this story, to collect the facts and then get out of there-and
quick!
She sat next to the door, shielded from the front by others
who were already seated. She had no desire to be observed
by either Greg or Rick, and she had no intention of creating
a scene of any sort. She opened her little notebook and
hunched slightly over, her eyes focused on her notes as she
listened intently to Greg rambling on and on about what a
good thing this project would be for the entire community.
-He could actually be quite compelling and charismatic when
he put his mind to it, and obviously this development was
important to him. He had much to gain by its success. She
wondered if Cherise was here today. She'd barely seen her
this morning during her workout at the fitness center, but on
her way out she'd noticed that Cherise's eyes were red and
puffy. Not a good sign.
"And now," continued Greg as if finally coming to the L
main point, "I'd like to introduce you all to Mr. Cohn Byers,
our idea man and the visionary for designing this commu-
nity. Meet the man who will partner with us as we continue
to develop Pine Mountain Estates." The crowd applauded
politely but, to Maggie's pleasure, without much enthusiasm.
That was the first time she'd heard mention of a name for
the development. She jotted it down and glanced up to see if LookingforyouAllMyLife115
she could get a good look at this Cohn Byers person. She'd
already researched and read enough about him and his
shoddy developments to feel as if she knew him personally.
She imagined him to be a fast-talking, sixtyish, potbellied,
slightly balding man, probably wearing a light-colored suit
with shiny white shoes and a gold chain or two around his
thick neck. But to her surprise, a rather attractive gentleman,
tall, tan, and blond, and probably only in his late forties,
stepped up to the podium and shook Greg's hand.
"Greetings," he began in a friendly tone. "What a beau-
tiful region you folks all live in. I can see now why they call
this God's country." He paused to look around the room at
all the faces, as if trying to recognize each one individually,
then he continued. "However, I've heard that you've come
upon some hard times with your local economy and some of
you are struggling right now just to keep your businesses
afloat. And for that very reason you should all be extremely
thankful for Greg and Rick here. These guys have the kind
of foresight and vision to realize an opportunity that will
bring this town back on its feet. They are presenting your
community with a fantastic opportunity to stabilize and
escalate your economy throughout the new millennium." He
paused, like a showman, as if waiting for approval or
applause, but only a few people responded. The majority
seemed reserved, or perhaps simply unsure, and a number of
them still appeared fairly skeptical. Somehow their reaction