Free Dandelion Wishes by Melinda Curtis Page B

everyone in town, including Rose.
    Right after Emma and her grandmother left, Agnes had moved that they table the issue of rezoning the winery property until a special meeting the following Monday night. Mildred seconded. And Will’s hopes for approval today were crushed beneath the mayor’s gavel. The church had quickly emptied out.
    “Agreed.” Slade smoothed his tie beneath his tailored black suit jacket.
    “Look at the bright side.” Flynn zipped the soft-sided projector case closed. “We didn’t get rejected.”
    “We didn’t get approved,” Slade pointed out.
    “For the love of Mike,” Will’s father, Ben, said in a loud voice. “Why don’t you just say it? You were asked to start a small-town business to inject some life into this place and you turned it into a multimillion-dollar makeover to satisfy your egos. Your plans provoked Rose, who’s never been anything but kind to you boys, not to mention unease in the rest of the crowd. That’s not something to be proud of.”
    Flynn and Slade did the “your dad’s embarrassing me” shuffle, busying themselves with the already-closed projector case. Tracy stared out the window at the fast-approaching night.
    That left Will to defend their proposal. “Dad, you don’t understand what we’re trying to do.”
    “Don’t patronize me like you do the rest of the town. I may belong to AARP, but I’m not stupid. I’m sure once you complete construction of this monstrosity and open for business it’ll make a nice article in one of those business magazines you’re so fond of reading. But by then the heart of this town will be destroyed.”
    Will took a deep breath. “Profits and ego had nothing to do with our plans.”
    “Loss is more like it,” Slade murmured, not at all helpfully.
    His father shook his head. “Tracy, let’s go home.”
    Tracy left without looking at Will.
    His head pounded harder.
    “He’ll come around,” Slade said.
    “And so will Tracy.” Flynn settled his baseball cap on his head.
    “He’s right. Everything was too big. And the mission style? What were we thinking?” Will massaged his temple. Programming impossible code was turning out to be more enjoyable than helping his hometown and providing a future for his sister.
    Flynn tugged his tie loose and slipped it into his jacket pocket. “So? What do we do? Scale back our plans?”
    “Yes.” Will shouldered his laptop bag. “Maybe we go back to the idea of restoring the barn for the main winery and the old farmhouse for the tasting room. We’ll need to let our supporters know about the changes and meet with the rest of the residents.”
    Slade looked grim. “And hope we don’t alienate anyone else.”
    “No sweat.” Flynn shrugged. “People love us.”
    “Most did. Until tonight,” Slade muttered.
    They talked about the situation all the way back to Flynn’s grandfather’s house.
    Edwin was watching Family Feud, but muted the program when he saw them. “Tell me why you have glum faces. I’ve had a few calls, but I want to hear it from you.” He lowered the footrest on his plaid recliner and sat up like the career military man he was, unswerving and ready for action. After they’d recapped the night’s events, he said, “No campaign was ever won without overcoming a few challenges.”
    “A few?” Will had to respect Edwin’s strategic acumen, even if he didn’t feel as optimistic. The old man attacked a goal much the same way Will approached a programming challenge—research, what-if scenarios and a plan for the steps needed to succeed.
    Weeks ago, Edwin had covered the kitchen table with an aerial map of Harmony Valley, highlighting the homes of residents that had committed to them in blue. Undecideds were in yellow. The opposition in orange.
    Rose’s house was very orange.
    “I’m worried about Rose. She was extremely upset.” As was Emma. Will bent over to read the skinny yellow sticky notes Edwin had added to the map while they’d been