Rewrite the Stars by Christina Consolino

Rewrite the Stars by Christina Consolino

Author:Christina Consolino [Consolino, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2021-03-17T22:00:00+00:00


Chapter 21: Theo

“Any thoughts about having a fitness center in the area? As in, right in the village?” I asked Mike, the owner of the general store. Tuesday morning and I wanted to get a jump on things. Leaving the kids with Lena for an hour—Sadie would be heading to the library, again—I’d walked up to the village area to gauge the interest of the year-rounders. Walloon Lake Village had a lot to offer its visitors and residents by way of food, drink, and entertainment—both indoor and outdoor—but a fitness center didn’t round out the list.

“Here? In town? You know there’s one up in Petoskey, right? And that...that thing. A spa or whatever the ladies like to go to? It’s up on Michigan Street, I think, plus there’s the salon next door.”

I jotted down the three places he mentioned on my data collection clipboard. “Yes, here. In the village. My boss is scoping out new sites, and he wondered if a fitness center might do well in this area.”

“If you can get to it in the winter.” Mike smiled.

“Yeah, there’s that. But people get here in the winter, don’t they?” A blast of cool air pushed against my back as a customer entered the store.

“Touché. But in the summer, well, there’s the lake. The trails. We’re all so used to driving over to Petoskey or Charlevoix when we want something a little bigger. Sometimes it’s pretty clear we’re not so good about change here.”

Change? Who was good about it? Wasn’t that part of my inherent problem?

“And yet, five years ago, you might not have used the word ‘touché’ in everyday conversation, right?” Mike shook his head at my words and tapped a roll of quarters against the counter as I continued. “You’ve had a lot of change here. The new restaurants, the hotel, the pop-up shops. I’ll keep asking around, but thanks for giving me your opinion.”

“You’re welcome. I’m not sure it was the one you wanted.”

“It’s fine.” I clicked the end of my pen twice before stopping myself. There was no reason to be irritated with Mike. “And I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it. So, one last question: if a fitness center went in up the street, not blocking the view mind you, but something that fit in nicely with the area, would you use it?”

Mike patted his belly and then flexed his right arm. “Well, I have no reason to use it, obviously.” His deep laugh rang across the store, and a few customers glanced at him. “All kidding aside, yeah, I’d go. Having one close would force me to stop procrastinating.”

Procrastinating? Is that what he liked to call it? Since we’d been coming up to the lake, Mike had been telling me how he had big plans for an exercise regimen. I had yet to see it happen. “All right. That’s useful data. I’ll see you later—when the kids want ice cream.



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