LOVE in a Small Town

by Janet Eaves

  Martin was coming to terms with that. He’d always had a close relationship with his own mother. Still did. A boy needs to have that kind of relationship or he won’t know how to treat a wife, Betsy had recently read in a parenting magazine. Made some kind of sense. Too bad Daniel didn’t feel that way about any of the local women. There were plenty of cousins around who’d be glad to take Daniel under their wing. Instead, he’d immediately gravitated to Midnight.

  As had Martin, like it or not

  All in all, Martin didn’t much mind when Daniel wanted to help with Christmas lights. For one thing, how long could it take to take down and put away a few strings of lights? Today was Friday too, so no hurry to get Daniel home to hit the books. Martin agreed to Daniel’s request to just please pick him up at Miz Shelby’s when Martin was ready to head home. Seemed harmless enough.

  Several days had passed since Martin and Midnight’s discussion of Legend’s future. Martin had thought about it, and had come to terms with part of that too. Legend did have a lot of potential even without counting on something big from outside like the factory that might or might not end up coming here. He’d had a call from the mayor about that this week, and the prospect looked less likely all the time. But Legend already had businesses. There were locally owned shops and restaurants and Suzie Schul’s B&B. Plus there was Lake Legend, which, in warm weather, was a great place to swim, picnic, rent pedal boats at the municipal dock. All the local businesses would benefit from an increase in tourist traffic. And if the businesses benefited, there’d be more money coming into the town and into the pockets of the citizenry through increased employment. Which might, in turn, create more local business. Martin couldn’t see a down side to it, and Lord knew he’d tried. The Market Legend campaign, or whatever she called it, made sense all around. In a way, he hated to admit it, and if he could avoid doing so in her presence, he would.

  Shortly after five thirty, Martin said good night to Betsy and walked out of the office with her. She managed to get into her lime green bug and drive off. She was getting rounder by the day, and he wondered how much longer the baby would wait. It wasn’t due for over a month, but petite little Betsy looked about to pop.

  Martin decided he’d leave the Jeep where it was and walk downtown to get Daniel. Save a little gas, get a little exercise. He started down the sidewalk, breathing deeply of the cold, crisp air. He loved winter. He pretty much loved all the seasons in their turn, but winter was his favorite. The warmish weather a few weeks ago was just a memory. Today’s high had been thirty degrees.

  He’d been lost in his own thoughts, not paying much attention as he walked, then finally looked up and had to blink a few times. It looked as if Legend had become an ant farm, and the ants were busy! There were ladders on every building—extension ladders on the two-stories—and people, many of them high school kids, going up and down them. People on the sidewalk were giving directions. There was lots of laughter, and Rosemary Clooney sang a 40’s version of a Christmas song from an open window somewhere. What in the world was going on? He walked a little closer and saw them. The strings of lights. Christmas lights. Lots and lots of clear bulbs and electric cords. Martin continued down the sidewalk, speaking to everyone since he knew all of them, but didn’t stop till he reached the front of The Emporium. He looked up to the delightful sight of Midnight Shelby’s long denim-encased legs and shapely derrière ascending a tall ladder. Daniel was at the ladder’s base, also looking up, but with a look of grim determination instead of rapt appreciation.

  “Son.”

  “Dad.”

  “Big project you’ve got here.”

  “Yeah. Market Legend, you know? It’s on the site. Winter lights and stuff starting next week and lasting till like February, I think. Anyway, I forget the date, but it’s on the site.

  “Which site is that?”

  “The Market Legend site. Geez, Dad. You know. I made this general site, and a bunch of the shop owners have their own page on it. We’re gonna do something more extravagant later on, but we needed to have a web presence right away, Miz Shelby said. She’s so cool. She helped design a lot of it. She’s really smart about making things look good.”

  “Mmm hmm.” Martin looked up again, enjoying the view. She was reaching awfully far from that perch on a top rung. Looked dangerous.

  “Hey, Miz Shelby!”

  She looked down, flashed him a brilliant smile. Martin wasn’t sure he’d ever seen such a beautiful smile anywhere. She was quite a picture with her shiny black hair, snug jeans, and purple fleece pullover, silhouetted against the pale January sky.

