A Pocketful of Stardust by J.P. Barnaby & Rowan Speedwell

Author:J.P. Barnaby & Rowan Speedwell [Speedwell, J.P. Barnaby and Rowan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64405-466-6
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2019-04-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“SO HOW’S the coffee thing going?”

Noah held the door for Thad. “Not well, but today was the first full day we had the station up. We had a couple people try it out. Kyle can do the thing where you make pictures in the foam, which is kinda cool.” He followed the antiques dealer into the large conference room where the Merchants Council was having their monthly meeting. He’d been told he needed to be there the first Monday of every month. They were early, but a handful of people were there already. Most of them Noah knew by sight, at least, and Thad made quick work of introducing him.

A couple of them reacted kind of strangely, with either a raised eyebrow or a “huh” expression, but most of them just said they were glad to meet him and that they were sorry to lose Charlie. From what they said, his dad had been very active in the council.

“We were hoping he’d take over as president when the next election came up,” Martha, the woman who ran the pharmacy a couple of blocks from Noah’s store, told him. “He was dedicated to the welfare of the town, which is more than I can say for our current president. Ed’s a nice guy but apparently had his spine surgically removed at a young age. He doesn’t have the oomph to stand up to… certain people, if you know what I mean.”

Noah hadn’t a clue, but he smiled faintly.

“Come on, Martha,” Thad said. “It’s not Noah’s fault he’s got James for an uncle.”

“What’s wrong with Uncle James?”

Martha’s lips thinned to an almost invisible line. “Let’s just say he doesn’t represent the majority opinion around here.”

“He wants to bring in a private prison,” another man said. He held out his hand. “Spencer Graff. Healthy Eats Health Food.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope. Says that it’ll bring all kinds of jobs into the community. Which is baloney, pure and simple. I did some research, and in general, do you know how many hires the average private prison makes from the community it’s based in? Twelve. Twelve. They’ll be hiring from Atlanta and Marietta, and then they’ll go home and spend their money on stores in Atlanta and Marietta, and we won’t see a dime of it.”

“But that’s not the worst of it,” Thad told Noah. “The worst of it is that he wants to ‘rejuvenate’ the downtown area.” He used his fingers to make quotes.

“I thought they did that already.” The streets had been repaved and the new streetlights put in, and Noah was sure his dad had talked about some of the improvements the shop owners had had to make to bring their stores up to snuff.

“They did. What Montgomery wants is to tear down the whole city center and rebuild it to ‘modern’ standards.” Again with the finger-quotes.

“What?” Noah’s jaw dropped. “He what?”

“Has he offered to buy you out yet?”

Noah blinked at Martha. “I… well, we talked about it, but I haven’t given him an answer yet.

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