She folded her arms, allowing Lindy to move freely in front of us. “A swimming platform sounds decent, but how am I going to get moved?”
“Leave that to me. I’ll set up the new campground and get you moved.”
The cat was joined by a friend. I wondered how many other animals lived in the hollowed out engines and trunks.
“And my neighbors? Arnie and Karen? There are a few others who are year-round residents like me.”
She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. I knew Shawna was a young woman, but there were lines around her eyes, and the smudged mascara running around her lids made her look tired and older than she was.
“I have enough room for ten spots. I can’t get permits for more than that. You are on the top of the list.”
“Only ten? But what if more people want to move?” She was trying to hold Lindy back from chasing one of the cats. She glared at her daughter to stand still.
“Shawna, I have a team of people who can help them find new lots for their campers. I can help ten of you right here. What do you say? Are you interested?”
I knew the lot was small, and I wasn’t going to be able to move everyone, but they weren’t all in Shawn’s situation. She needed a place she could afford so that Lindy could continue to live on the island and go to school. Most of the other residents stayed for four or five months out of the year. The snowbirds only resided at the Cove during the winter. Those weren’t the people causing my PR nightmare. This woman and the cute little girl were.
“All right. We’ll move.” She bent down so she was squatting next to Lindy. The girl was about to snatch the tail of a striped kitty. “What do you think, Lindy? Would you like to move here?”
She nodded. “Can we have the kitties?”
I laughed. “That’s up to your mother.” I began to walk back to my car.
Shawna stood. “Thank you, Mason.”
“I’m glad it’s going to work out.” I drove toward the Palm, leaving the mother to survey her new home.
14
Sydney
“Well done on the feature piece,” Alice smiled as she passed by my cubicle. She was on her way back from the break room. A cup of coffee in her hand.
“Thank you. I’ve had a lot of feedback from my Twitter followers.”
“I’m starting to think you’re more of a feature writer. First the Lachlan piece and now this look at the mother and her daughter. You have a flare that’s starting to show.”
I was glad she could finally see the real strengths in my writing, but it still wasn’t the right time to admit I wasn’t a business expert. We both knew it.
“Keep it up, Paige.”
“Alice?”
She turned. “Yeah, what is it?”
“I have the notes from Commissioner Rodriguez’s press conference. But since you mentioned the feature angles, I was wondering what you thought about me focusing on her.”
Alice set the coffee on the edge of my desk. This was the longest amount of time she had spent at my desk. The first time I met the editor was over a Skype interview. My immediate reaction was she looked tired. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her short blond hair was patched with streaks of gray.
“Are you talking a political story for the election?”
I shook my head. “No, something about why she’s an environmentalist. How is she so connected to these groups? Where does she find them?”
“Hmm. Doesn’t sound very interesting to me.”
“But she’s the only one on the board who is anti-development.”
“Paige, if you find something new and interesting then let me know. In the meantime, I need the name of the contractor starting work on the resort. We are a business journal. A contract like that is going to impact this area.”
My stomach rolled. I knew Mason had narrowed the search to two companies. He had met with both of them in San Antonio. He had purposely kept me from the information. My eyes narrowed. He kept me distracted from a lot of things.
She strolled into her office, closing the door behind her. I could see Alice from where I sat. There was a glass window separating the editor from the pods of cubicles in the center of the room.
I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I wasn’t going to find out the names of the contractors by sitting here. I headed out of the office.
My steering wheel was hot. The seats were hot. Everything in Texas was hot. I waited for the air conditioning to switch from blasts of heated air to something resembling cool before I headed to City Hall. My hope was that whichever contractor had been awarded the bid had already submitted their information to my new friend in the development office.