Page 60 of Seductive Nights

"In closing, I promise the bar will be an upstanding bar kept clean and in good repair. We serve great food. We draw a wonderful clientele, and we help our veterans. I can't think of anything that would be a detriment to Blossom Springs in this town that I've grown to love."

The president nodded at him, turned his head back and forth to look at the council members, and said, "Does anyone have questions for Mr. Marriott?"

A couple of the council members asked questions about the building and construction, and Quinn joined him up front to answer those questions.

The board looked at Jace. The president said, "We would like to go behind closed doors and discuss this. If you'll please excuse us for a moment. We'll be back shortly."

He tapped his gavel, and they all rose and walked to a back room.

He and Quinn took their seats with their friends.

Margo took his hands in hers. "You did great, Jace. You did beautiful."

"Thanks." He smiled at her and the nervousness that he felt from before dissipated. It just disappeared.

Quinn patted him on the back. He looked down at Sid who nodded. "Good job, bud."

And they waited. They chatted lightly to pass the time.

An older lady from the community turned to stare at them. He'd known her from previous meetings. She was usually complaining about something, and he wondered if she was about to give the board an earful about the sins of his business or something.

Her eyes dropped to his and Margo's hands, their fingers interlocked together. She sniffed. She was a pearl clutcher from way back.

To his surprise, Grace leaned forward and addressed the woman. "Isn't it nice they've found each other? Margo's dead husband was having an affair for seven years with some whore in Miami. Poor Margo has been through so much. But Jace here, ever the hero, has made her happy again. It's that lovely?"

Margo giggled under her breath and the old woman looked into his eyes for a moment, then at Margo. She sniffed again and turned around.

Margo leaned over and took Grace's hand and squeezed. She mouthed, "Thank you."

Grace simply winked in return.

The board finally entered the room. It seemed an interminable amount of time, but in truth, when he looked at his watch, it was only about fifteen minutes.

The board sat down, recalled the meeting to order with a tap of the gavel, and the president stated so. He looked directly at Jace and said, "Mr. Marriott, will you please stand in front here?"

Jace once again walked to the microphone before the board and waited. "The board as a whole has decided to grant your two-story request. The only other improvement we would like to see is a buffer of trees between your building and the fire department. Just to add some green space since you will be expanding the hard space. The hard space that you intend to add to the ground on the first level is a little bit more than I believe..." He looked at another board member. "What was it?"

One of the other board members nodded. "Fifteen square feet."

"Yes." The president finished. "Fifteen square feet more than the thrift shop property currently takes up, so to make up for that green space being lost, we would like trees planted at your expense to make up for that green space."

Jace nodded. "I'm happy to do that. Actually, I think it'll be beautiful, and it'll be a nice buffer between the buildings."

"Then Mr. Marriott, thank you for your contribution to Blossom Springs and this board has approved your request."

"Thank you." Jace turned, and the first set of eyes he sought were Margo's.

She smiled, stood, and met him halfway, with a big hug.

They quietly filtered out of the meeting as the president called the next issue to be discussed. And the second they were outside, his friends hugged and congratulated him, and his heart was full.

34

Margo stood in the conference room at the real estate office and looked over the decorations Hanna had purchased for her wedding. It was tomorrow already. Where had the week gone?

She had them organized by item: tablecloths, napkins, and vines for the arbor. Floral decorations will be delivered to the Sandbar tomorrow.

Tomorrow she'd go over with Carley in the afternoon, right after lunch, and put the flowers out on the tables and tuck them into the arbor so they wouldn't wilt before the wedding.

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