Coming to Rosemont (18 page)

Chapter 27

Friday passed too quickly. Susan
insisted they work out in the morning. They took in a matinee movie and then
explored the shops on the square. Maggie proudly introduced her daughter as
they made their rounds.

Alex returned to Rosemont late Friday evening as
Maggie was setting up the coffee pot for the next morning. He stretched his
lean frame against the kitchen counter and announced that they had over
twenty-five hundred signatures.

“We’re going to get there this weekend,” Maggie
said. “I talked to Sam. He’s arranged a meeting of town workers tomorrow afternoon.
He wants you to speak to them. He’ll collect signatures there, and I’ll get
more outside of the grocery store after I drop Susan off at the airport. So ...
congratulations.”

“Thanks, I think. When can we have door hangers
made up?”

“I’ve got samples for you to look at. As soon as
the clerk confirms that you’re on the ballot, we’ll get them printed. We’ll
have them in hand by the end of next week. We should mobilize volunteers to distribute
them. We’ll do an email blast as soon as we hear from the clerk.”

“My office has the mailing list done. We’ll be
ready.”

“Has anyone else petitioned to get their name on
the ballot? We don’t want Isaac to get elected because the opposition vote gets
split up.”

“Not that I’ve heard. Most of the people I’ve
talked with think Isaac is a shoo-in. We’ve got an uphill battle. You know
that, don’t you?”

“Uphill battles are my specialty,” Maggie assured
him. “We’re going to play up your status as the underdog. And if Isaac
under-estimates you, so much the better.”

“I’m so glad you’re here. For everything,” Alex
said, gesturing around him to the house. “As if taking us in wasn’t enough. Now
you’re donating your time and expertise to run my campaign. I can’t thank you
enough.”

Maggie reached across the counter and squeezed his
arm. “Let’s get you elected before you thank me. And I’ve got a big investment
in Rosemont. I don’t want a bunch of idiots ruining Westbury and destroying my
property value,” she said with a smile.

Chapter 28

Susan had a midmorning flight on
Saturday, and they set out for the airport after a quick breakfast. It was
clear and sunny, the start of a spectacular day. They rode most of the way in
companionable silence. Maggie finally turned to her daughter and asked, “Well,
how are you feeling about things now?”

“You know, I can’t believe how much stronger I
feel, more peaceful. My relationship with Rob had gotten so dysfunctional. He
was controlling; I was miserable. It happened so gradually that I didn’t see it
coming. I haven’t missed him one bit.”

“That’s my girl! I’m so glad you came ... I almost
said home, but I don’t know if you feel like Rosemont is home?” Maggie held her
breath; her children might be grown, but she needed them to feel safe and at
home with her.

“Rosemont is all that and more, for sure. It’s
just spectacular. I’m so excited that you get to live there. I can’t wait to
come back.”

Maggie slowly exhaled. “So what’s next for you?
Any big cases you’re working on?”

“There’s always something. But I don’t have any
major deadlines until the fall. I may take a two-week trip to Europe. Would you
like to come with me? Think about it.” Maggie said she would. “And I still want
to find Mr. Right,” Susan said with a catch in her voice.

“You know what? I really feel you will. I’ll bet
that he’s waiting for you right now. Rob has been tying up your attention. Now
that you’re free, the two of you will find each other. He may have been right
in front of your nose all along, but you’ve been too blind to see him.”

“You really think so?”

“Absolutely. Things like that happen all the
time.”

“Well, maybe,” Susan said.

“Open those beautiful eyes of yours and look
around, okay?”

“I will, Mom,” Susan said with a bit more
confidence.

They pulled off onto the airport exit. “When will
you be in California on business again?”

“Not sure. With this election in eight weeks, I
may not make a trip out until after that. I’ll let you know.”

“I have to hand it to you, Mom, you’re full of
surprises. I can’t wait to tell Mike that you are running a political campaign
to unseat a corrupt mayor that you helped get indicted.” She turned to her mother.
“Our mom is so cool.”

