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“Hah. Do you know how many farmers it will affect? Not to mention their employees. Mr. Cooper would never do something like this, but Hollister is one of those big city CEOs who will do anything to turn a buck.”
“At least the organic farmers won’t be affected since Cooper Industries doesn’t buy from them, anyhow,” Micki Jo contributed.
The reminder didn’t appear to encourage the mayor. Chester lacked real skills to lead a town, but he was honest and kept trying. Most of the council were second-or third-generation members—Chester “Chet” Vittorino’s father had retired from the mayor’s job when he turned seventy, and since a Vittorino had been mayor in Cooperton for the past forty years, Chet had practically gotten the position by default. His real talent was making Italian food at his restaurant; his chicken cacciatore and brick-oven-baked pizza were the best in Northern California.
“The whole thing is a disaster,” Chet declared.
“That’s our mayor,” Hector Rodriguez murmured in Skylar’s ear. “A real source of optimism.”
Chet glared. His management skills sucked, but his hearing was excellent.
Doug Nakama rubbed the side of his face. “My wife works at Cooper. She used to love her job, and now she’s looking for something else. It’s not the pay—she says the whole atmosphere has changed.”
“I’ve heard how unpopular Aaron’s policies are,” Skylar admitted. “My customers are always complaining.”
The mayor perked up. “You call him Aaron? Then you know Mr. Hollister.”
“We went to school together, that’s all.”
“Yeah, but my daughter told me that his sister pals around with your Karin.”
Skylar tensed. She couldn’t afford to have anyone start speculating about her and Aaron...or Karin. “That doesn’t mean I’m friends with Melanie’s brother. In fact, he—”
“But you know him,” Hector interrupted. “That’s a stroke of luck. I admit this news about the local farmers is a worry.”
“I’m worried, too,” Skylar agreed. “But surely the whole thing is a misunderstanding. Cooper Industries has always needed producers from outside our area, in addition to the local farmers, because they don’t grow everything the factory needs.”
“Misunderstanding?” Chet made a disgusted sound. “Want to bet?”
No, Skylar didn’t want to bet. However hopeful she was trying to sound, it seemed exactly like Aaron to abandon the growers around Cooperton—he’d just call it good business.
The mayor called the meeting to order; his perpetually gloomy expression even gloomier than usual.
Aaron’s presentation had been tacked on to the end of the meeting agenda, and he arrived during their midsession break wearing a crisp business suit and carrying two large cases.
“Er...Skylar,” he said, looking startled. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m a member of the city council.” She was pleased to see vague alarm in his brown eyes.
“They elected you?” He made it sound as if the town had elected a common prostitute.
“My husband was a member of the council. When he... Well, the mayor appointed me to fill his slot until the next regular election.”
“I see.” He looked around. “What’s going on? I was told to arrive at seven since you had a full agenda and that I would come last. Surely the meeting didn’t end early.”
“Nope, we’re on a break. Have some coffee. It’s okay, it won’t poison you—I didn’t make it,” she said innocently.
* * *
THERE WAS SOMETHING in Skylar’s tone that made Aaron suspicious, and when he tasted the coffee, he knew why. It was god-awful. Dishwater would have tasted better. Nevertheless, he pretended to enjoy the evil brew; he wouldn’t make friends by complaining about something so trivial.
The meeting was called to order again, and Aaron waited, surreptitiously looking around—the room was in good condition, but there were no signs of audio-visual equipment. Fortunately, he’d brought a computer and equipment of his own for the presentation. All he needed was an electrical outlet and a blank wall to project images onto.
The mayor droned on about various issues. Comments were invited and votes were taken. Over half the seats were filled with “interested” citizens, most of whom seemed bored by the business being handled. More drifted in until the room was full, though the chairs on either side of him remained empty.
Aaron mentally ran through his speech. He’d considered using a folksy approach, but had realized he would be lousy at it. Straightforward was best, though he didn’t want to paint too bleak a picture of how Cooper Industries was doing. That wouldn’t help the situation, either.
“Mr. Hollister is the final item on the agenda, Mr. Mayor,” announced Micki Jo. Apparently she acted as secretary for the city council, as well as the mayor’s office, though she didn’t look old enough to be out of high school.
