The city council members had agreed that the courthouse wasn’t big enough to hold the huge crowd expected at the council meeting that would decide the fate of Bayside Barn. So it was in the town’s auditorium that JP held forth on the benefits of building a huge marina complex. With the charisma of a talk-show host and the earnest conviction of a televangelist, JP made an argument that even Quinn wanted to buy into, and he knew better.
Quinn’s palms started sweating when he realized that not only would his presentation follow JP’s, but it would have to be even more convincing. This was their only shot. Abby squeezed his thigh, whether in warning or anxiety or comfort, he didn’t know. He glanced over to see her encouraging smile. “Stop worrying,” she whispered. “You’ve got this.”
And when President Tammy introduced him and he stood behind the podium to present his case, any nerves he had been feeling melted away. The vision of the future animal shelter just felt right. It felt meant to be.
He clicked through the PowerPoint presentation he had prepared, with photos of the existing property along with renderings of the changes and additions he would make. Even the leaking pool seemed to be perfect for the animal shelter, because the new beach-style ramp would make the pool accessible to the shelter dogs.
“We’ll build a concrete-block wall between the shelter and Bayside Barn,” he explained, showing another slide, “so the shelter animals won’t be bothered by field trip buses coming in to Bayside Barn. An access gate between the two properties will be large enough to accommodate any vehicle. Whenever the shelter receives any abused or abandoned livestock, they’ll be housed at Bayside Barn, at least until the shelter has its own barn space and fenced grazing pasture, which we’ll build in phase two, about a year after the shelter opens.”
When he finished his presentation, the packed crowd in the auditorium surged to its feet, whooping and cheering. Quinn felt himself blushing, his cheeks pulsing with his heartbeats. He had been so in the zone during his presentation, he’d almost forgotten how big the crowd was. He quickly gathered his notes and ducked back to his seat, while people he’d never met clapped him on the shoulder and congratulated him.
After a few minutes of quiet discussion among the city council members, President Tammy took to the podium. “The council unanimously agrees to allow Bayside Barn to keep farm animals, and indeed, any animals Reva Curtis deems appropriate for the education goals of Bayside Barn. We further decree that once given, this permission cannot be rescinded for any reason.” She glanced at the mayor, who answered her unasked question with a brief nod.
She sat, and the mayor took the podium.
“Furthermore,” the mayor boomed, “as the mayor of Magnolia Bay, I am delighted to accept Mr. Lockhart’s generous donation of the animal shelter that this community has needed for so long. As you all know, I have worked tirelessly to…” And while the mayor unfurled his stump speech, giving himself all the credit for making this miracle happen, Quinn noticed a quiet disturbance happening at the edges of the crowd.
Reva, Abby, Edna, and all the other Bayside Barn volunteers were moving through the auditorium, each carrying a cardboard box through the audience. People were gathering around the women to peek into in the boxes, then reach inside.
Abby bumped into Quinn from behind with the sharp edge of the box she was carrying. “Want one?” she asked.
“One what?” He tilted the box toward him. “Awww.” He sifted through the multicolored plastic stars and picked out a blue one with gold lettering. “I’m proud to be a Bayside Barn Buddy,” he read out loud.
“I’m proud you’re a Bayside Barn Buddy, too,” Abby said, her hazel eyes sparkling.
He pinned the star to his shirt and leaned in to give Abby a kiss. The big box of stars was in the way, so he took it from her and handed it to the nearest person. “Here,” he said. “Give these out, please, so I can kiss my girlfriend.”
The mayor finally ended his speech. President Tammy plucked the mayor’s white cowboy hat off his head, stepped to the podium, and waved the hat in the air. She started the chant, and then the whole crowd joined in.
Quinn hauled Abby up close, but stopped kissing her long enough to join in the chant: “Go, Bayside Barn Buddies, go!”
* * *
A mixed-up mass of emotions clogged Abby’s throat, and tears prickled behind her eyes as she sat next to Quinn in the office of the title company and watched him sign away everything he’d salvaged from his previous life. He flipped to another flagged page of the document, signed his name again, then repeated the process, over and over again.
Giving it all away to save Bayside Barn.
He laid the pen aside and slid the sheaf of papers across the conference table toward the mayor, who stacked the documents and grinned. “The city of Magnolia Bay thanks you, sir.”
“You drive a hard bargain.” Quinn stood and offered his hand across the table. “But I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”
The mayor had given Quinn until Labor Day to complete the building of the shelter and, as he so kindly put it, “get the hell out.” Mayor Wright wasn’t entirely happy about having to give up the prospect of the marina complex, so Quinn had been forced to sweeten the bait by promising that the shelter’s grand opening would happen before the city’s next mayoral election.
Abby stood, too, and Quinn took her hand in his. He squeezed her fingers. “We’d better go get to work.”
We, because the city council had indeed hired Abby to run the shelter. While Quinn was supervising the construction teams, Abby would be setting up the shelter’s office and interviewing potential staff members.
“Yep,” boomed the mayor. “Time’s a-wasting, clock’s a-ticking. Y’all better get busy.”
Abby waited for the familiar sense of worry to creep up behind her. How would they get everything done, even with the city’s financial backing and a slew of helping hands pitching in? What if the pressure of working together proved to be too great a strain on Abby and Quinn’s new relationship? But the worry and anxiety that had plagued her all these months seemed to have faded away. The what-ifs ahead would be challenging, no doubt. But she and Quinn would conquer them together.