“I never met more people concerned about trees in all my life,” Rossi said. “We’re interested in gin, not wood.”
“Preserving the beauty of our land is important to us,” I said.
“You’re too pretty to have such a big mouth, but I could overlook it if you married me. What do you say? Come work with us and live like a queen?”
“I already live like a queen,” I said. How much gin had this man had this morning? Marry him?
“But not my queen.” He reached for me, but I was too quick for him. I darted away before his hands could snatch me and ran toward the front door of the hospital. The sounds of their laughter told me they hadn’t followed me.
It wasn’t until I was inside that I took in a breath. These two had to go.
The waiting room was empty. Any other time I was here, Dr. Neal and Theo’s nurse had sat behind the desk. I knew from earlier that she’d been here assisting the doctors all through the harrowing night. They’d sent her home in the morning. Just as well. I needed to talk to my parents.
Dr. Neal and Theo’s offices, which we sometimes called the hospital and other times simply “the doctor’s office,” consisted of a waiting area, two exam rooms, and a surgery at the back. Today, the surgery room was also a recovery room.
It was already two. I’d been gone for several hours by now. As much as I yearned to get back to Shannon’s, I knew she had whom she needed to help her. My gifts were better served here.
Papa and Mama were reading when I came into the room. Flynn was asleep on the bed. I greeted my parents with a wave of my hand. Papa motioned for us all to go out to the waiting room.
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. There was much to cover and not much time to do it. “Darling, are you all right?” Mama asked. “You’re as jittery as a cat.”
“Yes, I’m fine.” I smiled to reassure her. “Shannon’s in labor. Louisa’s with her. When Theo returns here, will you send him out?”
Mama’s hand fluttered to her hair. “She’s having the baby today? How can this be?”
“Louisa assured me all was well,” I said. “Fiona’s with her.”
“Poor Shannon,” Papa said. “Now this on top of everything else.”
“Perhaps it’ll give her something happy to focus on,” Mama said.
“Yes, quite right.” Papa wrapped his arm around me. “Thank you for being our rock, Cym. I’m very proud of you.”
“There’s something else. Rossi and Chetta are waiting outside in the parking lot.”
“Lord have mercy,” Mama said.
“Did they do anything to you?” Papa’s fists clenched at his sides.
“No, but I talked to them. I told them we would give them the booze and equipment. But it’s not enough. The man they work for wants the factory too. Apparently, the quality is better than anything else they have. We’ll never get rid of them unless we do something drastic.”
“I want to burn the place down,” Papa said. “Then there’s nothing to come back for.”
“I agree. But we need to drive them away for good. Using force if we have to,” I added. “So that they don’t retaliate.”
Papa, who had been listening with a furrowed brow, nodded. I couldn’t be sure what that meant.
I slid my gaze to Mama. She had turned to a painting of a rooster that hung on the wall, peering at it with a faraway look in her eyes.
“Mama?”
She slowly turned to look at me. “An angry mob? Is that what you’re suggesting?”
“I guess you could call it that,” I said. “But this is Emerson Pass, Mama. We have to protect what you and Papa built.”
She didn’t look convinced, so I turned back to Papa. “I told Rossi we had a dance at the schoolhouse tonight and that you’d meet him there to hand over the keys.”
“And the whole town will be there?” Papa asked. “To chase them out of town.”
“Something like that.” Now that he said it out loud, the idea seemed flimsy.
“I don’t know if this will work,” Papa said. “It could make them angrier. They could bring back more people.”
“All we want is for them to leave us alone,” I said.
“It’s the only idea that’s given me any hope,” Papa said. “We have to try.”