Page 52 of 40 and (Tired of) Faking It
For the next hour the panel grilled him, going through every detail of the proposal, including revenue projections and comparisons to similar businesses in the region and their impact on the towns near them. They questioned Lily as well, seeking her input on the tax impact and concerns regarding the use of county and state funds to supplement the resort’s contributions to planning and building within the city limits. A bond initiative possibility. Details on infrastructure needs and environmental impact issues.
Prescott cleared his throat after sixty minutes. “Mr. Lane, what do you intend to do if the resort is not approved by this panel?”
He searched Prescott’s face, wondering why he in particular would bring up the question. After returning home Sunday night, he’d researched the Whitlocks, the couple he and Lily had run into at the restaurant. From social media they appeared to be close to the Prescott family, which meant Prescott should already know JD’s answer.
Nonetheless, he gave it. “I have no intention of living in the Lane mansion as it is. My life has been, for over thirty years, established in New York City. Though I will be here to oversee construction and the establishing of the resort, I do not intend to ever live on Lane land full-time again.” That wasn’t to say he wouldn’t live here in Black Wolf’s Bluff, but that wasn’t the committee’s business. That was between him and Lily, something they would discuss later. “Either my company will develop the land into Black Wolf Resort as proposed—or some revised version of the proposal—or I will be breaking the land into parcels, to be sold or donated to various businesses and/or land trusts as I see fit. Someone else will take on this task then, but I can guarantee that several investors with smaller pieces of land will not be able to fund the kinds of benefits I can give the town right now.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Lane?” the woman seated next to Corley asked.
“No, it is not,” he assured her. “It’s simply fact. The land is of no value sitting idle, nor will it increase in value without development. In addition, undeveloped land has no potential to benefit your local businesses in the way the resort can.”
Corley scoffed. “We don’t need your money, Mr. Lane. We didn’t need your grandmother’s money either.”
“You needed my family money to found this town, but that is neither here nor there. The question is, how can this money be used to the benefit of the town now. I’m simply laying that out for you.”
“Corley,” Prescott said, “can you really say that a place like this, set inside city limits, wouldn’t benefit your gas station? It sits right on the interstate. How many more visitors will pass by on their way to town every week?”
“How many more families will stop at your McDonald’s?” Iris pointed out.
The man didn’t answer.
“And your grocery stores, Daniels?” Prescott asked. “Your restaurant, Hollingsworth?”
Hollingsworth, a quiet man who’d kept a close eye on proceedings without speaking, said, “The resort itself will have a restaurant.”
“It will,” JD agreed. “But that restaurant will draw a specific clientele, and not everyone at the resort will want to spend money there for every single meal. They’ll venture into town, and they’ll become your customers.”
“The library can certainly use the gain in public funds when people move here to work and live,” Iris said.
In the end, it seemed to be this argument that held the most sway. Just as JD had told Lily, the committee knew the value of money. That would trump whatever private problems or rumors the community—or the panel members—might bring up. The commission voted five to two—Kirk Daniels and Corley being the holdouts—in favor of working with JD on the resort.
As he mingled in the room afterward, JD encountered mostly positive responses there as well. His project was on its way finally. He’d won over the planning commission and at least some of the town, it appeared.
Now he just had to win over Lily. And he wouldn’t let anything stop him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A sense of triumph had Lily beaming by the time the meeting was over. Yes, this was only a small portion of the battle where the resort was concerned, but presenting honest information about JD’s proposal, allaying some of the community’s fears, and, maybe most importantly, defending herself had been essential to her.
That last battle wasn’t quite over, she knew, but oh, had it felt good to stare down those committee members and tell them exactly where they were wrong for once.
“Lily, time for that talk.”
She turned to JD, her heart beginning a hard thump. God, he looked good. The black suit against his salt-and-pepper hair, the electric-blue shirt that perfectly matched his eyes, making them blaze intently from his face… Yeah, good enough to eat. She just hoped she got the chance for that after tonight was over.
She knew what he wanted to discuss—the two of them. Which way that discussion would go, she wasn’t sure, but either way, she’d give it her best shot just like she had everything else.
“Talking is a good idea.” She’d already gathered her purse and the folders she’d brought with her, so she was ready. JD gestured her ahead of him. Walking up the aisle, she saw that much of the crowd had already exited, a few sticking behind to talk. Those few eyed them as they went, but she no longer minded. If they had something to say, they would say it. No negative opinion was going to change who she was inside.
As they walked through the front doors of the convention center, an even bigger crowd waited outside. Directly in front, her friends stood in a group. So many people had come to support her and JD, people who believed in her: Claire, Erin, Maria. Evan and Alana, Scarlett, DeeDee, and even Calder. Her grandfather and so many more. They were all smiling her way, appreciation in their eyes. And if she took the time to look, there was appreciation in other eyes too, not just people she knew well but ones she didn’t. They understood who and what she was working for—them and their town. If others wanted to judge her because she didn’t live up to their standards, personal or professional, that was their prerogative; they could vote her out at the next election, but in the meantime she would continue doing her best. That was all that mattered to her.
“Lily!” Claire rushed her for a big hug. “You were so great in there.”
“I could never speak in front of a crowd that size,” Maria admitted. “Feed them, yes, but speak coherently in front of them? No. You just stood right up there and made perfect sense the whole time.”
Erin was next in line for a hug. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Lily asked, conscious of JD’s hand on her lower back, his heat behind her. Supporting her but not taking over, just like he’d done at the meeting. She appreciated that so much.
