Page 23 of The Library of Second Chances
“I will. He and Jennifer are visiting for Labor Day, so I’m sure you’ll see them then.”
Lucy heard the beeps indicating the coffee was finished. Standing, she asked the mayor, “Cream? Sugar?”
“A little of both, please.”
“You got it. Be right back.”
Once she’d returned with their coffees, her curiosity got the best of her. “So what can I do for you, Mayor?”
“I wanted to talk to you about Logan Lancaster.”
Remembering how jealous she’d been when Missy placed her hand on his arm that morning at the flower shop, Lucy busied herself with stirring her coffee.
“Mm-hmm.” She took a long sip. “What about him?”
“He says you’ve spoken already. That you had some good ideas he’s going to try to incorporate.”
“Did he also tell you he wants to bring in cruise ships and gambling boats?”
“Yes, those have been mentioned. They’re not the worst ideas I’ve heard. At least it wouldn’t be a giant development on the waterfront, right?”
“They’re still not great ideas.” She set her coffee on the table between their chairs. “Have you run it by Helen yet?” Lucy was sure Helen would be on her side on this.
The mayor held up his hands in surrender. “That’s why I’m here. There are a lot of ideas on the table, and they all have pros and cons. I want to do what we should have done the first time around. I want to hold a series of community forums where we can all discuss these ideas and find the best solution. This isn’t just a council decision; it’s a community decision.”
Lucy crossed one leg over the other and looked out across the bookstore. As much as she wanted everything to remain the same, she knew that now the town had engaged Logan they were going to move forward with some sort of plan for the waterfront. At least this time they wanted to involve everyone in the decision.
“Well, you know I’ll be there. I’m sure a lot of people will want to be involved in the process, but with so many opinions, how will we ever reach a consensus?”
“That’s why I’m here.” The mayor put his mug down on the table. “I want you to lead the community forums”—he glanced away and cleared his throat—“with Logan. The two of you would decide the topics for each meeting, contact any outside experts you want to bring in, that sort of thing. He’ll represent the council and you’ll represent the community. That way it’s fair and balanced.”
“I’m not sure I’m the right person.” These meetings were too important for her to lead. She’d thrown every argument she had at Logan out on the docks the day before, and if his talk with Missy was any indication, he was still forging ahead with the cruise ship idea. She didn’t know how to fight someone like him. “You should ask Helen to do it.” Helen was one of the most noted people in her field. She’d probably come up against people like Logan her entire career.
“Helen has to present some kind of groundbreaking research at a conference next month and said she’ll be working around the clock until then out in California with another researcher. She promised others from her group will be at the meetings, and she’s emailing you info on her experts. She agreed with me that it should be you.”
Lucy didn’t feel any more confident. “There must be someone else. I don’t think I could bear it if I failed. We’re talking about the future of our entire town.” She racked her brain for someone better suited to the job.
The mayor leaned toward her. “Lucy, I don’t think this is a life-or-death situation. Do you really think I would sit by and watch the town be destroyed? We’re just talking about a little progress. Look at this building you’re in.” He motioned around the room. “It wasn’t one of the original buildings on Main Street. It came thirty years after the ones closer to the water. And now you can’t imagine it not being here, right? Change can feel like the end of something we love just the way it is, but what if it’s the start of something even greater?”
She frowned. “You saw the previous plans. Can you seriously compare those monstrosities they wanted to build to this building?” She looked up at the tin ceiling, each tile stamped with delicate designs that looked like flowers growing on vines.
“No.” The mayor’s voice was gentler now. “But that’s why we brought Logan in. Did you know he minored in historic preservation?”
“Yes, he mentioned that. Then just minutes later he suggested trucking giant ships through the channel. Are we just going to overturn the ninety-foot limit we’ve had on boats coming into the marina and start dredging?” She shook her arm toward the marina on the other end of downtown. She understood why on paper the mayor might think Logan was the right man for the job, but he clearly wasn’t. “I did a little research, and even the smallest cruise ships are more than three hundred feet long.”
“Clearly you’re opposed to that direction. And that’s fine. You and everyone else will have your chance to voice those opinions at the community forums. Even more reason for you to lead them with Logan.”
She thought then of the last passage from the book.
“This is your life. And it’s not going to begin again. You can’t change the past, but in five seconds you can change your future.”
Lucy felt torn. Of course, she wanted to be part of the discussion and ensure that cruise ships stayed away from Heron Isle. But what if she failed? Then she’d have to spend the rest of her life watching those ships pull into port, knowing it was her fault they were there, because she wasn’t strong enough or smart enough to stop them.
She fingered the tiny anchor pendant on the delicate chain around her neck, flipping it back and forth. Her dad had given her the necklace for her eighteenth birthday, shortly before she left for college, to remind her to always have a strong anchor and stand for the things she believed in. Then she remembered the book again.
Five seconds of hesitation. That was all the book said it takes for your brain to stop you. Maybe the author was on to something after all.
“You know what? I’ll do it,” Lucy said, noting the look of surprise on the mayor’s face. Obviously, he’d thought she’d be a tougher sell.
