“Like what you see?”
My father only wrinkled his nose up in disgust, but my mother was closer, and she jumped in surprise.
“The hell?—”
With the smooth, practiced instincts of a professional, she swung the paddle and it hit Christabelle right in the ass, sending her over the edge of the yacht and into the water, her breasts swinging desperately in the air.
Jillian choked down a laugh, but I was horrified.
“I’m so sorry. God, I did not know she was going to do that. She is nothing to me.Nothing. Please, you have to believe me!”
“You better fish her out,” Jillian said.
“You’re right, we shouldn’t litter,” Dad said, then he took out a hook and hauled Christabelle out of the waters.
She looked like a drowned rat.
“You’re wasting your breath with me, idiot,” he said shortly. “I think you can cool your heels in the brig.”
“There’s a—brig in this yacht?”
“Of course.”
Then after that there was no time to talk about the impending deal with Beachy Peachy Dreams Corporation.
I was afraid I had muddled up the explanation and now my parents were too busy towing Christabelle to jail to understand the gravity of the situation.
What was I going to do now?
My skin buzzed with anxiety as I stepped into City Hall for the big meeting.
Our town had a very simple charter. Majority ruled. And tonight was the vote for whatever deal Cash had planned.
It was up to me to stop it.
Cash stood up at the podium, gripping both sides of it.
“Welcome, good citizens of Ramshackle Bay,” he said, his white teeth gleaming. “This is a meeting about our town’s future, and I hope you feel like you can trust me to shepherd our town.”
He paused to let this sink in. I craned my head around but didn’t see Jillian.
“This upcoming deal with Beachy Peachy Dreams Corporation is just about revitalizing our economy. Making us stronger and better than ever. Despite what you might have heard from certain. . . loser types who want to keep youstagnating with the horse and buggy, this deal is just about more money flowing into the town.”
I saw a few heads start to nod, and my stomach started to sink. What if I failed?
The way Cash spun the deal, it sounded like this massive corporation just wanted to pour a lot of money into our town out of the goodness of their hearts. The idea of a hotel he waved away as something far off into the future. What was important now was just giving Beachy Peachy Dreams access. For purposes of synergy. And efficiency.
When Cash opened the floor for questions, I was the first in line.
“This deal is a terrible idea. What he’s not telling you is that if we vote for this deal with the Beachy Peachy Dreams Corporation we don’t get a say in what happens next. There’s no guarantee we can keep our businesses or our jobs!”
Earnest pounded his little hammer on the table.
“That’s not a question, Frankie. And by the way, what business? Everyone knows you don’t have a business anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter!” I retorted heatedly. “We can’t just blindly trust Cash! What kind of kickbacks is he getting from this deal? What guarantees do we have?”
“Order!” Earnest yowled. “Order!”
