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When she wasn’t being a mayor or a test subject, she was also the town’s matchmaker. It had taken Kalista two days to do a stakeout of Jennifer’s house to see who her mystery stalker was, and she couldn’t be happier to discover it was Lenny Salinger.
Jennifer had never been married before and was turning thirty-eight in a few months, and forty-two-year-old Lenny had been a widower for over five years now. They could both benefit from each other’s company.
And now, onto Ruby and Anne’s feud.
“Anne, you can’t ban Ruby from your salon. She’s your only regular customer. And Ruby, who’s going to do your hair once a week? Let’s wipe the slate clean. How does that sound?”
Ruby and Anne, who had their noses turned up at each other, each gave a reluctant shrug before agreeing to a truce, even if it was quite begrudgingly, but they’d been friends since school, and their spats never lasted more than three days.
“Benedict, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve come to an agreement with Reggie regarding his goat. Your wife’s underwear will be safe from now on.”
By that, she meant she had gone to visit Reggie in his trailer to see how they could best resolve the issue of his goat, Sir Lancelot, and ended up being the owner of said goat when Reggie washed his hands of the problem when he handed her the leash.
She really had to get a vet to check on Sir Lancelot because she was sure a goat shouldn’t bark like a dog. But she had solved a problem, even if the problem was now living with her.
“Right. Any other grievances before we get to the matter at hand?” She only allowed them a moment of silence before she went ahead, raising her voice loud enough because she was sure that given another chance, the E&R members would come up with a hundred more grievances on the spot.
“Good. Because the most important thing on today’s agenda should be the TITS award, and I think we have a fantastic chance of winning.”
Naturally, everyone spoke at once, listing everything that was wrong with Bloomings Tide, and Henny’s laughter grew more and more raucous as he repeated the word ‘tits’ over and over again.
“It’s a waste of time trying to win this silly award, Kalista. We’ll be better off using our resources to build an underground shelter,” JT Miller said. An ex-military guy, JT was kind of obsessed with building a bunker.
“But if we win this, we’ll be able to set aside a few hundred thousand dollars for that project of yours, JT,” Kalista said as if she were cajoling a two-year-old out of a tantrum. The seven-foot giant, made of boulders, frowned and then set up in his chair.
“How do we win this stupid award?” he asked gruffly.
Kalista smiled. How were they going to win this award?
Why, with their national treasure, of course.
Chapter Two
The prize money for the Theresa Ingram Tarrington-Smith Small Town of Excellence Award was a whopping five million dollars, the things she could do for the town with that money.
Tourism promotions. They could actually reopen the Grand Hotel and have more tourists stay instead of Kalista using her four-bedroom house as a bed and breakfast. Not that she minded, but they could really turn up their tourism if they repaired and renovated the hotel, which had such a charming rustic facade that it was essentially Bloomings Tide at a glance.
Education facilities for the young and old, then employing qualified teachers to take up posts there and having enough money to pay their wages. Some of the infrastructure needed maintenance, like the bridge over Ponders Pond. She could really do so much for the town if they won. The injection of cash could really put Bloomings Tide, population five hundred and four, on the map.
They could finally pay back the money they owed Hopeturns Spring when BT was flooded after a freak storm. Oh, Mayor Mike Spring hadn’t done it out of the goodness of his heart—no, he did it so he could lord it over them at every opportunity he got. It would be amazing if they won, and she could pay back the half a million and still have a substantial amount of money left over for other things.
They deserved to win on account of just being the best people around, and she loved each and every one of her constituents with her whole heart.
But also, it was a chance to redeem the Chapman name for good and remove that dark cloud that hovered when it came to the award itself.
The Chapmans had a sad history regarding the quinquennial TITS Award. Her grandfather, who had been the mayor five years ago, was accidentally but unfortunately drunk during the evaluation and then also set alight one of the judge’s hair—thankfully, it was a wig—and managed to throw another into a bucket of lard. True story.
Her great-grandfather, who had also been mayor, had chased the judges out of his town with a shotgun when they said his barbecue ribs were too salty, costing the town a chance to win the much-needed prize money.
She had a lot to make up for, and she was all up for the challenge. Paying off their debt and improving the town as a whole was a heartfelt goal of hers, but she also had a deep secret yearning to rectify her family’s name when it came to the award.
Now, she had to sell her idea to the E&R members, and something told her it was going to be easier than she imagined once she pulled out herforce de résistancefrom under her sleeve. She was so excited that it shocked her that she managed to keep it together for so long.
“Forget marmalades and museums,” she began. “And smart grid technology, which is what Hopeturns Spring would definitely be showcasing.”Show-offs.“But we have what no other town has.”
Considering they were being judged in a few days, she had to come up with a ready-made showstopper on the spot. But she was going to deliver hard when the time came. And while she did wonder why it went from being canceled to being back up and then everything now happening with lightning speed in the space of a week, she kept her eye on the bigger picture.
The TITS award was funded by a trio of multi-billionaire families. The Marshalls. The Glovers. The Clarks. The families would send over three judges, and a decision was made once they visited each town that was participating. It was a way of giving back to the community, and they had the money to do that, so why not when small towns could actually benefit from it?
