d5e426eccb138e04dab909926b2752c6

“Oh, we absolutely agree,” said Mr. Blatch.

“Absolutely,” said Mr. Dawson. “Which is why we’ve gone to the trouble of acquiring the land the mall will be built on—just in case.”

“Just in case,” mimicked his fellow real estate developer.

“You already bought up all the land?” she asked.

“All except one plot,” said Mr. Blatch.

“One teensy tiny plot of land.”

“Unfortunately it’s also the most important plot, as it’s located right… there,” said Mr. Blatch, and pointed to the center of the mall, where a very nice fountain stood.

“And who owns that land?” she asked, curious in spite of herself.

Mr. Blatch ceremoniously got out his phone and tapped it, then announced,“One Tex Poole, who acquired the land back in 1995 but then never developed it.”

“It just sits there,” said his colleague, shaking his head and tut-tutting slightly.

“Isn’t that just sad? To buy a piece of land, ripe for building, and then never build?”

“Did you just say… Tex Poole?” asked Charlene, taken aback.

Both men nodded.“Yep. Tex Poole,” said Mr. Blatch. “I have it right here on my phone so it must be right.”

“We contacted Mr. Poole, and so far he’s refusing to sell, unfortunately.”

“Which is why we were hoping for the council’s approval, so we can fast-track the process of buying him out.”

“Or finding some other solution,” said Mr. Dawson, giving her a knowing wink.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said.

Both men looked taken aback.“Oh, no, we don’t what?” asked Mr. Blatch.

“You do know that Tex Poole is my boyfriend’s brother-in-law, of course.”

“Your brother-in-law?” asked Mr. Dawson, looking genuinely surprised.

“I can assure you that we didn’t know, Madam Mayor,” said Mr. Blatch.

“Absolutely no idea.”

“None whatsoever.”

They looked earnest enough, but then you never knew with these business types, Charlene thought. They could simply be using her to get to Tex, if he really did own that piece of land, and was refusing to sell.

“Look, we’ll leave this here with you, how about that?” said Mr. Blatch, lovingly placing both hands on the model and giving it a gentle tap.

“And we’ll let you discuss it with the members of the town council,” said Mr. Dawson.

“And when you’ve made up your mind, please let us know at your earliest convenience.”

“Because if we’re going to pursue this, we need to move fast.”

“Other towns are clamoring for this highly unique and promising project, and so we’re not going to be able to leave this on the table for much longer.”

“Another… five days, perhaps?”

“Let’s make it seven,” said his partner.

And then both men got up swiftly and held out their hands. She shook them and watched them leave, then returned her gaze to the model right under her nose.

It did look pretty darn impressive. A mall for Hampton Cove, and a mall carrying her name at that. Mom and Dad would be really proud if she would be able to pull this off.

But then she shook herself. She wasn’t going to be tempted by vanity. She needed to figure out if this was a good thing for the town or not, and not be swayed by ulterior motives.

Then again. The Butterwick Mall? It sounded pretty cool.

Chapter 14

Dinner was a family affair, as everyone wanted to meet Tex’s new son in person. Even Uncle Alec and Charlene were there, and so was Scarlett, who’s Gran’s best friend.

We were all seated in Tex and Marge’s backyard, though if the guests had expected Marge to lay out a nice big spread they were sadly mistaken. In fact Tex had had to order pizza because his wife made it clear that she would never, under any circumstances, cook for this son of his he hadn’t told her about in the twenty-five yearsthey’d been married.

I think it was safe to say that Marge was livid, and Tex looked distinctly ill at ease.

“So how did you find out that Tex was your dad?” asked Scarlett, who’s never shy to ask the really tough questions. She would have made a great reporter, I reckoned.

“My mama told me before she died,” said the kid, whose ears really were quite large.

“On her death bed, huh? How romantic,” said Scarlett, with a distinct lack of tact.

“Yeah, she would have told me sooner but she was always afraid to,” said Dudley. “But when she got the diagnosis she knew she had to make a choice: take her secret into the grave, or tell me. And I’m glad she opted for the latter,” he added, directing a proud glance at his father. “In fact I’m happy things turned out the way they did. Not with my mother dying, I mean, but with me finally finding my dad. Can you pass me the ketchup, Daddy?”

“Sure… son,” said Tex awkwardly.

“So is it true that Dad offered for you to stay here?” asked Odelia now.

“Yeah, I’m in between homes right now? I was living with my mom the last couple of months, taking care of her. But since she died her sister, my Auntie Ellen, put the house on the market, and so I don’t have anywhere to stay right now.”

“You can stay in the attic,” said Marge, earning herself a startled look from her husband.

“Honey, I thought he could take the spare bedroom.”