Читать книгу Dandelion Wishes - Melinda Curtis - Страница 13

CHAPTER SIX

WILL WAS THE first to arrive in the small, one-hundred-year-old church where the town council held its meetings. He’d tried all afternoon to shake off Emma’s warning that his form of protection would push Tracy away. He’d attempted to forget the sincerity in Emma’s explanation, to ignore how listening to her threatened to erode his sense of purpose. What he felt didn’t matter. Keeping Tracy safe did.

Would Tracy forgive her, even if Will couldn’t? He feared the answer was yes.

The meeting started in less than an hour. Will forced himself to shut out thoughts of Emma and concentrate on the task at hand. He needed the council to set aside their no-growth policy and rezone their land for commercial use so that Harmony Valley could thrive another one hundred and fifty years.

No sound disturbed the church. The sun elbowed its way through the grimy side windows, past ancient wooden pews, flooding the entry with dust motes and light. The church had been built so the morning sun would illuminate the minister delivering his sermon. The altar was shadowed now and the place smelled musty. No matter. Will planned to set up his laptop and projector so his PowerPoint presentation could be seen on the wall behind the now-gloomy pulpit.

Flynn and Slade came in behind him, their feet echoing on the wooden planked floor.

Slade paused to give each of them a brief once-over. It wasn’t every day Flynn and Will wore suits and ties.

“About time you guys showed some class.” Slade approved their outfits with a nod.

The three men proceeded up the aisle to set up the presentation.

While they worked, nerves wavered in Will’s gut. There was more at stake than a new business venture, but he had to appear confident and put forth their strongest arguments.

Once the laptop was powered up, the projector connected and the PowerPoint presentation showing on the front wall, Will flipped through a few pages, including their architectural renderings of the new buildings. Since the wall behind the pulpit had been plastered over, it wasn’t the smoothest of screens or the sharpest of images, but everything was visible.

“Oh. My. God,” Tracy said from the back of the church.

“I thought this was a small winery,” their dad added, coming in behind her. “And why does it look like a mission? The Franciscans never settled this far north.”

“The mission style says California.” And Will liked how the arches resembled those at Stanford—orderly, established, impressive.

“Wrong. For H-H-Harmony. Valley. Too big.”

“There goes another supporter,” Slade muttered.

“It’s not too big.” Will spared Tracy a glance that he hoped disguised his irritation. He was tired of fighting with her on everything.

“We’re not going to build a mom-and-pop operation,” Flynn said, as if sensing Will needed backup.

“Too big,” Tracy repeated.

The door to the church opened and Emma blew in, as if ushered forward by a strong wind.

* * *

“TRACY!” HEART POUNDING apprehensively, Emma nearly bowled Tracy over as she enveloped her in a tight hug.

Tracy’s halfhearted reception doused Emma in doubt.

Was Will right? Was Tracy not ready to see her?

Will stood at the altar, as still and silent as if he were a religious relic. Only his eyes gave away his feelings. Don’t hurt her, they said.

Emma nodded, ever so subtly, to let him know she understood. And then she let Tracy go.

Granny Rose stepped through the doorway. “It’s our precious Tracy.” She gave Tracy a hug. It was hard to tell who was thinner or frailer.

Emma drew a breath and held on to her carefully honed patience. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you. I felt so bad about the accident.” She hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt Will, not now that she knew why he’d kept her away, but she had to let Tracy know she hadn’t abandoned her. “I’ve been trying to come visit, but no one would let me in.”

“No. One?” Tracy glanced at Will and then her father, her mouth pulling to one side in the start of a scowl.

Will’s scowl was already in place.

“But none of that matters now.” Emma smiled gently. “You’re here and I’m here.”

Other residents streamed into the church before Emma could say anything more. They also greeted Tracy, who acknowledged each with a small smile and a nod.