She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Thanks for that happy little reminder.”
“Anytime.” He held out a big paper bag with grease marks showing through. “I promised Audrey, and if they don’t make it to your booth, she’ll tell everyone what I’m thinking all the time, and no one wants that. So don’t eat them before you get there.”
Marina took the bag from him, and they headed further down the row. Audrey already had the gazebo up, but it was tilting in the wind. River hurried over, put the coffee down on the table, and grabbed the box of weights from the back of the van. Quickly, she got them wrapped around the bases of the poles, and the gazebo stopped looking like it might become a kite.
The whole time, Audrey continued to set up, sipping her coffee and pointedly ignoring Marina, who didn’t seem in the least bothered by Audrey’s rudeness. In fact, Marina seemedintent on watching as River lifted the weights and set them down again.
“Okay. Now that that’s done.” River gave Marina a quick smile, but she really didn’t have time to stop and chat. “I thought you’d come by later. I’m afraid we need to get set up now, before the crowds start to arrive.”
Irritation flashed across Marina’s eyes, but she hid it quickly. “I don’t need a lot of time. But I wanted to pass something by you, and it’s time sensitive.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” Audrey said, ripping a piece of cinnamon bun out of the bag and stuffing it in her mouth. “River is just going to tell me everything anyway.”
“Look—”
River held up her hands. “Marina, I’m sorry. But this is my business, and we need to get underway. You can sit down and talk while we do it.”
Marina’s sigh was barely visible, but it was there. River was reminded of the woman she’d met with at that first disastrous dinner, and she didn’t say anything else as she started to help Audrey. Tension crackled in the air as Marina stayed silent for some time. Every once in a while, Audrey sniggered, and Marina shot her a glare.
“Regeneration instead of gentrification,” she finally said, her words crisp and lacking any of the day’s warmth. “My client invests in South Shore businesses to help the area grow and thrive instead of tearing down what’s there to create something new. There’s a lot of jargon and far more to it than that, but without being able to talk to you properly, that’s the gist of it.”
River and Audrey exchanged glances, and Audrey’s tiny smile suggested she liked whatever thoughts of irritation and entitlement Marina was having.
“That sounds good as a starting point,” River said, glancing back at her. “What was it you wanted to talk about with me, specifically, today?”
Marina seemed taken aback by the question. “Well, it’s your community. You’re kind of the face of the resistance. I assumed you’d want to know there’s another option on the table.”
“And you’re right. I do.” She gave Marina a gentle smile. “But a street festival isn’t great for that, and there are a lot more people than me invested in this.”
Marina frowned and stood, smoothing down her skirt. “I don’t know what I was thinking. You’re right. I just…” She shrugged. “I thought maybe I could tell you the plan and answer any questions you might have, but on more informal grounds. I didn’t think it through.” She moved beyond their gazebo and onto the street. “I’ll be in touch. Have a good weekend.”
She turned to walk stiffly away, which meant she didn’t see the gazebo from three stalls down come loose as a gust of wind slammed into it. There was a shout, and Marina turned. River watched it in slow motion, even as her energy surged. She jumped over their table, knocking some things to the ground, and grabbed Marina just before the giant metal frame was about to slam into her. River’s bodyweight carried them to the ground, and the gazebo caught the wind and sailed over the stalls toward the park beyond.
“River…” Marina wheezed from beneath her. “You’re like having a brick wall on top of me.”
River pushed herself up on her hands. “Rude. I’m light as a cloud and soft as a teddy bear.”
Marina lay on the ground, her hair flared out around her, her hands on River’s upper arms. Her big brown eyes were wide, her lips parted. “I don’t mind you being solid on top of me, but I do need to breathe.” Her eyes half-lidded. “And we probablyshouldn’t look like we’re about to have sex in the middle of the Apple Festival.”
River laughed and shoved herself to her knees, then she stood and helped Marina to her feet. There was general laughter and applause around them, and River could see Marina’s blush even through her light brown skin. Marina straightened herself and stepped away from her.
“Thanks for saving me. Again.” Marina’s smile was tight, and if River wasn’t mistaken, a little sad.
“You just keep falling at my feet…” River bent to pick up a broken figurine. When she looked up, Marina was disappearing into the crowd.
Audrey threw a wadded up piece of paper at her head, and it bounced off and into a mini metal cauldron on the table. “Get your head out of your pants. We need to finish, and we need to do some research on this regeneration idea.”
River held up her hands in surrender and started helping again. But that feeling of Marina’s body beneath hers didn’t leave her for the rest of the weekend.
CHAPTER 23
“It’s so bad.”Cari sipped her cup of hot tea and shook her head as she and Marina watched the news. The Black Pinnacle story had taken flight and was way beyond local news. It had spurred on a whole nest of stories about developers everywhere and the shady tactics often employed, and conversations about gentrification had become mired in current political rhetoric that often missed the point entirely.
In the midst of it all, Sheila’s photo kept popping up. She was shown with her ex-wife, an equally haughty, elegant woman who somehow managed to look bored out of her skull no matter where they were photographed. Sheila was no celebrity, and Marina had never come across a photo of her with anyone, which meant someone with access had leaked the photos.
“Make sure you have a fire extinguisher ready for when she explodes into a pure ball of raging flame with a face.” Marina sighed and flipped open a file. “Give me a nudge twenty minutes before the meeting, will you? I want time to pull myself together.”
Cari got up and took a stack of files with her. “Anything else you need?”
