Chapter 15: Chapter 15
“You want to do what?” Martha Davis asked, her eyes wide as she stared across her desk at Brady.
“Bring Christmas back,” he said, infusing energy into his voice instead of the doubt he was feeling inside. He didn’t know this woman well enough to gauge her reaction, but he had the idea that she thought he was crazy, despite the discussion they’d had at the meeting the day before.
She shook her head. “Brady, I understand what you’re saying, I do. And I agreed with what you had to say yesterday. But as my fellow council members said at the meeting, I don’t know how it can be done.”
Brady flashed her his winning smile. “I think it can. Listen, you’re good friends with Doris Snow, right?”
Martha nodded, her forehead crinkling. They were sitting in her office near the downtown shopping district. She worked as a therapist when she wasn’t serving on the council. All of them had other jobs, other than the mayor, and a few of them even owned shops, so they would personally benefit from bringing in more shoppers, though he doubted Martha’s particular business would change either way. “Yes, I am. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I have had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Snow, and I just spoke to her daughter. Frankly, I can’t think of anyone I would rather have leading the charge to bring back Christmas. If you and the rest of her friends contribute, I bet we could make this Christmas the best Holiday Hills has seen in years. Not to mention, I’ll need your help convincing the rest of the board to approve these changes. If I don’t have a majority, I can guarantee the mayor will put a stop to it before we even have a chance to get the public excited.”
He could see the wheels in her mind turning as she pondered the situation. “Have you spoken to Doris?”
“Not yet, but I will. Or Noelle will.” She arched an eyebrow. “We both will.”
“And a budget? What’s your budget?”
“Again, I wanted to speak to you before I started running numbers, but I think we can do it fairly cheaply. We can ask for donations for better ornaments for downtown, the park, and the tree lighting, and we can charge a small fee for booths at the arts and craft fair, which will off-set any expenses we do incur for decorations, and say, for improving the city’s float in the parade.”
Martha didn’t seem opposed to what he was saying, though she certainly had a skeptical expression on her face. “It might be difficult to find crafters and artisans who aren’t already booked this close to Christmas, regardless of when you were considering having this fair.”
He nodded. “I know. I thought about that. I am hoping that we might be able to convince some local citizens who don’t generally sell their wares in such fashion--more like hobbyists--who wouldn’t mind investing a small fee in the town in order to have the opportunity to display the objects they like to spend their free time making.”
She seemed to like that idea. Martha leaned back in her chair and tapped a pen against her chin. “You know, I’ve been known to do a little knitting in my free time.”
“You don’t say?” Brady asked. He wasn’t surprised. It seemed like women of a certain age tended to like that particular pastime.
“It’s not what you think, though,” she continued. ‘I don’t make baby blankets or booties or things like that. I make animals. Realistic ones.”
Now, he was intrigued. “Wow, that is quite a skill.” An idea suddenly popped into his head and bubbled out of his mouth with excitement before he could even contain himself. “You could make the cats and dogs from the shelter!”
Tipping her head to the side, she studied him for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Noelle and I were talking about trying to get some adoptions out of the increased visitors to town and the fact that more townsfolk would be out and about. What if you made some of the animals with your knitting skills, get them some more attention?”
A smile spread across her face. “I love that idea. And my husband does woodwork. Between the two of us, we should have enough items for a booth and to help find some of the pets a new home.”
“I think this could be great for the people who live here who are lamenting the loss of Christmas,” Brady said, speaking from the heart. “But it’s gonna be a hard sale to the rest of the council and particularly to the mayor. Maybe it will be a good opportunity for him to demonstrate why the parking garage is needed.”
A scowl came over Martha’s face. “Brady, you do realize that the only reason Mayor Jenkins wants the council to approve that garage is because his father, the former Mayor Jenkins, will get the bid, don’t you?”
His eyebrows arched as he felt his heart rate increase. “What’s that now?”
Martha nodded her head. “Yes. Thomas Jenkins owns the only construction company in town. Things have been slow recently, and he was the mayor back in the time when business was booming, so he couldn’t bid on any of the town projects at the time. Now, he needs his son to trump up business. That’s his only reasoning.”
It all made sense then. Brady had thought it was so strange that Jenkins was trying to erect a parking garage that wasn’t needed in a spot that didn’t demand it. He was simply trying to get some money in his father’s pocket. “Can’t we open bidding up to companies from surrounding towns?”
“Sure, we can,” she said, “but the chances of someone from another town putting in a competitive bid isn’t highly likely.”
“Still… if we tell Jenkins we’ll move forward with the parking lot project if he’ll back the Christmas plan, then we can invite other companies to bid and take the lowest one.”
Again, she carefully considered what he had to say. It was clear she took her responsibility as a councilwoman very seriously. “That might work,” she said. “But we’d have to be sure there are other interested parties when it comes to the parking garage construction. There are already three board members who back the idea and three that don’t. Three of them are in Jenkins’s pocket. The other three are not. I suppose you can tell which side I am on.”
He smiled at her. “I have a feeling we are on the same side.”
She grinned back at him. “Glad to hear it, Brady. I think… we just might be able to pull this off. But before I agree to anything, I want to know for sure that Doris Snow will organize it. I have to know someone capable is in charge, and while I trust her completely, there aren’t many other people I can say that about.”
Brady nodded in understanding. “I will see what I can do.”
Martha smiled and offered her hand. Brady stood and shook it, finally feeling like he was sorting out this new town of his and that he finally knew who was who, where he fit in, and who he could trust--and not trust.