Trouble on Main Street

by Kirsten Fullmer

  “Yeah,” she said, her expression brightening. “Do you think we could do that again? Even though it’s not a retail area but a neighborhood?”

  He smiled, pleased at her enthusiasm. Maybe he would be able to stand on the sidelines of this whole thing and cheer Heidi on without getting his hands dirty.

  She tapped her finger to her lips as she considered her options. “Why hadn’t I come up with that?”

  “What if you put your parking garage over there, you know, that end of Main Street. You could direct traffic from the highway that direction with a bypass or something. The project could include repaving streets at least in the area around the garage, as well as new lighting and some beatification, maybe even a park.”

  Heidi’s face lit up. “And we wouldn’t need to tear down my house, or build some horrible bridge over Main Street, or have a shopping center that would kill the little shops!”

  “There you go,” He said. “You figured it out.”

  She scoffed. “You figured it out.”

  “I don’t know anything about Sugar Mountain,” he disagreed. But the words held guilt. Why didn’t he know more about the town where he lived? Because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep his fingers out of it, that was why.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Heid asked, interrupting his thoughts.”

  “Huh?”

  “You look angry.”

  He poked at the buttons on the GPS, avoiding her question.

  “I’m sorry for whatever I said,” she apologized. “We were having such a lovely time, and—you’re a huge help. I don’t mean to make you upset.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair and glanced in the rearview mirror, then the side mirror, as if looking for a place to escape. “It’s not you,” he admitted. “I was just thinking about my last job. I really enjoyed city planning but it—”

  She waited for him to continue but he remained sullen. “It what?” she finally asked.

  “It ruined everything!” he blurted, surprising himself.

  Heidi jerked back, caught off guard at his vehemence.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Is that why you came here?” she asked timidly. “To get away from the job?”

  He rolled his eyes, knowing he couldn’t possibly answer without one detail leading to the next. He hated it when people lamented about their lives. It was a waste of time and emotion.

  “I’m a widow,” Heidi said flatly. “My husband, Brad, died of brain cancer. Do you think whatever happened to you is uglier than that?”

  Now he felt like an idiot. How tragic. And here he was being an ass over his wife having an affair. And his house burning down. He glanced her way. “It was pretty ugly, but I’m sorry for your loss. And Tyler—” he couldn’t find words for how Tyler must feel.

  “This isn’t a pity competition. I just wanted you to know that Tyler did have a father and why I’m single.” Her face scrunched in horror. “You are single, aren’t you?”

  He snorted. “Yeah, I’m single. My wife left me.”

  “Oh,” Heidi squeaked, her face falling. “I’m sorry, that had to be hard.”

  “I guess going back to being single is never pretty, eh?”

  “Not usually,” she agreed.

  Silence fell over the cab of the truck as they sped down the freeway.

  She bit at her bottom lip, considering her words, then spoke up. “Can I ask you a question?”

  He tried not to make a face. This had been a bad idea. Why hadn’t he realized that six hours in the same vehicle would mean they’d have to talk? “Okay…”

  “What do you do for a living? Now, I mean. The women in town are all so curious about you. There has been much speculation.”

  He smiled wickedly, his sense of humor returning. “Would you believe me if I said I was a gigolo?”

  She laughed. “I would have heard about that, I assure you.”

  He considered her answer. She was the post master in a one-room post office. Everyone in town came through her place of work, so of course she knew what was going on with everyone. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Why is it a secret?”

  It was his turn to laugh. “Touche’.” He relaxed back into his seat, glad that the confrontation had been resolved. “I restore vintage cars, you know that.”

  “Oh, right!”

  “You should let Tyler come out and help me,” he added without thinking.

  “You’re right,” she said, looking every bit as shocked that she’d agreed.

  Silence once again settled between them as they contemplated how to implement such a plan.

  “I’ve been keeping Tyler too close. I need to let him explore more.” Heidi admitted. “I have that big fancy house that I adore, and I don’t want anything to be ruined. I don’t let him-" she stopped, wondering how much she should divulge.

  Adam saw an opportunity to change the subject. “About your house, it’s fantastic. How long have you owned it?”

  Heidi flinched. She hated talking about the house and how it all worked. She was never quite sure where the line between lying and not disclosing everything lay. “I inherited it when my husband died.”

  Adam’s eyebrow rose. Of all the answers he’d expected, that wasn’t one. “So… did it belong to your husband’s family then?”

  She shook her head.

  “I have to admit, I don’t know much about how inheritance works,” he confessed.

  She sighed. “I was friends with the owner, an elderly lady. After Brad died she moved into a nursing home and gave me the house.”

  He glanced her way, noticing that she didn’t look 100% comfortable with her answer.

  She looked out the window.

  “That must have been a hard time for you,” he said, his words carefully chosen.

  She turned back to offer him a sad smile. “It was, but I love the house.”

