The next morning Savannah turned on her laptop as she sipped her coffee. First, she checked her calendar to make sure she had nothing pressing to do this week. If she’d ever needed a vacation, it was now.
Sometime around midnight, she’d finally made peace with what Mike had told her. She understood that he was just playing devil’s advocate, and that he had her best interest at heart. Fortunately, they hadn’t parted on a bad note, and she was reasonably certain he’d still welcome her hanging out with him for a week.
Also, she needed him to know that she appreciated his efforts. Though she was still prepared to reveal who she was if the occasion demanded it, knowing she could take whatever heat came her way. After visiting the cabin, she’d never felt stronger.
Next, Savannah called the office. It was already ten fifteen and she hoped her supervisor wasn’t in a meeting. Jeanine was also the Denver regional manager, and she was going to faint when Savannah asked her for vacation time.
Jeanine answered on the third ring.
“Hey,” Savannah said. “Are you sitting down?”
“Uh-oh. Tell me you’re not about to blow up my Monday.”
“I don’t think so,” Savannah said, grinning and picturing the older woman, who’d also been her mentor, juggling the phone and a mug of strong coffee.
“I got your email. You must still be in—what is it—Blackfoot Falls?”
“I am, but I should be finished by midafternoon. Listen, I checked my calendar and I don’t have anything major scheduled. Can you spare me for a week? I want to take some vacation.”
After a brief silence, Jeanine said, “I hope no one died.”
“I almost killed Ron, but no, not that I’m aware of.”
Jeanine chuckled. “He was asking about you a while ago.”
“I will say he felt badly leaving me to finish up. But that was just fine with me. Anyway, vacation time?”
“I don’t see a problem. We’re covered, although Porter is coming next Monday so you might want to be up to speed on all your accounts by then.”
Savannah frowned. “Isn’t he in Paris for meetings?” She knew he was because she’d spoken to him earlier—right while she was in the middle of a juicy daydream about Mike. And Porter hadn’t mentioned anything about going to Denver.
“According to his assistant, he’s going to Milan for a few days, then flying here before returning to Dallas.”
“Did she say why?”
“She didn’t know.” Jeanine paused. “I don’t think either of us is getting fired.”
It was a joke, so Savannah laughed, even though she didn’t feel like it.
“Hey, I’ve got to run, but yes, absolutely, take vacation. Hell, with all the hours you work, I should consider it comp time.”
Ten minutes ago Savannah would’ve loved that idea. It meant she could sock more time away to visit Mike later down the road. But it really bothered her that Porter hadn’t said anything about Denver. Anyway, she wanted to see him in person to break things off, so the timing was great.
They disconnected, and Savannah bounced right back to dividing her thoughts between Mike and the presentation. His reservations about her identifying herself still gave her pause. She liked him twice as much for caring about her like this, so she’d decided not to identify herself. If necessary, she’d just tell them she came from a small town. After all, this wasn’t about proving anything. Besides, she was a professional, and the job had to come first.
Mostly, though, she couldn’t wait to tell him she’d gotten her vacation time. Maybe they could go up to Glacier National Park and to the movies in Kalispell. Okay, she had to concentrate on work right now. But she couldn’t wait until after the presentation. She picked up her cell again and typed.
Guess who has a week of vacation starting tomorrow!
She’d barely returned to reviewing her notes when he texted back.
I’m all yours!
* * *
“OH, FOR CRYING out loud...” Sadie was facing the door, watching people stream into the room. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Savannah looked up from her laptop, though she had no idea who Sadie was talking about. It could’ve been any one of the sourpusses standing along the back wall. Some she recognized from Friday’s presentation, mostly because they’d caused disruptions. No sign of Mike yet. But he’d show up.
She studied the room. Something wasn’t right. “Sadie? I think we’re missing a row of chairs.”
“No, we aren’t. I had them removed. If those old coots want to whine like a bunch of crybabies, let them do it standing up.”
Savannah bit back a laugh. She was about to point out that the people who should be attending could end up without a seat, but then she saw that Sadie had taken that into account. The first three rows up front had been tagged with reserved signs, which said City Council Members and Merchants Only.
She pitied the first person to ignore the edict.
“We have five minutes. Kylie called to say she might be late.” Sadie’s gaze swept the crowded room. “Most of the other shopkeepers are here.” Sadie moved in closer and leaned down, lowering her voice. “The woman at the end of the front row? That’s Thelma Parsons, the council member I told you about. She’s read your report, and don’t be surprised when she whines about every little thing. Some folks think she’s not all there,” Sadie said, tapping her temple. “Feel free to ignore her. That’s what we all try to do. Once you’re ready to begin, I say we lock the doors.”
