Page 30 of All Because of You

He waited a beat, assuming there would be questions, but silence greeted him. All right, then.

Evan used the presentation clicker to move to the next slide. “Other towns similar to ours have benefitted greatly from festivals like the one I’m proposing. Yes, they had more time to plan them, but we have ten and a half months. I’ve already spoken with local events coordinator Ashley Baker, and she was excited about it. She believes that if everyone rallies behind the idea and pitches in, this town could create a very lucrative event that would provide a lot of extra funds to disperse throughout the community and shore up our economy.”

“This all sounds well and good, son, but we already have our sesquicentennial celebration in December. We don’t want to overshadow that.”

“That’s exactly right, Mayor. We don’t want to overshadow it. We want to make it bigger and better.”

The second the words left his lips, he had to fight the cringe that was a natural reaction whenever he said something he knew his father wouldn’t like. The sesquicentennial celebration had been another of his father’s pet projects, and Evan had no doubt Dad had almost been looking at it as a victory party once he was re-elected in the fall.

“Pardon my ignorance.” Raising his hand, Bud spoke up from the back of the room. “But could you explain how you’d get a profit out of this? Events like the one you’re describing—all the food, the rentals, the marketing, the entertainment—seem like they’d be mighty expensive.”

“Great point, Bud,” his father butted in. “I’d think several smaller wins, like the deal with Herman Hardware, would be less risky and consume far fewer resources.”

Evan tried to ignore how his dad’s eyes bore into him. “First of all, I have a contact who’s assured me we could get a grant for a decent chunk of the costs to the city. And, sure, it would take a lot more coordination and effort, but I think it would allow the people of this town a chance to contribute, to feel part of something. That’s where the true strength of a community is found—not in the economy, which fluctuates, but in its spirit.”

“I’m not convinced.”

Evan fought for control over his facial expressions and forced civility into his voice. “About what, Mayor Walsh?”

“We need to show people that we are taking care of this for them. They need to have confidence in us. Quicker wins will lead to more confidence, which will lead to less panic should the economy worsen. This is especially important with our big tourism season coming up in the summer.”

Translation: He wanted to give the people a reason to vote for him again.

Politics was the worst part of this job. And if Evan snagged the head community developer position, he’d have to endure even more of it.

Flexing his jaw, he searched for a response that would not reveal his true emotions.

“What I want to know is, why not both?” Doug hit the edge of the table with a fancy fountain pen, seemingly unaware of how he’d temporarily rescued Evan. “I don’t really see a downside to the festival, so long as we have a way to fund it, and it sounds like we do. But why don’t we also keep pursuing opportunities like the one with Herman Hardware?”

“We definitely will. That’s in my job description, after all. I was more thinking about a larger-scale attempt that would not require us to rely on one person or one deal.” And that would give him a leg up over the other job applicants. “To answer your earlier questions, Bud, we could use several tactics to raise funds. Corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, raffles, a silent auction. We could also ask each of the food vendors to pay a fee for a spot or donate a portion of their sales back to the town. There’d be a lot of banding together and individual contributions from our local business owners and townspeople. But I think Walker Beach is up for the challenge, don’t you?”

Bud’s eyes sparkled. “I do, young man. Indeed, I do.”

“Great.” He answered a few more questions then checked his watch. “Sorry, I kept you all longer than intended. Before you go, though, I’d like to hear your thoughts about adding this to the city council meeting agenda next week.”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Bud flashed him a thumbs-up and winked. “We just need to let the public know that we’ll be discussing something they’ll be interested in weighing in on.”

Gathering her belongings, Kiki stood. “I need to run, but I second that. Fabulous idea, Evan.”

Doug nodded. “I’ll make sure it gets added as an item to present and discuss with the town. We can gauge their reaction and go from there. Sounds like we’d want to move on it quickly if we decide to move forward.”

“Absolutely.” Evan couldn’t stop grinning. What had started as a way to secure himself a promotion had actually blossomed into something he could see having a true widespread effect on the town for the better.

And the look of respect in the council members’ eyes? He’d take that too.

As the others filtered out, Evan turned to the projector and unplugged his computer.

“That girl’s really gotten to you, hasn’t she?”

Yanking the power cord from the wall, Evan bundled it into his hands and faced his father. “What?”

The mayor folded his arms across his burly chest and stared down at Evan. Never had Dad’s two extra inches seemed so tall. “I thought you’d be able to work on her, but clearly the opposite is true. You haven’t changed one bit, have you? Always letting those of the female persuasion affect your judgment—first Miss Chamberlain, now this Price girl.”

OK, so they were going there, were they? “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this. But my decision to drink that night in high school had nothing to do with impressing Roxy. I was just . . . it doesn’t matter why I did it. I screwed up, and I paid for it.” In more ways than just losing his college scholarship. “But this is completely different. Madison is different.”

So different. His dad didn’t even know the half of it. Evan was only beginning to scratch the surface when it came to what he felt for her, how he was different in her presence than in anyone else’s. Because, for the first time—well, the first time since Chrissy—he could just be himself. No pretending. No impressing. Now that they’d cleared up misunderstandings over their pasts, he knew without a doubt that Madison respected him. Liked him for him. He didn’t have to do anything to earn that respect. She offered it freely.

And he wasn’t going to do anything to screw that up.

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