A rumble came from the assembly, and there was a general shifting of chairs as people sat forward. An ominous sensation went through Aaron.
All of these people had come for his presentation?
How had it gotten around Cooperton so quickly? Even though it was to everyone’s benefit for Cooper Industries to expand, there were bound to be a few folks who didn’t understand, or had environmental concerns, or another ax to grind. He’d hoped to convince the city council before the public heard much about it.
Aaron glanced about and saw an array of unfriendly expressions. Not an auspicious beginning. He stood up. “Mr. Mayor, I just need a moment to set up my equipment,” he said. “I have graphics and other visuals to demonstrate what I want to accomplish.”
The mayor held up a hand. “That won’t be necessary, Mr. Hollister. During the break we decided that Mrs. Gibson is the best council member to determine whether your expansion plans should be approved.”
Skylar jerked upright. “Mr. Mayor, I wasn’t part of any such discussion.”
“We had a sidebar while you were greeting Mr. Hollister.”
“Chet, I’m not—”
“You’ll have a chance to vote on the motion, Skylar.”
“But—”
“I move that Mrs. Gibson handle the matter before us, regarding the approval or rejection of plans to expand Cooper Industries,” interrupted one of the other men.
“I second the motion,” another councilman said hastily.
“Being moved and seconded, all in favor say ‘aye,’” announced the mayor.
A chorus of “ayes” followed, accompanied by an emphatic “no” from Skylar.
“The motion has passed. Mr. Hollister, Mrs. Gibson will be contacting you to discuss your proposal. All business now concluded, I adjourn this meeting.” The mayor rapidly gathered the papers in front of him and smiled genially at the assembled citizens. “Thank you to everyone for coming. It is important for the civic process to have the participation of its citizens.”
A weak round of applause went through the room.
Skylar looked as if she was in shock, and Aaron wasn’t far behind. This was even worse than having an elected council making the decision rather than a professional city planner—Skylar was that “wild Naples girl,” a high-school dropout. She didn’t have the education or background to make such a decision, and she was already pissed at him for telling Melanie he didn’t approve of her going to the hamburger stand. Granted, Skylar was running a successful business now, but that didn’t mean he wanted her having the say over his plans to restore Cooper Industries.
* * *
SKYLAR BOLTED FROM her chair and caught up with Chet and the other councilmen before they’d gotten to the exit.
“Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere,” she warned.
“It’s late, Skylar,” Hector protested. “My dog needs to be walked.”
“And I have a kid at home. Move,” she ordered, pointing toward the back chamber, a windowless room that was mostly used for storing the building’s holiday decorations.
Dragging their feet, they trudged through the door. She flipped the light switch and planted her hands on her hips, staring them down the way she’d stare down a troop of Girl Scouts who’d eaten too much sugar. “All right, I should have known something was up when you put your heads together during the break, but I never suspected this. I don’t have time to deal with Hollister’s expansion plans, or whatever they might be.”
“Whatever they might be? Then you don’t think expanding is what he really wants?” Doug asked uneasily.
“I have no idea, and I have no idea why you threw it in my lap,” Skylar snapped.
“Come on, Skylar, don’t be that way,” Chet placated. “You know him. Besides, you’re the only council member who doesn’t care about getting reelected. You saw how many people showed up to hear Hollister’s presentation—nobody attends our meetings, and look at tonight’s turnout.”
“That’s because you had Micki Jo call around with the news that Aaron Hollister was coming and what he wanted. You were trying to see if it was a political hot potato.”
Chet gave her a duh look he must have learned from his three children. “He’s really unpopular. If we give him what he wants and the town is mad about it, we’ll never get reelected.”
“And if I do it, nobody will eat at the Nibble Nook any longer,” Skylar said furiously. She didn’t actually think it was true, though she might lose a few customers.
“Nobody will stop going to the Nook,” Hector assured. “Your business largely depends on Cooper Industries, so everyone will understand what you decide is based on keeping the company healthy. The town will respect that, but they’ll think the rest of us are getting paid off, especially if jobs are lost. Come on, Skylar, everybody knows you’re not a politician.”