Savannah half wished Sadie wasn’t joking. “Hey, if I thought it would do any good...” She spotted Mike entering and couldn’t help smiling.
“I’m curious,” Sadie said. “Did you two already know each other before last week?”
Snapping to attention, she dragged her gaze away from Mike. “Not really,” she said, which wasn’t an outright lie. She met Sadie’s eyes and decided to take a chance. “I used to live here. Not in town but out near the Burnetts’ place.”
Sadie’s eyes widened. “No kidding.”
“I was just a kid, though. Mike and I used to wave to each other, that’s all.” Savannah felt as if her heart might beat out of her chest. If she was this nervous telling Sadie, then maybe she wasn’t ready to out herself to everyone.
“Huh.” Sadie’s brows lowered as she tried to solve the puzzle. “I must’ve known your folks—”
Savannah’s stomach tightened and when her phone buzzed, she jumped on it. “Excuse me,” she said. It was only a text, but she was thankful for the interruption.
Oh, cripes, what did Ron want? He’d texted and called twice already. Well, he’d just have to wait until after the presentation. What could be that urgent?
* * *
“ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, everybody sit down or stand up against the back and shut up.”
Sadie’s voice filled the room as completely as the attendees. Savannah wasn’t surprised. As far as she was concerned, Sadie should be in charge of all meetings, including the ones at her company.
“I can’t stand up the whole damn time!”
“Well, then, Avery, go on home,” Sadie said. “No reason for you to be here anyway.”
“Hey, I got my rights.”
“You have the right to be quiet. All of you have that right to remain silent through the presentation. We’re not having a circus like last week. I mean it. There will be time to ask questions afterward. If you don’t like the rules, bring it up at the next council meeting. If you don’t keep to the rules, you’ll be escorted out.”
“I’ll forget what my questions are by then.”
Savannah recognized that old codger standing in the back. She wouldn’t have minded if he’d forgotten to attend.
“I’ve got notepads and pencils for anyone who has a question. Mallory, do me a favor, help me pass these to anyone who wants one.”
“I don’t want no paper and pencil.”
“Then don’t ask questions, Jasper. It’s up to you,” Sadie said, smiling.
The mumbles that went through the crowd came in a wave from the back forward, but they mostly stopped before the folks in the reserved seats. Savannah wasn’t going to begin until Sadie had everything quiet, but her PowerPoint presentation was ready and her notes were in order, although she probably wouldn’t have to look at them. The only thing she had to remember was to not stare at Mike through the whole thing.
After Mallory sat down, Sadie quieted the room in her signature take-no-prisoners way then introduced Savannah, finishing with a reminder that anyone who stepped out of line would step out the door.
“Thank you, Mayor,” Savannah said, clicking to the first PowerPoint slide, which showed the town’s logo. “In the interest of full disclosure, I want you all to know that I ran into some of the town merchants at the diner on Saturday, and we had a nice visit.”
“Those weren’t the only people you ran into,” came a snarky voice from the rowdy section.
A couple of people turned around and looked at Mike. But they were all discouraged by Sadie’s immediate rise, and her point directly at the one who’d spoken. “Earl, you do that again, and you’re out.”
Savannah continued as if nothing had happened. “I’ll begin with a brief recap of our meeting on Friday, and then I’ll get to the heart of what my colleagues and I discovered about your charming town, and how to not only increase revenue for all the local businesses but to make Blackfoot Falls a valued destination for anyone who wants to work or live in northwestern Montana.”
As she went through the opening slides and gave her recap, the crowd was a little restless but mostly polite. Two more remarks were made, one by a woman and another by Earl, though he cut himself off when Sadie rose.
After the group chuckle was over, Savannah began the presentation in earnest. “I’m a firm believer that a town that works together can create great opportunities for themselves, their families and their community. The first thing we spoke about on Friday was the town’s lack of proper signage. However we didn’t discuss the solution. The first one is obvious—more signs.
“In conjunction with that, a visitor information center or welcoming committee would do very well. By that I mean a group of three or four community members getting together to figure out how best to direct folks to the local sights, the places to eat or where to stay, and how they can make the most out of their visit to Blackfoot Falls. That would include finding other interesting sights in the area, like the dinosaur tracks in Munson, the great fishing in Greenville and the Minersville ghost town.”
“We’re paying you to add income to our pockets, not our rivals’.”
