Mayor Norman asked.
Logan crossed his arms and looked the mayor straight in the eye. “Well, sir, I’ll give the people of Serenity another week or so to get their investments in. Then I’m supposed to meet back with my employers and their big investors with my recommendation. I’m pretty sure that, if we can demonstrate enough support from Serenity, they’ll choose this site for the park. In fact, I’d bet on it.”
The mayor laughed. “The best thing to happen in this town in forty years, and it’s during my administration. Who would have thought?”
“You’re not tryin’ to get credit for it, are you, Mayor?” Cecil asked, a twinkle in his eye.
The mayor shook his head. “Oh, no. No one would believe me. It’s just kind of nice to be in office when so many good things are happening.”
Slade swung the mayor’s chair cloth out of the way and shook it out, and the mayor got to his feet. “I’m going to need an appointment with you myself, Logan,” he said as he fished through his wallet for Slade’s fee. “I’ll call you later.”
“I’m going your way, Mayor,” Logan said, standing up and stretching. “I’ll walk with you and we can nail down a time.”
As if he had lived there all his life and knew them each as well as they knew one another, they all waved goodbye.
Logan’s lesson with Carny that afternoon went well, and he noticed an ever-so-slight change in her attitude. “So did you check on me yet?” he asked when the lesson was over. “Decided I’m legit?”
“I checked, Brisco,” she said, consulting her appointment book for a time for the next lesson.
“Good. Then I should be cleared. You want me to make you an appointment so you can talk about investing?”
She shot him a look. “Your stories may have checked out, Brisco, but I’m still not convinced you’re on the level.”
Not convinced
, he thought. Wasn’t that better than before, when she’d been absolutely certain he wasn’t? Still, it aggravated him that she hadn’t considered his references positive enough to clear him. She was just too smart.
“What did I ever do to you?” he said, intending it as a joke, but his words came out sounding a little plaintive.
“Nothing,” she said with a flip smile. “I just don’t intendto sign my soul and my bank account over to you, like my friends and neighbors have. Don’t get too secure, Brisco. I haven’t given up trying to expose you.”
“Carny, you have got to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
“I’ll buy that,” she said. “You’ve probably never met anyone like me.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“Good. Then you won’t quite know how to handle me, will you? It looks like I’m the one who has the advantage here. I know exactly how to handle you.”
That was a challenge if he’d ever heard one. “What if I’m one of the good guys, Carny? What if you’re completely, absolutely wrong?”
“I’m not,” she said simply. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a delivery to make. I have to hurry if I want to get back before Jason’s out of school.”
“You still going to the dance tomorrow night?”
“Yep.” She jotted down the time for his Saturday afternoon class on the back of one of her business cards.
“Going with Joey?”
She stopped writing and looked up. “Boy, you don’t miss anything, do you? No, I’m not going with Joey. I’m going alone.”
“Oh, yeah?” He took the card from her, looked at it, and put it into his pocket. “Me too.”
She slapped her hand against her forehead. “Say it isn’t so. Logan Brisco, celebrity among us, has not got a date to the dance?”
“Oh, I could have gone with Lahoma’s daughter, or Jean Miller, or Bonnie …”
She smirked. “Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I wanted to be free to dance every dance with you.”
She laughed. “You’ll have to stand in line.”
He liked that spunk. Grinning, he went to the door. “I
will,” he said. “See you
Logan crossed his arms and looked the mayor straight in the eye. “Well, sir, I’ll give the people of Serenity another week or so to get their investments in. Then I’m supposed to meet back with my employers and their big investors with my recommendation. I’m pretty sure that, if we can demonstrate enough support from Serenity, they’ll choose this site for the park. In fact, I’d bet on it.”
The mayor laughed. “The best thing to happen in this town in forty years, and it’s during my administration. Who would have thought?”
“You’re not tryin’ to get credit for it, are you, Mayor?” Cecil asked, a twinkle in his eye.
The mayor shook his head. “Oh, no. No one would believe me. It’s just kind of nice to be in office when so many good things are happening.”
Slade swung the mayor’s chair cloth out of the way and shook it out, and the mayor got to his feet. “I’m going to need an appointment with you myself, Logan,” he said as he fished through his wallet for Slade’s fee. “I’ll call you later.”
“I’m going your way, Mayor,” Logan said, standing up and stretching. “I’ll walk with you and we can nail down a time.”
As if he had lived there all his life and knew them each as well as they knew one another, they all waved goodbye.
Logan’s lesson with Carny that afternoon went well, and he noticed an ever-so-slight change in her attitude. “So did you check on me yet?” he asked when the lesson was over. “Decided I’m legit?”
“I checked, Brisco,” she said, consulting her appointment book for a time for the next lesson.
“Good. Then I should be cleared. You want me to make you an appointment so you can talk about investing?”
She shot him a look. “Your stories may have checked out, Brisco, but I’m still not convinced you’re on the level.”
Not convinced
, he thought. Wasn’t that better than before, when she’d been absolutely certain he wasn’t? Still, it aggravated him that she hadn’t considered his references positive enough to clear him. She was just too smart.
“What did I ever do to you?” he said, intending it as a joke, but his words came out sounding a little plaintive.
“Nothing,” she said with a flip smile. “I just don’t intendto sign my soul and my bank account over to you, like my friends and neighbors have. Don’t get too secure, Brisco. I haven’t given up trying to expose you.”
“Carny, you have got to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
“I’ll buy that,” she said. “You’ve probably never met anyone like me.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“Good. Then you won’t quite know how to handle me, will you? It looks like I’m the one who has the advantage here. I know exactly how to handle you.”
That was a challenge if he’d ever heard one. “What if I’m one of the good guys, Carny? What if you’re completely, absolutely wrong?”
“I’m not,” she said simply. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a delivery to make. I have to hurry if I want to get back before Jason’s out of school.”
“You still going to the dance tomorrow night?”
“Yep.” She jotted down the time for his Saturday afternoon class on the back of one of her business cards.
“Going with Joey?”
She stopped writing and looked up. “Boy, you don’t miss anything, do you? No, I’m not going with Joey. I’m going alone.”
“Oh, yeah?” He took the card from her, looked at it, and put it into his pocket. “Me too.”
She slapped her hand against her forehead. “Say it isn’t so. Logan Brisco, celebrity among us, has not got a date to the dance?”
“Oh, I could have gone with Lahoma’s daughter, or Jean Miller, or Bonnie …”
She smirked. “Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I wanted to be free to dance every dance with you.”
She laughed. “You’ll have to stand in line.”
He liked that spunk. Grinning, he went to the door. “I
will,” he said. “See you
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