Sandcastle Beach (Matchmaker Bay #3) - Jenny Holiday Page 0,46

probably here for the same reason he was: Karl had asked, and these kids were going to be the source of ten grand of the grant money that was up for grabs.

After telling everyone about Lawson’s, A Rose by Any Other Name, and the Moonflower Bay Theater Company, Karl asked the panelists to introduce themselves.

“It’s actually three generations of entrepreneurship in our family,” said Law’s dad, who went first. “My father founded Lawson’s Lager House in 1943. It’s been a community treasure since the day it opened, bringing a sense of consistency and tradition through the decades. If there’s one thing you can count on in this town, it’s Lawson’s Lager House.”

Yep. Law had to look away from his dad, which meant he ended up looking at Maya. She did one of her tiny eye rolls, but it was a friendly one, like the one she’d shot him when Pearl and Eiko were entrapping them in the theater-talk-on-a-boat plan. Aimed so he alone could see it, it seemed intended to express solidarity. Which was unfamiliar coming from her. He didn’t hate it.

After they were done and the floor opened to questions, a teenage girl came to the mic and said, “No offense to the rest of you, but as I see it, the only one who really started something from nothing, like, with no help, no family background, was you.” She pointed at Maya.

Law chuckled. It was certainly true that he’d had the good fortune to be born into the family business. The same could be said for his dad.

Maya’s dad had the mic, and instead of passing it to his daughter, he picked it up and said, “That’s totally true. Obviously I’m biased, but my daughter is a marvel. Every time I walk by the Moonflower Bay Theater Company and think of how she created this living, thriving, beautiful resource for this town, my heart just about bursts with pride.”

Wow. So clearly Maya’s dad didn’t know about her financial trouble. Was Law imagining things, or did she wince a little as her father passed the mic?

“I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, “but it’s not really true. I had a big investor early on who really believed in me.” She winked at her dad, and he beamed at her. Turning back to the questioner, she said, “Actually, if anyone fits your description, it’s my dad. He and my mom moved to this area for my mom’s job, and they didn’t know anyone. He’d worked in the floral industry, but he hadn’t owned his own store before. My mom had been in grad school for a long time, and they didn’t have much money. So the way I see it, deciding to open the store was a big risk.” Her attention swung back to her dad, and she looked a little bit overcome. “I’m really proud of him.”

She cleared her throat and turned back to the audience. “But heck, I will take a little bit of credit. It is hard to start something from nothing, as you said, especially trying to do the arts in a small town. The more normal career path for a theater director would have been going to a big city and putting on shows at fringe festivals or trying to get into established theaters.” She sent one of her million-megawatt smiles at Karl. “But I was committed to bringing arts and culture to this town I so love, and to doing my part in contributing to its economy.”

Oh, for God’s sake. Now she was blatantly pandering on account of the whole “community-mindedness” thing. Law turned and aimed one of those miniature eye rolls back at her. She put her hand over her mouth to shield it from everyone else and stuck her tongue out at him. He had to cough so he didn’t laugh.

“I have a follow-up question,” said the girl from the audience, who was clearly the brains of the Junior Achievement operation. “Do you think you’ve faced extra barriers because you’re a woman and/or because you’re not white?”

“Of course,” Maya said. “That doesn’t surprise you, does it?”

The questioner, who looked like she was probably of East Asian descent, shook her head.

“Just last week,” Maya said, “I struck up a conversation with someone in the grocery store in Grand View. First off, he assumed I was a summer person visiting from Toronto. I had to be like, ‘Nope, born and raised in the next town down the lake.’ Then when I told him I was