Read Online Redemption Bay (Haven Point Book 2) (Contemporary Romance) by RaeAnne Thayne - Free Book Online Page A

didn’t you say anything, Mom?” Sam demanded.
    “I just said, I didn’t believe it. What’s the point of passing along gossip without a shred of proof?” she said. McKenzie almost rolled her eyes. Linda delighted in sharing any tidbit she heard and rarely bothered to authenticate any of it.
    “It seemed impossible to me and that’s what I told Betty. How can he dare show his face here after what he’s done to this town?” Linda glowered.
    “I’ll admit I was pretty surprised, too, when he sauntered into the diner this morning like the cock of the walk.”
    “Oh, he was always such a polite boy,” Hazel exclaimed. “And so handsome. Remember how handsome he was, Eppie?”
    Eppie beamed. “Oh, yes. I remember, with those brooding blue eyes. Like a young Paul Newman in
From the Terrace
.”
    “Oooh, I loved that movie,” her sister exclaimed.
    “Is he still as handsome, Mayor?” Eppie asked.
    “Well, yes, Eppie dear. But that’s not the point.”
    “What does he want?” Linda Fremont demanded. “Let me guess. He and Aidan are going to raze the whole downtown and build a golf course.”
    “What?” Hazel exclaimed. “That’s not right! We don’t need a golf course! Shelter Springs already has one. That would be just plain crazy!”
    “We could take up golf next, Hazel,” Eppie protested. “I think it would be fun.”
    Okay, she dearly loved all these women and they had been amazingly sweet to her over the years but sometimes during these meetings, McKenzie felt as if she was trying to grab hold of a whole herd of greased piglets.
    Did piglets run in herds?
    She pushed away the stupid random thought. “Nobody is building a golf course, I promise. Look, our time is limited here. Lindy-Grace and I have a busy Saturday ahead of us and I know the rest of you do, too. Let’s try to stay focused so we can all get back to it. The truth is, as much as I would like to, I can’t tell you exactly what Ben is doing here—I don’t know specifics anyway and he’s asked me to keep what little I
do
know to myself.”
    “Then what’s the point of calling a meeting if you’re going to be Miss Locked Lips?” Marie demanded.
    “The truth is, I need your help. I know you all love Haven Point as much as I do. None of us is happy about what’s happened here the last five years. This has been a dark time for us.”
    Because of what she intended to ask, she was careful not to remind them the town had suffered mostly because Ben had ignored his responsibilities and let the downtown fall into disrepair.
    “This is our chance to turn things around,” she went on. “Aidan and Ben are considering something that might improve things around here. That’s all I can say about it right now. Trust me, this would be very good for us.”
    “What do you need us to do?” Ever wise, her friend Julia Winston, one of the librarians at the Haven Point library, struck to the heart of the matter.
    She sighed, looking around the assembly of her dearest friends. “This is difficult for me to ask. I know how you all feel about Ben. I share your feelings, believe me.”
    “You mean, you think he’s hotter than a billy goat with a blowtorch?” Hazel asked.
    Eppie laughed and so did just about everybody else in the room, even Devin. McKenzie felt her face heat, finding it extremely difficult to be appropriately mayoral and dignified around this crowd.
    “Okay, first of all, how hot can a billy goat with a blowtorch really get? And why does he have a blowtorch in the first place? But that’s not the point, is it? No. The point is, it’s extremely important that while Ben is here, we work very hard to show Haven Point in the best possible light.”
    “How do you propose we do that?” Devin asked.
    “That’s where I need your help. I need some ideas about how we can prove to him that this town is warm and neighborly, that he won’t find a better place anywhere in the mountain west.”
    “I think we need to kill the man