To Get Me To You: A Small Town Southern Romance (Wishful Romance Book 1) (44 page)

Norah spread her hands, the picture of transparency. “There are no strings here. No hidden agendas. Just the support and resources Wishful needs to bring itself back to life. So think about what you want Wishful to be. Another cookie-cutter, homogenized town, with no cultural identity. Or a beacon of hope in a world where that’s an increasingly rare commodity. The future and the decision are in your hands. Please remember that as you head to the polls tomorrow. Thank you.”

Thunderous applause followed her off the stage and trailed them out the door into the hall.

“You nailed that.”

Norah slipped her hand in his. “
We
nailed that.”

“You ever think about going into politics? You’d be great at it. Eloquent. Magnetic. Persuasive.”

She shuddered. “No thank you. I’ll leave that to you and your mom.”

“I’m pretty sure all of them would follow you into war.” He tugged her to a stop and pulled her up against him. “I know I’d follow you anywhere.”

“Well they don’t have to go to battle, just to the polls. Let’s hope they turn out in droves and vote the way we want.”

Chapter 25

“It’s a really important vote today. We’ve got volunteer-driven Pollmobiles running in every voting precinct in town until the polls close tonight at nine, so we’re expecting unprecedented turnout.”

Cam did his best to keep his eyes on the reporter interviewing him rather than letting them stray to the enemy camp set up at the other end of the green, but it was a tough thing. The bright orange tents emblazoned with the GrandGoods logo screamed
look at us!
So did the steady stream of people circulating through them.

“Tell us what the store size cap would mean for Wishful.”

He explained the proposed statute as simply and briefly as he could, thinking Norah would’ve done it with more flare. But the reporter wanted someone from city government and his mother was MIA at the moment.

When he finished, the reporter turned to her cameraman. “Nearly every business in town is displaying posters in support of the size cap, and as you can see from the sea of red YES caps behind me, the proposed law has a lot of supporters. We’ll be back this evening with an update on this important referendum. WTVA News. Deanna Fossett reporting.”

Cam didn’t get to drop his public face once the camera stopped rolling. They needed the press on their side, so he added a layer of charm to go with the serious. “We appreciate y’all coming out to cover this. Can we offer you some coffee? It’s fresh from The Daily Grind.”

“Love some,” Deanna said.

He directed them into the command center tent the Chamber of Commerce had set up at the fountain end of the green. Inside, Norah was running things with her usual efficiency. Behind her, a markerboard held a running tally of total number of voters going through each polling station. It was being updated on the hour. A few hundred so far, but it was early yet. The real rush would be during the lunch hour and after five.

“How did the interview go?”

“Fine. You’d have been better.”

Norah waved that off. “They’ll probably do an update for the noon news, the five o’clock slot, and preliminary results for the ten. We’ll see if we can’t slot your mom in for at least one of those. Maybe Molly for another.”

“What are we going to do about GrandGoods?”

“I’ve sent spies to find out exactly what they’re up to.”

“Spies? I’m afraid to ask.”

“Who do you think volunteered for that task?”

“Cassie. She’s not what you call subtle.”

“Neither is Mamie, who went with her. But this isn’t full scale espionage. It’s just two members of the public cruising through some public event they’ve got going on.”

Those same two members came into the command center at a hustle, not a pace Cam generally associated with Mamie. Cassie was practically bouncing, and Mamie’s bouffant trembled with her agitation.

While the older woman caught her breath, Cassie saluted. “Agents Callister and Landon reporting.”

“I’ve really got to get you walkie talkies.” Norah laughed. “Report in.”

“They’re giving away free stuff.”

“Like koozies, pens, hats?”

“And t-shirts, yeah. But they’re also giving away store memberships and discounts that can be used at any existing store.”

Norah frowned. “Are they asking for anything in return?”

“Just that people hit up the polls, same as us. They’re not even asking for proof in advance.”

“Did they indicate there’s some limit to the number of memberships? Like the first fifty people or whatever?”

“No limit,” Mamie said. “They said they want to support the community and are willing to give out free memberships to back that up. The only thing they’re having people do is show they have a Wishful address. I got a membership myself. Don’t have a clue what I’ll do with it when they don’t come, but I didn’t figure it’d hurt anything.”

“They’re also giving out free pastries,” Cassie added. “Store bought, of course.”

“Oh, hell no.” Carolanne joined the conversation from where she’d been helping coordinate Pollmobile service. “We can do better than that. Give me a team, and I’ll bring my entire inventory out for the cause.”

“Do it.” Norah called in half a dozen volunteers and dispatched them to Sweet Magnolias.

Once they’d gone, Cam did the math. “At, what, fifty bucks a membership, with a potential for up to maybe a couple thousand people. That’s a hundred grand loss right there. Plus whatever they’ve put into their branded merchandise.”

“A hundred thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket for a company like that. They’d make exponentially more than that if they secured a place in the region. Plus, if they
don’t
end up coming, they haven’t truly lost that much because many of those people won’t ever go to one of the other GrandGoods stores before the annual membership expires. It’s a smart tactic.”

The whole thing had Cam worried.

As usual, Norah read him like a book. She moved in, slipping her arms around his waist. “It will be all right. You just—”

“Have to have a little faith. I know. I’ve got all the faith in the world in you.”

“Then it’s time you put your faith in them.” She nodded toward the masses.

That feat would’ve been considerably easier to accomplish had his nemesis not chosen that moment to stroll into the tent. Vick flashed his too white teeth like a shark. “Well good morning to you Councilman, Miss Burke.”

“Burgess,” Cam said.

“We’re having a fine turnout to the polls and an exceptional response to our promotion. Why, everybody’s jumping at the chance for a free year’s membership to GrandGoods. We’ve given away six hundred memberships already today.”

