Free Dandelion Wishes by Melinda Curtis

crowd’s rumblings built, popping like kernels of popcorn.
    Emma couldn’t contain her grin. Where were Will’s supporters now?
    If Will had any doubts, he didn’t show it. He spoke in an authoritative voice that carried over the crowd and drew their attention back to him. “In addition to the winery, our partnership is willing to invest in town, opening businesses in the town square. A gift shop. A five-star restaurant. And a wine-tasting shop.” His renderings showed soulless glass windows, modern interiors and a stark-white tablecloth establishment with a sleek bar. “This will move us to a tourism-based economy that will take Harmony Valley into the current century. Other businesses will return. In five years, we’re projecting we can attract contractors to build a new housing tract, perhaps as large as one hundred new homes.”
    At the town council table, Mayor Larry pounded his gavel harder on the table, Agnes rubbed a hand over her forehead and Granny Rose’s mouth gaped open. Mildred still squinted at the wall.
    Will was unflappable. “This increase in population and their need to be linked with the outside world will require changes to the town square.” A complete view of the new town square flashed on the wall. A chrome-and-steel gazebo with a towering pole replaced the oak tree. The circumference of the square was reduced by more than half in order to make way for extra parking and a stoplight. “Our communications tower in the town square will provide each resident with free wireless internet and make cell-phone service possible in the valley for the first time. And people will attribute this council with the imagination and confidence to launch that change.”
    Someone behind Emma made a sound of disgust. A voice in the back muttered angrily.
    At any moment someone in the pews would stand up and shout a protest. At any moment a council member would move to reject Will’s proposal. At any moment...
    “What have you done to the town square?” Rose looked puzzled. “Where are we supposed to gather? To hold events like the Spring Festival and the Summer Fair? What you’re proposing is a complete change to who we are.”
    Finally, the voice of reason. Seconded by many voices in the crowd.
    But not by Granny Rose’s peers on the council table. They still seemed dumbfounded.
    “Where’s the oak tree in the town square?” Rose demanded.
    “We plan to replace it with a hot-spot gazebo.” Will kept smiling. It was a smile Emma recognized. The one the boss gave you when he told you he liked the work you’d done and then turned around and rejected it completely. Insert knife in back.
    “A hot spot?” Her grandmother’s expression pinched with uncompromising wrinkles. “Young man, we don’t abide that kind of behavior in this town.”
    To his credit, Will didn’t chuckle at Rose’s misunderstanding. “It’s a communications tower housed in a chrome-and-steel gazebo with a solar-powered fan. It’s called a hot spot because of the signal it sends out.”
    Rose huffed. “The tree stays. And the lawn. And you can remove the traffic light while you’re at it.”
    There were murmurs of approval.
    “Is that the town square? All I see is gray.” Mildred squinted. If only she could see, maybe she’d regret asking Will and his friends to start a business in Harmony Valley.
    “You’re trying to erase our history, not build upon our roots,” Mayor Larry said in a voice loud enough to reach those in the back of the church too proud to wear hearing aids. “When you first came to us with this proposal, I assumed you were talking about a small winery that would blend into the landscape, not change everything. What’s the square footage on that monstrous building you showed? How many visitors are you projecting each day?”
    Emma wasn’t sure if Mayor Larry had read the mood of the room or was still offended by the mission-style mother ship being parked across from his house. Either way, Will