They swung to the curbside check-in area. Susan
dragged her luggage out of the back. Despite the dirty look from the police
officer on duty, Maggie got out of the car and threw her arms around her
daughter. “I love you and am so proud of you. I believe in your happy future,
honey. No worries.” She took Susan’s now teary face in her hands and kissed her
on both cheeks. The officer waved at them and shouted that Maggie needed to
move her car. Susan smiled at her mom, picked up her luggage, and set off.

***

Sam and Marc were setting up chairs
in the fellowship hall of the First Methodist Church while Beth made coffee in
the kitchen. This would be Alex’s initial campaign speech, and he was nervously
pacing in an adjacent Sunday school room.

“He’s all set,” Marc offered. “He’s just got a
case of the jitters. He’ll be fine once he starts to speak. How many do you
think will attend?”

“No idea,” Sam answered. “We publicized this the
best we could by email and word of mouth. We posted signs, too, but someone
kept taking them down. People should start arriving any time now.”

As they spoke, Councilmember Chuck Delgado entered
the room.

“Why, hello, boys. And lady,” Delgado drawled.
“You’re expecting quite a crowd here, aren’t you?” he said, looking at the
hall.

Beth, who had seen him enter the church from the
kitchen window, spoke first. “We are. And that crowd will not include you. This
meeting is for union members. It’s not open to the general public. You need to
turn around and head on out of here,” she said in the authoritative tone of a
seasoned schoolteacher.

“Now, Ms. O’Malley,” Delgado replied. “Don’t go
gettin’ all stirred up. I’m not here to make trouble. I just want to connect
with the citizens during these troubled times. I want them to know I’m standing
with them.”

“Nonsense,” Beth said. “You’re here to spy for
Russell Isaac. You should be ashamed of yourself.” She was warming to the task
of laying into him when the first attendees arrived. Sam signaled her to be
quiet. She turned to offer coffee to the new arrivals, and Delgado slipped into
a seat on the far side of the room.

The room filled up fast; it was standing room only
by the time Sam stepped to the front of the hall and called the meeting to
order. Delgado draped an arm casually across the seatback next to him and
half-turned in his chair to face the door. His presence was noted; two workers
from Town Hall took one look at him and quickly exited. The town clerk,
however, was not to be intimidated. She wove her way across the room to
position herself directly behind him, turning the tables and keeping an eye on
him instead of the other way around. Delgado snatched his arm from the back of
the chair and shifted stiffly to the front. The clerk patted her hair into
place and settled her purse at her feet.

Sam cleared his throat and signaled for quiet.
“I’m Sam Torres. Most of you know me. I work maintenance for the school system.
I’m not a public speaker. My wife, Joan, works as a police dispatcher. We’ve
been public employees our whole working lives. We’ve worked hard, paid all of
our bills on time, and contributed to the pension plan. We’ve been counting on
our pension, and now that we’re almost ready to retire, the money isn’t there.
Because someone stole it.” He paused. “We can’t let that stand. Our stewards
have let us down,” he said, looking pointedly at Delgado. “We need new leadership
at Town Hall. One of the brightest, most innovative and honest people I know is
willing to step in to clean up this mess. He’s going to speak to us for a few
minutes, and then we’re going to ask you to sign petitions to get his name on
the ballot. And if you’d be interested in working on his campaign, please see
me or Beth.” Sam straightened his shoulders and looked at the index card he was
holding. “Alex Scanlon is an attorney and has his own firm here in town. Before
that, he was a prosecutor. He was born and raised in Westbury. He was on the
high school basketball team that won the state championship. He’s raised money
for the hospital and sits on the library advisory board. Ladies and gentlemen:
Alex Scanlon.”