A number almost equal to the last hour’s tally at the polls. It didn’t mean anything. Logically, Cam knew that. There’d be people who’d take the deal and vote for the size cap anyway. There would likely even be people who’d take the membership and not vote at all. But some would feel that psychological contract and vote in favor of the store. The question was how many would be wooed.

“It’s still early. There are nearly three thousand more people who can vote in this town. And I promise you, the majority won’t care about GrandGoods’ empty promises.”

Vick shook his head in pity. “When are you going to get it through your head, Crawford? GrandGoods is going to be good for this town.”

“They’ve certainly been good to you, haven’t they, Vick?” Sandra stepped into the tent, trailed by a handful of other people. Leigh Billingsly, the City Comptroller, looked pissed. Jay Quimby, the resident tech guru, looked smug. Officer Judd Hamilton looked deceptively at ease, but beneath the calm exterior, Cam recognized the same coiled readiness for action he’d displayed on the defensive line of the Wishful Stars football team back in high school. Not until the appearance of Chief Curry, bringing up the rear, did Vick’s confident expression falter.

“I beg your pardon?” he asked, innocence with a layer of affront.

“Well, you know how we’ve been doing system upgrades at City Hall the last couple of weeks?” Sandra asked. “Jay, here, found some…concerning emails on your computer.”

“Email is private.”

“In fact, it’s not. Everything you do on your work computer is technically the business of the city since your business is to help
run
the city. So imagine our surprise when Jay brought to our attention a string of emails between you and Bill Sutto, making it clear that you’ve been taking kickbacks from GrandGoods.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Vick began to tug at his collar.

Cam was dimly aware that everyone in the tent had fallen silent, watching the show.

“Turns out, that was plenty of evidence for Judge Carpenter to let us subpoena your bank records,” Chief Curry said. “You’ve been a bad bad boy, Vick. Our forensic accountant is still going through it to determine the total amount, but at first pass, it looks like, in addition to getting all cozy with GrandGoods, you’ve embezzled over a hundred thousand dollars from the city.”

“This is ludicrous!”

“What’s ludicrous is the fact that you are sworn to work in the best interests of this town and its people and instead you’ve been abusing your position to line your own pockets.” Sandra’s voice crackled with temper.

“Victor Burgess, you’re under arrest.” Chief Curry nodded to Judd, who grabbed Vick’s arm, twisting it with a little more force than necessary as he cuffed the older man.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…” Chief Curry finished reading Vick his rights, then he and Judd marched him out of the command center.

That was when Cam realized the camera was rolling and WTVA News had caught the whole thing.

“This is Deanna Fossett, live with a WTVA News exclusive. In a shocking turn of events here in the tiny town of Wishful, where a David versus Goliath battle is being waged over store size caps at the polls today, City Planner Victor Burgess, local champion of GrandGoods and the big box store movement, has just been arrested. Burgess stands accused of taking kickbacks from GrandGoods and embezzling more than a hundred thousand dollars from the city. Mayor Crawford, what do you have to say?”

Deanna tipped her microphone to Sandra, who blinked at the camera. Cam recognized the look on her face as she choked down the more profane remarks that weren’t appropriate for addressing the public.

“We are deeply disappointed in the actions of the City Planner. His greed has impacted this city in ways we’re only beginning to understand. He has been removed from his position, effective immediately.”

“Does this impact the vote today?”

Cam stepped in to take that one. “The vote will continue. The legislation on the ballot today is not specific to GrandGoods, but will impact all future commercial development in the area. We still encourage everyone to make it to the polls today. And we hope that they’ll all look at this situation and recognize the cost of doing business with big box stores before they cast their vote for the future of our town.”

“There you have it, folks. The vote continues. This reporter will certainly be interested to see how this battle shakes out in the end.” She made a slashing motion, and the camera stopped rolling “Well, nobody can say y’all are dull!”

Norah slipped her hand into his. “Nice save. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“I’ve been paying attention.”

“If we could’ve tailor made a blow to GrandGoods and their position, I’m not sure we could’ve done better than this.”

“That was all you. We wouldn’t have known to look if you hadn’t noted those discrepancies in the city financial records.”

Sandra laid a hand on her shoulder. “Wishful owes you a debt. For so many things.”

Norah smiled. “Just doing what I can to help. Speaking of—” She turned to the still silent crowd gathered in the command center. “Okay people, that was news. I know some of you were snapping pictures and taking video. Pull out your phones and share it! Facebook. Twitter. Text. Somebody get over to Dinner Belles and get Mama Pearl on it. And find Cassie and get things moving over at The Grind. I want every gossip tree in this town singing!”

~*~

The polls were closed. The command center had been broken down and packed up. GrandGoods and their tents were gone. In the wake of allegations about offering kickbacks, Bill Sutto hadn’t been available for comment to the press, which had swarmed downtown after footage of Vick’s arrest had aired. The remaining GrandGoods employees had looked shell shocked, with nothing more to say than “No comment.” Norah and Molly had jumped into the void, talking and talking to get the coalition’s message out. And if Norah had used every skill and resource she had to make certain that the news of GrandGoods’ less than above board tactics was spread far and wide, she felt not a shred of remorse.

But it was Vick’s arrest that remained the hot topic of conversation among the locals. According to the gossip mill, his wife Rebecca was filing for divorce. Judge Carpenter had set bail. Some folks thought it was unnecessarily high, but his wife was one of Rebecca’s best friends. Given that Vick’s assets were frozen, pending the findings of the forensic accountant, he was still cooling his heels in a cell. Rumor had it there was collusion to make sure he stayed there until all his stuff could be packed up and his ass kicked out of the house. Small town justice at its finest.