes by it honestly, though.His granddad was the same way.”
She watched a pelican dive for fish.It came up empty.“I didn’t mean to upset him.”
“Probably not.But you did anyway.”Captain Roy reeled in his line and checked the bait.“Bryan’s been carrying the weight of that festival since his daddy passed away.He took it on himself to keep it going exactly the way it always was.Like if he changed anything, he’d be disrespecting all the people who came before.”
“That’s not sustainable.”
“No.But try telling him that.”The old man cast his line back out.“He’s scared.That’s what it comes down to.Scared he’s going to be the one who fails.Scared that if he changes things, they’ll slip away anyway, and it’ll be his fault for not holding on tight enough.”
The words echoed what Winnie had said.She watched the fishing line drift on the current.“How do you help someone who doesn’t want to be helped?”
“You stop trying to help and start trying to understand.”Captain Roy squinted at her.“That boy doesn’t need someone to swoop in and fix everything.He needs someone to stand beside him and admit they’re scared too.”
