New Leash on Life(11)

Right behind him was a young woman Chloe had immediately connected with in the last meeting. Andrea Rivers was in her mid-thirties, a smart, quick-witted, and easy-to-talk-to architect who’d been involved with the gentrification of the Bushrod Square area. They gave each other a warm hello, and then Chloe turned to the one she thought of as the undertaker.

Mitchell Easterbrook, owner of Easterbrook Funeral Home, the fifth generation of Easterbrooks to bury the dead, was conservative and staid, which probably served him well in the funeral business, but might not win him over to her plans. He’d take a little wooing.

And speaking of wooing…Chloe felt the burning heat of someone watching her as she worked her way through her greetings. She didn’t need to turn and look to know that Shane had her right on his radar.

Would anyone else pick that up? Had anyone seen her with him that night? The thought was sobering, and she squelched it, fast. She couldn’t get distracted.

She said hello to Jane Gruen, who, along with her husband, owned Bitter Bark Bed & Breakfast, and Jeannie Slattery, with her violent red hair. For the owner of Bitter Bark Body and Mind Spa, Jeannie seemed wound pretty tight. And Jeannie once again had a hard time resisting eye contact with big Mitch the Undertaker. Definitely something going on there.

She greeted Nellie, the librarian, who was as quiet as her workplace and a little mousy, probably a red flag that she was anything but. Finally, Dave Ashland, the large, slightly overweight Realtor who already had his phone out.

And that was nine total, including Aunt Blanche and…Shane. She stole a glance at him, and they locked eyes, his sparking with humor and interest as he took a seat right next to where her laptop was. Of course.

Blanche started things off with some small talk and chitchat. During that, Chloe opened up her computer and checked behind her to see that the connection was still working and her first slide was on the screen.

“You nervous?” Shane whispered under his breath so that only she could hear.

“Should I be?” she replied in the same sotto voce.

“Could be a tough crowd.”

“At least I know who they are.” She slid him an accusatory side-eye.

“You never asked who I was.” He tipped his head. “You merely assumed I was in the back…”

“Fixing beer taps,” she finished for him. “And I kissed you.”

“Imagine what you would have done if you’d known the truth.”

She eyed him. “Is that why you’re here?”

Blanche cleared her throat, bringing their whisper volley to a halt. “And without further ado,” Blanche said, “I’m turning this meeting over to our expert, who assures me she has come up with a strategy and idea that will change our image so that we can compete with the very best tourist towns in North Carolina. Chloe?”

She took a deep breath and pushed her chair back, vaguely aware that her leg brushed Shane’s expensive trousers. She smoothed her skirt and tapped the remote she held in a hand that was surprisingly damp.

“I know you all would very much like to be ‘the next Asheville,’” she started, clicking to her screen that displayed those very words. “But I have a better idea.” Another click showed a big red X over the word Asheville, making someone—she thought it might be the librarian—gasp softly at the heresy of it all.

Baby, just wait.

“There already is an Asheville,” Chloe reminded them. “And it’s arguably one of the most beautiful places in this state.” She let her gaze move from person to person, comfortable in this role that she’d learned at her first marketing agency job right out of college and had perfected during the years she’d been on her own. “But what we need in Bitter Bark is something to differentiate us from all the other sweet little tourist towns tucked into these lovely foothills. All the precious towns in the state. On the entire East Coast. In fact, something that will set us apart from every other tourist destination in the whole country.”

Taking a breath, she got some nods, some exchanged looks, a little skepticism, a lot of interest.

Then she risked a look at Shane and saw something else. Some…heat. It made her stomach do a flip, so she looked away to avoid the response she couldn’t afford when she clicked to the next slide.

“I propose to make Bitter Bark the town known primarily for one thing and one thing only…the unabashed love for and welcome of that one member of the family that inevitably gets left out of every vacation.”

She clicked to a slide of a little puppy with big eyes and a sweet face. It did nothing for her, but the chorus of “awwws” in the room boosted her confidence. She sneaked a look at Shane and noticed his expression had softened somewhat, and included a knowing smile.