"I had a chat with them about it. They'll be fine. If not"—she shrugged—"you can buy replacements online. Why have a bunch of dishes you can't even use?"
We set up at two of the tables. The whole park had been an abandoned switching yard back when more than just the one train to the Svensson PharmaTech factories went in and out of Harrogate. The landscape architects had used the old tracks to host tables on wheels that could move back and forth.
"This is such a nice park," Josie said in admiration. "I love how they have all the old locomotives and historic train cars displayed."
"My company built this park," I told her. "It was part of the deal for the last research center and factory expansion."
"Not to brag of course," she said.
When the kids had finished eating, only two plates were broken.
"Better than I thought," Josie said. The sweet scent of her bloomed in the sun, and we lay on the grass while the kids played. Her bare foot slowly rubbed against my ankle.
"Why don't you just build another park?" she asked sleepily against my chest.
"Hmm?"
"For the new factory and the meadow destruction."
"We floated the idea, but the city didn't seem to go for it," I explained. "Technically all the land outside of Harrogate is a greenbelt and a heritage area. I wanted to build there originally because of the freight line, the proximity to the hydroelectric plant, and the connection to the commuter rail line."
"Hmm," she said. I could tell she was spinning the problem over in her head.
"Don't worry about it," I told her. "Mayor Barry likes us. Says we're real men who build things. It will slide through eventually."
"Still, you don't want the bad publicity from the community," she said, frowning. I kissed her forehead to smooth down her features.
"I know," I said, stroking her hair. "We're trying to handle it delicately. Meghan isn't making it any easier."
"Garrett mentioned something about her and Hunter?" Josie asked, nestling against my chest.
I nodded. "They had a thing. It was the only time I've seen Hunter really happy. Then something happened. Now they have a new thing where they just try and make each other's lives as miserable as possible."
"It's time," Otis announced. The train whistle blew.
The park straddled the one remaining active freight line at the point where it came right down Main Street and turned to connect to the main line, and it was an impressive sight to be so close to the large machine.
The kids cheered as the train went by. But I was watching something else. Payslee. She was an apparition through the gaps in the train, watching us from the opposite side of the tracks. I was going to kill Hunter.
I obsessively head counted the kids as I ushered them to the bus. "We need to go. We need to go now."
37
Josie
Ihad wanted the outing to be perfect to distract me from the fact that Anke was back and couch surfing with Marnie. My friend was sure Anke had another scam brewing. I did talk Marnie out of contacting the FBI. I had just finally convinced one man to stop seeing me as a ditz. I didn't need a bunch of FBI agents looking at me like a dumb little girl.
But that particular man was tense on the bus ride back to the estate. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Mace's stony face.
Was he mad about the issue with the facility expansion? I understood why the residents didn't want any more large research facilities, Ida's lust for Bert notwithstanding. I liked taking Henry out into the meadow, and the trees were nice. I didn't want to see them go. But at the same time, PharmaTech had to grow and expand. There were people who counted on Mace's company for jobs. Business owners and restaurants in town would also benefit from new employees.
What absolutely could not happen was a bunch of bad press on how a big, bad pharma company was tearing up a heritage area. An important component of my gene therapy marketing push was tying this innovative method of disease treatment into a larger narrative about how PharmaTech had a holistic approach to health.
After we unpacked and situated the kids, there was a quiet moment, and I thought we were going to do the dirty chocolate kiss. But Mace remained tense. He wouldn't let the kids go outside, and he locked himself in the study with his older brothers.
Mace didn't seem in a better mood the next morning when we went to the office. It was like how I first met him, the tendon on his neck prominent, his back ramrod straight.
I kissed him on the front steps, hoping to bring back the tender man I had started to really like. Mace softened slightly and leaned into me.
