Winning the Teacher's Heart. Jean C. Gordon

his key fob to lock his car. “As I told you on the phone, it’ll look good to be here to answer any questions the board members may have. The meeting is open, even though it’s not an official public hearing.”

      “Let’s get it over with, then.”

      The two men went inside and entered the nearly empty main meeting room. Not much had changed since the last time he’d been here. He swallowed. He hoped that wasn’t indicative of today’s outcome. No. This time he wasn’t a kid, and he wasn’t going to let anyone drive him or his project out of town.

      “An empty room.” Dan nodded. “Just what I was hoping to see. You’ve done a good job of keeping your plans for building here under the local radar. These things go better when the public doesn’t get involved.”

      Jared tensed. “My idea is for the track and school to be a community project, not a secret strike on the town.” He shifted his weight. Dan had come highly recommended by Anne Hazard. From working with Anne and her staff on the environmental studies for the project, he’d found her very open and up-front. He’d assumed Dan was the same.

      “Right. Do you know Steve Monti, the town attorney? We went to law school together.”

      If the attorney was Dan’s age, it couldn’t be the same attorney who had orchestrated the Driving While Ability Impaired resolution that had pulled his license for six months and required him to pay restitution to Sheriff Norton. His agreement to leave town quietly right after high school graduation had been unstated—at least in the actual plea bargain.

      “No, the name isn’t familiar.”

      “I’ll introduce you.” Dan raised his hand to catch the attention of a man in a dark suit standing at one end of the dais. He met them halfway across the room.

      “Steve Monti. This is Jared Donnelly.”

      He and the town attorney shook hands.

      The attorney stepped away to the other side of Dan. “I may have spoken too soon this afternoon.” The town attorney said something else in a low voice that Jared didn’t catch.

      “The paperwork is all in order.”

      Despite Dan’s assertion, Jared’s throat tightened.

      “It is, but one of the board members lives near the development site. She’s insisting on a public hearing before the building permit is approved.”

      “Becca.”

      The other two men looked at Jared. He hadn’t realized he’d spoken his thought. But it couldn’t be. With her job and the kids, she had more than enough to keep her busy. It must be one of the other Conifer Road residents.

      “Yes, Becca Norton. She’s new to the board. You know her?” Steve asked.

      He cleared his throat. “Yes, but not like we’re close friends or anything.” That sounded lame.

      “It might be more to your benefit if she were. She has connections. Her father-in-law was the county Sheriff.”

      “Ex-father-in-law.”

      Dan silently scrutinized him.

      “I know the Sheriff, too.” And he has to be behind this somehow.

      “Steve, we’re ready to start.” Jared recognized the man speaking as the owner of the diner where his mother used to work. For a moment, he was eighteen again, alone against the world.

      “Time to make our case.” Dan slapped him on the back, reminding him he wasn’t alone. This time, he had a team behind him. A team he’d put together. And the resources to back that team.

      Jared turned to Dan. “Did you get a copy of the meeting agenda?”

      Since they appeared to be the only permit applicants here, he hoped the board would get to them first. He’d just as soon get this over with and get out of here.

      “Yeah.” He grinned. “You are the agenda.”

      * * *

      “Come on down,” Tom Hill, the chair of the Zoning Board boomed, reminiscent of The Price Is Right. “Take a seat. We’re not formal here.”

      Becca kept her gaze lowered as the men approached the dais. She placed the paper she held in her hands on the flat surface in front of her and smoothed it. Anger at herself for caving in to the Sheriff’s demand warred with concern for her kids and the life she was trying to build for them. She flicked the corner of the sheet with her index finger. The uneasiness she felt about Jared’s project wasn’t limited to her. She’d run into one of her two neighbors at the gas station convenience store. When Becca had mentioned that she was on her way to the Zoning Board meeting, he’d asked her what she knew about Jared wanting to build a motocross track on their road and then shared his apprehensions about the potential noise, traffic and strangers. He’d also reminded her how the Conifer Road residents had banded together to oppose the casino if it had been proposed.

      “And this is our newest board member, Rebecca Norton,” Tom said.

      She looked up into Jared’s deep blue eyes. They darkened, almost as if he’d read her thoughts about the track. But that was ridiculous.

      “Hi, Jared.”

      “Becca. What a pleasant surprise.”

      He wouldn’t think so for long. Her pulse quickened. Or maybe he was being sarcastic and didn’t think that now, either. Although his tone wasn’t sarcastic, she didn’t know him well enough to read the real meaning of his words any more than he’d been reading her thoughts a moment ago.

      Tom cleared his throat. “Now that introductions are over, I think we can get this done in quick order.”

      Jared relaxed his stance. “We brought updated plans and the preliminary environmental studies from GreenSpaces for you to look over.” He stepped to the dais to hand a cardboard tube holding the plans to the board members.

      Tom took the tube and waved him off. “That won’t be necessary tonight. I don’t know what Steve told your guy.” He nodded at Dan. “But Ms. Norton has raised new questions from her and one of the other property owners on Conifer Road. We’ve decided a public hearing is necessary. Your development may not fall under the recreational facility exception, after all—it being a racing school rather than a resort or simply a racetrack open to the public.”

      The town attorney shuffled his feet while Jared’s attorney glared at her. But their actions barely registered. She was focused on Jared. He seemed to be looking past her to something on the wall behind the dais. She resisted the urge to turn and see what he was looking at, only to regret that decision. If she had, she would have missed the gut-wrenching hardening of his features. She started to slump in her seat, then straightened and crossed her arms. Even if she felt bad for Jared, who obviously wanted to get started on his project, she had valid reasons for pushing the public hearing. And for him, it could deflect opposition later, after he’d already sunk money into the motocross track.

      “The hearing will be two weeks from Tuesday, our usual meeting night,” the board chair said. “Same time as tonight. That’ll let us get the required notices in the Times of Ti. You’ll get a letter in the mail.”

      “Thank you,” Jared’s attorney said. “We’ll see you in two weeks.”

      Jared jerked a nod in the direction of the board before he strode from the room.

      Becca watched him until he reached the doorway. She pulled her shoulder bag from the back of her chair and rose as he disappeared into the hall. “If we’re done, I need to get home. The kids, you know.”

      Becca hated to use the kids as an excuse. She rarely did. But she needed to speak with Jared, to explain her concerns about the motocross track. She could only hope that he and his lawyer might be talking outside.

      “Sure,” Tom said. “That’s all the business we had for tonight.