by Maria Geraci
She stole another glance at Viola, who seemed mesmerized by the flamingo pin. Without thinking, Kitty reached up to her collar and touched it. “I gather that a lot of us don’t like the idea of condos.”
“No, we don’t!” someone shouted.
“Then . . . then we all better get used to the idea of Whispering Bay dying.”
There was a lull. The crowd leaned forward in their seats. What did they expect her to say? She knew what Ted expected. He wanted her to spin the condos into a positive for the community. To convince them that Ferguson and Associates was the best thing to hit Whispering Bay since sliced bread.
And she knew what Viola expected. But Viola wanted the impossible. Saving the senior center was out of her hands. Her mother had told her to be herself. In the past, that had meant keeping everybody happy. But there was no way in this mess to keep everybody happy. Someone was going to lose. Maybe Steve was right. Maybe the people who really cared about her wouldn’t blame her. For once, maybe she should just tell it like it is. No pretty spin. No glossing over the facts. Just Kitty Burke, saying what was really on her mind.
“Whispering Bay is dying,” she repeated. “The only new blood moving into this community are retirees. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, the town needs a mixture of people, old and young, to keep it thriving. As much as I hate the idea, condos will bring in work. New jobs and new opportunities.”
So far, no one was throwing rotten fruit at her. She took another breath and went on. “For the past ten years I’ve sold residential real estate, and I’ve made a pretty good living, but I’ve had a couple of bad years in a row now. My friend Frida owns this great coffeehouse on the beach. But she has to depend on tourists from nearby towns to keep afloat.”
“Amen!” someone shouted. Kitty looked into the audience. It was Ricky, from the Harbor House. Kitty gave him a shaky smile.
“I don’t want to see Whispering Bay shrivel up. I don’t want to have to move to Panama City or Destin to make a decent living. If it wasn’t Ted Ferguson, then it would have been someone else.”
She looked out into the crowd and saw Steve smile at her. He urged her on with a nod. Despite the fact she never planned to speak to him again, she was grateful for the support.
“And if I hadn’t been the broker in this deal, then it would have been another broker.” She looked directly at Viola. “I wanted the commission so that I could buy Gram’s house. I thought that by keeping her house I’d be keeping her memory . . . no”—Kitty cut herself off with a frown—“that’s not right. I thought that by keeping her house I’d be keeping things the same.” She looked at Shea and Pilar and the rest of the Babes. “I moved to Whispering Bay twenty-five years ago and I fell in love with this town and the people here. They made me feel welcome and safe. But if there’s one thing we all know, it is that nothing stays the same. Change is inevitable. Like the condos. If we don’t keep up with the rest of the coast, then we’re going to be swallowed up.”
She waited for a reaction, but no one said anything.
“And Viola is right,” she continued. “This town needs a center for its retired citizens.”
This produced a round of wild clapping from the Gray Flamingos.
Bruce Bailey frowned at her.
“But . . . Bruce is right too. It’s not his fault the city doesn’t want to put money into something that’s only going to benefit a portion of our population.”
Bruce nodded vigorously. And that’s when it came to her. Maybe there was a way to make everyone happy after all.
Kitty cleared her throat. “What this town needs is a place for our teenagers to play basketball and a community pool for our kids to swim in and tennis courts and an indoor running track. We need a place that the Gray Flamingos can hold their meetings and take art classes and yoga classes and whatever else they get the itch for. What Whispering Bay needs is an all-purpose recreation center.”
There was a moment of stunned silence, then the Babes let out a loud cheer.
Viola stood and clapped.
Bruce was looking at her with interest, and the rest of the room . . . well, they were clapping now too.
Her mother beamed proudly.
This being-herself thing wasn’t too shabby.
She put a hand up in the air to quiet the room. “I’d like to present you all with a challenge. I say that while we embrace new commerce like the condo project, we should never forget that Whispering Bay is our town. If we let ourselves be run over, then it’s no one’s fault but ours. Tonight, I challenge each and every one of you to make a difference.” She placed her hands on the sides of the podium to steady herself. “Mr. Handy?” she shouted loud enough so that no one could mistake her. “You own most of the land in this town. Surely you can come up with a couple of acres to donate for the construction of a new recreation center.”
All heads swiveled in Earl’s direction. For a minute, no one said anything, not even Earl. But Instead of looking mad or shocked, he began to chuckle. “Damn! You’re Amanda’s granddaughter, all right. Okay, missy, you talked me into it. I’ll donate some land.” This generated a loud round of clapping. Earl clasped DeeDee’s hand and held up his cane to quiet the noise. Even from across the room, Kitty could swear she saw Earl’s eyes twinkle. “But I don’t think I should be the only one making a sacrifice. What about the rest of you?” he asked. “What are all of you gonna do?”
Viola jumped from her seat to stand next to Kitty. She reached out and squeezed Kitty’s hand. It was a like a tonic to her frazzled nerves. And that’s when it came to her.
“I’d like to make a donation,” Kitty blurted.
