Page 30 of Silver Linings

“Well, I can’t be completely sure,” he said, then set the journal down on the coffee table. “This isn’t my area of expertise, and I don’t know the people of this town like you do. But one thing I’ve learned is that there’s nothing to lose by appealing to people’s better natures.”

I liked how he was being honest and not trying to tell me of course we’d be able to persuade everyone that Northwest Pacific was only thinking about lining its pockets and not worrying about the sort of damage it would leave behind. False confidence wouldn’t help us, while being clear-eyed about the problem at hand could only be to our benefit.

“So…what do you think is the best way to proceed?”

He looked thoughtful. “I know the forest is a real draw for tourists, but how many of the people who actually live here in Silver Hollow go hiking in the woods on a regular basis?”

At least I had an answer for that question. “I’d say maybe half. There are people too busy with their families and businesses to have much free time for that kind of thing, and there are others who have physical limitations that don’t really allow them to hike, even on the easier trails.”

Ben absorbed my reply, then said, “Okay. I have a feeling the ones who are out there a lot probably don’t need a ton of persuading, but it might be a good idea to put together a little brochure or pamphlet that highlights some of the animals and plants that would be in danger if Northwest Pacific really starts cutting. Posters, too, if you can get permission from some of the business owners downtown to put them up.”

I didn’t think I’d have too much of a problem with that part of our plan. While there were people who might get some short-term business from the logging community, most of the citizens of Silver Hollow understood that the real bread and butter was in the tourists who came here year after year to enjoy the natural beauty of the place.

“That’s a good idea,” I said, then paused. “Well, except for the part where I have no idea how to do any of this stuff. It’s not like I minored in graphic design or something.”

“You don’t do ads for the pet store?”

At once, I shook my head. “No. The shop has been around long enough that everyone in town knows all about it, and when people vacation here with their pets, they almost always look it up online.”

His brows lifted. “You have a website?”

“Of course I do,” I said in mock-severe tones. “I’m not totally living in the twentieth century.” Since Ben still looked amused, I found myself forced to add, “But I did hire someone to put it together for me…and to create the logo.”

“It’s not a problem either way,” he assured me. “While I doubt I’d ever be hired by a big Fifth Avenue ad firm, I’ve been designing my flyers and handouts for years, and I’ve got the Adobe suite on my laptop. So once we’ve figured out what we want to say, I can take care of that part of the plan.”

A man of many talents, it seemed. I wondered exactly how long he planned to stay in Silver Hollow, since this didn’t seem like the sort of undertaking that could be accomplished in just a day or two.

However, I decided not to ask. Ben had a much better idea of his commitments than I did, and if he thought he could handle all this, then I wasn’t going to probe too closely.

Not when I needed all the help I could get.

“Okay, so we’ve got that part figured out,” I said. “What’s next?”

“Well, we were already planning to go back to the forest tomorrow morning,” he responded. “So, we’ll meet up and see if we can get some pictures we can use in our campaign materials.”

“‘Campaign’?” I echoed, and he only smiled.

“To save the forest from Northwest Pacific,” he said. “Your grandmother’s watercolors are beautiful, but it couldn’t hurt to have some photos as well. Luckily, the weather report made it sound as if tomorrow is going to be nice.”

Around here, that mostly meant it wasn’t going to rain, which would be a huge improvement from the downpour we’d had to wait out earlier today.

“All right,” I said. “Then I’ll see you at the trailhead at seven tomorrow morning.”

It would be a hike that had a dual purpose: to snap images of any particularly interesting birds and animals and plants…and to make sure I also guided him away from all the places where legendary creatures had been spotted over the years.

I just had to hope I’d be up to the task.

Chapter Ten

The evening hadn’t ended with a kiss — Ben knew he and Sidney were nowhere near that point, even though he’d gotten the impression she wasn’t entirely disinterested — but he thought it had gone well nonetheless. Now they had a common goal, one that would probably keep him here in Silver Hollow for at least a few more days.

And since he didn’t have anywhere else he absolutely needed to be, he thought that was just fine by him.

Well, except the part where an extended stay at the bed-and-breakfast would seriously strain his credit limit, but he supposed he could always break out his emergency Amex card if he had to.

Luckily, he bumped into Mabel Whitaker just as he was about to leave to meet Sidney for their morning hike. The B&B’s owner was busy setting out some of the breakfast goodies, and she urged him to take a croissant when he told her he was going for an early wander in the woods.

“You need something in your system if you’re going to be roaming around out there,” she said, something in her tone almost scolding, so he dutifully scooped up a croissant and wrapped a napkin around it so it wouldn’t leave crumbs everywhere.

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