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“Yeah?”
Ellie rolled her eyes at him. Big and dramatically. “You don’t like when a big order comes in where someone’s asking you to do something new and beyond anything you’ve done in the past?”
See? She was always right.
“Emmaline Morris is a lot,” Beau pointed out. “And she’s young. And she’s not going anywhere.”
Ellie smiled. “So Becca will just have to be a lot more. With the Landrys on her side, that willnotbe a problem.”
Beau just blew out a breath. He had no argument for that.
Ellie shook her head. “Leo knows Emmaline’s grandpa Joe.”
Beau nodded. “I know Joe too.”
“Of course. But Leo and Joe served in the Navy together. And they’ve fished together a hundred times. And they’ve gotten drunk together. And they’ve fought. They’ve each given each other at least one black eye over the years.”
Beau lifted a brow. “Sounds like most of the guys—and a few of the girls—who’ve spent seventy-some years together around here.”
Ellie smiled. “Exactly. Just like I’ve known Emmaline’s mama since she was a little bratty thing running around this town and teasin’ Callie.”
Callie was Ellie’s daughter. The only girl of her and Leo’s five kids.
“Emmaline’s mom teased Callie?”
“Oh, yeah. We went ’round and ’round with her and her mom.” Ellie made a disgusted noise. “I really don’t like Allison. Never have.”
Beau couldn’t help but shake his head. There was a lot of history here.
“Now Allison’s sister, Emmaline’s Aunt Angela? Sweetest thing,” Ellie said. “She was the one who finally told Callie she needed to punch Allison in the face. So Callie did. And everything was good after that.”
“That’s…a great story. I guess?” Beau said. “But I’m not following your point.”
“’Cuz I’m not done makin’ it,” Ellie told him. “Hold on. Callie and Angela are still friends. Callie and Allison not so much. But, because of Angela, Allison gave Callie a job a few years ago. And about fifteen years back, there was a big shipping company that wanted to come to town and build a warehouse on that land up north and tear out a bunch of trees and tear down some old houses. Emmaline’s grandpa was on the city council and was all for it. He said it would bring jobs and the company was going to pay the city big bucks for that land. But most of the town was against it. Didn’t want to lose that land, knew the company had a bad reputation for how they treat their workers. Half the council wasn’t listening though. So Leo took Joe out fishin’ and they talked about it and when they came back, Joe was a no. The plan was defeated by one vote.”
“So we need Leo to talk to Emmaline to keep her away from Becca? Or does he need to talk to Joe? Or should Leo talk to Jonathan about not being so hard on Becca?” Beau knew Ellie heard the sarcasm in his tone.
“We could try that,” Ellie said. “Oryoucould talk to someone about what we can do for the art program that has no money or support.”
“Ellie,” Beau sighed. “I don’t have anything to do with the school.”
“Sure you do.”
“I mean, I graduated from there. And played some pretty great football. But I don’t think that counts.”
“Beau, you’re a part of this town. You’re from here. You’ve been working your ass off to build your business. You’ve been a part of your mom’s business since it started. You have roots and history here. You’re a respected and trusted part of this community. That’s powerful. You have a say in what happens here. This school and those kids matter to all of us. We don’t have to work at the school to get involved.”
“I…” He swallowed hard. “Who will listen to me?”
Ellie’s expression softened. “Everyone.” She reached over and squeezed his forearm. “You really don’t realize that? You don’t understand that all the hard work you’ve been putting in has been noticed? Everyone is so impressed with your business, Beau. The hard work and how seriously you take putting out amazing products. And everyone knows that you’ve always been there for your mom and…everyone really.”
Beau felt his chest tighten. That meant so much to him.
“Home isn’t just the address on the front of your house. It’s a part of who you are. A place that’s what it is because you were there.”
Beau felt all of his emotions lodge in his throat. He simply nodded.
“What happens when you’re in a roomful of candles and you start blowing them out?” Ellie asked.