“Guys, surely you don’t believe anyone else will run against you?” she asked as a last-ditch effort. Aside from everything else, she believed the town’s big decisions should be made by more than one person. “Jimmie ran unopposed for his position in both elections. Nobody wants to be on the city council.”
Doug looked at her, shocked. “That isn’t true. Our families have always been on the council. It’s a...a civic duty, but we want voter support. It was when the population increased and we needed another member under the town charter that we added a slot. You have to handle Hollister for us, Skylar. Things are getting tense with what he’s been doing.”
“Yeah, city hall gets daily calls,” Chet muttered. “Everyone thinks he’s violated labor laws or some other regulation with his new policies. They don’t like it when we say another government office handles those questions or suggest they talk to the union.”
A shiver ran up Skylar’s spine. It wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t concerned about Karin. She might... Oh, who was she kidding? Anything to do with Aaron would be a pain. He’d gone from being a cocksure high-school jackass to an arrogant CEO jackass.
“Anyway, it’s been voted on and passed,” Chet said. “Maybe we should have spoken to you before making the motion, but it’s kind of... Well, it was something we all, that is...”
“You mean I would have been outnumbered, even if you’d talked to me ahead of time, so why talk to me?” Skylar said flatly. “The way you didn’t ask when you appointed me to Jimmie’s job?”
Chet at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
“You owe me a large Vittorino’s Italian pizza with the works,” she told him. “Bread sticks, garlic sauce, the whole thing. And that’s just to start.”
“Sure, sure. Absolutely. I’ll even deliver it myself, whenever you want.”
She eyed the rest of them. “And I’ll be thinking of how each of you can make it up to me, as well.”
With a chorus of agreement, they practically ran from the room. Skylar would have thought it was funny if she hadn’t been so annoyed. She stepped into the main room and saw Aaron. Aside from the security guard who was probably in the lobby waiting to lock the front door, he must be the only one left in the building.
“I’ll let you know when I can meet with you, Mr. Hollister,” she said. It wouldn’t hurt to be more formal with him.
“How about right now?”
“How about remembering it’s after nine o’clock and we both have teenagers at home?”
Aaron looked startled. “Oh, yes, of course.”
“I’ll have to arrange a time when I can get an extra employee to cover for me at the stand. Or we can meet after I close. Just not tomorrow.”
“What’s wrong with tomorrow?”
“It’s Friday and I have plans.” Those plans involved getting together with Grace Gibson and finalizing the arrangements for Karin’s birthday party, but Skylar didn’t want Aaron to start thinking about Karin’s birthday. She especially didn’t want him to start counting back and remember when Karin had been conceived.
“Fine,” Aaron said. His teeth were gritted. “Let me know when and where.”
“I will. But don’t expect to show me a slick PowerPoint program and get an instant approval. I’m sure we’ll have several meetings.”
If Aaron was dismayed, he hid it well. “My presentation is more than a slick PowerPoint—it has important information.”
“Oh, I’ll watch it, but even in Cooperton we’ve heard of computers—bells and whistles won’t impress me.” She smiled sweetly. “You’re going to get lots of questions.”
“Uh...yes. I’ll be at your disposal.”
Skylar found that doubtful, but she didn’t have time to think about it. Ever since Jimmie’s accident it had been emotionally challenging to leave her daughter alone for long periods. And it was worse now with Karin being so moody over the baseball play-offs.
“Fine. I’ll contact your office in a few days with a date for our first meeting. Have a good weekend.” She had almost escaped through the door when Aaron cleared his throat.
“Cooperton used to try to accommodate my grandfather,” he said. “But it seems as if everyone is opposed to the idea of Cooper Industries expanding, even though they haven’t heard my ideas. It’s the sort of thing that’s good for a town, so why is it a problem?”
She hesitated, debating what to tell him, then chose cautious honesty. “Your grandfather was concerned about both his company and Cooperton. But no one knows what your priorities are...or what you’d do to protect them.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Is it?”
* * *
AARON WAS ANNOYED as Skylar left; her reply hadn’t made any sense. Maybe he didn’t have George’s commitment to Cooper Industries, but he didn’t hate the company. And he didn’t hate Cooperton. Sure, he didn’t have the greatest childhood memories of the small town, but that didn’t mean he was out to destroy it.
