It shouldn’t have come together so fast. Not given the state downtown was in that morning. But by the time the news van pulled up late that afternoon, every business downtown had at least one fresh coat of paint, windows sparkled, displays had been updated, and the concrete planters had been set in intervals along Main Street, a pop of color that tied in with the new hanging baskets mounted on all the light poles. Teams were working on getting up new awnings as the reporter climbed out.
Norah appeared from somewhere, managing to look polished and put together in her jeans and camp shirt, despite the paint liberally streaking her legs. She shook hands with the reporter and launched into an animated explanation of what was going on, gesturing to various businesses along Main Street.
His mother stepped up to join him.
“Hey.” Cam pulled her in for a one armed hug. “I haven’t seen you all day.”
“I’ve been recovering the booths at Dinner Belles. They’re a bit harder than the dining room chairs I did last year, but they came together.”
“It seems everything’s coming together. In more ways than one.”
She looked around in satisfaction. “This is amazing. I haven’t seen this kind of community spirit and unity in years. It’s all because of you and Norah.”
“We make a good team.” Cam turned his gaze back to where she stood with the reporter. “But none of this wo
uld’ve happened without her. She single-handedly brought in a freaking army. Just by asking.”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes, for someone to have the courage to ask. She’s not afraid to do that. She doesn’t expect everyone to jump at the snap of her fingers, and she’s not…entitled like her father, but she’s not afraid to ask because she knows her mind and she knows her worth. I hope you know it, too.”
“I’ve been counting my blessings since the day she walked into my life.”
“Good.” Leaning up to press her cheek to his, she said, “In case nobody else has said it, thanks for taking the hard stance on this GrandGoods thing, baby. It’s what needed to be done.”
“For the first time, I’m starting to believe that with Norah’s help, it just might be enough.”
Chapter 15
“Valentine’s Day may be over, but love is still in the air here in the tiny town of Wishful. Residents and volunteers gathered today to give downtown some much needed TLC. I’m here with Norah Burke, public relations chairwoman of the citizen’s coalition behind the project. Can you tell us a little about what’s going on here?”
Norah leaned forward from the sofa, her hand clamped around Cam’s as she and the rest of the Campbells watched the interview on the ten o’clock news. The station played the whole thing, unedited, as she succinctly explained the origins of the coalition, the threat to their small town way of life, and their hope of reminding the people of what’s really important. She came off charming, erudite, and welcoming, finishing up with an invite to everyone in the viewing area to come by and see what they’d been missing. The camera cut from her to a sequence of shots showing updates in progress or finished, before panning back to the green and the cookout, where the reporter remarked about the outpouring of support from the community for the volunteers. That observation was backed up by a half dozen one liners of gratitude from said volunteers, capped off by Chelsea Patterson, who said “From the moment we arrived, they made us feel like we were home.”
“There you have it. The restoration of this little slice of Southern Americana, where visitors will find friendly faces and a touch of home. And, if they’re lucky, a little romance in the process.” This last was accompanied by a zoom in on Cam, who’d surprised Norah with a deep dip and an enthusiastic kiss to celebrate the success of the day. She hadn’t realized they’d still been filming. “I’m Deanna Fossett, WTVA News. Back to you, Cathy.”
Norah leapt off the couch executed a victory boogie around the den. “Yes. Yes! You cannot buy coverage like that.”
“The camera loves you,” Cam remarked.
She waved that off. “You’re biased. But tying Wishful to the idea that it feels like home. Genius. People love that. God bless, Chelsea. I would absolutely hire that girl if I could.”
“Why don’t you?” Aunt Liz asked.
“Well, aside from the fact that she hasn’t graduated yet and isn’t actually looking for a job, I’m not being paid myself, so I would have nothing to pay her, even if she did want to come work for me.”
“You don’t right now, but you could. Did you ever consider opening your own firm?”
“That would require a lot of capital, a lot of risk for not very good odds of success. Under the best of circumstances the majority of small businesses fail within two years. These aren’t the best of circumstances. A town of five thousand doesn’t have a lot of need for what I do.”
“I think the last couple of months have proven that to the contrary.” Cam snagged her hand and tugged her into his lap.
Exhausted, she tumbled into it, snuggling in and sliding an arm around his shoulders so she could finger the fine hair at his nape. She could go to sleep right here…
Norah realized in the expectant pause that she was supposed to respond and worked to keep her brain online for just a little longer. “I’ve done good work for the coalition, but that’s not a paying job, nor is it going to turn into one, unfortunately. The city can’t afford to hire me, even if they were inclined to create a new position. I’ve seen your books. The budget’s an absolute mess, and I don’t know who’s doing the accounting, but I think they’re dyslexic because there are a lot of discrepancies in the numbers I saw.”
“Wait, what?” Cam stopped stroking her back.
“In those city records I analyzed for the last decade, the numbers are all kinds of wonky. I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seemed. I’m not an accountant, after all, and I didn’t dig all that deep. But really, y’all should look into proper accounting software to keep up with stuff. All those paper ledgers leave so much room for error.”
“I’ll have a word with the comptroller,” Sandra said. “That’s something that I admit I let slide without enough oversight during my treatment.”