First, he busied himself with signing papers that I was sure were not top priority. Then he appeared to look busy as he searched his drawers for something. When he concluded that he could not find this mystery item—an item I suspected did not exist in the first place—he straightened up and finally met my gaze.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Zach.”
Sure you are. I smiled. “No trouble.”
Ryan studied me for a moment. “People around here are starting to talk a lot about you, Zach. About your deal with Brennon last week. You secured a big client, yes, but your approach was unconventional. Almost crude.”
“Crude?”
He nodded. “Yes. We have a very straight and clear method of doing business, and you showed a blatant disregard for those practices by approaching Brennon on his lunch hour. I had to sweet talk Simon into not reprimanding you and explain that you turned the deal around for us and even got Brennon to pay into the project as an investor.”
I arched an eyebrow. “When did you have this conversation with Simon?”
“Yesterday,” he said a little too quickly.
I called bullshit. Ryan hadn’t set foot in Woodbury’s office in at least three months. Possibly more. And there was a reason for it. He was falling out of favor.
And now he wanted to get his desperate, rat-like little hands on my success.
“Well,” I said, rubbing my temple to feign stress. “I appreciate you talking to the boss about it. You must have impressed him because he only had good things to say when we spoke yesterday morning.”
“I’m glad.”
“Me too,” I said. I watched Ryan try not to fuss. Liars always fussed.
He straightened his name plaque on his desk and then restacked a pile of already stacked papers.
Fussing.
“I have an opportunity for you, Zach.”
“I’m listening.”
Ryan opened one of the drawers he’d rifled through when I first sat down and pulled out a file. He slid it across the desk to me. “There is a property in Austin that Woodbury would like to acquire. There are a few businesses standing in our way. A couple of them look like they will bend, but there are two that have planted themselves firmly in our way. We need someone with your skills to go down there and do what you do best.”
“Which is?”
“Sweet talk them until they cave so we can bulldoze their shitty little stores and expand our mall.”
I flipped through the file and frowned. “It says here the owner of a boutique called Lily Living has already declined six offers.” My eyebrows inched upward when I read how much money was on the table. “Damn. I don’t think this is a case we can win, Ryan. I mean. Look at the facts. She’s opposed every offer. She hasn’t even countered with her own request. The money doesn’t matter to her.”
Ryan shrugged and reached for the file. “If you don’t think you can handle it, don’t worry about it. I just figured you’d want a chance to solidify your name in Woodbury’s mind after Brennon’s account. You know. Seal the deal.”
Or you want me to fail so that all Woodbury will remember is me dropping the ball. A one-hit wonder to be doomed at his desk working for Ryan for the rest of my life.
I closed the folder. “I can handle it.”
“Very good,” Ryan said, leaning back in his chair with a smug smile. “You’ll have to stay in Austin for the duration of the job. We’ll put you up somewhere close by.”
“Make sure it has a gym.”
“Naturally.”
I nodded. “All right, anything else?”
Ryan shook his head. “You leave on Thursday. Keep me posted.”
Chapter 4
Senna
The Austin City Hall building was an intimidating structure. The levels were stacked almost precariously, looming over the one beneath and casting dark shadows onto the pavement below where I currently stood at the base of the stairs, adjusting the strap of my purse on my shoulder while gazing up at the massive front doors.
I swallowed.
Edith had been standing beside me for the last two minutes. She hadn’t said anything. She just stood there waiting like a silent and reassuring shadow.
Finally, she whispered, “Should we go in now? The meeting starts in five minutes.”
I licked my chapped lips. “Yes, I suppose we should.”
As we made our way up the stairs, I popped open my purse and rummaged around for my chapstick. Even though I carried a small bag, I somehow managed to lose everything in its seemingly never-ending depths. A curse afflicted upon most of my gender.
When I found it, I swiped it on and then extended it to Edith after she opened the front doors for me. I stepped through as she rolled her lips together and then dropped the little tube in the open compartment of my bag.
This was not the first time we’d made the journey out here for one of these city council meetings. It was actually the fourth, and the practice had not helped to calm my nerves. I still hated walking into that jam-packed room full of arrogant assholes who thought they were the bee’s knees of our city.
And the shittiest part? Edith and I were some of the very few who had the nerve to attend these meetings and voice our opinions and concerns. I knew other business owners were being slighted as the city moved toward more growth and infrastructure, and I knew people were struggling. But they kept their heads down, accepted their payouts, and moved on.
Not me.
No fucking way.
I was here to put my foot down and let them all know that I was here to stay and no amount of money would brush me under the rug.
I was here to stand up for the little guy who couldn’t stand up for himself. The underdogs.
The heels of my strappy sandals clicked on the tile floor as we crossed the grand lobby of the building. It was that strange part of night between dusk and full dark, and the skylights above cast a pale glow from the moon down upon us as we drew closer to the open doors of the meeting room, where warm light flowed out onto the tiles.
We stepped into the light and then the room.
