to hope for the best."
He frowned. "Well, I agree that hope"s a good thing-
most of the time. I"m just not too sure about it when it comes
to Gavin."
She smiled. "But at least you"re willing to talk to him,
right?"
"He"s my only flesh and blood, Maggie." His voice grew
raspy. "I guess I can"t very well turn him away, now can I?"
She shook her head. "Especially if he"s trying to make
amends with you."
"So, I suppose I can at least give him the time of day."
"Good for you, Clyde. I don"t think you"ll be sorry."
He grunted. "I wouldn"t be too sure of that."
~a~~ie wished she could go incognito to Greg and
/K( ~~bc~aisy development meeting in the grade school
on Sat.u.r.day. But because that would be
fairly childish, not to mention slightly paranoid, she decided
instead to simply slip in just as the meeting was scheduled to
begin and then to sit inconspicuously in the back by the door.
She felt a little concerned about who might be in attendance
and why they"d come; she certainly didn"t want to give the
impression, by her presence there, that she supported TS
Development in any way, shape, or form. And on top of
everything else, she knew it was imperative that she keep her
mouth shut-no futile debates with Greg Snider today! So
she prayed for grace and wisdom as she walked across the
parking lot. A surprising number of cars were parked
there-the majority she recognized as locals-and disap-
pointingly a number of them belonged to the same folks who
belonged to the Pine Mountain Business a.s.sociation. But
then, why shouldn"t they be here? It was probably an excel-
lent opportunity for them to hear firsthand what was going
n with TS Development.
She glanced up at the sky as she walked toward the front
oor of the school. Still perfectly clear-not a single cloud in
d
113.
114Melody Carlson
sight! And the temperature had to be close to sixty, which
was downright bal my for early December in this part of the
country. Yet only days ago their hopes had been so elevated
by the snowfall. The late opening of the ski season would
probably make worried businesspeople very open to Greg
and Rick"s ideas of growth and development. And who could
blame them? The livelihoods of many hung in the balance
right now. Perhaps opposing TS Development was becoming
a fool"s errand. As she walked down the quiet hallway
toward the library she wondered if this was how David
might have felt when going to face the mighty Goliath. No,
she reminded herself calmly, this was not a battle. She was
confronting no one. Her only purpose today was to cover