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“Good evening?” he asks once we pull away from the curb.

“I got a second date.”

His eyes meet mine in the mirror. “A rare achievement.”

“Drive the car, Arthur.”

He hides his smile and turns onto the street. I settle back, already planning where I’ll take her next.

25

RACHEL

Iget to work on Tuesday morning and find around forty people packed onto the sidewalk between the Hartwell and the old department store next door. Most have gathered outside the Voss site, but the crowd has spilled across the front of my hotel.

Signs rise above their heads: SAVE HARTWELL BOULEVARD and HISTORY BEFORE HIGH-RISES.

One woman has painted VOSS GO HOME across a piece of cardboard in thick red letters. Two men hand flyers to anyone who passes. The protesters directly outside the Hartwell’s doors are forcing guests to squeeze between them and their signs.

I never called Rhonda Cromwell as Grandma told me to. Apparently, that didn’t stop her.

I spot her moving through the crowd in a bright red coat, a megaphone tucked beneath one arm. Her silver hair doesn’t seem to move, even in the breeze. We’ve met a few times, but never for more than a minute.

“Rachel,” she says warmly. “Rose said you’d call.”

“I was going to.”

“I thought we might save time by getting started.”

I look at the people blocking the hotel doors. “By holding a protest outside the Hartwell?”

“The protest is aimed at the Voss site.”

“Then why is it blocking my entrance?”

Rhonda glances over her shoulder, then raises the megaphone. “Everyone move farther down, please. Keep the Hartwell entrance clear.”

The crowd shifts toward the old department store.

“Better?” she asks.

“A little.”

A news van pulls up at the curb beside us. The side door slides open the moment it stops, and a cameraman jumps out. A reporter in a fitted blue suit follows close behind.

“You invited the news?”

“Of course. There’s no point holding a protest if no one hears about it.”

“Rhonda, the heritage review is over. The Voss site is outside the historic district. We lost that argument.”

“The heritage argument, yes. Not the planning objections.”

“The council can’t reject the hotel simply because they don’t like how it looks.”

“They can’t reject it on a whim,” she says. “But a project this large still needs council approval. They can consider its height, size, design, and whether it fits the surrounding area.”

“The site is zoned for hotel use.”