There had to be at least two hundred people there. They milled around, chatting with people they hadn’t spoken to since the last meeting, and made small talk with others they knew by association, while Edith and I found seats as close to the front as possible.
The council sat at the front of the room. There were seven seats, but two would likely remain vacant. They mayor was not attending this meeting, which came as no surprise since he hadn’t attended the last three, either. Another member was missing, but at least we had the majority of them present.
Edith and I took our seats, and I glanced at the watch on my wrist. Two minutes until show time.
This meeting was specifically about the mall that was in the final stages of construction across the street from our shops. A notice had appeared in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago informing me about the date for the meeting, where the council would be there to hear any complaints or objections to the final phase of the mall’s construction.
And I definitely objected.
They wanted to bulldoze my shop and all the other businesses along my strip so they could pave over the properties and make a parking lot.
If I couldn’t put a stop to this tonight, I’d be moving on to plan B—making a petition and collecting signatures.
I hoped it didn’t come to that.
Edith shifted in her seat and tucked her pink skirt under her thighs. “Do you think they’ll start late like last time?”
“Maybe.”
Edith grumbled under her breath. “I just want to get this over with.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Edith. I can handle this.”
She glanced over at me. “You’re sure?”
I smiled and patted her knee. “I know how much you hate talking in front of a crowd. I’m just glad you’re here. It feels good to have someone beside me who has my back.”
“Always.”
One of the council mem
bers, a thin man in his mid-sixties named Carlyle, got to his feet and tapped the microphone in front of his seat. “If you would all find your seats, please. We’ll get this meeting underway.”
Edith gave me an impressed look. “Here we go.”
A few minutes passed. People shuffled around the room and shimmied down the lines of chairs to find their seats. Some continued to whisper even as the room fell into a hush. Someone opened a mint a couple seats down from me. The plastic wrapping rustled obnoxiously as they crammed it in their pocket.
Carlyle started the meeting. “Thank you everyone for taking the time out of your day to come to this meeting tonight. As always, your engagement and efforts are part of what makes our city so great. In order to get you all back to your homes as soon as possible, let’s dive into things.”
Edith nudged me in the ribs with her elbow and whispered out of the corner of her mouth, “Can he lead all the meetings? Talk about getting to the point.”
I nodded.
Carlyle gazed around at the crowd before him. He seemed completely unperturbed by how many eyes were on him. I wished I could remain that calm and collected in the face of so many others who were all waiting on me.
My palms were cold and sweaty, and my mouth was dry. I hated speaking to a crowd.
“We are here this evening to discuss the final phase of construction for the new Woodbury mall.” Carlyle peered down at a bunch of loose documents in front of him. He squinted and scanned the page with his finger. “It states here that the shops and cafes along Apricot Lane will be demolished to make space for more parking for the mall, something it is seriously lacking. The extra parking will make it a more accessible shopping center for people of the community. There are plans in place to keep the same amount of greenery present. Upon completion of construction, planters and landscapers will come in to plant new trees and flowers to maintain the healthy balance between architecture and nature that we have all come to know and love on Apricot Lane.” Carlyle looked up at the room and clasped his hands together to regard us all.
My stomach tightened in a knot.
The councilman cleared his throat. “Now is the time to speak up if you oppose the motion to use the retail space on Apricot Lane for the purpose of parking for the mall.”
Part of me hoped I would not have to stand up. There was a very naive, small, shy, and scared part of me that didn’t want to have to do it myself now that the time had come.
But nobody stood.
Edith tapped my shin with the toe of her shoe. “That’s your cue, Senna. Knock ‘em dead.”
My throat tightened and I took a deep breath before rising slowly to my feet. I smoothed out the skirt of my white sundress and lifted my chin.
Carlyle’s gaze slid toward me, and he regarded me with a pleasant smile. “Miss, the floor is yours.”
I’d played this moment over and over in my head all day long as I waited for the meeting. I hadn’t seen it going quite like this.
In my fantasy, I stood up full of confidence, stared down the council, and told them to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. Then I turned to the crowd at my back and delivered an inspiring speech that had them all on their feet by the end, chanting my name like I was their savior.
Edith leaned forward in her chair. Her lips barely moved over her teeth as she hissed, “Say something.”
Right. Words. I have to make the words go.
What was I here to say again?
Ah. Yes. The parking lot.
The fucking parking lot and the fucking people who thought they had all the power to make the decisions that hit us little folk the hardest without consequence.
I looked Councilman Carlyle in the eye and forced myself to smile. “Thank you. My name is Senna Camden. I own a business on Apricot Lane that will be torn down if these plans are allowed to move forward. And I’m here to oppose this motion.”
Carlyle almost looked pleased. He rested his elbows on the table before dipping his chin in a nod that suggested I should keep talking.