Belatedly he realized he should have walked Skylar to her car and hurried outside in time to see her drive away in the old truck he’d often seen at the Nibble Nook.
Frowning, he headed for home himself. Melanie was sixteen, not six, and leaving her alone wasn’t irresponsible...yet somehow it felt irresponsible, having to be reminded that staying late for a business meeting wasn’t necessarily the best idea.
By Skylar, no less.
Skylar.
Aaron shook his head. As a teenager she’d gotten under his skin with her curvaceous body and wild nature, and now she was still bothering him in other ways.
CHAPTER FOUR
KARIN LAY ON her bed looking at her geometry textbook. Algebra was all right, but this junk about points and lines and angles was so easy it was boring. Still, if she was going to be a great scientist and save lives someday, she’d better pay attention. She wasn’t sure where geometry fit into being a scientist, but it must somehow. After geometry she had to take trigonometry and calculus, which sounded just as dull. She liked chemistry and other science courses the best.
Closing the book, she grabbed her smartphone and dialed Melanie’s number. Honestly, how did anyone survive in the dark ages without cell phones? It must have been awfully primitive.
“Hi,” Mellie answered. “Is your mom still gone?”
“Yeah, she said the meeting would go late.”
“It might be over. Aaron just got home, and he doesn’t look happy.”
“Does he ever look happy?” Karin couldn’t remember a single time when Mellie’s brother wasn’t acting pissed or disapproving.
“Sometimes he isn’t so bad.”
Karin heard the front door open and close. “Mom’s back, too,” she said. “See you tomorrow.” With a hurried “bye” she turned off the smartphone.
Her mother was in the kitchen putting the teakettle on to heat. “Sorry, it took longer than I expected.”
Karin shrugged. “It’s not like I need a babysitter or anything. Mellie told me that her brother was going to the meeting. What did Mr. Hollister want?”
“Just some city council business. You’ll probably hear about it in a few days.”
Uh-oh. Now her mom seemed uptight and not very happy, either. Darn it, anyhow. Karin was glad that Mellie had come to Cooperton and she wouldn’t be here if her brother wasn’t here, too, but why did he have to be so awful? The kids at school were always talking about Aaron because their parents worked at the factory and hated him. Jill Vittorino’s dad was the mayor, and she said that her father was worried that Aaron Hollister might even move the company to another place where they didn’t have to pay workers as much.
“Is everything okay?” she asked cautiously.
“It’s fine. Did you get your homework done?”
“Define done.”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “Stop imitating that actor on Psych or I’m taking your television away until you’re thirty. You know perfectly well what I meant.”
Karin giggled. “It’s done. Even geometry.”
“Good. Parent–teacher conferences are coming up, and I don’t want to be asked why you aren’t doing your assignments.”
Karin laughed again, but an odd thought occurred to her. “What if I was flunking? What would you do?”
“Are you flunking?”
“No, I just wondered. Kids flunk, you know. Susan Lightoller is real smart, but she’s blowing calculus, and everybody knows that Tiffany Baldwin got an F in English last year.”
“From what you’ve said about Tiffany, I’m surprised she isn’t failing all of her classes. It sounds as if she spends most of her time doing her hair and makeup and flirting with boys.”
The kettle whistled and Karin fidgeted as her mom made a cup of tea. “So what would you do if I was getting F’s? Like...ground me or something?”
“I would try to find out why you were failing. There’s a difference between not trying to do the work, and having trouble with it. If you were having trouble, I’d get a tutor to help.”
“And if I was just goofing off?”
“I’d ground you for life. We don’t do things halfway in this family.”
We don’t do things halfway in this family.
Karin gulped. She hadn’t heard that since her dad had died. It was something he used to say when they were having a special load of fun. He’d say something like, “You want a second ice cream cone, don’t you? We don’t do things halfway in this family.” Hearing it now made her feel both sad and good.
“Okay. I’m going to get ready for bed.”
She practically ran to her bedroom, blinking to keep from crying and making her mom cry, too.
