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Chapter 5
“Well, here we are, Grandmother Valentine. What time should I pick you up?”
Gavin didn’t even shut the car off as he pulled to a stop in front of the rec center. He hadn’t really wanted to give his grandmother a ride to her town council meeting or whatever this was, but she’d insisted. When his grandmother got her mind set on something, she was a hard woman to resist. In his experience, it was easier to just get his keys and go along.
“Oh, you won’t be picking me up,” she said, her voice firm and matter-of-fact.
He met her eyes in the rearview mirror. She always insisted on riding in the backseat as if she were being professionally chauffeured. Gavin didn’t mind. He liked her quirks. But it did make conversation more challenging. “All right. Is Donovan coming for you, then?”
“No, young man. I meant you won’t be picking me up because you’re staying for the meeting.”
Gavin wrinkled his brow. “What do you mean, I’m staying?”
“That didn’t strike me as a complicated sentence. Surely you can decipher it on your own.”
Gavin had to laugh, although the only outward indication was a short exhale. He shook his head as he found a parking space and climbed out of the car. He didn’t know if it was her manner or if she had some kind of secret mind-bending power over him—not to mention the rest of the town. Whatever the reason, though, one thing was for sure: there was just no saying no to the matriarch of Valentine Bay.
Gavin walked around to the other side of the car and opened the back door for his grandmother. He put out his arm to assist her, and she kept hers threaded through his as they walked up to the doors of the community center.
“So, since I’m attending this meeting, I guess I should know what it’s about.”
“It’s a community input meeting for the Labor Day picnic, which will lead into the new Fall Festival the town is instituting this September. The main focus is forming a planning committee.”
He nodded. He had no idea why Grandmother Valentine wanted him to attend this meeting, but he figured he’d find out soon enough. Or maybe he never would. The old woman’s ways were mysterious, but un-protestable. The easiest thing was just to go along with her, and that was exactly what Gavin planned to do.
They moved through the foyer and into the main community center space, and his grandmother’s motives for dragging him along immediately became much less mysterious. Standing at the front of the room, facing the growing crowd from behind a lectern as she shuffled index cards, was Genevieve.
Grandmother had always hinted to Gavin, and none too subtly, that Gen would make a good match for him. Opposites attract, she’d insisted. Gen’s outrageous enthusiasm for life would balance his stoic solidity and vice versa.
No matter how many times he’d explained that it wasn’t fair to ask Gen to enter into a long-distance relationship with him, it didn’t seem to matter. She held on to the idea like a terrier that had sunk its jaws into a particularly juicy piece of meat.
He turned to her. “Grandmother, I don’t suppose—”
“Let’s call this meeting to order!” She cut him off as if she hadn’t heard him, booming the instructions to start the meeting out to the crowd of twenty or so gathered citizens of Valentine Bay, and strode to take a seat in the front row as she did so.
Gen’s head snapped up at the matriarch’s voice, and when it did, she made eye contact with Gavin. Her hands, which Gavin hadn’t seen in any other state but perpetual motion since he’d walked in, froze in mid-air, the index cards she was holding fanned out as if she were striking a pose in some strange piece of performance art.
He gave her a small nod of his chin and the gesture seemed to snap her back to life. She shook her head as if to clear it, smacked her hands down on the table, and spoke out in a clear, commanding voice. “Yes, let’s bring this meeting to order. Everyone please take a seat.”
God, he loved it when she got authoritative.
He moved to a seat in the back row, but his grandmother motioned to him and called, “Gavin, you’re next to me.”
Stifling the urge to argue, he walked to the front and sat down. He hated to be the center of attention. He liked to be the strong force behind a mission, not the glory hound with his fists in the air after it.
When the crowd had settled down, Gen cleared her throat. “Excellent. Let’s get started. We have a lot of material to get through. The inaugural Fall Festival this September, hopefully the first of many, stands to draw a good many tourists to Valentine Bay, and with them their tourist dollars. It comes at a time of year that many local businesses could use a cash flow injection, so it could ultimately be great for the town economy, not to mention a PR booster.
“That having been said, a festival of this size and scope will take considerable work to bring to fruition. Particularly in this, the first year, there will be kinks in systems that need to be worked out. That’s why I want to begin, before diving into the nitty gritty, by simply thanking each and every one of you who plan to volunteer your time.”
There was a polite smattering of applause and Gavin joined in. He had a small but growing certainty that he was going to end up being one of those volunteers, whether he was a willing participant or not.
Grandmother Valentine piped in. “I’m sure you’re going to need some muscle to pull this off. A right-hand man, so to speak. As it happens, my grandson Gavin has some time on his hands.”
Gen looked at him and hesitated. “Gavin?”
He shrugged. “Sure. You be the brains, I’ll be the brawn.”
This drew a ripple of light laughter from the crowd. When his grandmother added, satisfaction in her tone, “Excellent. I think the two of you will make a wonderful team.”
