Sunnyside Christmas

by Jacie Floyd

  “Even for you? I was surprised by how turned on you were, when you have the opportunity to watch all the time. Going around with a boner every night must be awkward.”

  “I wasn’t watching them. I was watching you. You were the one turning me on.” Kissing the bend of her elbow, he also gave her nipple a tug.

  “Really?” If she didn’t sound so needy, so desperate for the compliment, that would be better, but her insecurities were resurfacing along with her desires.

  “Oh, yeah.” He bent to take the peak between his teeth, but before he reached his destination, his phone rang. And she tried not to let her disappointment show. He had to get that. It could be Adam. Or a problem downstairs. No one would be calling him at this time of night if it weren’t important. He leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve his cell from his pants. “Yeah, okay, talk,” he said into the phone. “Okay. Okay. Yep, be right there.” He flopped onto his back. “Sorry, I gotta go.”

  “I figured.”

  “And just when things were getting interesting.”

  “Again.”

  “Yep. This was quite a night.” Shaking his head, he grabbed her clothes from the floor and handed them to her. “It’s going to be hard to act like we’re just friends after this.”

  “More than friends, maybe, but what comes after that? I’m not ready for more and neither are you.”

  “Friends in public and bedmates in private?”

  She’d slipped into her jeans, socks and boots, but couldn’t stand the idea of putting her bra back on, so she stuffed it in her purse. He helped her slide her sweater over her head. His hands followed it all the way down to her waist, grazing her breasts along the way, tweaking the desire she was trying to ignore. “We can see how that works.”

  “Okay, then, mate.” He dipped his head for a kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the farm.”

  He turned to open the door, but she stopped him. “Wait! What should I fix? What does Adam like to eat?”

  “Spaghetti, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese. All the basic kid foods.”

  “Right out of the box? Not gourmet.”

  “You got it.” His fingers skimmed her cheek and he leaned in for a kiss that tried to be light, but she couldn’t allow that. She deepened the contact and introduced tongue. Her body went against his and his hands had started the slide under her sweater, when he stopped. Pulled back. Sighed. “Be careful getting home.” He preceded her down the stairs.

  And really, the view wasn’t half-bad.

  Another day, another stupid meeting. Jillian supposed half her father’s life had been spent in meetings, but maybe he had more of an appetite for that than she did. Maybe he’d liked sitting at the head of the table, having people look to him for the answers, making the decisions. That’s what he’d always done, so she had assumed he liked it, she hoped he had, but she had an internal low-level hum of intolerance for the activity.

  The mayor’s Sunnyside Revitalization committee had congregated in a meeting room at the Town Hall with him, Jillian, Daniel Asher—the president of the Chamber of Commerce—and ten or twelve chamber members. Mostly friendly faces, but some that were unfamiliar to her. She’d rather be snuggled up in Liam’s bedroom over the strip club. But that was no surprise. She’d rather be shoveling six feet of snow. She’d rather be having a root canal. She’d rather be boiled in a vat of oil like a Thanksgiving turkey. Okay, not that extreme, but she’d rather be almost place else but here.

  Mick called the meeting to order and stated the committee’s intended purpose of increasing revenues for Sunnyside businesses. With a laptop in front of him, he explained the plans to increase the presence and visibility of the annual Santa Walk, encouraging all local businesses and members of the Chamber to step up their game.

  “That’s not going to be enough to put any of us in the black for this year,” Hank Lombard, crotchety owner of the local hardware store, grumbled.

  “One step at a time, Hank. Zach and Harper’s wedding brought a lot of money into town last month. If the Santa Walk increases your revenue for December, that’s two good months in a row. We’re all about keeping the trend going into next month and the month after that.”

  “Long-term, what we need is new business to stimulate growth and stop the population shrinkage,” Barb Gentry said. As a realtor, her income had taken a major hit by the poor performance of the real estate market.

