called information from? Though I think I have a pretty
good idea."
"My sources, as always, remain confidential. And if you
read the article carefully, I'm sure you'll find that I didn't
print a single word that was untrue."
I"I wouldn't be so sure. Our lawyers are already looking
into it very carefully."
"I was sure they would. Did you notice how I praised
your club facilities and your lovely golf course-"
"If you think saying that, and I quote, 'the lush greens of
the golf course are a sharp contrast to the thirsty residents
with no running water due to a dried-up well' is praise,
you're Out of your mind. And who told you our well had run
dry?"
"I happened to overhear a chagrined homeowner trying
to get a room in the hotel so his wife could take a shower.
And they were refused a room, although I later learned there
were plenty available. I didn't even print that in my article.
Admit it, Cohn, all is not well in Desert Winds."
I"You are a mean and spiteful woman, Ms. Carpenter.
Believe me, you haven't heard the end of this yet."
She sighed. "I didn't figure I had. Take care, Mr. Byers."
Then she hung up. That mean and spiteful part stung just a
little. Was printing the truth about how a poorly done devel-
opment could adversely affect an entire community mean
and spiteful? She didn't think so.
"Excuse me," said Abigail as she cracked open the door.
"I saw you were off the line with Mr. Byers, and while you
were still fuming over him, I thought you might as well take
a look at these." She held out several letters.
Looking for YouAllMy Life197
"Let's get it over with," said Maggie. "Are they pretty
bad?"
Abigail frowned deeply. "It appears that some business
owners think that bad development is better than no devel-
opment at all~specially when the weather isn't cooper-
ating." She glanced out the window at the clear blue sky.
"Anyway, here's a real cranky one from Cal-no big surprise
there. That man has absolutely no taste anyway. And then
here's one from the hardware store owner. Of course, he'd
support something like this-he stands to profit from all
those irate homeowners beating a regular path to his door
for all their household repair items."
Maggie chuckled over this as she fingered through the
small stack. "Good point. It looks like we've got all the con-
tractors ganging up on us about this too. I'm sure they think L
with all the potential construction going on that they'll get a
piece of the pie. But the way Cohn Byers goes in for cheap
and sometimes illegal labor, I'm afraid they're barking up the
wrong tree." She made a note. "The next article should
probably address the whole labor issue more directly. That