Maggie set the paper aside, and said quite calmly, "Now,
if you"ll excuse me, I have a newspaper to run."
They stood and began to move toward the door. "Oh,
one more thing," said Buckie. "I"m not saying this offi-
cially-it"s just a suggestion."
Maggie looked up. "And what would that be?"
"Some of us think it"s about time for you to step down
from the Pine Mountain Business a.s.sociation."
She blinked at him in surprise. "Are you kicking me
Out?"
He cleared his throat. "Well, it does seem slightly com-
promising to have someone who"s vehemently opposed to
development a.s.sisting in an a.s.sociation where the sole pur-
pose is supposedly to promote commerce in our commu-
nity."
She clenched her fists but remained in control. "Fine. If
the a.s.sociation wants me to step aside, I"m more than
willing. I"ve said from the beginning that I was only helping
Out initially just to get the whole thing off the ground. It was
never my intention to wear out my welcome."
Kate leaned over her desk. "It"s not that we don"t appre-
ciate all you"ve done, Maggie. I mean, you"ve had some
really great ideas and ~
Maggie waved her hand. "It"s okay, Kate. I understand."
"I"m sorry, Maggie," said Kate as the two of them left her
office.
Somehow, Maggie believed that she was, but still the con-
frontation and rejection she"d just experienced stung. To
think of all she"d tried to accomplish for this town, all the
work she"d done to draw the business a.s.sociation together, *244Melody Carlson
and then to be thanked like this. She felt the hurt rising up
*in her, and she knew the immediate temptation would be to
vent her frustrations by writing an angry article about the
pet.i.tion. But she would not allow herself to do that. She
must continue communicating and exposing the truth in a
sensible and controlled manner. Certainly, this pet.i.tion was
noteworthy news for the town, but then and there she
* *decided to let Scott handle the story. She called him on the
intercom and asked him if he could possibly get the story fin-
ished by tomorrow afternoon, which he gladly agreed to.
Then she returned to her final edit on this week"s article
reporting on the types of labor that had been used in other
Cohn Byers" developments. Pausing for just a moment, once
1again she considered Gavin"s idea to stir up a little competi-
tion for TS Development. Suddenly, more than ever now, she
longed for his plan to take off and turn into a huge success.
Was that petty on her part? No, it would only be petty if her
rationale was simply to punish Greg and Rick, but quite
honestly, she did want growth and development for Pine
Mountain-she just wanted it to be of quality and something