Page 20 of Who Says You Can’t Go Home?

“Thank you, Kylie. I’m Pete by the way,” Town Hall Guy said. “And this is Steve. It’s a good suggestion.”

The two men put their heads together and started throwing ideas back and forth furiously. She took that as her cue to leave and went back to putting a box of new books away on the shelves. A few minutes later, the bell above the door rang, and Derek came in.

She ducked behind the low shelves, not wanting to face him.

“I got your text,” he said to Pete. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t want to see the disdain on Derek’s face when he heard about her party idea, so she stayed hidden while Pete explained it.

“It’s a good idea,” Derek said. “But not everyone in town is going to be up for a barn dance. We need to get as many people together as possible.”

Another idea struck Kylie, and she stood up before thinking it through. “What about a fair?”

Derek’s eyebrows shot up. “A fair? Like with rides and stuff?”

“Well maybe not that big,” she said, the wheels in her brain moving just ahead of the words coming out of her mouth. “You could use the football field like we do for the Canada Day celebrations. Maybe not rides, but bouncy castles or face painting for the kids, carnival games, food, and a band that plays older music for the retirees. It would be one big event with a draw for almost everyone in the town. And then, before the fireworks or whatever, you get your scientist to make a speech about the water treatment plant.”

“You sound really invested in this,” Derek said.

She could hear the undercurrent as well though,For an out-of-towner.

“Apparently she used to do this kind of thing for a living,” Steve said.

“We could do it on Victoria Day Weekend, right before the final council vote,” Pete said.

Derek crossed his arms. “This sounds like a logistical nightmare. Who has time to put this together in two weeks?”

Something welled up in her. This was her chance to be responsible, to show Brad she really was fit to handle a big job.

“I do,” she said before she let herself overthink what working with Derek would mean.

“You?” His eyebrows shot up. “You want to take this on? This is really important, Kylie. It has to work.”

“I get it. You don’t really have a reason to trust me. But please, believe me. I can do this. Let me help.”

He consulted the two men sitting across the table from him. Both nodded earnestly.

“Okay then.” He scowled. “Welcome to the team I guess.”

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