  “Agreed.” Daniel nodded. “We’ll have a core committee to specifically work on that aspect. I’m hoping you’ll be on that committee with me, but for now we need to focus on keeping us going for the short term.”

  “This is when we really miss Bert,” Wayne Bridges, owner of The Lucky Dog, said. “He had that kind of vision. The rest of us are just trying to stay afloat.”

  “No offense, Jillian, but what’s going on with Bert’s businesses?” Daniel asked. “I took over as Chamber president when he stepped down, but we all knew he really ran things. He never failed to step up and fill the void when we needed him to. Are you unwilling to do the same?”

  Reluctant to start a panic, she pulled in a steadying breath. They needed to know the true state of their town. “It’s not that I’m unwilling to help or don’t intend to do so, but Marshall Enterprises can’t do it alone any longer. As great as Dad was and however much I loved him, it’s time to reveal the truth about his finances. He was exaggerating his income and putting on a happy face for the sake of the town. But most of his businesses were suffering, and his bank account was greatly diminished.”

  “That’s bull shit, Jillian,” Roger said as others appeared shocked. “Pardon my language, Reverend, but we all know Bert was living on Easy Street.”

  “That used to be true, but in the last ten years, the Sunnyside economy took a downturn. Despite that, he continued to support the town in the way he always had. That took a toll.”

  Daniel scratched his head. “Why didn’t he say so?”

  “He didn’t want to cause more of an exodus from Sunnyside than there’s already been.”

  “I don’t believe it.” Roger jutted out his chin. “You left town a long time ago. I think you just want to take the money and run.”

  That stung. They clearly didn’t have a high opinion of her, but Roger’s comment wasn’t the way to win her over to their side. “I’m not prepared to open my father’s books to you to confirm the information, but Mick and Marcus have seen them and can verify the bottom line. Believe me, it’s not pretty.”

  More grumbling came from other doubters when bank manager, Oscar Porter, spoke up. “A person’s financial records are confidential, of course, but without providing details, I can also confirm the accuracy of Jillian’s inheritance.”

  “So, what are we supposed to do now?” Scottie Flynn asked. He’d always been follower, not a leader, and he’d always liked to stir up trouble.

  During the discussion, Liam had stepped quietly into the room. Several people pokered up at his entrance and others turned their heads in the other direction, intent on not acknowledging his presence.

  “What’s he doing here?” Scottie asked.

  Jillian was surprised and relieved when Barb fielded the question. “He’s involved in two successful Sunnyside businesses. I asked him to attend to provide tips on how the rest of us can emulate his success.”

  “I don’t see how running a strip club is relevant to the rest of us,” Scottie grumbled.

  “Some of us are God-fearing people who don’t want to sell our souls to the devil to earn a profit,” Bill Victors, proprietor of Sunnyside’s only antique store, said.

  This time Mick jumped to Liam’s defense. “Old Barn Fitness and The Kitty Kat Club are both lawful businesses. They’re both turning a profit. If you don’t want to hear Liam speak on the reasons for that, you’re free to go. You can catch up on the remainder of the meeting by reading the minutes.”

  Scottie remained stubbornly in his seat, but Bill stood and brushed past Liam. A woman dressed in plain brown
wearing a cross necklace gave him a wide berth on her way out the door. Liam took the empty seat next to Barb’s at the other end of the table from Jillian. Her pulse sped up as he acknowledged her presence with a nod.

  Mick returned to the discussion. “We’ll need a sub-committee to assess the overall condition of the current businesses in Sunnyside, assess the greater needs and overlaps, see where we can halt our attrition by appealing to current residents as well as outsiders. If volunteers don’t step up to serve on the committee, I’ll do some gentle arm twisting.”

  “That would be a good start,” Daniel said, “but more importantly, we need to bring more jobs and money into Sunnyside.”