  They’d both offered some personal information and survived. The rest of the way to Raleigh, they kept the conversation light, mostly chatting about the road conditions, the weather, and such.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mayor Winslow swallowed hard and gripped the phone with white knuckles. His eyes were large with stress. “I still don’t think you should come to my house,” he snarled into his desk phone.

  A voice on the other end spoke but the mayor cut them off.

  “Fine. If I can’t talk you out of it, I’ll see you Tuesday.” And with that he banged the receiver into the cradle and threw himself back in his chair. Stroking his beard, he fumed; his thoughts jumping back and forth between all he had on his plate. Things were coming to a head. He had to get his dealings in order or this whole crazy plan would come crashing down around him.

  Adam and Heidi walked solemnly through the capital building parking lot. The afternoon was warm, reminding them that spring had indeed arrived.

  It had taken hours of asking around and going up to one floor and down to another, to find the correct person in the courthouse to speak to about the demolition review. But after years of dealing with the capital through his work in Charlotte, Adam was convinced that they got it right. Heidi had started the process of intervention with the historical society, and her house would be safe. At least it would be protected for a few weeks while the wheels of justice creaked into motion. Then again, most projects were stopped because permits were revoked, and no permits had been issued.

  Heidi’s search for Buford had surprised him, and it had been a tangle of issues to find records on building projects that the man had worked on. He wasn’t sure why she was so intent on finding out more about the man, but he was willing to help. Evidently, the guy hadn’t been involved with many above-board projects, because they couldn’t even find a business license with his name on it, let alone a construction permit for a job he’d worked on. It was as if the man wasn’t in the construction or demolition business at all.

  Adam was crafty though, and he had
managed to find a few records of the sale and registration of heavy equipment showing Buford as the buyer.

  Heidi shook her head, thinking as they walked. “How has Buford managed to even make a living? Surely some project required him to file paperwork.”

  Adam shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve only worked on above-board projects.”

  They reached the truck and Adam unlocked and opened Heidi’s door.

  Once again, she was touched by the gesture. It was funny the things a person could miss and not even realize it. She smiled up at him.

  Adam froze, his expression solemn.

  Heidi felt a current of electricity pass between them and it startled her. How had she forgotten what it felt like to be so attracted to a man. The spark, the thrill, the desire, it was exhilarating. The tingles she’d first felt with Adam had grown in size and scope. If this continued…

  He stepped back, breaking the bond and Heidi blushed as she hurried to climb in.

  He rounded the front of the truck, his face unreadable.

  She had to wonder if he’d felt it too. Had he noticed her reaction? Was he put off?

  Adam got in and cleared his throat. It sounded very loud in the silence of the moment. “Can I buy you lunch?” He asked, tossing Heidi an unsure glance.

  Was this a date? No, she was being ridiculous. They had to eat, it would be getting dark by the time they got home. “Sure,” she replied, hoping she sounded far calmer than she felt. When was the last time she’d eaten in a restaurant with a man?

  Adam let his thoughts drift as they sped down the freeway toward home. Lunch had been nice enough, in a carefully fashioned kind of way. Both of them had been vigilant to avoid topics that would be uncomfortable. Neither had spoken of past relationships or even places they’d lived. Neither mentioned their jobs or anything to do with Sugar Mountain. Conversation had been stilted at best—awkward to say the least.

  Heidi’s phone dinged and she opened her purse to retrieve it.

  Adam glanced her way as her eyes scanned the message.

  She smiled, replied to the text, and then tucked the phone back into her purse. “Tyler,” was all she explained. She didn’t mention how pleased she was by her son’s text. Tyler had asked if he could go to a friend’s house for dinner after baseball practice, and he hadn’t done that for ages.

  Adam felt unexpected frustration at the reference to the boy, yet he knew he shouldn’t. For some reason he felt guilty for keeping Heidi out all day. But that was stupid because they’d been out running errands for her. He just wasn’t used to keeping track of a kid, and it felt weird.

  His thoughts turned to Heidi as a mother, not just a woman, and he wondered how she’d managed all these years on her own. Obviously, Tyler was a good kid, and she was a good mom. Sadly, he knew nothing about parenthood.

  The closest he’d come to being a father was to help once in a while with JoAnn’s dogs. She rarely let him near the little beasts or they had preferred not to be near him, but he’d let them out a few times. He’d shared his bed with them or they’d shared their bed with him. He was never sure which. Lord knew he’d picked up at least a ton of poo from the back yard.

  JoAnn had been picky about her dogs’ food so he wasn’t involved with that. He’d never even taken them to be groomed or to the vet. His job was to pay the bills. Obviously, he couldn’t compare his experiences with being a single parent.

  Heidi’s phone dinged again and he watched, tossing quick glances her way, as she read the message. Before she could answer, it dinged again and then again. She scrolled through the messages, nibbling at her bottom lip as she read. More messages followed and she typed furiously with her thumbs to keep up.

  “Is Tyler okay?” he asked.

  She looked up— her expression distracted. “Huh? Oh, he’s fine.”

  Adam wouldn’t have thought the kid would have so much to say. Tyler hadn’t seemed like a talker, or at least not a mega-texter.

