Sophie Love - For Now and Forever

She went over to the double doors the woman had indicated and pulled them open. She was stunned to see how crammed full of people it was. A large number of the townsfolk had turned up for the discussion. She noticed the Patels, Joe from the diner, the Bradshaws, and Karen from the general store. Clearly whether her property was a B&B or not mattered to more people than she’d anticipated.

Her heart soared as she noticed Daniel right at the front. He’d come. He hadn’t let her down this time. Heads swiveled as she rushed up to the front and took her seat beside him. He squeezed her knee and gave her a wink.

“You’ve got this,” he said.

Just then, Emily saw Trevor Mann in the next aisle along peering over at her with a raised eyebrow and a sneer. She returned his cool expression with narrowed eyes.

Thankfully she’d only missed the first five minutes of the meeting. The mayor was just finishing up introducing people on the panel and running through the agenda.

“So,” he said, gesturing to Emily and Trevor, “I give you the floor. Your arguments please.”

Trevor didn’t waste a second. He leapt up to his feet and turned to face the audience.

“I live in the property behind this house,” he began. “And I am fully opposed to it being repurposed as a B&B. We already have B&Bs in the town, there’s no need for one on a quiet residential street like West Street. The disruption to my life would be immense.”

“Well,” Emily said, her voice small, “strictly speaking you don’t live on the property. It’s your second home, isn’t it?”

“Strictly speaking,” Trevor hissed, “yours isn’t your home at all.”

“Touché,” Emily muttered under her breath, realizing that Trevor Mann was not going to be holding anything back, certain that he would play dirty if he needed to.

She shrank back in her chair, feeling overwhelmed by the situation, listening as he rattled off statistics about noise pollution and increased refuse collections, the tourist trade and locals being priced out of the area by exactly “this sort of thing.” Emily kept trying to speak but Trevor never gave her a chance. She started feeling like a gaping fish, just opening and closing her mouth.

“At the end of the day,” Trevor Mann said, “we’re dealing here with an inexperienced woman who doesn’t know the first thing about running a business. I for one do not want the land behind my house to be used in her little vanity project.”

He sat down triumphantly, expecting to hear some applause or sounds of agreement. Instead he was met by deafening silence.

“Are you going to let the poor woman speak now?” Dr. Patel said.

A cry of “Hear, hear” went up from the audience. It made Emily happy to know that the townspeople had her back. For the first time, she felt like she’d made some true friends here, something she needed at the moment what with Amy and her fighting. Thinking of Amy made the butterflies in her stomach flutter even more.

She stood up, feeling that every eye on the room was on her. She cleared her throat and began.

“First and foremost, I need you all to know how touched I am that you came. I think it’s safe for me to say I wasn’t very popular when I first got here. I was guarded and skeptical. But this town showed me nothing but love, warmth, generosity, and friendship. Thanks to you, I’ve grown to love this place, and to love all of you. I feel like I did when I came here as a girl. You’ve all been like parents to me, mentors, showing me how to grow into a woman. I am not looking to get rich. I just want the chance to be able to live in this town, and to find a way to support myself doing it. I want the chance to fix up my father’s house, which meant more to him than anything in the world. I’m not ready to leave it yet. And I also just want the chance to give back to this community.”

Emily noticed all the encouraging smiles in the room. A few people were even dabbing their eyes with tissues. She continued speaking.

“The house on West Street belonged to my father. Most of you knew him. I believe, from the fond stories you’ve told me, that he was a cherished member of the community.” She felt emotion threaten to choke her. “I miss my dad. I think you miss him too. Restoring his home feels like a way of honoring him. Turning it back into a B&B feels like a way of honoring the town he adored. All I ask is that you give me the chance to do him proud, and do you proud.”

All at once, the room erupted into applause. Emily felt overjoyed by those around her, by the love and care they’d shown her once she’d been willing to let them in.

Before the clapping even had a chance to die down, Trevor Mann was back on his feet.

“How touching, Miss Mitchell,” he said. “And as lovely as it is that you want to give back to the community, I have to highlight once again how grossly underqualified you are to do up a property of that magnitude, let alone successfully run a B&B.”

This was it. The fight was on. And Emily was ready for it.

“Contrary to Mr. Mann’s beliefs,” she said, “I’m not inexperienced. I’ve been working on the property for months and during that time I’ve completely turned it around.”

“Ha!” Mr. Mann called out. “She blew up the toaster just yesterday!”

Emily ignored his attempts to bring her down. “I’ve also obtained all the necessary permits for the work that’s been done, and plans for the work that would need to be done in order to convert the property from a home into a business.”

“Oh really?” Trevor sneered. “Are you telling me you’ve gotten plumbing and electrical permits? From licensed tradesmen?”

“Yes, I’ve got those,” she said, pulling the forms out that Cynthia had given her.

“Well, what about your HHE-200 Sub Surface Wastewater Disposal form?” Trevor said, sounding increasingly frustrated. “Have you filled in that?”

Emily produced some more of Cynthia’s documents from her folder. “Three copies, as required.”

Trevor’s face was beginning to turn red. “What about that barn that was damaged in the storm? You can’t leave it like that, it’s a hazard. But if you fix it up, it will have to comply with the land use ordinance.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Emily replied. “These are my construction drawings for the damaged outbuildings. And before you ask, yes, they comply with the 2009 International Building Codes. And,” she continued, raising her voice to stop Trevor from interrupting, “I’ve had them stamped with the Maine State Architect’s stamp.”

Trevor scowled.

“This is all irrelevant,” he finally snapped, no longer able to contain his frustration. “You are forgetting the gorilla in the room. This house was deemed uninhabitable years ago. And she has not paid her back taxes. She is living there illegally, and technically, this house is no longer even hers.”

The room grew silent as all eyes turned to the mayor.

Emily’s heart pounded in her throat; this was the moment of truth.

Finally, the mayor stood and faced everyone. He was trying to hide his smirk but failing miserably.

“I think we’ve all heard enough, haven’t we?” he said. “The house was deemed uninhabitable because it was sitting empty for so many years. But we’ve all been through it, and it is more than inhabitable now – it is beautiful.”

The crowd let out a light cheer of agreement.

“And as far as the back taxes,” he continued, “Emily can pay them over time. I know our town would rather have a resident paying them off, however belatedly, than not collect any taxes at all. Besides, the new taxes and commerce a B&B would generate would much more benefit the town in the long run.”

He turned to Emily and smiled wide.