Page 102 of The Guest Cottage
“We have a protocol,” Butler interrupted, “and you’re out of order.”
Of all the nerve! “But I need to—”
Cort spoke from the break room as he made his way forward. “I believe I’m first on the docket.”
“And then me,” Herman said, popping up from his seat.
Butler turned to the clerk, who happened to be his wife, for verification.
She nodded. “That’s correct. Cort and then Herman.”
“All right, fine,” Butler said. “Put Marlow after them.”
His wife did some quick writing, and said, “Done.”
Marlow couldn’t take her eyes off Cort. What was he up to?
Butler said, “Come up front, Cort, so everyone can hear.” To the mayor’s credit, he wasn’t snarky or rude, just determined to follow procedure. She’d never quite seen him like this. Usually when Butler was around the tavern, he was just another one of the guys, easygoing, funny, and a nice tipper.
It was Cort who had her most confused of all. She wished he’d clued her in so she knew what to expect.
Silent anticipation kept everyone rapt as Cort walked up to join Butler. All over again, Marlow admired his presence and the way he held a room. Cort was their hero.
Her hero, too, though she hadn’t yet told him how much she loved him.
When her chest burned, she remembered to draw air into her starving lungs.
Cort got things started by saying, “I officially propose that the population rule should be changed.” A murmur swept the room. “We could limit new housing, instead of new people.”
Marlow felt all eyes on her now. She lifted her chin.
“It makes more sense than restricting human beings, when neighbors might marry and originals might have grandchildren, or in my case, when someone has a relative who lives with them.”
Leo said, “Marlow isn’t your relative.”
“Yet,” someone added with a chuckle.
Herman jumped up again. “But his mama was, and I won’t believe a single one of you didn’t want her here.”
The room fell silent until Robin, from The Docker restaurant, stood. “My father is getting older. What if I needed to bring him here to take care of him?”
Joann shot out of her seat. “Someday I want to have kids.”
Butler’s flustered wife, acting in her capacity as clerk, pointed out, “Offspring are already allowed.”
“I know,” Joann countered. “And how ridiculous is that? To allow or disallow children?”
Wade got to his feet. “What if one of us had a family emergency? Like Cort and his mom, most of us have kin. Would we have to leave town to help our families?”
Another murmur made the rounds as everyone considered his point. Given the way things were going, Marlow kept silent. She hadn’t expected this show of support, and she was overcome with gratitude.
Cort regained the floor. “What we’re all trying to say is that the population is going to change. It’s out of our control.” He looked at each council member. “As long as we don’t add new residential or commercial real estate, we can keep growth under control. Bramble won’t become a busy, crowded town, because none of us want that.”
“No,” Bobbi said. “But we do want Marlow to stay.”
Robin added, “And Pixie. We want them both.”
“The three of them,” Gloria called out, while cuddling Andy.