  “Oh, this isn’t Tyler. It’s a group chat,” she explained.

  Adam didn’t know what to say; he’d never been a part of a group chat. It looked like a miserable experience. Given the chopped-up flow of conversation with one other person texting, he could only imagine the pandemonium of multiple people chiming in.

  As the miles passed, the onslaught of dings and typing continued in the passenger seat. Heidi scowled in concentration.

  “What’s going on? Did someone die?” Adam asked in concern.

  She ignored him and kept typing.

  “Heidi,” he said, louder this time.

  She looked up, her face flushed.

  “What is happening? Is everything okay?”

  “I uh—,” she glanced out the window, not wanting to lie to him about the conversation. But the women were all reporting on their findings about Buford and she was upset. “It’s Monique and Michelle, you know Monique owns the tavern and Michelle owns the salon.”

  Silence.

  “Pink hair?”

  “We’ve met,” he said, thinking about the day that the women in town had bombarded him.

  “Well, they’re talking about—some stuff—and—” She gave up. The phone dinged twice and she glanced down at it.

  “All that dinging is just two women?” he asked.

  She shrugged, and put the phone on silent, then returned it to her purse.

  Adam watched as she stared out the window. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going on behind the scenes. What did he really know about Heidi? She was cute and sassy, and smart. She was a widow, a mother, the post master. She also owned a fancy historic house that she didn’t buy, and it had an attic she wouldn’t talk about.

  He scowled, trying to remember where all he’d seen her around town, but he’d only spoken to her in the post office or at his house.

  “Some of us ladies try to help out, you know, around town,” she blurted.

  He glanced at her then back to the freeway. “Okay.”

  “So, we’re talking about the demolition—and all that.”

  That made sense, she must be upset about the likelihood of her house taken out by a wrecking ball, and her friends would be upset too. But something about her demeanor said there was more. Much more.

  Be the time they pulled up in front of Heidi’s house, the couple was tired. It had been a long day and they were drained, both emotionally and physically. The drive had been long, though uneventful, but the tension between the two of them had taken the biggest toll. It wasn’t that they didn’t get along, quite the opposite, they were edgy due to the emotional tension between them.

  Adam turned off the truck and hurried through the falling darkness to open Heidi’s door. She stepped out and for some reason he didn’t move back to let her pass. The setting was perfect for a romantic interlude, with crickets chirping and a cool spring breeze rustling the budding treetops. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and heat prickled down his arms. He was close enough to notice that she had freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose. He loved freckles. It gave her an innocence that he felt the need to protect.

  Something in her expression softened, and his guard dropped. He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek and her eyes fell closed.

  The moment was sweet, unexpected and he didn’t want to ruin it, but there was no way he was going to kiss Heidi Collinsworth. And if he didn’t move away right now, he was going to kiss her but good, and then probably kiss her some more. His face lowered to hers, then hesitated. He stepped back.

  She leaned forward into the void, prepared for a kiss.

  Adam took her elbow to steady her.

  Heidi blushed, her face turning red clear up to her hair roots.

  He pretended not to notice and directed her toward the porch. She didn’t make eye contact when he said good night at the front door, then hurried to leave. But as he climbed back in the truck, he couldn’t help but notice that she still stood on the porch, watching him.

  Once again, Heidi banged th
e gavel, trying to get the women’s attention. “Okay, so we’ve pretty much decided that Buford is a bad man. Mildred, please read back what we’ve learned.”

  The old woman stood and cleared her throat as she adjusted her reading glasses. “Item 1—” she said, glancing at the group over her glasses before she continued. “Buford Winslow is the mayor’s cousin, the son of mayor Winslow’s uncle, Bobby Winslow. Item 2— Buford Winslow appears to own a construction company, but has never filed for a legal business license with the state, county, or any city that we could find. Item 3— Buford Winslow has brought two bulldozers to town, as well as three dump trucks and a backhoe, that we know of. Item 4— Buford Winslow and other unknown parties will be attending a meeting at the mayor’s home on Tuesday evening. Item 5— Buford Winslow appears to have brought with him ten to twelve other men—all construction workers. Item 6—we can only assume that Buford Winslow is here to put into effect the mayor’s plan to demolish multiple homes along Main Street, construct a viaduct over said street, and to a build a shopping center. Item 7— Rumor has it that Buford has mob ties. Item 8—We don’t actually know if he’s here for said purposes as we have not found a paper trial to confirm such, nor do we know who is constructing or demolishing anything. However, no other construction businesses have been seen around town.

  Having concluded her notes, Mildred returned to her chair.

  Heidi sighed and placed both palms on the table, then leaned forward in exhaustion, her head hanging. Lack of sleep and stress were catching up with her, and this meeting had not produced the information she’d hoped. Her head came up, then she straightened. “Ladies, we all know Buford is up to no good and poses a considerable danger to our town. But based on the lack of solid evidence, I feel we have no choice but to move forward with Mission Mayor Meeting.