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Dragan must have said something to her about the questions, her grandma was being extra chill in her reaction. June couldn’t keep her smile from breaking. “I know, but I don’t. I’ll see you tonight.”
She waved good-bye and left the apartment, taking the stairs that led into the bookstore’s office. Her grandfather was working the front desk, speaking to a middle-aged man about war memoirs.
“Hey, Pop. I’ll be home later this afternoon, need me to pick anything up while I’m out?”
He shook his head, waving her over. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead before resuming his conversation with the man.
June left, walking down the street and wishing she’d brought her coat. She’d been naive to think they were in spring, but given it was late March, she knew that could change any day. Thankfully the Town Hall was a street over, on Elm.
Ruby was already in the lobby of the nondescript building when June entered, speaking with a group of middle-aged women. She looked up as June approached, a giant smile displaying the cute gap between her front teeth.
“June! Thanks so much for making it.” They gave each other a hug before Ruby jumped into business.
“Okay, so I already briefed Macy on the proposal, but I want her to meet you and really get a sense for what we’re planning.” Ruby led her down a tiled hallway, past restrooms and several small meeting rooms. Her red curls bounced as she walked with purpose, the fluorescent lights turning them copper. June looked around, almost missing the turn Ruby took into a room.
Macy Weathers, Oak Valley’s Town Supervisor and self-proclaimed Nosy Nancy, sat at a desk, scribbling on some papers while another stack sat beside her. Her silver curls swung as she looked up when they entered, happy to see them.
“Well, well. If it isn’t my favorite Town Board member!” Macy jumped from her seat, coming in front of the desk to greet them. Her aqua pantsuit was fluorescent in the boring beige room, her voice laced with a slight southern accent despite not being from the south. It was a strange occurrence, in small towns in New York — half the people had an accent they really had no right to have. “And you must be Miss June Beaumont, owner of The Little Prince. That’s a fine Oak Valley institution.” She held her hand out, her piercing blue eyes unnerving. June took it, giving it a strong shake despite Macy’s being limp. Dainty.
Like a real Southern dame.
June tried not to laugh at the thought, instead turning it into a warm smile. “I am, a pleasure to formally meet you.”
“Oh, psh, we’re not as formal as you might expect.” Macy said, waving between them. “Please, come sit. How are y’all today?” She pointed to the chairs across from her as she took her seat. Folding her hands on the table, she looked between June and Ruby.
“Fine, thank you,” June responded while Ruby got settled. “How are you?”
“Oh, I’m finer than frog hair split four ways! I just love planning these things, and this Spring Cleaning Event sounds funner than fun. I think we could pull it off in May, on Memorial Day weekend when we have the town-wide yard sale. That will give us about two months to get everything in order. We need to figure out food, a face-painting station, and a music stage.”
“Way ahead of you,” Ruby said, pulling some papers from her bag. “I spoke with these food truck vendors — ” she pushed one paper towards Macy “ — and they said they’d love to be a part of it. I was thinking we could set the food up in the parking lot behind the bookstore, with the permission from the other shops in that strip, or we can set the food up on the middle school’s playground field. That’s further from the store, but it’s in the heart of town. June will be reaching out to local authors about giving talks or readings at the store, and we could have the face-painting set-up across the way, on that grassy patch next to the high school.”
Macy pursed her lips, nodding as she looked over the food truck vendors and the crudely drawn map of where everything would be in Oak Valley. She stopped and pointed at the space between the red square labeledFire Stationand the blue square labeledPolice Station. “You want a cover model contest to be held here? In the parking lot between these two institutions?”
“Not only that, we want them to be the participants.” Ruby had a wicked gleam in her eye. “Think about it, Macy. Hometown pride for the service members of Oak Valley, spouses being able to show off their partners. Maybe the station with the most money raised gets to have their pictures put in a calendar, and we could later sell those or give them out. And whichever model raises the most money could get another small prize. But all proceeds will go to saving The Little Prince.”
“Well, it’s not my favorite. But I see what you mean,” she sighed. “I wouldn’t mind seeing my wife on the cover of one of those things. And we could set up the band stage in the shared parking lot of the middle and high schools, which will keep all of the events on that side of town, closer to the bookstore. With donation bins all around, I’m sure we can make ends meet.”
June looked at a sheet Ruby had slid to her, outlining everything Macy was in charge of, Ruby was in charge of, and June was in charge of. It was a massive undertaking in a short period of time. She swallowed the lump in her throat, not knowing if she could push off the foreclosure settlement conference. Looking over at Ruby, who was animatedly going over her vision for the publicity of the event, June wondered just how far Ruby would go to help, and if she could ask her fiancee Colton for a loan if it came down to it.
“Does that work for you, June?”
June looked at Macy. “I’m sorry, I was thinking about what authors I could ask. What were you saying?”
“I was thinking we could have another meeting in a month, see where we stand? What works for your calendar?”
June pulled out her phone and opened the calendar app. They set a date, and June and Ruby bade Macy a good day. June followed Ruby out, since she didn’t know the building. The rock in her stomach had grown. Should she tell Ruby about the notice? Or was she better of talking a lawyer and sorting it out herself?
She hugged Ruby in the parking lot, thanking her for her help. Her friend went back inside, while June was left alone with her thoughts. She wasn’t ready to go home but didn’t know where else to go. She didn’t know how to save the store, not before the festival. She didn’t know how to pick up the pieces her family had left broken.
34
Dragan sat across from Archer at his friend’s dining room table, reviewing the changes their lawyer had made to the contract.
Roger Donahue hadn’t been kidding — his contacts wanted to play ball. They’d sent over a hefty contract with a hefty price point. Dragan couldn’t even say it, for fear it was all a dream, but he wanted to remind himself that everything he dreamed of was happening.
$750 million, half to each of them, for full-ownership and responsibility of the app.
Because of the nature of the app, Archer and Dragan had felt secure in the buyers keeping true to it. There were certain laws they’d have to conform to, misinformation suits to avoid. But because no one knew of the apps existence, the playing field was wide open. They could promote and change it, using the growth avenues Archer had laid out in the pitch deck and implementing their own.
