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Harper’s stomach dropped. “I hope you didn’t tell him that.” It would take her weeks to get him over it. Jed could hold a grudge.
There was a sigh. “I may have mentioned it. Regardless, we can use the square just not the part by the monument in the middle or the edge of the duck pond area and only part of the parking lot.”
“For Pete’s sake, that’s almost the whole square. How are we going to throw this Halloween Extravaganza now? I knew it was a bad idea to entertain any conversation with him at this point. It was all settled before this. Everyone agreed.” She was laying it on a little thick but not by much. Would the world end if they couldn’t hold their Halloween Extravaganza” Probably not. But it would suck.
“I tried but he just wouldn’t compromise,” Susan huffed.
Harper knew that was probably true. He did it on purpose because this was the first time he had any power. People really were the worst.
“I have an idea but it’s going to take some doing. You might have to use whatever connections you have.” She tried to make it sound like Susan had to save the day because she knew that appealed to the other woman’s ego. “I mean you will have to work your magic for this to happen.”
“Stop trying to sell me on being the hero and tell me what it is,” she demanded.
Susan was one shrewd cookie. “Where’s the one place around town that has plenty of parking, lots of outside space and a reputation for being haunted?”
There was a pause. “That’s a brilliant idea! Everlasting Manor is perfect to host this event.”
“It is, but we need them to agree to it and they may not be so keen. It will be a lot of people, including a ton of kids running around their grounds.”
“Leave it to me. I’m pretty sure Gina will get on board. There might be one or two other people that I can whisper in their ear about this as well.”
“I have another suggestion. Get Bert to shift some guys and restore the power over there but make sure they know you made it happen. Then they’ll owe you. Also, get Darryl’s boss to move fixing their generator up on his list as well. He’s going to be out since his wife gave birth last night but I’m sure they must have someone else who could do it.”
“I like the way you think,” Susan said, a smile in her voice.
Harper bit her lip. “I have one request. I want to come with you when you go talk to Gina and whoever. I think you should do it face-to-face. You’re far more persuasive that way.”
“I’m not even going to ask you why because you’ll just make some bullshit up, but okay, you can come with me. Meet me there this afternoon at five p.m. We’ll hit them up during cocktail hour.”
Harper let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. “Are you going to call them and tell them we’re coming?”
Susan laughed. “No way. The element of surprise is always helpful in these cases. It gives them less time to prepare and come up with a good reason to say no.”
“How will you get past the guard at the gate?”
“Leave it to me. I’ll get our names on the list. See you at five,” she said and hung up.
Harper put her phone back down on her counter. That gave her time to prepare. She needed to find a way back into the Manor’s library, but she suspected it wouldn’t be too hard as long as Flynn O’Connor was there. She’d get him to let her back in.
Picking up her phone again, she made another call. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. How are you? I spoke with your sister, and she told me about yesterday. I am so sorry you had to see that, sweetie.”
“I’m fine. How is Audrey? Did Marnie say? I know she said they were going down to Boston. Did they go?”
“They’re in Boston and everyone is doing the best they can under the circumstances.”
It was always nice to hear her mom’s voice. Nicer to know she could go see them when she wanted. Family was more important to her these days. Possibly because of all she saw in New York or possibly because she realized they wouldn’t be around forever. Brushing those thoughts aside, she asked her mom about the storm. “Any damage?”
“Nothing major. Lost a few shingles. Your father wanted to go up on the roof and check but I told him I would kill him myself if he got the ladder out.” Mom laughed hollowly. “Pete Henderson will come on Monday and take a look. What about you? Any damage around the property?”
The truth was she hadn’t bothered to look. The building maintenance team took care of all of that. “Nothing that I noticed.”
“Well, that’s a relief. I’m making seafood chowder for dinner. Why don’t you join us?”
Just the mention of her mother’s seafood chowder made her mouth water. “I have a five o’clock meeting but if I can get out at a reasonable time, I’ll stop by. Don’t wait for me though.”
Her mothertsked. “You work too hard.”