Viola smiled at her. “That’s lovely. And that’s exactly the sort of enthusiasm we need to—”
“Three hundred thousand dollars to be exact,” Kitty said, before she could change her mind.
“Three hundred thousand dollars?” Viola asked weakly.
“That’s the amount of commission I’m making off this deal,” Kitty said to the crowd. “And I’d like to challenge Ferguson and Associates to match it!”
The clapping was now verging on the wild. It took Ted a couple of minutes to stand, but when he did, he had a smile ready for the crowd. “Excellent idea, Ms. Burke,” he said, sounding a little resigned. “We at Ferguson and Associates would be happy to match your donation.”
Viola clasped her hands together. “That’s six hundred thousand dollars!”
“And the Bunco Babes are volunteering to form a committee to raise the rest of the money!” Shea shouted, causing the Babes to let out a whoop.
Kitty started to laugh. But then, that’s what she did whenever she was overcome with big emotion. This was so much better than anything she could have ever imagined. The applause eventually died down and Viola looked on the verge of saying something, when Steve stood up.
An electric current filled the air. At least, it did for her. Damn it. She should hate him. But the truth was, she didn’t.
“Most of you don’t know me, so I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I’m Steve Pappas and I’m the owner of TNT, the corporation that built Dolphin Isles. Mr. Ferguson and I were actually business partners at one time, but we officially split a few months ago. I came to Whispering Bay with the same intention as Mr. Ferguson—to buy land to build condos on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t smart enough to hire the right broker”—he paused and smiled at Kitty—“but I believe everything happens for a reason. Recently it’s been brought to my attention that maybe there’s a little too much going on too fast. As a result, I’ve decided to halt further expansion at Dolphin Isles and concentrate on upgrading the existing subdivision. I’m going to go back to doing what I do best, supervising construction from the ground up. I’m starting a new company here in Whispering Bay and I’d like to be considered as a potential builder for the new rec center. Pro bono.”
The crowd clapped again, louder this time. Steve nodded his acknowledgment and sat down.
&nbs
p; “I don’t think I can top that,” said Viola, her voice scratchy with emotion. “Now unless someone else wants to jump up and offer a free swimming pool or something?” She scanned the room. “No?” The crowd laughed. “Then there’s refreshments along the wall. Nothing fancy. Just some punch and homemade muffins and a delicious platter of cookies donated by Frida Hampton, who owns the Bistro. Y’all don’t forget to patronize her establishment,” Viola said, putting some southern in her voice.
“Oh! Hold on,” she added. “I almost forgot. Bruce Bailey from the city council wanted to have the final word.” Viola stepped aside. “Bruce?”
Bruce gave the crowd an anemic-looking smile. “I just wanted to add that the city council is in full support of the Gray Flamingos and we look forward to working with them side by side on this glorious project.”
Half the room was already at the refreshment table before Bruce finished his “speech.” The place was filled with wall-to-wall bodies, most of them coming up to congratulate her. Kitty craned her neck trying to spot Steve. He hadn’t left already, had he?
Viola gave her a big hug. “I’m so proud of you!”
“Really? I mean, I was part of the problem, you know?”
“You were a bigger part of the solution and that’s what’s important.”
“I wanted to tell you the other day about my role in all of this, but I couldn’t.”
Viola nodded sympathetically.
“And I had no idea what I was going to say tonight until I stood up there.”
Viola smiled. “You followed your heart and you can never go wrong when you do that.”
Bruce Bailey slapped Kitty on the back. “Excellent speech, Ms. Burke. Have you ever thought of running for city council?”
Viola winked at Kitty, then linked her arm through Bruce’s. “Now, about that support you just promised us,” she said, leading him away to the refreshment table.
Kitty looked around the room again, hoping to find Steve. Instead, she found her mother.
“Katherine, are you serious about that donation?”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I know this ruins all your plans, but I think Gram would have wanted me to do this.”
Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but just then Kitty spied Steve heading out the side door. “Mom, I have to go.”
41
Steve was almost to his truck by the time she reached him. She tapped him on the shoulder. “Were you going to leave without saying good-bye?” Kitty asked.
“You looked pretty busy.” He stuck his hands in the pockets of his khaki slacks. “Plus, to be honest, I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”
“I didn’t,” she admitted. There was a moment or two of awkward silence between them. She crooked her head in the direction of the building. “Was that wild or what?”
He smiled. “You were great in there. I told you you knew how to push the right buttons.”
She felt her cheeks go warm.
“So you’re really donating your commission?” he asked.
“I love my grandmother’s house, but it doesn’t seem so important to hold on to it anymore.”
“You’re going to sell it?”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. She had so much to ask him, she wasn’t sure where to begin. “Are you really going to start your own company here in town?”
“That’s the plan.”
She waited for him to elaborate. A tiny wave of frustration bit her like a bug. She should be used to his short, clipped answers by now. Of course, he’d offered to explain everything last night. Maybe she should have stayed and listened. Only she’d been so angry anything he could have said wouldn’t have mattered. A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Hey, you didn’t talk to Ted about me, did you? He told me not to sic my boyfriend on him again.”
