One Snowy Night (Sweet Home, Alaska #1) - Patience Griffin Page 0,64
last month?”
Everyone on the council nodded.
“Then you must understand why this is so important to me. Also, a successful wine tasting could inspire the new owner to support the town.”
“So you already have a buyer?” Leaky asked, hopeful.
“No. But my business manager and I are putting together a business plan for whoever ends up with the lodge. Remember my grandmother’s café? One of our ideas is to open it up again for lunch, say five days a week, like Nan used to do. We’re already fixing up the cabins so they can be rented.” He felt guilty for using the proverbial we when it had been Hope who was doing the lion’s share of the fixing. He couldn’t help but glance at her and he got what he expected—a glare. He continued, “I’m confident of finding an investor who wants to revive the lodge with so many possibilities. But in the short term, think of the influx of money the Christmas Festival could bring in this season. The holiday jobs it could provide. There’s still plenty of time to promote it.” Though October was winding up in a couple of days.
“Give us a minute to talk among ourselves,” Leaky said, before turning to huddle with the rest of the council.
Boomer whined and Donovan picked him up, catching a glimpse of Hope in his peripheral vision. Her back was needle straight and it was obvious she was fuming. He wanted to go to her and explain, to win her approval. But it was so hard to explain why this wine tasting had become so important to him. His feelings about Sweet Home and the lodge were a jumbled, tangled mess, like Christmas lights that had been thrown haphazardly into a storage bin.
Hope stood again. “If I may say something?”
“Go ahead,” Leaky said.
“Donovan could do all those things he mentioned without lifting the dry decree.”
Donovan gazed at her, trying to convey how sincerely he wanted to help the town. “You know how much the wine tasting meant to my grandmother and the Sisterhood of the Quilt.”
“But—” Hope started.
Leaky cut her off. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve come to a decision.”
His face held no clue as to which way it was going to go.
“I’m sorry, Hope,” Leaky said. “We’ve decided to look forward instead of backward. We approve Donovan’s petition.”
“But—” Hope tried again.
Leaky held up his hand. “We hear your concerns.” He looked over at Donovan. “The decree will be lifted for one day, but that’s only if you agree to all our stipulations.”
“Certainly,” Donovan said. “What are they?”
“First, only the Alaskan sweet wines your grandmother served. No beer or hard alcohol.”
“That’s the plan,” Donovan agreed.
“No minors.”
“Of course.”
“Keys will be collected at the door. You’ll need to set up a system to get everyone and their cars home afterward.”
That would be easy. Donovan could hire two people—one to drive the attendees home in their cars, another to follow them and drive back to the lodge for the next group.
“The wine must be served with food,” Leaky said.
“All of this is doable.” Donovan felt tremendous relief. He hadn’t even realized how invested he was in the Christmas Festival and the wine tasting. Up until now he thought it was about missing his grandparents. But something had shifted, and his vision expanded. Suddenly he could picture a vibrant Sweet Home, the way it had been seventeen years ago. He felt like he could really help the town before he sold off and left Sweet Home forever. But even as he had the thought, his future life in Florida was becoming blurry.
The one thing he saw clearly was an image of the lodge restored to its former glory and then some. He had the means to make the lodge bigger and better than it was before. It all must’ve been rolling around in his brain since he arrived back in Sweet Home because the vision became clearer. “If it helps,” he interrupted the council, “my grandfather had plans drawn up to add more suites to the lodge and more cabins to the grounds.” His grandparents had always wanted to expand but never had the energy to do more.
“Yes, yes, that’s a fine idea. But there’s one more thing,” Leaky said, pulling Donovan back to the present.