Page 60 of The House on Firefly Beach
Uncle Hank came in behind them and shut the door while Sydney’s mother pushed the shoes to the side to get them out of his path. “You could win the Miss Firefly Beach pageant looking like that.”
“Yes, she certainly could,” Jacqueline said, her eyes round.
Sydney bent down to give Robby a hug. “Juliana thinks I should be on the cover of the wellness magazine.She did my make-up so I could see if it would work.”
After Juliana left, Sydney was so energized by their conversation that she was ready to take charge of her life. She texted Logan to ask if he would be interested in doing the shoot with her. He was beyond excited, and he invited her to dinner after the shoot tomorrow. Sydney had said she’d go; but Nate’s deceit weighed heavily on her mind, casting a cloud over everything. No matter how hard she tried to push it out of her mind, it wouldn’t budge.
Chapter Twenty
Sydney and her family waited to cross the intersection at the overcrowded traffic signal, beachgoers flooding the center of town. When the walk sign finally flashed, Sydney guided Robby across the street and then entered the town hall through the double front doors, following her mother, Lewis, and Uncle Hank, along with the gathering of others opposing the public beach access. The building they were in was a historical landmark, part of it having been the first permanent structure of the village. The old wood floors creaked beneath their feet as they all headed deeper into the cool air-conditioned space.
Uncle Hank’s smile was replaced by a serious expression of concentration, his eyes fixed on the door at the end of the hallway where they were all going. The family had decided, along with the other residents that would be affected by the public beach access, that everyone should attend to show their disagreement. As they took their seats, Sydney tried to overlook the fact that, even with them all present, their numbers weren’t terribly overwhelming. What she also hadn’t had the heart to tell Uncle Hank and her family was that Nate was behind the plans. The icy cold feeling that had pelted her over and over in the early days after he’d left Firefly Beach slithered back in at the thought of his betrayal. It was nearly more than she could bear.
An older woman by the name of Sheila Fox lowered herself warily into one of the three chairs on the small stage and tapped her microphone, causing it to squeal in protest.
“I thought the entire board would be here tonight,” Sydney whispered to Uncle Hank as board members filled the other two chairs on stage. The idea that Nate would head this thing up and not even bother to attend any of the meetings sent a bitter taste through Sydney’s mouth. How convenient that he would disappear for the final discussion before the vote to essentially ruin Starlight Cottage.
“As Firefly Beach grows, there seems to be less and less personal interaction,” Uncle Hank said under his breath. “And I think the board members are just doing this so we feel like we have a voice.”
Sheila stood up to the clearing of throats and shifting in chairs. “Thank you for joining us tonight,” she said into the microphone, her amplified voice echoing in the church-like room full of empty chairs, only the first few rows sparsely occupied. “If you’ll bear with us, we’d like to inform you all of our considerations for the project at length before we take any of your questions.” Sheila opened a hand toward the man in the chair at her right. “Forrest Baker will mention the current state of affairs regarding traffic through Firefly Beach, leading to the proposal by the board,” she said, before turning to her left, “And Joyce Powell will give you the impact on your wallets with the suggested tax increase as well as the projected revenue the project will provide.”
The crowd sat, hushed, and waiting, some with arms folded, others with eyes clamped on Sheila, chests filling with air in anticipation of the next part.
“I will begin with an overview…”
What if, for some unknown reason, Sydney wasn’t meant to stay in Firefly Beach? It certainly seemed like the odds were against her: Nate’s constant presence would only drive her crazy, the future of Starlight Cottage was in jeopardy, and, even though she’d managed to look on the bright side, the magazine for Mary Alice still wouldn’t have gotten off the ground were it not for Juliana’s help. She wondered if she should go back to her old paralegal job in Nashville, where she’d been just fine before.
“There will always be forward movement,” Sheila’s voice filtered back into Sydney’s consciousness. “We have to prepare for it, whether we like it or not. Change is inevitable and, at times, uncomfortable. But wemustmove forward.” Sheila paused dramatically to the silent staring eyes of the crowd surrounding Sydney. With a hesitant breath over the speakers, she said, “I’m going to turn the microphone over to Forrest who will give you the breakdown of traffic through the main thoroughfare as well as the proposal for how to alleviate that traffic.”
Forrest Baker walked over and took the microphone from a relieved Sheila and began pacing the stage, his long, thin strides making him look as though he were gliding. “Last meeting, we discussed the proposed zoning for the project. With that now cemented, it’s time to look forward to the project at hand: alleviating the overcrowding on our main street while building up the area with more shopping surrounding the new public beach access…”
“I’m bored,” Robby whispered to Sydney. “I wish Nate was here so we could draw.”
A pinch caught in the back of her shoulder. “What about Ben?” she asked.
Robby grinned up at her, nodding. “He’d be fun too, but Nate likesallthe stuff I like.”
Sydney leaned close to Robby’s ear. “I’m not sure Nate will be around a lot,” she said, ignoring the churning in her stomach. “Maybe I can draw with you.” She dug around quietly in her handbag for a pen and a scrap of paper.
“What do you mean?” Robby looked up at her with concern in his little eyes.
“Well, he travels a lot, and I’m not sure how long he’ll be in Firefly Beach.”
“But he said—”
She shook her head and waved him quiet with a kind smile, hating Nate for the pain he would cause her son. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?” She drew a tic-tac-toe board on the back of an old receipt and handed him the pen. “You go first.”
Joyce Powell gave them all the financial breakdown while Sydney played games with Robby. The entire time, the fear kept creeping in that Robby was going to be devastated when Nate was no longer welcome. There was no way she was going to let him back in to their lives after this. Now, all the kindness he’d shown was in question. Had it all been to sway them to sell their property? Would they knock it down to build shops like the ones that surrounded the current public beach? She scanned the faces in the crowd, noticing that Malory wasn’t there. She remembered now that he was building something for her on his land.
“Once the final two residents agree to sell, the projectwillmove forward,” Joyce said. “I hope that after tonight, you have some buy-in as to the positive economic and aesthetic impact the public beach access will have on Firefly Beach. It will essentially give us our streets back. Now, we will all take your questions.”
“Are we one of the remaining two?” Jacqueline asked Uncle Hank, clearly worried.
He shook his head. “We’ve been approached to sell, but we aren’t in the actual development line. We’ll lose our view, but we can stay.”
“Who approached you to sell?” Jacqueline asked.
“I got a letter from the board.”