  “Hey, Mr. McClain! Merry Christmas!”

  “Well, looks that way. But I’m thinking that was a couple weeks ago. You want some help with those lights? I’m pretty good on a ladder.”

  “I’ll just bet you are.” She smiled again. “Sure.” She looped the strings of lights over the end of the ladder, and started her descent. This was even more enjoyable to watch than her trip up, because she was getting closer, and he was now helping Daniel hold the ladder.

  She reached the last rung and stepped off onto the sidewalk, giving Martin a good-natured slap on the shoulder blade. “Tag!”

  She looked so full of life, so excited about whatever-it-was that was going on. Her enthusiasm, her sparkling black eyes and brilliant smile, along with the overall carnival atmosphere that was Legend at the moment, caused Martin to briefly step out of himself. Toss aside the reserve. Without considering his action, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was just a little peck, hardly physical contact at all. But it set his head reeling. He immediately straightened, found it hard to breathe, and looked at her to see she seemed to be having the same reaction.

  “Geez. Dad! Take it inside if you’re gonna do that.” Daniel looked down, his face turning a little pink, and there was a glimmer of an embarrassed smile on his face as he studied one scuffed sneaker. “Geez.”

  “Yeah, Martin. Geez.” Midnight smiled too, but hers was not at all embarrassed. It looked more intrigued. Well. That was encouraging, wasn’t it? Martin quickly looked around, but it seemed the populace of Legend was paying no attention to the drama unfolding at the foot of a slightly battered extension ladder in front of The Emporium. Part of that drama was going on inside Martin, because he’d just felt another chunk fall out of his imaginary wall. The wall he’d built of his distrust of, and disinterest in, women was crashing down. The disinterest had been a goner ever since Midnight Shelby showed up on Main Street. And the distrust? Maybe that wasn’t quite as helpful as he’d thought. Maybe it had hurt him more than it helped anything.

  “So, are you ready?”

  Oh yeah, so ready. But now didn’t seem like the time….

  “Oh. Right. I’ll get up there and string those lights. Right.” He stepped one boot onto the bottom rung, then hesitated. “But first, may I ask why we’re putting up Christmas lights the second week of January? Some special holiday I’m not aware of?”

  Daniel rolled his eyes. Martin braced himself for the explanation.

  “We’re calling it ‘Legend by Starlight.’” She smiled, and he remembered the time he had driven her up on top of the mountain to see the night view. “I got a great deal on these outdoor lights at a few of the big box stores in Knoxville on December 26. Actually, Suzie let me drive her Honda because I knew there’d be a lot and they wouldn’t fit into my car. So I got all these lights, and everyone seemed to like the idea of lighting the fronts of all the Main Street buildings with them. We’re going to turn off the street lights beginning January 14, and every Friday night, through February 14, Main Street will be lit just by these.”

  “Huh. That’s interesting.”

  “And all the shops are going to stay open ‘til ten o’clock on those nights. We’re doing a winter romance and Valentine theme. Jane’s running specials on her romance books and has romance authors lined up to autograph copies and answer questions from readers some nights. I’m do
ing a new coffee drink called Legend by Starlight, with loads of whipped cream on top and little star-shaped chocolate sprinkles. Lilly has all those darling baby clothes, and her shop is going to have a drawing for a layette done in a heart-theme. That’s just a couple of examples. Everyone’s coming up with something different to offer, and there’ll be candlelight tours by horse-drawn carriage through the older residential neighborhoods.”

  “Wow. Pretty ambitious.”

  “It is, but we’re all working together really well. Look at all the help we’ve got right here. People seem to realize this is a good way to bring in business and let Legend help itself.”

  “Speaking of help, I’d better get to work.” He quickly climbed the ladder and started working with the fasteners and lights. It was best, for now, to do this manual labor and think about what she’d said. The woman had been in town just a few weeks and she was already in the midst of a major marketing campaign. Besides the website Martin had failed to visit, which his own website was no doubt linked to, he’d bet there was plenty of newspaper and radio advertising being done to bring people in. Amazing woman. And then there was that kiss. Brief as it had been, he wanted to be sure to explore those possibilities in the near future.

