Free Elijah: Calhoun Men _ Erotic Paranormal Wolf Shifter Romance by Kathi S. Barton Page B

of the things they’d found in the rooms when they’d started working. “What does this have to do with our building?”
    “Oh. He would go to a place to see if it was a good spot, he told me. And while there, he said that he always looked for the same three things before he even sat down with the town. Cost, of course, but that could be worked through. But he said that there needed to be growth room. If they needed to expand, was there room? Could they expand their parking lot without a great deal of extra trouble? The second thing was a landing strip. There needed to be someplace close that a plane could be landed without a great deal of travel for the big bosses. He said for as much as they hated to travel to smaller towns, they didn’t care to spend a great deal of time on the road to get there either.” Trent thought they had both of those covered. His family had a strip that was used by smaller planes when necessary, and could be converted into something public if need be. “The third thing was an expressway. Trucks, if they’re needed, should be able to get on and off the freeway easily and quickly. He said that the empty buildings, lack of paint, or new doors and windows weren’t what he saw, but how the town looked as a place to live and work.”
    “There’s a highway not ten miles from here. And the rest we have covered.” When she continued to walk around, he asked her what else. “I think you have an idea, and I for one would like to have an edge when they get here.”
    “You don’t have time to finish it, but I would suggest that you put in a couple of bed and breakfasts that cater to the people coming in. Mark said that he knew it was sort of silly, but he loved the Mayberry kind of mentality when he got to a town. One thing that he told me he enjoyed was when he’d walk down the main street and see the front windows of the grocery store painted with specials. And the local schools that way too. He said it told him that it was a town that came together when necessary.” She turned to him then, her face red with embarrassment. “I don’t know why I even mentioned it. I’m sure you know much better than I would.”
    “Doubtful any of us would have thought of windows being painted. But I can see the appeal of it.” He looked at his dad. “You remember when we were little and Marshalls had his daughter put the big signs in his window to tell when chicks were in for the spring? And when there was salt in for the sidewalks?”
    “I do. Sometimes I’d just go down there to see what she might have come up with.” His dad was warming to the idea. “And you know Mrs. Baker, the one that lives down there on Wilson Street? She’s been threatening for weeks now to open up her house to some people who needed a place to sleep. Why don’t we give her house a nice little once over and have her run it for us?”
    Trent’s mind was running full steam ahead. The house could use a paint job, and he knew that her lawn needed to be mowed more often than she was able to take care of. It was on his list of things to bring up at the next pack meeting, that they should be caring better for the elderly. When he asked his dad about getting the place spruced up, he told him he had it covered. Trent looked at Noelle and smiled.
    “I need you to come and work for me. For a few weeks anyway.” She was shaking her head. “Not forever. But until we can get some growth in this town. You have a good head on your shoulders, and I have a feeling that you have a lot more ideas than you just suggested to us.”
    “I don’t know what you want. I just told you what someone else told me.” He nodded, already thinking of other ways she could help him. “You have that look in your eye. The one your mom has right before she suggests something that I’m probably not going to like.”
    “You’ll love it. And on top of that, I’ll owe you. These are ideas that are going to give us an edge we might not have had before.