Her face fell. “You’re getting me a retired dog?”
“Of course. What did you expect? That you were getting an active dog? Those are all spoken for, honey. But Rambo is a mighty fine specimen, so your cats will be absolutely safe.” Her uncle flashed her a quick grin. “And he’s had all his shots, too.”
And with these words, he left the office, giving the doorframe a rap as he went.
A retired police dog to guard her cats, Grandma Muffin patrolling the streets and, most importantly, a stepbrother. No wonder her uncle felt the need to drop by in person.
She picked up her phone and called her mom but the call went straight to voicemail. So instead she called her grandmother, who picked up at the first ring.
“What do you want?” growled the older lady.
“Is it true that I have a stepbrother?” she asked.
Gran chuckled loudly. “Yeah, you do. And he’s something else, too.”
“That bad, huh?”
“No, that good. The perfect son! Very polite, very nice, and not too bad-looking either. Though he should probably do something about his ears, and that’s exactly what I told him.”
“His ears?”
“Yeah, you’ll see. When are you coming home to meet your new brother?”
Her heart sank. “How is Mom taking it?”
“What do you think?”
“I’m guessing… not good?”
“You’re guessing right. If I were in your father’s shoes right now I’d want to be zapped up by Captain Kirk and taken aboard the Starship Enterprise to the far side of the galaxy.”
“That bad, huh.”
“Better get over here before she commits involuntary manslaughter is all I’m saying.”
And as she disconnected, Odelia wondered where this new brother of hers had suddenly sprung from. Mom’s worst nightmare, probably.
Chapter 13
When Charlene returned to her office she was surprised that the two businessmen trying to sell her on the idea of a new shopping mall for Hampton Cove were still there.
She’d thought for sure they would have left by now.
Imelda, her secretary, made her aware of their presence when she said, in an exaggerated whisper, “They refused to leave! Said they preferred to await your return rather than reschedule!”
If she hadn’t been in the mood to discuss the development of a shopping mall project before, she certainly wasn’t now, after learning about the tragic death of her uncle. But she’d long ago accepted that a public servant wasn’t always in control of their agenda, and that compromises would have to be made along the way.
So she waltzed into her office to find the same two gentlemen still seated at her desk, as if they hadn’t moved a muscle. The only difference was that they’d brought out their model, and had placed it right on top of her desk.
She stared at the thing now, and had to admit that it looked pretty neat indeed.
“Ah, Madam Mayor,” said Mr. Blatch, still rocking that incredible tan of his, and those shiny white teeth. “We were hoping you’d come back.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” she said. “A family emergency.”
“We absolutely understand,” said Mr. Dawson, who was the more soft-spoken and reticent of the twosome. “I hope the news wasn’t too bad?”
“My uncle died,” she blurted out. “Fell into an empty pool and cracked his skull.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Mr. Blatch, his smile faltering.
“Terrible tragedy, I’m sure,” said his colleague, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
There was a moment’s silence after that—a respectable silence, Charlene liked to think, but the moment she opened her mouth to speak, both men’s smiles returned and they proudly pointed to the model. “This is what she will look like,” said Mr. Blatch.
“A gem, don’t you think?” said Mr. Dawson.
“A jewel in Hampton Cove’s crown.”
“It looks pretty… impressive,” she had to admit. And then she noticed the name written above the mall entrance: The Butterwick Mall.
“Do you like the name? We can always change it,” said Mr. Dawson.
“How about the Charlene Shopping Center?” said Mr. Blatch.
“Or the Butterwick Galleria.”
“Has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you agree, Madam Mayor?”
She smiled. She’d been in politics long enough to know when she was being played. “Look, I don’t care about the name. I just want what’s best for this town,” she said.
“Oh, we absolutely agree,” said Mr. Blatch.
“Absolutely,” said Mr. Dawson. “Which is why we’ve gone to the trouble of acquiring the land the mall will be built on—just in case.”
“Just in case,” mimicked his fellow real estate developer.
“You already bought up all the land?” she asked.
“All except one plot,” said Mr. Blatch.
“One teensy tiny plot of land.”
“Unfortunately it’s also the most important plot, as it’s located right… there,” said Mr. Blatch, and pointed to the center of the mall, where a very nice fountain stood.
“And who owns that land?” she asked, curious in spite of herself.
Mr. Blatch ceremoniously got out his phone and tapped it, then announced, “One Tex Poole, who acquired the land back in 1995 but then never developed it.”
“It just sits there,” said his colleague, shaking his head and tut-tutting slightly.
“Isn’t that just sad? To buy a piece of land, ripe for building, and then never build?”
“Did you just say… Tex Poole?” asked Charlene, taken aback.
Both men nodded. “Yep. Tex Poole,” said Mr. Blatch. “I have it right here on my phone so it must be right.”
“We contacted Mr. Poole, and so far he’s refusing to sell, unfortunately.”
“Which is why we were hoping for the council’s approval, so we can fast-track the process of buying him out.”
“Or finding some other solution,” said Mr. Dawson, giving her a knowing wink.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said.
Both men looked taken aback. “Oh, no, we don’t what?” asked Mr. Blatch.
“You do know that Tex Poole is my boyfriend’s brother-in-law, of course.”
“Your brother-in-law?” asked Mr. Dawson, looking genuinely surprised.
“I can assure you that we didn’t know, Madam Mayor,” said Mr. Blatch.
“Absolutely no idea.”
“None whatsoever.”
They looked earnest enough, but then you never knew with these business types, Charlene thought. They could simply be using her to get to Tex, if he really did own that piece of land, and was refusing to sell.
“Look, we’ll leave this here with you, how about that?” said Mr. Blatch, lovingly placing both hands on the model and giving it a gentle tap.
“And we’ll let you discuss it with the members of the town council,” said Mr. Dawson.
“And when you’ve made up your mind, please let us know at your earliest convenience.”
“Because if we’re going to pursue this, we need to move fast.”
“Other towns are clamoring for this highly unique and promising project, and so we’re not going to be able to leave this on the table for much longer.”
“Another… five days, perhaps?”
“Let’s make it seven,” said his partner.
And then both men got up swiftly and held out their hands. She shook them and watched them leave, then returned her gaze to the model right under her nose.
It did look pretty darn impressive. A mall for Hampton Cove, and a mall carrying her name at that. Mom and Dad would be really proud if she would be able to pull this off.
But then she shook herself. She wasn’t going to be tempted by vanity. She needed to figure out if this was a good thing for the town or not, and not be swayed by ulterior motives.
Then again. The Butterwick Mall? It sounded pretty cool.
Chapter 14
Dinner was a family affair, as everyone wanted to meet Tex’s new son in person. Even Uncle Alec and Charlene were there, and so was Scarlett, who’s Gran’s best friend.