All Sadie had to do was stand up, and the miscreant shrank back into his seat.
“They’re rivals in sporting events, yes, but none of these small towns, including yours, have enough unique experiences and shops to draw tourists by themselves, but by working together, you can all benefit greatly. You’ve got the advantage of being on the way to Glacier National Park. Why let people continue to pass Blackfoot Falls? It’s a shame to send all that money to Kalispell and the park when some could be staying here.
“Together, you can also encourage new businesses to come and open their doors. Look how well the Full Moon has done. The Cake Whisperer. The new motel. They’re all thriving and could do even better. I’d love to see all the town merchants join forces for a Facebook page, in addition to other joint social media efforts. Remember how well that’s worked out for the Sundance ranch. All of that can be yours for very little capital, especially if—”
“We don’t want new residents. We’re happy just the way we are.” The speaker was a middle-aged woman Savannah didn’t recognize.
Then someone else from the crowd stood. “It all sounds great, but we’re already working as hard as we can. You know what it takes to make money off a working ranch?”
The next person to rise was Thelma, and Savannah prepared for a deluge of negativity.
“You can’t be serious. I mean, sure, we can use more signs, no complaints there, but why would we want all the trouble that comes with the internet? Stalkers and porn, that’s what’s on there. No decent people go on that internet.”
“That’s nonsense, Thelma,” Sadie said, getting to her feet. “Just because you don’t know how to navigate in the twenty-first century doesn’t mean the rest of the town has to stay in the past.”
Savannah clicked to the next slide, which pictured Safe Haven animal sanctuary. “You have so much to offer here,” she said, making her voice the loudest in the room. “Like this amazing shelter for neglected and abandoned animals. People would love to visit and see the good work that goes on there. Maybe you could team up with the folks there and add a petting zoo. Families would eat that up.
“You also have great hiking, and trails for horseback riding and for ATVs. Possibly snowmobiles in the winter. And what a jackpot in movie sets you have. Does anyone have a list linking the sets to the movies?” She paused, though she knew the answer.
Most of the audience just stared blankly.
“These are great ideas, people.” Rachel, from the Sundance, stood. “All of us could benefit. The local stores need every bit of help they can get. And we could use a few more motels and B & Bs, maybe even a campground. I bet we could draw more events like rodeos, if the fans weren’t forced to drive to Kalispell for accommodations.”
“I agree.” Alice rose. “Listening to all this, I’m much more enthusiastic about opening my B & B. Sounds like we can all make some money. Tourists are a great way to let a lot of us older folks retire in comfort.”
Just as Savannah was going to add her two cents, Jasper shouted everyone down. “The real problem is that some fancy Denver company and Miz James don’t know the first thing about small towns. We’ll lose every damn thing we hold special if we let her talk us into this carnival sideshow.”
“Sir...” Savannah held up a hand. “I understand your concern. I really do. I happen to come from a small town, myself—”
“Like hell.” Snorting, Jasper gave her a disdainful look. “You’d lie about anything to sell us a bunch of your malarkey...”
That did it. The whole crowd was devolving into chaos, and she had to get everyone back on track. Now. “Excuse me,” she said. “I’m not a liar. I do know what small towns are like. In fact, I know what this small town is like, because I lived here for fourteen years.”
“What?” Jasper’s bewildered frown narrowed to a glare. “I don’t know you and I’ve lived here all my life.”
“My name is James now, but it used to be Riley.”
At that, a collective gasp went up, although a few folks just looked confused.
“Are you Francine’s daughter?” someone asked, the voice steeped in disbelief.
And then... Thelma raged to her feet. “How dare you step one foot in this town. You and your no-good family disgraced the name of Blackfoot Falls and every person who lived here. Your whore of a mother lured my husband away from me, and got him fired on top of it.”
Sadie had stood up and was saying something, but the woman overrode her.
“He left town with no references because of you and your kind. The whole school almost crumbled because of you. We were made fools of, all of us.” Thelma’s eyes blazed. “You think you can waltz back in here like you aren’t a taint upon the name of everything we hold holy and good?”
Savannah’s breath had left her in a rush, and all the blood in her body turned to ice in her veins. Was that actually Mr. Jenkins’s wife? Oh, God, why hadn’t Mike warned her? She looked at him, but that made half the people now standing turn to stare right at him, too.
Rachel shot up from her seat and started telling everyone to settle down. Mallory tried to help, but chaos ruled. Even Sadie couldn’t get them to all be quiet, and Savannah had to sit down before she fell to her knees.