Holiday Reunion (Hollyberry Harbor #1)

Chapter 2

TWO

James shuffled his feet against the linoleum floor as Sarah continued to push him toward the door. “If you send me packing, you’ll be making the biggest mistake of your life.”

She stopped and he turned to face her. Sarah’s face was flushed but whether from exertion or fury, he couldn’t be certain. “Is that a threat?”

“Of course not.” He brushed off the front of his suit then gave her his most disarming smile. “The fact of the matter is, you’re just stubborn. You need someone to show you the way, so you don’t get left behind.”

Sarah huffed.

“I’ve seen it too many times. Places like this one fail. They get old and run-down. And if they’re not saved soon enough, they become one of those TV specials about abandoned towns.”

“Hollyberry Harbor will never become an abandoned ghost town,” she snapped. “We’re doing just fine.”

“Sure, Hollyberry Harbor might not, but Lake Harbor is on the edge of town. People have stopped coming out here unless they want to go fishing. They don’t even come out here for the view anymore. The human race is generally lazy. Why would they want to walk down the street where old historic buildings used to be the hot spot, when they’re content with the more modern shopping available in the heart of town?”

She shifted her weight. He saw she was starting to come around. One more signature. That was all he needed, and his company would have sealed the deal. They were already going to break ground on the other end of the road, but he wanted to prioritize the businesses that were still in operation. But then just like that, Sarah’s consideration faltered. Her eyes darkened and she shook her head vehemently. “Not going to happen.” She moved to push him out the door again, but he dug in his heels.

“I’d rather your bakery not fail, Sarah. But if that would happen, then my company would just swoop in and take it anyway—turning it into something unrecognizable. Right now, you’d still get to have a lot of say over what it would be. I wouldn’t dream of making this offer to anyone else. I like your fire. That’s what sets you apart.”

“Thank you for your offer, I simply don’t have any desire to work with a traitor who would leave the town he thought boring only to come back and try to change what it was at its core.”

He shook his head, his smile waning. “The thing is, I’ve run the numbers. It’s what I’m good at. If you don’t take this deal, I guarantee you’re going to regret it.”

Her nostrils flared. “Is that a threat,” she seethed.

“I wouldn’t dare threaten you,” he said with a slight bite to his tone. This whole exchange was supposed to be a slam dunk. He’d finally gotten his board to approve the deal he offered her. Why couldn’t she see he was giving her a blank check and all she had to do was agree to a few stipulations when it came to updating her business model? This was supposed to be a win-win situation. “I’m merely pointing out you’re on your last leg. You have quite a bit to consider. If your bakery was to go under, then what would that do to your only employee? What about your father?”

Sarah’s eyes flew wide and she pushed around him to open the door. “ Leave . Now.”

When he didn’t move right away, she grabbed his brief case and made a movement to indicate her intentions of throwing it out into the snow. “Wait!” He hurried forward and retrieved it. “Do you have any idea how much this is worth?”

She leaned closer to him. “I want to make something incredibly clear. I don’t approve of what you’re doing to my hometown. I think you’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And I will never let you handle anything when it comes to my bakery. I’d rather die than give you an inch of power.”

Before he could say something equally ominous, they were interrupted by the sound of boots crunching on the snow.

Sarah’s eyes darted over his shoulder and then she smiled widely. Her voice shifted dramatically from a predatory growl to sweeter than molasses. “Mayor Potter! What are you doing up this early?”

“Miss Winters, good morning.” The man returned her smile, his gaze shifting from Sarah to James. “Well, what do you know! I was going to have my assistant call the two of you into my office later today. I have a proposition for the both of you.”

James didn’t miss the dark shadow that crossed over Sarah’s features. At this point, he’d relish seeing her squirm. Clearly, she didn’t want to get on the mayor’s bad side. James nodded. “Well, it looks like we can have our meeting right here. What can I do for you?”

Sarah pushed away from the door and all but elbowed James in the side. “What can we do for you?”

“As you both are likely aware, the Christmas Festival is coming up in about two weeks. Ms. Farnsworth recently had a family emergency and she will be unable to put it together in the square this year. So I thought we could have the festival here at Lake Harbor.”

Sarah brightened immediately. “That’s a wonderful idea. Who did you have in mind to plan the event?”

Mayor Potter glanced from Sarah to James uncertainly.

James placed an arm around Sarah’s shoulders. “That’s why he’s calling this meeting.”

Initially, Sarah squirmed beneath his touch but then she froze, and her wide eyes found the Mayor’s. “You want us to plan the festival? Together.”

Mayor Potter grinned widely. “Isn’t it a marvelous idea? I’ve been kept appraised of James’s plans for rejuvenating this place and I have to say, I’ve been very impressed. Seeing as you’re the only business left who hasn’t joined his project, I thought it would be best to include both owners from the strip. Let’s show the community what they can expect from Lake Harbor Ave in the new year.”

Sarah didn’t speak after that. James gave her plenty of time to back out and tell the mayor she didn’t have time or make some other nonsensical excuse. But when she didn’t utter a single sound, he had to do something to take the attention off of her.

“Like Sarah said, I think it’s a great idea. We can get the new vendors out here with booths and I’ll have a small map drawn up with all the shops that will be here after the new year. I might even be able to have my team draw up an illustration for this place.”

“Sounds fantastic. You can reach out to my secretary. We have funds set aside for the festival as well as a lot of decorations in storage. If you call my office by the end of the day, I’m sure we can get the Parks and Rec boys to pull out the tree we use every year.”

“That won’t be necessary,” James assured him. “If we’re going to do this right, I’d like to donate a real tree. I’ll talk to the local arborists and find out where I can procure one. If you’ll have your guys dig out the decorations, then by tomorrow afternoon, we should be able to start stringing up lights.”

The mayor looked even more pleased than he had when he’d bumped into them. “You’re a good man, Mr. Stetson.” He clapped his hand on James’s shoulder then headed off in the direction he’d been taking when he’d bumped into them.

Sarah spun to face James the second they were out of the mayor’s earshot. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“You just agreed to doing the festival.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I don’t know if I have time to commit to something like that. I’m barely keeping my head above water as it is.”

He patted his briefcase. “That’s why I’m making my offer. It’s still on the table, you know. All you have to do is sign on the dotted line and by the end of the workday, I’ll have all the bills paid off.”

She let out a growl. “Will you just drop it? I’m not going to agree to anything.”

“Not even the Christmas festival?”

Sara groaned and dragged a hand down her face. “Clearly I can’t back out of that.”

“I don’t see why not.”

Her sharp stare would have pierced the heart of a lesser man. She spoke through gritted teeth. “I can’t let you do it by yourself or you’re just going to mess he whole thing up. What don’t you understand about the fact that you can’t just come dancing into town expecting everyone to fall at your feet and praise you for tearing down our traditions? Our history?”

James snorted. “I’m not trying to destroy this town’s history.”

“You could have fooled me.” She folded her arms and glowered at him. “I’m not going to sit by while you try to pretend to be a hero when you so clearly are the furthest thing from it. We need to preserve what this harbor was when we were children.”

He made a face. “There are so many better ways of doing things?—”

“And that’s the reason why I’m not letting you do this alone.” She spun around and stormed inside her bakery, leaving him out in the cold winter morning.