Trouble on Main Street

by Kirsten Fullmer

Monique continued undaunted. “No, seriously,” she argued. “We’ve believed that Buford is the bad guy, but I know a little bit about people and from the looks of it, and I’m no shrink or anything, but I’d say that Buford was angry, but in a hurt, offended kind of way, not a tantrum kind of way.”

  “Didn’t you have to shove a shotgun up his nose?” Michelle asked in defiance as she poured steaming water into Stella’s cup.

  The old woman added a tea bag and then blinked up at Monique, waiting for her reply.

  Raising her arms in surrender, Monique took the disagreement in stride. “Now, I’m no fan of Buford, that’s not the point. The man is definitely a pain in the ass. But he was different last night. I think he was scared.”

  Heidi dropped back into her chair. What if Monique was right? If Buford was scared and upset, then maybe he wasn’t helping to push through the demolition project. So who was? She honestly didn’t think the mayor had the wherewithal to coordinate a project this big by himself. She stood to bang the gavel. When the women quieted, she had another question for Monique. “How did the mayor seem throughout the meeting?”

  Talk around the table quieted and the group waited for Monique to reply. Michelle stood frozen with the coffeepot in one hand.

  Monique tapped her fingers on the table, thinking about the night before. Finally, she spoke. “He seemed flustered, to be honest. Almost desperate.”

  Sarah bobbed her head in agreement. “I agree! When I went in the night before when Buford was there, the mayor was not his usual cocky self, he was all perturbed, like he was embarrassed or worried.”

  Michelle scoffed at the thought as she poured Jessica’s coffee. “That pompous ol’ thing? I can’t see it.”

  Pandemonium broke out around the table and Heidi could only watch. There was a dark factor at work here, something new since the bloody tube of drawings had shown up. If it wasn’t Buford, then who was it? They couldn’t start over again now, not at this late date. It was all too confusing. She banged the gavel. “Let’s move on with the meeting. We’ll come back to Buford.”

  The women’s arguments quieted to mutters and Heidi indicated for Monique to continue. Michelle finished pouring coffee and returned to her chair.

  “I don’t know the background of the other guys, that wasn’t my assignment,” Monique said. “All I can tell you is that once Buford got upset and left, the mayor fell to pieces, and those guys got mad and left. For a minute I thought the mayor was going to fall on his knees and beg those guys for something.”

  Murmurs rose again, building in volume, and Heidi worked to get their attention. “Come on now ladies, let’s think. What could be going on? The mayor has his hands in something here, something bigger than a construction project, and I have blood in my office to prove it. I need conjecture, ideas, help me out. My home, this house, depends on us figuring this out!”

  Silence fell across the table.

  Jessica was the first to raise her hand. All turned her way and she had to swallow a large bite of cupcake before she could speak. “What if they were trying to cut Buford out of the deal?”

  The ladies tossed each other glances of speculation.

  “Write that down,” Heidi said to Mildred, who was already scratching away with her pencil.

  “What if,” Sam offered, “the mayor is using underhanded folks for this project and they all want the biggest cut?”

  The group considered her idea.

  “I’m writing—” Mildred called out, still leaned over her notes.

  “What if the shopping center is the key?” Sarah asked. “We’ve spent most of our time worrying about the demolition and the viaduct, not the stores.”

  “Good point,” Michelle conceded.

  “Maybe the mob wants their stores out here,” Sam said.

  Sarah made a face. “I thought the mob was into trash collection, not shopping centers.”

  “Aren’t shopping malls part of a chain owned by big companies?” Jessica asked.

  “Probably,” Sam said. “When you get a mall gift card, it doesn’t say the name of the mall, it has some other name on it. Somebody owns the whole kit and caboodle.”

  “Good point,” Sarah had to agree.

  Heidi looked down at Mildred.

  “I’m going as fast as I can. I’m old you know!” the old lady sputtered, writing like mad.

  Heidi shook her head. “Once again, we’re dealing with pure conjecture. We have nothing to go on. We don’t even know if those men were from a mob. We don’t really know anything about what happened in that meeting. Think hard, can you come up with anything you’ve heard or seen around town that could be a clue?”

  The ladies fell silent, each thinking. Coffee cups clinked on saucers in the silence.

  “I’m not walking Brutus anymore, his owner got the brace off his leg.” Sam offered.

  No one thought that was relevant.

  “My new students with construction worker dads all rent on the north side of town,” Sara offered. But again, no one thought that out of the ordinary.

  “The mayor’s wife came in for a cut and style yesterday,” Michelle said. Then her expression perked and she sat straight up in her chair. “I didn’t think much of it at the time, but her credit card was declined.”

  The ladies glanced around the table in speculation, watching for each other’s response.

  A chill ran down Heidi’s spine. She raised her hands to keep the group shushed. “Has this happened before?”

  “No!” Michelle declared, “As a matter of fact, she was very upset about it and embarrassed.” Her brow puckered as she recalled the situation. “I remember thinking it was odd because I could see that Marjory had a wallet full of cards, but she didn’t even try another one. She dug through her purse looking for cash. She barely had enough to pay me.”

  “Now, this is news,” Monique said, her expression serious.