  Martin and all the others worked at the project steadily, not knowing or caring how much time passed. The music from somebody’s window changed from old Christmas songs to top 40 Country, and at some point the sing-along started. Legend’s bright street lights came on automatically and everyone worked by that for a while. Then the music was turned off in the middle of a song and Midnight’s voice came over a loud speaker.

  “Hey, everyone, great job! We’re nearly done, and it’s looking absolutely fantastic! The food committee tells me that soup and sandwiches, and hot cocoa are set up in the Old Meeting House, so if you’re ready for a break, or to quit for the night, go for it!”

  Several of the teenage boys shouted their support. Whether for the food or for quitting wasn’t clear. People came down off the remaining ladders. Martin was nearly done with his project and was just a few feet off the sidewalk when the announcement was made.

  “Martin, you going over for some chili or something?” Midnight asked from the base of the ladder a few minutes later.

  “Yeah. Sounds good. Give me ten or fifteen minutes, though. I’m so close to being done.”

  “Thanks for your hard work,” she said softly.

  “Yeah, Dad, who knew you’d help.”

  Martin glanced at his son. “Great. You make me sound like an ogre.”

  “Not an ogre. Just not interested, I guess.” He looked at his father with new respect.

  “That sounds bad, Daniel. This is my town too. Everybody’s working on this big project, and you don’t think I’ll help? Come on.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re part of it, Dad.”

  “Yeah? Me too.” He looked around at the buildings of his beloved Main Street, dressed in their finery, creating an appearance of welcome, festivity and success. He smiled at Daniel, then at Midnight, standing a few feet away. “Me too.”

  Chapter Ten

  The first day of Legend by Starlight arrived, and the whole town buzzed with excitement. Daniel was fairly bouncing in the Jeep seat on the way to school, watching out the window as shop owners made last-minute preparations to their store fronts.

  At the office, Martin could barely concentrate on work because the phone rang constantly. Seemed as if Betsy was some kind of co-chairperson of Legend by Starlight. All the incoming calls were for her, and her enthusiasm permeated the very air in the real estate office. Martin sat at his desk, spending some time on the Market Legend site, then its companion Facebook page, checking for updates. This had become a habit. He was extremely proud of what Daniel had done. And he was in awe of Midnight Shelby’s orchestration of the whole thing. It had her stamp on it: organized, elegant, professional.

  After a couple of hours of no business calls, he strolled into the front office for a coffee refill.

  “Things looking good for tonight?”

  “Omigosh, Martin, it’s so exciting! Almost everybody on Main Street is into this. Even the few empty buildings, the owners at least let us outline with the lights. It’s gonna be so pretty when we light it up tonight.”

  “Well….”

  “And Suzie’s B&B has been totally booked for just days, and people keep calling her to try to make reservations. All the nights of Legend by Starlight are totally, totally booked. She said she wished she had the old Lake Lodge building for overflow. Of course it’s ancient, so that’s not gonna happen. But imagine! Overflow! In Legend!”

  “It’s….”

  “And one of the Knoxville TV stations is sending a crew down for the opening tonight. And a woman from the Knoxville paper is coming too.”

  “You know….”

  The phone rang again, and Betsy snatched it up. “McClain Realty.”

  He didn’t know why she bothered to say that. The call wouldn’t be about real estate. He ambled back to his office and shrugged into his heavy leather bomber jacket. Might as well go downtown and watch the excitement build.

  The intercom buzzed. “Martin, it’s Mayor Crenshaw. He doesn’t sound so good.”

  Martin scooped up the handset, steeling himself for bad news. “Mayor?”

  “Martin. We just got the word. The factory’s definitely pulling out. Got a better deal from another city council. Tax breaks we can’t afford. You know the drill.”

  “Yeah. I know the drill. They want us to bend over backward for them so they can come in and tear down trees, pollute the streams, hire our people and treat them badly, and in a few years up and leave. Been there. So have you.”

