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“If I may have your attention, please.”
Joe looked over the crowd. The place was full, with some people even standing at the rear.
The hum of voices stopped. The mayor then tapped the mic, as he always did. It shrieked, again as it always did, and everybody winced.
“We are assembled this evening to discuss the boardwalk, and proposal of a recreation center down there.” He adjusted his glasses and looked down at his notes. “This will be a facility to benefit the residents of Ryker Falls and the tourists.”
Mary Howard snorted. She wasn’t for the proposal; in fact, unless it was something she came up with, she vetoed it. They usually outvoted her, and the only reason she still sat on the council was because of her core group of buddies who got her back in.
“It will be aesthetically pleasing, and designed by the local architecture firm of Grey and Hinders. The costs are outlined in the handouts you received upon entering. We will be fundraising also, to assist with this cost.”
“I object!”
Joe watched one of Mary Howard’s cronies raise her hand.
“I haven’t opened it to the floor yet, Penelope, so you’ll have to wait.”
The woman lowered her hand, and Joe knew what followed was going to be a shit fight. Some locals didn’t want change, some did. Some wanted money spent on other things, others didn’t.
“Joe, as this is your baby, you stand up and explain why you think it will benefit the town of Ryker.”
He’d written notes, and memorized them, but he didn’t need them now. This was a passion project for him. Had there been a rec center, or somewhere he and his siblings could have gone as children, then maybe... just maybe their lives would have been easier. Ryker was growing, and with it more families with young children arrived. They needed a focus, and he wanted to give it to them.
He climbed to his feet, moved to the edge of the stage, and looked at the people. He found her then, Bailey, wedged between Piper and Clark. He saw the nod, and smile of encouragement she gave him, and suddenly he felt stronger.
“I was a wild child,” Joe said. “Trouble was something I relished because that was the only way I could get attention.”
Chapter 24
Bailey couldn’t take her eyes from Joe. He stood up there, confident, eyes connecting with people as he told them why he believed the rec center was important for the community.
“I had no one to turn to, and neither did my brothers.”
Bailey found Luke and Jack, seated across from her. Both looked calm as they watched and listened to their brother.
“He’s good,” Clark whispered to Bailey. “I’m sorry I told him we were engaged.”
She waved him to silence, not wanting to miss a word of Joe’s speech. The man before her was so far removed from the angry young boy he’d once been. Pride nearly choked her.
He spoke from the heart, and she felt it. He had everyone right there with him. He spoke of budgets lastly, and his vision for what the center would look like and be used for. “It would,” Joe said, “benefit everyone.”
“Excellent, Joe.” The mayor got to his feet again as everyone clapped after Joe’s speech. “Now, we will open it to the floor.”
There were plenty of people for Joe’s proposal, yet there were plenty against it too, starting with Mary Howard.
“It’s a waste of money, and I for one have no wish for these kinds of adolescents to have a place to congregate and plan what mayhem they will wreak on the innocent tourists and residents of Ryker Falls.”
Bitch, Bailey thought.
“She seems a pleasant sort,” Clark whispered in her ear. “There’s always one in every town who would fight change even if it was for the better.”
“She hates Joe.”
“Ah, well that makes more sense then. She’s doubly committed to making sure he fails.”
She was. She had plenty of supporters too, and there was no doubting she had whipped them up.
“I run a business, I don’t want those delinquents causing trouble!” She couldn’t see the face of the man who spoke. But the murmurs following his words told her he had support.