  Jessica looked confused. “The mayor needs money? We all know he had money before he ever became mayor, so did his wife.”

  “What if his money is all gone?” Sam asked, her eyes wide.

  Monique waved them off. “Wouldn’t Marjory have known if they were out of money?”

  Michelle shook her head. “She looked pretty shocked about it, actually.”

  Heidi’s thoughts spun as she listened to the group. What if the mayor was broke? Could this project be a way for him to recover financially? “Wait, wait, wait,” she said, waving her hands. “How would a big construction project like this be a way to make money? It would cost money!”

  Mildred threw down her pencil. “You guys are going to kill me! Slow down, for heaven’s sake!”

  “It’s okay, take a break” Heidi assured the old woman, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll help you after the meeting.”

  “He could sell property he owned, where the shopping center will be built. Somebody would have to buy the land,” Sam said.

  Heidi nodded in agreement. “True, we’ll need to follow up to see who owns the lots on the drawings.”

  Mildred sighed and picked her pencil back up.

  Monique raised her hand, her expression speculative. “Maybe we need to consider how he lost his money in the first place, and behind his wife’s back, evidently. That could be a piece of the puzzle.”

  “Good idea,” Heidi said, her gaze moving from face to face around the table. “Anybody have any ideas about that?”

  Sarah’s hand flew up and she waved it excitedly, waiting to be called on.

  “Go ahead,” Heidi said to the young woman.

  “The casino!” Sarah cried. “Those horrible men at the meeting had ties with a casino!”

  Adam’s gut churned as he drove to the post office the next morning. For one thing, he couldn’t believe he’d been so upset that he’d forgotten to get his mail; for another he missed talking to Heidi.

  He slowed to turn onto Main Street. Maybe it would be easier to help her with the whole house thing if it wasn’t so close to
his old job. Then again, he likely wouldn’t be much help if he didn’t know about city construction projects and such. But somewhere in the night, with Ralph for comfort, he’d decided to talk to Heidi and just do his best to keep his footing as he went.

  Traffic on Main Street was already a snarl, and he sat in the gridlock with his thoughts a million miles away. As he’d worked on the Jeep, the parking structure they’d discussed kept coming to mind. Nothing helped revitalize a place like dumping tourists into it—it had worked for Main Street after all. All they really needed to do was reroute traffic around town and build an exit for Main Street that led to a parking garage close to the area that needed to be improved. It was a no-brainer.

  If they added a small park and playground or some such thing, as well as lighting and improved streets, the project couldn’t help but give that part of town a boost.

  He frowned as the post office came into sight. Here he was getting all excited about a damn city construction project. It was on his mind day and night, just like his last job had dominated his thoughts. Next thing he knew he’d have no time left for the Jeep or anything else.

  Ralph stood on his hind legs and put his nose to the window.

  Adam tossed him a glance. The more he got involved with this, the more his stomach clenched. Yes, he had issues with dating Heidi. He had respect for her and didn’t want to hurt her. But if he actually cared about her, why not give it a chance? Tyler didn’t feel like an obstacle anymore.

  But no matter how he looked at it, getting involved with Heidi meant getting involved with this whole construction project, and he was sure he didn’t want to be drawn back into the bottomless pit that these projects became.

  He parked his truck and turned to Ralph. “You wait here, okay? I won’t be long.”

  “Woof,” Ralph said in response.

  “Well, look at you,” Adam laughed. “You’re finally talking to me.”

  The dog had nothing more to say, so Adam climbed from the truck and headed in to talk to Heidi. He’d just have to take this carefully so he didn’t get too involved. What other choice did he have? He couldn’t seem to stay away from the woman.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jessica watched as the children climbed onto the school bus. When she saw little Tommy Jr., she snagged him by the arm. “You sit up here with me today.”

  The boy rolled his eyes and pulled a face, “Ah, come on, I promise not to tie Elizabeth’s hair to the seat again.”

  “Ya’ll sit right there and mind your manners, you hear me?”

  His shoulders sagged, “Yes ma’am.”

  Jessica waited until all the children were seated, then pulled back into traffic. She glanced up at Tommy in the big rearview mirror. “Are you going to play soccer this year?”

  Tommy frowned and turned to face the aisle.

  “Now don’t be like that, you love soccer.”

  He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Momma says we don’t have the money this year.”

  Jessica worked to keep a straight face. “Oh dear, I’m sorry, honey.”

  He shrugged.

  She tried again, hungry for more information about the boy’s family. “How’s your big brother doing up at the university?”

  “I don’t know.” he sighed. “Momma said he’d better get his butt home and get a job.”

  “I see,” Jessica replied, sure that the family was indeed low on money but sad to hear that Tommy’s brother would have to leave school.

  Heidi sat at her work desk scrolling on her phone and searching social media accounts of the Winslow family. There wasn’t one indication of what may have happened to their money… or that money was even an issue. Evidently, they didn’t air their dirty laundry in public.

  Her phone rang, scaring the wits out of her and she nearly dropped it. Sam was calling. “Hello?”

  An excited voice buzzed on the other end.