* * *
SKYLAR TRACED THE steaming rim of her mug, thinking about the past. At eighteen she’d been determined to raise Karin alone—scared, but determined. Then Jimmie had asked her to marry him, and she’d loved him so much she had finally agreed. Now she was back to doing it alone, with a grieving teenager to boot.
It was awful not knowing how to help Karin. They’d talked with a grief counselor, yet there were times when it seemed as if her daughter was hurting more now than in the first months after losing her father. Maybe it would get better after the pennant race and World Series was over.
And now Aaron was back in Cooperton, complicating matters.
Perhaps she should have explained to Karin why he’d been at the meeting. Her classmates might start talking about it, and they’d soon know her mother was responsible for deciding whether he did or didn’t get approval.
It still astonished Skylar. She would never have guessed the city council was capable of such creative maneuvering; perhaps they were better politicians than she’d thought. Of course, since they couldn’t know the history she shared with Aaron, they’d likely figured it was the best solution all around. Yet it was going to take a huge amount of work to do the thing right—the zoning question alone bothered her. She hated seeing farmland being covered by roads and buildings.
But Chet and the others were right about one thing—a big chunk of the Nibble Nook’s customers were Cooper Industries employees. She might be able to stay in business if the company shut down, but what would the town do? You couldn’t suddenly throw hundreds of people out of work without having a major impact on everyone. The town might not survive, which meant that no matter what she didn’t like about Aaron’s plans for expansion, she’d probably have to give her approval.
At least she hadn’t been the only one blindsided by the city council. The look on Aaron’s face had been priceless, both when he’d realized she was a member, and then when he learned he would have to deal with her to get what he wanted.
Skylar’s tea had long cooled by the time she followed Karin to bed. She still hadn’t decided how she was going to handle Aaron’s proposal. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was anyone else, but their personal history aside, she didn’t have any faith in his concern for anyone except himself.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING Aaron was driving Melanie to school when she cleared her throat.
“Uh...Aaron, Karin and I want to go to the movies tomorrow. There’s a Matt Damon flick playing. The Saturday matinee starts at 12:20 and afterward we thought we’d go for pizza before the baseball game starts. Is that okay?”
Instant refusal hovered on his lips. Aside from Karin Gibson’s mother, he didn’t have anything against the teenager, but Skylar was the problem, along with the general undesirability of his sister hanging out at a place like the Nibble Nook. On the other hand, he didn’t have any reason to think Skylar was still the outrageous troublemaker she used to be.
Aaron thought fast. “Actually, I’d like to spend more time with you and thought we could go to San Francisco tomorrow. It’s close enough for a day trip if we leave early in the morning.”
Melanie’s hopeful smile vanished. “But you’ve been planning to work at the office. You know, I could have gone to the movies without telling you that Karin was going to be there, too. But I asked, just like Mother says I’m supposed to.”
True enough. He ought to be grateful that his sister was being honest. And he was grateful. Taking her for the year had filled him with concern.... What if she got on drugs when she was in his care, or something equally bad, simply because he didn’t know the right thing to say or do? He’d never considered having children, much less how to deal with a teenager, so it was uncharted territory for him.
“Wouldn’t you like to see San Francisco instead?” he urged. “It’s a beautiful place and quite different from other cities you’ve visited like Paris and London. We could eat crab and fresh sourdough bread on Fisherman’s Wharf and get ice cream at Ghirardelli Square. Maybe we would even go out to Alcatraz Island and take a tour of the old prison. They say it’s haunted. You have all those DVDs of that Ghost Hunters television reality show, so I know you’re interested in that sort of thing.”
Melanie shook her head. “I’d rather see a movie with Karin. Please say yes, Aaron. I’ve never had a friend like her before. That’s better than San Francisco.”
Aaron glanced at his sister. Her eyes were wistful, and regret went through him. In one of their arguments Skylar had accused him of not caring about Melanie. He’d reacted angrily, maybe because he knew that it was partly true in the beginning—he had mostly looked out for his sister because it seemed the right thing to do. Now he was growing fond of her, and it was hard to think of her unstable childhood, being sent from one household to another. She had lived in a number of glamorous places, yet she’d never had a real friend.