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“Two hundred dollars?” she screeched.
“And three demerit points,” he added. She leaned toward the window to glare at him.
Yeah. Maybe that was a jerk move. But she could clearly afford it.
“You can pay in town.” He spun on his heel and walked back to his car.
The silver hatchback eventually disappeared over the next hill as he sat there staring. Maybe he shouldn’t have given her those demerit points. They were classmates after all. And she was only going to her parents’ house for a visit, he assumed. She looked so out of place. Good, of course, but more like a magazine model than a real person.
Sighing, he flipped the roof lights off and pulled the cruiser back onto the road. He needed to get out to Rose Corners to talk to Councilwoman Bette McDonald. The odd encounter with Kylie Martin wasn’t helping his mood either.
Bette’s yellow brick century home had an extensive garden out back. Derek checked there first, hoping to extend the time before he had to knock on her door.
The older woman was kneeling by a bed of bright green spring lettuce. When she saw him, she pulled her soil-covered gloves off.
“Hello, Councilwoman.”
Bette insisted on being addressed as Councilwoman. She had been sitting on the town council for as long as he’d been alive, so he supposed she deserved it.
“Officer Carson.” She smiled in that pursed-lipped way of hers and stood up from her lettuce plants, brushing soil off her pants. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I’ve brought you some research here on how the water treatment plant will negatively impact the ecology of the lake.” Derek held out a manila envelope.
Bette took a deep breath, and he braced himself for the inevitable.
“Derek, you’re young, and you’ve only been on town council for a few months now, but usually once council has voted on something, we consider the matter closed.”
“Yes, I understand.” He continued to hold the envelope out to her, but she didn’t lift her hands to take it. “But the scientist the council hired to do the assessment agrees with me that the plant isn’t the best solution for our water quality problem.”
It was the hundredth time they’d had this argument, but as her son-in-law was set to receive the contract to build the water treatment facility, she wasn’t interested in the science. Finally lifting her hands, she pressed the envelope back toward him with a ‘tsk tsk’ and then loaded his arms with a bag of asparagus from a collection on the ground.
“Give Cate my best,” she said in a patronizing voice, then patted his cheek like he was a child and promptly returned to her gardening.
After his run-in with Kylie, Derek didn’t have it in him to push Bette any more today, so he took his cue and left. It was time to get home for supper anyway.
Back in the village of Camden, he drove down a narrow tree-lined street to the yellow-sided house he shared with his sister, Cate, and her son. Charlie jumped off the tire swing that hung from the large maple in their front yard and ran over to hug Derek’s legs as soon as he climbed out of the cruiser.
Charlie was tall for a four-year-old, but his bouncing blond curls made him seem like a baby still. Derek scooped him up and swung him around until he squealed with delight, and then encased him in a strong hug.
“You missed supper, Uncle Derek,” Charlie said with his lips pursed.
“Sorry buddy.” Derek ruffled his curly hair. “I come bearing gifts, though.” He reached into the back seat of the cruiser and withdrew the bag of asparagus.
“Ew!” Charlie scrunched up his face and wandered back to his swing.
“Charlie, you don’t know what you like until you try it,” came a voice from the white front porch. Cate was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, with a damp apron tied around her waist and her blonde bob tied back in a messy ponytail.
“But Mommy, it’sgreen.” Charlie stuck his tongue out at her.
She frowned at Derek. “And what took you so long? Charlie couldn’t wait any longer, so we ate without you.”
“Sorry.” He carried the bag of asparagus into the house. “But you’re never going to guess who I ran into.”