  “Wait,” Heidi said in annoyance. “Slow down, I can’t understand you. You went to the courthouse and what?”

  The voice droned on and Heidi’s eyebrows rose. “The mayor does own part of the land where the shopping center will be?”

  Sam gave a long explanation over the phone.

  Heidi flopped back into her chair. “Well, that would explain how he plans to recover his money.”

  Sam wasn’t finished and the humming continued.

  Heidi’s brow lowered into a scowl and she jumped in her seat. “He did what?” she bellowed.

  The voice on the other end of the line spoke fast and furious.

  “Well,” Heidi huffed. “If the mayor is selling off the city’s property and keeping the funds to recoup gambling losses, then… I don’t even know what we should do!”

  The front door of the post office buzzed, and she rose from her desk, craning her neck to see who it was. Adam stood at the counter.

  “Sorry, I have a customer. Good work, Sam.” She hissed, ending the call.

  She took a deep breath to calm her jangled nerves before she headed to the front of the post office. At the counter, she tapped the computer keyboard to wake it up and offered Adam a glance. “Good morning, what can I help you with?”

  But he didn’t answer, he just stood with his hands in his pockets watching her.

  “I believe I put a slip in your box for a package,” Heidi said, wondering why he hadn’t put the slip on the counter like he usually did.

  “I haven’t checked my box yet.”

  “Oh?”

  “I came to talk to you.”

  She worked to keep her expression bland and not roll her eyes. The last thing she needed today was more of his theatrics, yet…

  “I blew it the other day when I was here,” he blurted. “I had spent all this time lining out what I was going to say, and it sounded—.”

  “Fake?” she offered, folding her arms.

  His neck turned red. “Okay, maybe. But I promise, the words were heartfelt.”

  She stared him down, wondering what had prompted this visit. Could he actually be trying to apologize? “Maybe you should say it again, but in the way you’d normally say it.”

  He sighed and pulled his hands from his pockets, then rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. He stared at the floor. When he looked up, his gaze met hers. He swallowed. “I, uh, I’m sorry,” his eyes went to the ceiling, “—about being stupid when you told me about Tyler.”

  Now this was the Adam she knew, and his awkwardness was sweet. She relaxed but even as she began to understand what was happening, she had to acknowledge that she’d changed. At first, she’d been upset about getting involved with Adam, then was surprised by her own feelings, then was hurt by his rejection. Now she was feeling relief and something else as he apologized. She didn’t immediately recognize the feeling, but it was sweet and deep. “You acted stupid?”

  He motioned with one hand. “Okay, rude?”

  She leaned her hip against the counter, opening up to the conversation but still defensive against a broken heart. There was still much to discuss, Tyler being at the top of the list. “What happened? Did finding out I had a kid make you think I was after your money or something?”

  He looked shocked. “No!”

  “What then?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve just never had kids and…”

  She folded her arms again. “And you don’t want any.”

  “No, that’s not it!”

  She felt bad that she’d upset him and her arms came down. “What then?”

  He glanced at her, then away, then back. “I didn’t want to hurt a single mom.”

  “You were planning to hurt me?” she exclaimed, her own neck turning red.

  He put his hands up, palms toward her. “No, no, no, this is all coming out wrong.”

  “Then start over,” she said, running out of patience.

  He sighed. “Look, I respect you, I respect how hard it must be to raise a kid alone. I just didn’t—I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, and I did
n’t want to do it wrong and mess things up.”

  “Mess it— how? I don’t understand.”

  “Heidi,” he said coming to the counter, his eyes locked on hers. “I have liked you since the first time we met, but—” he cleared his throat. “I’m gun-shy, okay?”

  Heidi tried to cover her surprise. She’d been so busy with the society and her own problems, she hadn’t taken much time to consider the baggage he was dealing with.

  “’I’m sorry about how I acted after we—after I almost—,” his eyes flicked away then back. “I’ve missed talking to you.”

  Her insides melted. This was the Adam she understood. The awkward, quiet man she’d come to care for. “It’s okay,” she fretted. “I’ve been so wrapped up in this whole demolition thing that I haven’t had time to think. You’ve been so helpful and I’ve been willing to take all the help you’ve offered, and yet offer little of myself in return. I’ve been selfish.”

  “Your home is at risk, you’ve been fine.”

  She shrugged. He looked like he had more to say, so she waited.

  He smiled, offering some charm that has been missing lately. “I was wondering if you’d like to come over tonight. You and Tyler both. I could use a hand with the Jeep, and we could throw some steaks on the Barbeque.”

  Heidi’s eyes lit up but even as her heart leapt in her chest, she was forced to acknowledge that she was going to accept his invitation, and this time it really was a date. Then she remembered that her phone would be blowing up with messages from the society. Before she could answer, Adam continued.

  “Hey, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I have connections in Charlotte with engineering firms. I sent one of them some general information the other day, and they said they could draw up some simple plans for a bypass. Just enough to show the city council and the state preservation association. The drawings should be here tomorrow.”

  Shock registered across her face. “You did that?”

  He shrugged, relieved to be back in her good graces.

  “How much did that cost?”

  He waved her off. “I told them they can have the job once it goes through. Besides, they owe me one.”