“I asked him to reconsider tearing down the senior center.” Steve shrugged. “He told me to fuck off and mind my own business.”
Kitty shook her head. “I just can’t see the two of you as business partners.”
“We met through Terrie. She convinced me to break away from my old partner and join the company she and Ted owned.”
Kitty blinked. “Don’t tell me TNT stands for—Teresa and Ted?”
“I need to come up with a new name, don’t I?”
Kitty laughed. “Uh, yeah. So what happened?”
“The whole thing got huge. I was on the construction end of things and they handled the finance and selling. We were building condos, strip malls, you name it. Then I got lax and let my site supervisors take over. One day I came home early from a fishing trip and I caught them in bed together.”
Kitty caught her breath. But she wasn’t surprised by that last part. “I’m sorry. You must really hate him.”
“I thought I did, but the truth is he did me a big favor. The marriage was a mistake from day one. But I’d been determined to stick it out. Third time and all,” he added with a shrug. He seemed embarrassed.
“So the house in Mexico Beach, the one we almost burned—”
“I built that house myself. Terrie’s been in it maybe all of twice. Once when it was built and I guess another time to do that redecorating of hers. It’s the last piece of property we own jointly. We decided in the divorce agreement to sell it and split the profits. Only she refuses to lower the price.”
“How did you end up with Dolphin Isles?” Kitty asked.
“We divided the company. Since I had connections in town, it seemed logical.” He paused. “I’d never been out there until just a few days ago. You were right. About everything.” He frowned. “Well, almost everything. I still don’t think affordable tract homes are responsible for the decline of America.”
“Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration,” she admitted.
“I came to Whispering Bay to one-up Ted on that condo deal. But I’m glad I lost out.”
“You are?”
“It’s not what I want anymore.”
“What do you want?” Say you want me, a little voice inside her whispered. It startled her. Is that what she wanted? A relationship with Steve?
“I want to get back to where I started. I want to build solid, affordable houses that people can live in. I want to build a company I can be proud of, one that turns a good profit.” He paused. “And I want to be someone Nathan can look up to. You were right about that too.” He shook his head. “I don’t get it, but for some reason, the kid thinks he wants to be like me. I’m going to give him a job in my company, teach him everything I know. Which should take the kid about a week. After a year, if he still likes what he’s doing, he’s going to take that scholarship and major in Building Construction.”
“I think that’s awesome,” she said. And she meant it. “So, what’s next?”
“A long-needed vacation.”
Her throat went tight. He didn’t have to elaborate on that one.
“The offer’s still open, you know,” he said, gazing at her intently. “I’d like you to come with me to Hawaii.” There was an uncomfortable silence. “Look, Kit, I’m really sorry I wasn’t truthful with you.”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that.”
“I wanted to tell you everything the night I came over to apologize after our fight. But you were so miserable about this senior center thing, and then I thought maybe I’d save it till we were away from here.” He shook his head. “I guess I’m still not too smart when it comes to women.”
She smiled.
“And you have to admit we started off all wrong,” he said.
“I guess accusing you of stealing my underwear didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in me as a sane person.”
“It’s a story to tell the grandkids, that’s for sure.”
Grandkids? What was that supposed to mean?
“Nobody’s perfect, Kit. Not me. Not even you. Although”—his voice turned husky—“I think you’re as close to perfect as anyone can be.”
&nbs
p; Her breath hitched.
“Kitty!” She heard her name shouted from off in the parking lot. She spun around. Pilar was waving to her. “C’mon, we’re meeting at the Bistro!” The rest of the Babes and her mother were getting in their cars. She’d almost forgotten about them. She had about a million questions. Like how they found out about the meeting and what they were doing here. And what the hell Shea and Moose were doing having sex at Dolphin Isles and if Pilar was still mad at her for talking to Nick.
“I . . . I have to go.”
He nodded, but she could tell he didn’t want her to leave. “How’s your mom doing? She looked pretty plastered last night.”
“She’s okay.”
“She was fantastic.”
“Fantastic?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been called a male jezebel before,” he said dryly.
Despite her mood, she had to smile. “Yeah, that’s definitely a Dana original.”
“She was only protecting her cub. Like any good mother.”
Kitty’s smile faded. She’d never thought of her mother as “good” before, but she’d never thought of her as bad either. She was just . . . her mother.
“I don’t think Hawaii is a good idea for me right now,” she blurted. The minute she said it, she wanted to take it back. But so much had happened in the past twenty-four hours. The last thing she needed to do was run off with Steve. Not when her feelings were so jumbled about everything.
He nodded, like he had been expecting it. “Maybe when I get back we can do coffee sometime,” he offered.
“I don’t even know how you take it,” she said ruefully.
“Actually, I don’t drink coffee,” he said. “I kind of meant it as an expression. I drink tea.”
He drank tea? Good thing Shea and her metrosexual theory weren’t around to hear that.
“Well, there you go. I’m a coffee and Mets kind of girl, and you’re a tea and Braves kind of guy.”
He laughed and got in his truck. But Kitty could have sworn she saw a look of remorse in his eyes.