  “We tried to work with them.” The mayor’s voice was heavy with dejection and exhaustion.

  “I know that.” Martin rubbed the deepening furrow between his brows. “Everyone with any sense knows that. Legend people try to get along, try to work together.”

  “But these aren’t Legend people we’re dealing with.” The sound of paper being wadded up came across the phone line to Martin.

  “No, and they’re not gonna be. Good riddance.”

  “We need the jobs, Martin!”

  “We need to figure out something else to create jobs for our people, Jack. We can’t keep expecting somebody to come along and work magic.”

  “Like Midnight Shelby,” the mayor said softly.

  “What?” Was the woman going to invade every facet of Martin’s life?

  “Work magic. Like Midnight Shelby. She’s been here, what, two months? And she’s already got this town working together like it hasn’t done since the big fire on Main Street when the fire plug malfunctioned and we had a bucket brigade, from the one down the street, and people dragging out furniture and all. You remember.”

  “Yeah. I was there.”

  “Of course you were. Everybody was. That’s my point. And that deal last fall with Lilly. Remember how everybody pulled together?”

  “Who could forget?” Martin picked up a pen, jabbed the point repeatedly into his desk calendar.

  “Martin, Midnight understands Legend. What makes it tick. She gets it, and she understands business and marketing. I have a very, very good feeling about tonight. And about her future ideas for Market Legend.”

  “I haven’t heard those.” He hated to admit it too.

  “You ought to come to the meetings. The woman is a dynamo. We meet at The Emporium, and she stands up at that lectern on the little stage and talks about her vision for Legend and asks us about ours. Then she makes suggestions on how we can get there. And we have real good discussions. There’s hope.” Martin heard Jack Crenshaw slap his desk. “It could make a grown man cry.”

  “Calm down, Jack.”

  “Right.” The mayor cleared his throat. “Anyway, right now we’ve got no factory and no other outside prospects. But we have a city council with our best interests at heart, a woman with big ideas, and a town full of grea
t people That’s gonna have to be enough. What do you think?”

  Martin breathed deeply. “It’s more than enough. Thanks for calling. I guess I’ll see you at the big lighting ceremony?”

  “I’d say. I’m throwing the giant fake switch.”

  Martin leaned back in his squeaky desk chair after the call had ended, finding himself both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed because he could have used the commission for the factory deal and many of the townspeople were counting on the factory to turn their fortunes around. Relieved because he’d been thinking lately that the commission would’ve been dirty money anyway. And he knew they didn’t want or need to be dependent on the factory for the town’s future.

  ****

  Midnight spent the day on the cordless phone, answering a myriad of questions from locals who were getting antsy, and from people who got her number off the website and ads she’d placed just about everywhere in driving distance. She was glad Betsy had let her put the real estate office number in the ads too, and wondered if Betsy was getting as many calls. She also hoped Martin didn’t mind.

  Thank God for Betsy’s help. And for Chloe, whose first consignment contract had lent credibility to both Midnight and her store. And for the support she’d received from Lilly and Jane and Suzie. And for dear, sweet, incredibly capable Daniel, whom she was growing very attached to. Never during her marriage had she wanted to become a mother. Now she almost felt as if she’d achieved that special role in life. And lately it seemed Martin had softened toward her a little. Maybe he was a bit less territorial, less suspicious of her and her “outsider” motives. About time! She’d hit the ground running and had worked hard on her business and on jumpstarting the whole of Legend’s businesses. Tonight was going to be the test. Had she done enough promotion? By all accounts, it looked that way. Suzie was calling Legendarians with large houses to see if they wanted to rent out a room for a night, as sort of an annex to Legend’s Landing B&B. And she’d made bushels of her Famous Legend Mountain Blueberry Muffins. Every display window on Main Street was a “piece of resistance” as Daniel put it. No amount of Midnight’s careful pronunciation of pièce de résistance made a difference to his boyish Tennessee version. Some of the famous Legend Dragons football team had agreed to be pooper-scoopers to clean up after the horse-drawn carriages. Absolutely everyone was going out of their way to make this work.