Thin applause rose from the crowd as Alex stepped
to the front of the room. “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy
Saturday to stop by. As town employees, you’ve played a large part in making
Westbury the place we know and love, a place where neighbors watch out for each
other. If someone’s dog gets lost, we drop everything and look for it. If we
find a wallet on the street, we pick it up and return it to its rightful
owner—with the money and credit cards intact. We sweep our sidewalks and
mend our fences. We buy Girl Scout Cookies, and candy bars from the sports
teams. Our countryside is gorgeous, but this is a wonderful place to live and
raise a family because of the people.”

Heads nodded in agreement. Alex continued, “As you
know, we’ve got widespread corruption in our town government. Money is missing
from the general fund and the pension fund. We don’t yet know the full extent
of the problem. Someone we trusted, our mayor, is accused of betraying us. I
don’t know if he’s guilty or not. That’s up to the courts. And we don’t know if
anyone else was involved.” People glanced surreptitiously at Delgado. He
ignored the crowd and shot Alex a searing look. “We’ve all been victims of
serious wrong-doing. My opponent Russell Isaac has not been indicted. But he’s
been on the council for many years. If he didn’t know about these problems, he
should have. We don’t need elected officials who aren’t looking out for us. It
took our newest councilmember, Tonya Holmes, just a few short months to uncover
the wrongdoing.” All eyes were fixed on Alex.

“Mayor Wheeler’s resignation gives us a chance to
change course and get our finances back on firm footing and our town headed
into a prosperous and productive future. We all want Westbury to be a place
where people are proud to work. We want our citizens to build meaningful
careers and enjoy comfortable retirements right here. We’re not going to be
known as a seat of corruption. If I’m elected, we’re going to clean up this
mess. I won’t allow us to be a laughing stock in the national press. We’ll be a
model of how ordinary people, like you and me, can take control and restore the
ethics and decency that define a community.” He paused as the crowd applauded.

“I’ll need help from all of you to accomplish
this. First, sign my petition and ask your friends and neighbors to sign. I
need to get on the ballot. Second, turn out on Election Day to vote for me. And
third, let me hear from you. I want your input as we define a new direction for
our town. No single person has all the answers. We need to clean up our
finances and formulate a new town general plan. We need to address jobs,
transportation, education, infrastructure, and public works. Together we can
weather this storm and emerge more vibrant than ever. I’m betting on us,” he
concluded as he gestured to the crowd. Applause swept the room.

A few people asked questions, but most were
anxious to get on their way. Sam stood and announced that petitions were
available by the entrance. Several people gathered around Alex with additional
questions, while the remainder headed for the door. With the exception of
Councilman Delgado, every person in attendance signed the petition. Delgado
disappeared through a side exit.

Chapter 29

Maggie choked back tears as she
pulled away from the airport and couldn’t shake the low mood that shrouded her
as she made the solitary drive back to Westbury. Since she planned to solicit
signatures at the supermarket anyway, she decided to head straight there and collect
them until two o’clock. Her goal was two hundred signatures.

The manager allowed her to set up her card table
close to the entrance. Both his parents were town retirees, and he was one
hundred percent behind her efforts. Shoppers were interested. Maggie was
surprised that so many people wanted to stop and question her about Alex’s
plans to set the town’s finances on firm footing. Instead of sitting idle for most
of the day, as she had feared, she spent the time in full campaign mode. The
activity and lively conversations lifted her spirits, and by two o’clock she
had one hundred and ninety-two signatures. Not one to abandon a goal, she
continued until two thirty, when she hit the two hundred mark.

Maggie stashed the table and petitions in her car
and picked up a couple of nice steaks, some twice baked potatoes that she would
only have to reheat, and the fixings for a good salad. She stopped at Laura’s
and picked up a pie for dessert. This wasn’t the show-off, home-cooked meal she
would have liked to serve John, but under the circumstances, it would have to
do.

