New Leash on Life(13)

After a moment, the room grew silent again, all eyes on a woman who…had a pair. And Shane didn’t mean the lovely breasts he was sneaking peeks at. Sure, she had big brown eyes and an angel’s face and pouty lips that tasted like cotton candy. But that was only packaging. Chloe Somerset was no pushover and, whoa, he liked that in a woman.

It would make sex all that much sweeter.

She crossed her arms and started walking around the room as she talked, a technique that forced their gazes to follow her and one he’d learned years ago when he cleaned up in law school mock trials.

“When I heard there was a world-class dog training facility here,” she said with a slight nod to Shane, “I admit that’s where I got the idea.”

Credit to him, he noted.

“And from there, the ideas rolled. There is no town in America like this, nowhere that could attract families for fun and activities that also includes this very key member of so many families in our country. Hear me out.”

Back at her computer, she clicked to the next slide, one that he was quite familiar with: dog ownership in the United States.

“Over seventy million dogs in this country. Thirty-seven percent of homes have at least one, many have two dogs or more. Services for dogs are growing at an astronomical rate. And look at this.” She clicked again and literally buried them in statistics he already knew.

Before they could breathe, she moved to the next set of statistics: family vacations. She obviously knew her stuff, snapping slide after slide and making her argument with such skill, he could practically feel the room shift in her favor. How many families would take a vacation to a new place if they were comfortable bringing the dog?

And, she added, celebrating the dog. “Because Better Bark won’t just be dog-friendly,” she added. “We’ll be dog-focused.”

She flashed picture after doctored-up picture of local businesses in the new section of town, all of the signs changed from Bitter Bark to Better Bark. She’d used photo-altering software to show where there could be “dog resting” stations, changes to the local parks, and even special “leave your leash” poles.

“Just think of the possibilities,” she said with infectious enthusiasm. “Nothing brings in families like festivals and events. The towns you all want to emulate, like Asheville and Boone and Blowing Rock, all have jazz concerts, art festivals, 10Ks, and wine tastings. I’m proposing a year-round calendar of special events that all—every single one—have an emphasis on the universal love of dogs.”

“Like a pooping contest in Bushrod Square?” Jeannie pushed back a lock of fake red hair, and most of the table, including Shane, shot her a look of disgust.

But cool-as-a-cucumber Chloe barely flinched.

Instead, she clicked to a slide of a giant twelve-month calendar, a different event highlighted in each month.

“The Better Bark Dog Show that’s a sort of mini-Westminster,” she said, gesturing to the slide. “Then we’ll have a Bark in the Park art festival that features paintings, sculptures, and artwork of dogs. There will be Woofstock, our outdoor doggie concert. We’ve got the Doggie Olympics, a Bow Wow Beauty Contest, a 10K Run for the Rescues, and…” She pointed to December. “Santa Paws, a special adoption day just in time to have a new face in the family photo on Christmas morning.”

Shane felt his jaw drop a little. This was friggin’ brilliant. Every single person at Waterford Farm would love this…along with every single dog.

“Who’s going to pay for all this?” Ned, the news guy, demanded.

“Sponsors like pet-supply makers and pet superstores and tourists.” Chloe tilted her head as if that were obvious. “Lots and lots and lots of tourists.”

“It’s too much,” the always-fun undertaker, Mitch, groaned. “A little dog thing, okay, one annual event. Anything else is going to alienate the people who don’t like dogs.”

“Then let them go to Asheville or Boone,” Chloe replied. “If we only get the families who have dogs to bring on vacation, we’ll have more tourism business than we can handle.”

So deft, using the corporate we, Shane thought. And she was right.

“I believe in this idea.” Chloe leaned her fingertips on the table and stared Mitch in the eye. “I have created and run many successful tourism campaigns, and I know what builds visitors. This will work. I absolutely guarantee it.”

Before they could respond to that declaration, she clicked to the next slide, this one detailing a national publicity campaign that included every imaginable form of media and how they would cover the story of a town so devoted to dogs that it changed its name.