The woman stepped back, glaring hard enough to melt metal. “If she had any sense, she would. But she’s not the type. Me, though…” She smiled, her old, yellowed teeth glinting under the streetlight. “I’ll fight, and I’ll fight dirty. If you’re part of thegroup trying to take away our neighborhood, then you’ll find yourself on the wrong end of my cane for sure.”
Marina shook her head, too tired for this nonsense. “If you say so.” She pulled out, forcing the woman to take a couple hurried steps backward. “Nut case,” she mumbled as she made her way back to her place.
Once she was home, her foot propped on a cushion and the TV filling the silence of her empty apartment, she let the conversations flood her mind. Replaying what people said often gave her insight and tools to work with in order to bring them to heel.
She could predict the next steps without a crystal ball. There would be more community meetings. Signs would go up around town saying it wasn’t for sale and that gentrification was bad. Letters telling Black Pinnacle to back off and go away would start coming in from the more active community members, while others would quietly be willing to talk just so long as it wasn’t made public. Black Pinnacle would make more offers with bigger dollar signs, and a few more owners would sign. The holdouts would be left alone, standing in front of the construction equipment that would move forward anyway.
It was inevitable. People like Sheila Black got what they wanted because they could keep throwing money and resources at whatever it was, and few people could withstand that kind of onslaught. Marina was just there to facilitate, and she was good at that.
She pictured River’s expression when she’d seen her at the meeting, and then when she’d said she’d hoped Marina would be something else… What the hell did that mean anyway? It wasn’t like she’d ever pretended to be someone other than the powerhouse attorney she was.
Her phone buzzed, and she reached over the tub of ice cream to grab it.
How pathetic was the community meeting?
Marina winced at Sheila’s harsh wording.Standard fare. Community already divided. Shouldn’t be difficult to move forward.
Good. Start making the rest of the offers tomorrow.
Understood. Good night.There was no response, and Marina was glad. Sheila had sent an ostentatious bunch of flowers to the office, and Marina had asked Yvonne to put them in the staff room. The lilies were so strong they made her nauseous, and she’d never liked geraniums, which seemed like a strange option for a bouquet anyway. She needed to keep Sheila as a client, not just so the partners were happy, but so she didn’t have to tell her outright that she wasn’t, nor ever would be, interested in anything between them. The notion that people like Sheila always got what they wanted made the world seem that bit darker. She’d like to think that wouldn’t include Marina’s self-worth or desire to date butch women, but who the fuck knew what she would do these days? What if it meant her promotion?
She rested her head on the back of the sofa. The rest of the offers meant the one she was going to send to River too. Should she hand deliver it? No, probably not. River might very well throw it back at her. She had to admit to wanting to see River’s shop. Granted, it was probably as quirky and commonplace as most of those shops but seeing River’s butch presence in it would be markedly different.
She got up and hobbled to the bedroom. She’d put today to rest, and tomorrow, she’d do her job. If that meant getting to see River again, even under awkward circumstances, so much the better.
CHAPTER 12
“I toldyou she was a menace to the cosmos.” Audrey thumped her mug down hard enough that coffee sloshed over the top and she swore. “I can’t believe she had the balls to show up to the meeting.”
River relaxed at the tarot reading table, her feet up on the other chair. “I’m pretty sure she didn’t think I’d spot her in the crowd. Her energy dropped when she met my eyes.”
“Guilt will do that.” Audrey mopped up the mess with tissues that made more of a mess. She looked at River sharply. “Stop that line of thinking right this instant. You can’t change her, or change her mind, or her underwear, or anything else about her.”
River frowned. “Stop reading my thoughts. You know it gives me the willies.”
“Yeah, well, stop broadcasting. She’s beautiful like a demon sent to drag you to the underworld and torture you for eternity.”
River thought loudly about how she wouldn’t mind a bit of that kind of treatment, and Audrey made a gagging sound. “Seriously, my intuition is screaming at me that our meeting means something. I don’t know what, but I know I have to pay attention to it.” River smiled as Mrs. Crabtree walked past thewindow outside. “Maybe I’ll just point her out to Mrs. Crabtree and let her go at her.”
Mrs. Crabtree came in, cane tapping the way. “I have a purpose,” she said, her dark eyes gleaming. She looked at Audrey. “We’re having a meeting. Can I have a cup of that tea that helps my joints, please?”
Audrey grinned and tilted her head. “Coming right up.” She headed to the back room.
Mrs. Crabtree tapped her cane on River’s feet, getting her to move them off the chair. “I’m fully aware your mom taught you not to put your feet on the furniture.”
“She did.” River moved the deck of cards off the table and grabbed some coasters from the desk drawer. “Sometimes I forget how well you knew them.”
Mrs. Crabtree sighed and rested her cane across her lap. “I miss them. Your mom always made people feel like they were the most important thing in the world when they were with her. Like she had no one and nothing else that mattered more.” She looked at River. “You do that too.”
River swallowed the ball of emotion. “I’m glad. It’s a great way to be in the world.”
Audrey came out with a cup of steaming tea that gave off the scent of cinnamon, which she used to cover the smell and taste of valerian root. “So tell us about your new purpose.” She pulled up a chair and brought over her own coffee.
Mrs. Crabtree grinned. “That woman you went running after last night? We had a little talk.”
Audrey laughed, and River winced. “Does she still have all her limbs?” River asked.
“Well, she came close to feeling the tip of my cane right at the center of her forehead.” Mrs. Crabtree tapped the heavy wooden stick to make her point. “And I’ve decided to dedicate myself to stopping those bastards from moving in. That’s whatMr. Crabtree would have wanted. He always said I was as unstoppable as a tornado when I got something in my craw, and this is definitely what I want to sink my teeth into.”
