"I worked up a big appetite from last night," he said, looking over his sunglasses.
"You need a bigger car," I told Archer. "I don't see how you function with a two-seater sports car with all your brothers."
"We should probably walk," Jemma said, smooshed beside me. "But I am so happy to have AC even for a little bit."
Olivia was already in the room when we walked in. I tensed up, wondering if McKenna was going to be there, but she didn't show up.
"We're still a few weeks out from the Art Zurich visit. How are the milestones coming?"
Archer set out his tablet and flipped through pictures and plans of what his landscape architect had drawn up.
"My brother is down with us putting the first mile of the art walk on his property. This is where the landscape architect recommends it going. We'll have this all up at the town meeting tonight, along with Hazel's painting."
"Will they be able to complete it in time?" I asked.
"The path, yes, but we need some artwork to make it awesome." Archer looked at me. "I know I'm good with my hands, but we might need some actual sculpture artists."
Jemma mouthed to Olivia,Edible body paint.
I kicked my friend under the table and said, "I have some friends who are starting work on several large sculptures for the trail."
"They should be lit nicely," Olivia said. "And I love the idea of the chandelier tree. In addition to fairy lights in the trees, the chandeliers should mark the beginning of the art walk."
"And my brother is paying for the power. He wants to put up a big sign about how it's green energy from the hydroelectric plant," Archer said. "But we'll hash all that out. We may want a few other meetings with the Svensson PharmaTech leadership and the Harrogate Trust board."
I was feeling relaxed and pumped about all the art that was going to be displayed around town. That was until we stepped out into the grand lobby space and were confronted by McKenna.
"Archer," she said, sidling up to him and running her hands down his chest.
"Don't touch him," I snapped, yanking him back.
McKenna smirked. "I have something Archer wants, so I think actually I will touch him—that is if you still want that strip mall site thatI own."
"Why don't you call my company, and we'll set up a meeting to see if we can't come to some sort of agreement?" Archer said in a slightly bored but professional tone.
"I am not going to call your secretary like I'm some hussy you picked up in the park," McKenna screeched. "You want to do business? Then I need real offers from the CEO, not one of your interns."
She reached up and grabbed Archer by the shirt collar. His hands twitched like he wanted to shove her off. He was too polite to do that, though.
"I finally have all the power," McKenna said. "I already know what I want—you."
* * *
That eveningbefore the town meeting, I was still rattled from the confrontation with McKenna. Her words implied that she didn't just want money, she wanted Archer. Now she was sitting in the front row of the large meeting hall, smirking.
"McKenna always does this!" I fumed. "She always finds some way to ruin my life!"
"As long as she doesn't ruin the Art Zurich Expo bid," Olivia said.
"I need to find some way to force her to sell," I muttered.
"Let the Svenssons handle it," Jemma said. "They seem to have things under control. Archer has a lot of resources—I bet they just buy her out. It will be fine! Now go drum up support for the Art Zurich Expo!"
I stood up, wiping my hands on my skirt, and went to stand next to my sister.
"Thank you for coming to tonight's meeting," Meg said. "While we're going to address the grievances like the motorcycles and the fact that Art still needs his distillery—yes, we know, Art—we're going to start off with the Harrogate Trust's latest project to bring the prestigious Art Zurich Biennial Expo to Harrogate. Here to talk about that is Hazel."
Jemma flashed me a thumbs-up. McKenna glared daggers in my direction.