  “Bringing in more people is essential.” Mick cleaned the lenses of his wire-rimmed glasses as he studied each person at the table. “We need an attraction or moneymaker we can market throughout Illinois and surrounding states. Does anyone have any ideas?”

  “You mean like the world’s biggest ball of twine?” Cora the Crazy Cat Lady, proprietor of a B&B, sat with a ball of yarn in her lap and knitting needles in her hands. Everyone had turned a blind eye to the black and white kitty cuddled there as well. “There’s nothing like that around here. This might be a good time for Liam to explain the success of his two businesses.”

  “One factor is that they’re both businesses with a built-in audience. Whether you approve or not, people like to work-out and people like to watch pretty girls dance. That’s human nature, and there isn’t anywhere else to do either one of those things in a fifty-mile radius. The second factor is location, location, location. The Kitty Kat and Old Barn are on the highway near the borders of three different counties. I get a fair amount of traffic from all three plus out-of-towners who see our signs from the highway. If those same businesses were in town, we don’t have anything on that exit to entice them to stop.”

  “So we have to move more stuff out there,” Jillian said, relying on information from her father’s business plan. “Or create in-town attractions that encourage people to get off at that exit and travel the extra distance.”

  “Putting family businesses or attractions at the same intersection as the strip club is counterproductive.” Dean Berkley, a Baptist minister had been one of the most vocal opponents to The Kitty Kat from the get-go, but the others at the table looked at one another. Maybe he did have a point. Despite its success, no other businesses beside from the fitness center had wanted to move there. “Only something like a liquor store or adult book store would fit in there, and we don’t want that.”

  “It’s a big cloverleaf,” Liam pointed out. “Bert owned three of the four corners. The Lansings own the other. Pick one of those to develop and leave my corner alone.”

  All eyes turned to Jillian. “The Kitty Kat was located on the southeast side because it was farthest from town. The northwest section would be the most advantageous and convenient location for new business. Dad’s records indicate that he wanted to put a gas station and convenience store at the northeastern corner, which might also support a fast food restaurant.”

  “Why didn’t he do that?” Scottie asked.

  “He’s been overextended the last few years and unable to make the investment. If anyone wants to attempt it, I would do everything I could to make the investment attractive.”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows. “We might want to make that offer public to see if there are any takers.”

  “What about the northwest corner?” Barb asked.

  “I’m still looking into options, but I agree that it should be something that ties into the town, that will encourage tourists to drive a little farther. For instance, since the Comfort Inn closed, we don’t have a hotel or motel where travelers or visitors could stop and stay the night.”

  “But who would want to?” the Reverend asked in a critical tone, “It would be within eyesight of the strip club.”

  “I understand your concerns,” Jillian said. “We may want to build a wall, plant trees, or erect some other barrier to block it from the other corners.”

  “It’s not just the visual,” Dean countered. “The strip club promotes crime, drinking, drug use, prostitution, and human trafficking, for all we know. No respectable couple or family with children will want to stop with that kind of sketchy establishment nearby.”

  “Good point,” Mick said. “I’ll have Jimbo check into the type of criminal or illegal activities that have been reported at The Kitty Kat, how many calls he’s had out there, how many arrests, that sort of thing.”

  “But it’s going to remain open?”

  Mick leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table and spoke directly to the Reverend. “I have no reason to shut it down.”

  “And I have solid reasons for keeping it open.” Jillian leaned forward, too, eager to have her say. “The Kitty Kit provides employment for almost fifty local residents. Until we have new jobs to offer these people, it’s needlessly cruel to take their livelihood away from them.”

  Reverend Berkley sneered. “Are you worried about a bunch of strippers finding work, or more concerned about keeping your boyfriend under your thumb?”

  “If you’re referring to Liam, he’s not my boyfriend, and he’s not under my thumb.” She couldn’t let anyone think that Liam’s job and their personal relationship had anything to do with one another. Because they didn’t.

