Read Online Dandelion Wishes by Melinda Curtis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Melinda Curtis
Ads: Link
same worshipful expression. What was going on here?
Considering Granny Rose’s comments, Emma hadn’t expected much support for the winery. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Will thanked the council and the town for the opportunity to present to them again. His practiced smile elicited sighs from many of the female members of the audience.
Granny Rose scowled. Mayor Larry tugged at the neck of his blue tie-dyed T-shirt and studied the crowd as if gauging their reaction. Twenty years younger than Rose, he’d always been one to follow popular opinion, hence his eight terms in office.
Emma looked to Tracy to see what she thought of Will winning over a gaggle of grandmas.
Tracy blessed her brother with a sisterly eye roll.
Will noticed. His smile dimmed. “Harmony Valley was established in 1851 by a group of forty-niners who hadn’t had much luck panning for gold anywhere else.” Will brought up a faded picture of two bearded gold miners and their pack mules.
A series of faded black-and-white photos depicting the town’s history followed in a slow slideshow on the wall. “Through the years, Harmony Valley has been a trading post, a sheep ranch and eventually was subdivided into smaller family farms, one of which was an outlaw’s hideout.”
“That’d be my great-grandfather Nedderman.” Councilwoman Agnes Villanova was so short she looked like a child sitting at a table of adult councilors. She stretched her short frame pridefully upward until she almost reached Rose’s shoulder. “They called him Big Nose Ned.” She beamed at Will, who proceeded to talk about several slides that looked like eye charts with tiny numbers showing years of neglect to infrastructure, declining tax revenue and negative population growth.
Emma’s eyes glazed. She crossed one leg over the other, bouncing her foot lightly to keep herself awake. The figures Will showed were like Greek to Emma, but his verbal summary was depressing. When had things gotten so bad? She’d known the population had declined significantly, but she hadn’t realized Harmony Valley was on the brink of becoming a ghost town.
Emma shot another glance Tracy’s way, but Tracy was studying the charts with a frown.
“Historically, Harmony Valley has changed in response to the times.” Will worked the audience with eye contact as he paced the space in front of Emma’s pew. For a man who’d made his fortune designing programs for computers, he was surprisingly at ease in front of a crowd. “The stimulus for that change has always been the local economy. When the gold didn’t pan out, ranching took over. When ranching played out, the grain mill opened. And then there was an accident at the grain mill.” Will paused.
Collectively, the town seemed to honor their dead with a moment of silence.
“Now, ladies and gentleman, it’s time for Harmony Valley to make another change—to become an exclusive wine destination.” Will stopped in front of Emma, blocking her view of the presentation.
She stopped her foot from bouncing and craned her neck so she could see around him.
With a click of a button, Will brought up an architect’s rendering of a huge California-style mission dominating a small vineyard. It was as if extraterrestrial missionaries had landed their mother ship. Gone was the hundred-year-old Henderson farmhouse. Gone was the Hendersons’ red barn with its metal corrugated roof. Gone was the quaint, small-town charm of Harmony Valley.
Pews creaked as bodies shifted for a better look. Unintelligible murmurs filled the church like an out-of-sync choir.
Larry rapped the gavel against his palm. “Is that your corporate office or the winery? In either case I don’t want it near my house.”
“I can’t tell what it is.” Mildred squinted at the wall, rotating her head as if trying to focus her thick trifocals.
Next to Mildred, Agnes was frowning.
Rose crossed her arms over her skinny chest. “In this case, young man, size does matter.”
The
Considering Granny Rose’s comments, Emma hadn’t expected much support for the winery. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Will thanked the council and the town for the opportunity to present to them again. His practiced smile elicited sighs from many of the female members of the audience.
Granny Rose scowled. Mayor Larry tugged at the neck of his blue tie-dyed T-shirt and studied the crowd as if gauging their reaction. Twenty years younger than Rose, he’d always been one to follow popular opinion, hence his eight terms in office.
Emma looked to Tracy to see what she thought of Will winning over a gaggle of grandmas.
Tracy blessed her brother with a sisterly eye roll.
Will noticed. His smile dimmed. “Harmony Valley was established in 1851 by a group of forty-niners who hadn’t had much luck panning for gold anywhere else.” Will brought up a faded picture of two bearded gold miners and their pack mules.
A series of faded black-and-white photos depicting the town’s history followed in a slow slideshow on the wall. “Through the years, Harmony Valley has been a trading post, a sheep ranch and eventually was subdivided into smaller family farms, one of which was an outlaw’s hideout.”
“That’d be my great-grandfather Nedderman.” Councilwoman Agnes Villanova was so short she looked like a child sitting at a table of adult councilors. She stretched her short frame pridefully upward until she almost reached Rose’s shoulder. “They called him Big Nose Ned.” She beamed at Will, who proceeded to talk about several slides that looked like eye charts with tiny numbers showing years of neglect to infrastructure, declining tax revenue and negative population growth.
Emma’s eyes glazed. She crossed one leg over the other, bouncing her foot lightly to keep herself awake. The figures Will showed were like Greek to Emma, but his verbal summary was depressing. When had things gotten so bad? She’d known the population had declined significantly, but she hadn’t realized Harmony Valley was on the brink of becoming a ghost town.
Emma shot another glance Tracy’s way, but Tracy was studying the charts with a frown.
“Historically, Harmony Valley has changed in response to the times.” Will worked the audience with eye contact as he paced the space in front of Emma’s pew. For a man who’d made his fortune designing programs for computers, he was surprisingly at ease in front of a crowd. “The stimulus for that change has always been the local economy. When the gold didn’t pan out, ranching took over. When ranching played out, the grain mill opened. And then there was an accident at the grain mill.” Will paused.
Collectively, the town seemed to honor their dead with a moment of silence.
“Now, ladies and gentleman, it’s time for Harmony Valley to make another change—to become an exclusive wine destination.” Will stopped in front of Emma, blocking her view of the presentation.
She stopped her foot from bouncing and craned her neck so she could see around him.
With a click of a button, Will brought up an architect’s rendering of a huge California-style mission dominating a small vineyard. It was as if extraterrestrial missionaries had landed their mother ship. Gone was the hundred-year-old Henderson farmhouse. Gone was the Hendersons’ red barn with its metal corrugated roof. Gone was the quaint, small-town charm of Harmony Valley.
Pews creaked as bodies shifted for a better look. Unintelligible murmurs filled the church like an out-of-sync choir.
Larry rapped the gavel against his palm. “Is that your corporate office or the winery? In either case I don’t want it near my house.”
“I can’t tell what it is.” Mildred squinted at the wall, rotating her head as if trying to focus her thick trifocals.
Next to Mildred, Agnes was frowning.
Rose crossed her arms over her skinny chest. “In this case, young man, size does matter.”
The
Similar Books