***

Getting ready took more time than
she had anticipated. Her hair was not cooperating, and she noticed the spot on
her blouse after she was fully dressed. Changing her blouse required a change
in slacks and shoes—why were women’s wardrobes so complicated?—and
she was way behind schedule when she finally hit the kitchen. She realized that
she had forgotten to pick up anything for an appetizer. She rummaged
frantically through the refrigerator looking for some decent cheese, but came
up empty-handed. So much for being an accomplished hostess, she chastised
herself. She started the potatoes and was fixing the salad when John arrived.
She leaned in and kissed him lightly. He presented her with a bottle of wine
and a bouquet of yellow tulips.

“These are lovely—tulips are my favorite.
Did you know they continue to grow after they’re cut? These will extend themselves
another six inches and will bend along lovely arcs. So much fun to watch them
do it. Thank you. Let’s get these in water.” She took his arm and led him to
the kitchen. “Dinner is nothing fancy, I’m afraid. I spent most of the day at
the supermarket getting signatures. And I totally forgot about an appetizer,
but the salad is almost ready, so if you’re hungry we can start on it and then
grill the steaks.” She pulled out a vase and began cutting stems and arranging
the flowers.

“No lunch today; I’m starved. The salad would be
great. How about I open this?”

Maggie handed him a corkscrew and a couple of
glasses. She dressed the salad, and they took their plates to a small table on
the patio that she had set for dinner. They leisurely chatted about the challenges
of John’s day. As she grilled the steaks, they inevitably turned to the topic
of Alex’s campaign.

“You’re remarkable. You know that, don’t you? I’ve
never met anyone like you. You could be running for office. You have a total
grasp of the issues and you know how to rally people to work toward a solution.
You inspire confidence. I’d vote for you in a heartbeat,” John said, holding
Maggie’s gaze.

Maggie flushed and looked away. “That’s very kind,
but I don’t think so. People don’t even know me around here. I think they’re
ready for a change, though. That was evident from the folks I talked to today.
Alex has a good shot at this. I just hope that the opposition doesn’t try
something underhanded. I don’t know if they’re responsible for the fires, but I
wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I agree,” John replied. “It makes me nervous for
you, too. You might be a target as his campaign manager.”

Maggie turned to face him. “I’ve never heard of
anybody’s campaign staff being targeted. They always go for the candidate. But
I’ll be careful, don’t you worry. I’m aware of my surroundings, I always lock
my doors, and I faithfully set my alarm,” she assured him as she picked up
their empty plates. “It’s getting chilly out here. Let’s move inside.”

Dessert started with pie à la mode and progressed
to old-fashioned necking on the sofa in the living room.
My God, this feels
nice,
Maggie thought. She was wondering how they could move to the next
level.
How does one actually have a conversation about safe sex?
Would
he have come prepared with a condom? Do you get a blood test first? Why on
earth hadn’t she thought about all of this before now and asked someone? Who in
the world did she know well enough to ask? Did John even want to? Okay, that
was ridiculous, it was clear he wanted to.

They were interrupted by the alarm system
announcing, “Back kitchen door open.” Alex and Marc had just come home. Maggie
and John shot up and began frantically straightening their clothes and
smoothing their hair.
Like a couple of teenagers,
Maggie thought. The
absurdity of the situation at this age and stage of their lives hit them, and
they couldn’t suppress their guilty laughter. Alex and Marc entered the room
and found them in a full-out fit of giggles.

They had seen John’s car pulled up in front and
had proceeded through the house slowly while making a lot of noise, so it was
obvious that they had anticipated exactly what John and Maggie were doing. This
realization only fueled their nervous laughter. Alex and Marc exchanged an
uneasy glance.

Maggie sobered up first and told Alex that her
petitions from the afternoon were on the table in his room upstairs. He and
Marc took the hint and quickly retired.

John took Maggie in his arms and held her tight.
He leaned back and looked at her. “A close call, young lady. I didn’t want to
stop. I’m going to get a blood test. They’ll give you a toll free number that
you can call to get the results. Then we can get together at my place? I’ve
only got my dog, Roman, and cats living with me. Would that work?”

Maggie nodded her agreement, and told him she
would do the same. John gave her another long, passionate kiss that left her wondering
how long it took to get the test results back.