Читать книгу The Man Under The Mistletoe - Muriel Jensen - Страница 7

ROSIE DEMARCO SAT opposite Jackie Whitcomb at a table for four in the Breakfast Barn’s meeting room. The restaurant was the heartbeat of Maple Hill in western Massachusetts. In this first week of December, a waitress and two busboys were hanging paper snowflakes from the light fixtures.

Also at their table were Molly Bowers, a florist, and Adam Bello, who owned Bello Automobile Agency.

“So that’s about it, Jackie.” Rosie pushed away her half-empty plate and consulted her notes one more time. “Maple Hill’s Industrial Growth Committee is officially reactivated, and all because Molly and Adam and I were at the same table at the fall festival dinner and got to talking about the health of business in this town. Molly has served on the committee before, but this is Adam’s first time.”

Adam smiled enthusiastically. He was young and personable. “We could use a little clean industry here to bring in jobs and give us more to depend on than tourism.”

Jackie, Maple Hill’s mayor and a descendant of one of the town’s founding families, was a lively redhead with a genuine devotion to the community. She spread her hands, her smile taking in everyone at the table. “That’s great news. And you think Tolliver Textiles is willing to try us again?”

Rosie nodded. The company had been considering a move to Maple Hill from Boston two years ago, but circumstances had conspired to defeat the plan.

“I spoke to the new president of the company yesterday,” Rosie told her. “They’d moved to a temporary space in an old mill on the Charles River when the last deal fell apart. He’s anxious to get out of there, but we both agreed that the holiday season is a bad time to talk about it. Everyone is too busy. He’s coming to Maple Hill right after the new year to talk to us in person.”

“And we have a new location for him to consider,” Molly said. She was a full-figured blonde in her mid-fifties who, not surprisingly, always smelled of flowers. “There won’t be any environmental surprises like the last time when we discovered a heron rookery that was missed on the impact statement. I wish Dennis Sorrento could join us again, but he’s had a few health problems and he’s trying to scale back.”

Dennis was a pharmacist who’d been an important part of the committee’s first incarnation.

“That’s too bad,” Jackie replied. “But you sound as though you have a good handle on what you’re doing, Rosie. Maple Hill has a reputation for sound business while maintaining its beautiful surroundings. Just keep that in mind.”

Rosie nodded. “Haley’s joined the committee, but she can’t meet with us until January. She has her hands full with the special holiday-shopping edition. A good thing for the publisher of the Maple Hill Mirror, but not necessarily for the wife of a busy lawyer and the mother of a toddler.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “My niece is a wild child.” Jackie was Haley Megrath’s sister-in-law, and little Henrietta’s aunt and godmother.

“I’ve seen her in action.” Rosie reached into her purse for her wallet. “But my point was that with Haley on board, we’ll be secure in the knowledge that our every move will be monitored.” Haley was famous for taking on anything or anyone she considered a threat to Maple Hill financially, ecologically or in any way at all.

“Well.” Jackie consulted the bill and took out her own wallet. “Your committee has my blessing. Keep me informed.”

“We will.” Rosie glanced at her watch, then smiled at her companions. “I’ve got to go back to my shop. Last fitting on my sister’s wedding dress this afternoon.”

As the group stood to go their separate ways, the lone occupant of a corner booth watched in angry disappointment and thought, So Rosie chose to ignore my warning. Something will have to be done….