  “As far as keeping the strippers employed,” she continued, “they’re working to support their families, too, just like the production team, kitchen and bar staff.” As she made her case, she recognized the irony of repeating the arguments Liam had made to her a few weeks before. “There’s also an assistant manager, a bouncer, a maintenance man, and right now, it’s one of Sunnyside’s largest most stable employers.”

  “They’re profiting from sin and degradation.” The hell-and-damnation voice the Reverend generally reserved for the pulpit commanded everyone’s attention.

  Even Cora looked up from her knitting. “There’s nothing sinful or degrading about the human form, Reverend Berkley. I’m surprised you don’t know that.”

  “There is when it’s used to promote sinful behavior.”

  “There will always be a dispute on that point,” Mick said. “But may I remind you that it’s a legal business in this state.”

  “Morality outweighs legality in the sight of the Lord.”

  “You’ve made that position clear many times, but for now, we will move on to the subject at hand, which is drawing in new businesses and visitors to our town.”

  The meeting proceeded on a civilized level. Committees were formed, instructions given, and Reverend Berkley glowered under his bushy brows.

  Jillian escaped as soon as possible. She whipped into Butler’s Grocery to shop for Liam and Adam’s supper. Keeping Liam’s instructions in mind, she couldn’t force herself to make boxed macaroni and cheese, but she made the cheesiest homemade version ever invented. As she packed-up her thrown together dinner, she heard footsteps on the deck.

  Almost in disbelief, Jillian threw open the backdoor for Maddie, her very best friend through elementary school and high school. Holding a covered dish, Maddie was bundled up like an Eskimo. She stomped her snow-covered boots on the welcome mat.

  “Wow! Look at you! What are you doing here?” Jillian took the baking dish from her friend and pulled her across the threshold. “Come in out of the cold.”

  Maddie removed her gloves and brushed back her hood to reveal a red velvet Santa’s hat covering her bald head. “I’m so glad to see you! You look great.”

  “Thanks, you, too! Love the hat.” Jillian’s eyes misted over at her friend’s gaunt and fragile appearance. “What did you bring me?” She gestured to the dish she’d placed on the counter.

  “I didn’t want to cook real food for you since you’re a famous chef now, but brownies are my comfort food these days. I tried to think of what kind of brownies you’d most like.”

  “As long as they’re chocolate, they’re my favorite.” Jillia
n lifted a corner of the plastic lid for a peek, but Maddie swatted her hand away.

  “When we were in high school and went to the movies, I always got M&Ms, but you always went for…” She shrugged out of her coat but hung onto it.

  “Junior Mints!” Jillian ripped the lid off the container and leaned down for a giant whiff. “You made me Junior Mints brownies?”

  “Mom made them actually, but per my specifications.”

  More hugs were called for. “I’ll call her tonight and thank her. You’re the best friend ever. Come sit down, we have got to catch up.”

  “I can’t. I’ve been staying with mom for a few days because Brandon was going to be out of town, but he’s home now. Before I went back though, I wanted to stop in and give you a big ol’ hug.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so happy you did. I intend to come see you in St. Louis before I go back to New York, so just check your calendar and pick a day.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to. You should see all the dreary stuff I’ve been having to do since I’ve been here. I’d love to escape to spend a day with you in the city.”

  Maddie’s bright blue eyes dimmed with sorrow. “I was so sorry to hear your dad died, and that I couldn’t come to the services. He was like a second father to me.”

  “He adored you, too. I heard about it all the time. ‘Maddie’s so sweet, Maddie’s so nice. Why can’t you be more like Maddie?’”

  They laughed through a few tears. “Now I know he never said that last one. Have you been clearing out his stuff? Taking over his businesses?”

  Clearing out his stuff? She should probably be doing that. She hadn’t even thought about it. And taking over his businesses would be so much easier than the reality. But Maddie had enough on her own plate. No point in going into all that. “Meeting, meetings, and more meetings. Not my forte. I’m much better at cooking than talking.”