“The same place you’ve been putting the rest of them.” She turned back toward the stairs.
“That’s not the right attitude for this job,” he called after her.
“I know,” Agnes answered with a smile.
The smile was still on her face when she made it back to the bar.
“What did you do?” Dougal demanded after taking one look at her.
“Let’s just say, Mr. Thompson shouldn’t be calling for more toilet paper any time soon. Now, I’m going to take a five-minute break, okay?” It was the first break she’d asked for since coming to work for him.
“Okay, Agnes,” Dougal said gently.
She nodded, then made her way back to the table. “Is this a good time?” she asked.
“As good as any,” Mitch said. “Pull up a chair.”
But there were no chairs to pull up—the room was packed. “It’s okay. I can stand. This won’t take long. So, this is what I have. Right now, we can’t attract businesses to town because there aren’t enough people here to act as a marketplace for them. Also, we’re too far from the main centers to make transporting goods a cost-effective option for any manufacturers that might like to take advantage of our low property prices. And ideas like the conference center will bring money into the town for short periods, but won’t increase local industry in the long term.”
Plus, she wasn’t even sure people would want to come to Invertary for a conference, especially when the town didn’t have the infrastructure to support them.
“That’s a good summary of the current state of things,” Caroline said, eyeing Agnes with serious interest. “So what’s your solution?”
Oh, Agnes liked Caroline. “We need to attract businesses that work local and sell international. Producers who’ll spend locally and invest in the community but won’t rely on it for their income. Which means we need small businesses, most likely crafters, who sell on the internet.”
They were nodding, and she took that as encouragement, while also being aware the clock was ticking on her time and she really didn’t want to go over it.
“What I want to do is open a communal business center. The idea would be to rent out space to these small businesses while providing resources that would be too costly for them to justify on their own. Things like a welding room, or a kiln room—things they could rent, instead of forking out money to set up everything themselves. We’d provide the facilities, the business support, and the equipment. And they’d run their businesses online, bringing money and an injection of new talent into town, as well as spreading the word about Invertary internationally. Plus, the hope would be that each business would bring new families into town, growing the schools and providing more customers for local shops.” She smiled. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
Six pairs of eyes stared at her, and she found it hard to breathe.
“I think,” Caroline said at last, “that we need you on the town council.”
“I’ll help with your business plan,” Mitch said. “Come see me Monday, and we’ll bash it out.”
Josh shrugged. “I’d give you my money.”
“It’s a good idea,” Jodie said, studying her. “What else have you got?”
“Quite a bit, actually.” Agnes said. “I grew up poor in a tiny town. I was always looking for ways to make money and noticing gaps where the town could have helped me do it. You could say I’ve been thinking about this my whole life.” She glanced over her shoulder at Dougal, who for once wasn’t frowning at her but smiling. “But right now, I need to work. Thanks for listening. I’ll definitely be in touch about the help with a business plan,” she told Mitch.
“Monday evening,” Caroline said. “There’s a private council meeting at the castle. Are you free to attend? I think it would be good for everyone to hear your ideas.”
“Yes,” Agnes said. “Yes, I’ll be there.”
And, with a skip in her step, she headed off to see what else she could do to help Dougal.
Chapter 23
Logan opened his front door as soon as he heard Dougal’s car pull up, just past midnight, and leaned on the doorjamb to wait for Agnes. He liked that she hadn’t wanted to leave Dougal in the lurch after he’d said he needed her help, but if the man had upset her again, he was going to kick his arse. Although considering their age gap, that would hardly be a fair fight. He’d get his mother to do it instead.
To his surprise, she gave Dougal a cheery, if somewhat tired, wave goodbye as she walked away from the car. He cocked his head and studied her. She looked…happy. No, more than that, she looked like a huge weight had been lifted from her and she was floating now. Her smile glowed as she came up the path toward him.
“Good night?” he asked, stepping aside to let her in out of the cold.
“The best.” She surprised him again by going on tiptoe and pressing the sweetest kiss to his lips.
“Have you been drinking?” he teased.