I licked my lips and wished I’d put a bit more chapstick on. The Austin summer weather had dried my skin out. “I’ve owned my business for four years now. It is successful, and I only sell locally made products, which in turn supports dozens of businesses all over the Austin area and surrounding communities. I believe very strongly in ethical business, which is why I made that decision when I first started selecting products for my shop. And up until this mall was built, I thought this city believed the same things as I do. But these plans suggest otherwise.”
I turned to face the rest of the room.
Now I had the attention of almost everyone. Sure, a couple of people were whispering to themselves, but they weren’t the people whose minds I was there to change. They were lost causes. Gossip queens who only attended these meetings to have some news to share with their Stepford wife friends over mimosas during their Sunday morning brunches.
“I don’t have much faith in this community to make the right decision anymore. But I implore everyone here to consider what this means. Choosing to level the existing businesses on Apricot Lane in favor of a football-field-sized parking lot helps the people who already have black American Express cards. I don’t know about you, but those aren’t the people I want to give my hard-earned money to. I want to support startups and local businesses. I want to support ethically sourced products and fair trade. And if you don’t, that’s all right. Because me changing your opinion doesn’t matter.”
I paused for dramatic effect. It was going better than I expected.
“Pushing me and the others on Apricot Lane out of their businesses is unethical and illegal. All it takes is one person to put their foot down and say no. And you’re looking at her.”
In my fantasy, everyone was on their feet by this point, and I was turning in a slow circle to soak in the sound of their slow and adoring applause.
In reality, there was no applause.
Tense silence filled the room, and I took my seat. Edith wrapped an arm around mine, and the two of us stared up at Carlyle, who was smiling at me. He leaned back in his chair. All attention shifted to him. “Well, I suppose that settles that. No business owners will be forced out. If they leave, it will be of their own volition. Thank you for your wise words, Miss.”
I nodded. Saying “you’re welcome” seemed a bit too much, even for me.
Now I could feel the hot stares of the opposition on my back as the meeting wound down. A lot of people in the room would have benefited more from the parking lot. Now, all that stood between them and more money was me.
A twenty-nine-year-old single mother with no clue what she was doing but desperately grasping at straws to keep her reality from falling apart.
Chapter 5
Zach
Packing was one of my least favorite things to do. Probably because I was a perfectionist who hated being unprepared, so I overpacked for every trip I ever went on without fail, overthinking each and every item I placed in my bag.
It was like pulling teeth.
I stood back to study my suitcase, which was flipped open on my bed. Everything was neatly rolled up inside. It irked me that I would have to iron my pants and shirts again in the hotel room after crushing them into tight little rolls. I would also have to press my ties.
I stroked my chin and pushed my glasses a little higher up my nose. There was no way to say with total confidence that I’d remembered everything, but I was pretty sure, and pretty sure was as good as it got for me.
Someone knocked on my front door.
I flipped my suitcase closed and left the bedroom, making my way down the hall and through the living room toward the front door. I pulled it opened and found Jonah standing on my front porch, wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a white T-shirt with a frayed hem. He hadn’t shaved since I saw him the other morning for breakfast, and he flashed me a grin. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I said suspiciously.
Jonah slipped past me int
o my place. He had a suitcase with him.
I arched an eyebrow and pointed at it. “What’s that for?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Uh—”
“Yep. Don’t fight it, man. I’m coming. I’ve become uninspired, and I need a change of scenery. When you told me you were heading for Austin, I figured it was fate, right? The universe is sending me a sign. So I’m coming with you.”
“I’ll be working.”
“I know. I will be, too.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You and I have very different definitions of work.”
Jonah chuckled and sidled past me to drop down onto my sofa. He laid down, clasped his hands behind his bed, and grinned up at me. “You’re right. We do. Mine is right, and yours is wrong, and I’m going to live a hell of a lot longer because I don’t put such insane pressure on myself.”
“I might be gone for upwards of a month.”
“Sounds cool. I don’t have anybody waiting on me here. Hell, I don’t care if it takes longer. I’ve always wanted to go to Texas.”
I sighed. Clearly, there was no changing his mind. “All right. Fine. The company pays for the lodging anyway so—”
“Do they hook you up with room service?”
“Yes, unless I abuse the privilege.”
“Can you define that?”
I shook my head.
Jonah laughed and waved me away. “Go finish packing. I’ll wait here. Wait—do you fly first class for business trips? Do they serve booze on the plane? And is there an in-flight meal?”
I scratched my eyebrow. “These are your hard-hitting questions?”
“Obviously.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes to all of them. Sit tight. We leave in fifteen.”
“Uh—”
“What?”
Jonah wrung his hands together. “I haven’t booked my flight yet.”
I groaned. “Of course you haven’t. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
Jonah behaved like a small child when we checked into the VIP lounge at the airport using my Woodbury company card. He hurried off ahead of me and pointed out all the things I’d seen a dozen times over—the lounge, the bar with flair bartenders and mixologists, the private rooms for naps or quiet moments during layovers, and the showers. That one really pushed him over the edge.
Good Luck Charm: A Single Mother Romance Page 3
