“Any punctuation or smiley faces in her text?” she asked.
Joey swiped the screen and showed Gia the text.
On our way back. Can you meet Carter and me at the town meeting tonight?
“Hmm,” Gia said.
“I know. Jackson’s coming, too. He and Colby were trying to finish up a few things on the farm with Carter and Summer in the city.”
“Are you worried?” Gia asked.
“Let’s go with mildly concerned.”
Gia watched the clock tick down to forty minutes. “Well, you don’t have long to wait before you find out what’s going on,” she said, patting Joey’s leg.
Joey heaved a sigh and shoveled more popcorn into her mouth.
Beckett wrapped up his announcement that the council would be surveying the borough’s sidewalks in the spring to see which ones needed to be replaced.
“Before we get to the open forum portion of the evening, the town council would like to formally recognize Bucky Quan. Mrs. Quan, if you could bring Bucky to the stage, please?”
Gia watched in amazement as a small woman with a jet-black blunt bob carried a bundle of fur to the stage.
“What is that?” she whispered to Joey.
“A rabbit. He was raised by the 4H program and adopted out after the county fair.”
“With the death of his brother Winston last week, Bucky is officially the oldest lop-eared rabbit in Blue Moon Bend. And while our condolences go to Winston’s family, we would like to honor Bucky and his eleven years with this plaque.”
Gia found herself applauding with the rest of the crowd as Beckett presented Mrs. Quan with a small, engraved plaque and posed for a picture taken by the same skinny young man in glasses who had shot her ribbon cutting. Anthony, she reminded herself, Rainbow and Gordon’s son.
“This is the most amazing way to spend a Thursday night,” Gia grinned.
“Now comes the real entertainment,” Beverly said, raising her chin toward the stage where Beckett was introducing the final portion of the evening’s meeting, the open forum.
“I’ll turn the podium over to Bruce Oakleigh for the conclusion of his argument.”
The bearded man stood and gave a formal bow to Beckett and then the crowd.
“Before I begin my conclusion on why it is important for your town leaders to don period powdered wigs, I’d like to recap my previous points.”
The crowd groaned.
“Again?” Joey moaned.
“He’s been arguing this during open forums for the last four months,” Beverly explained. “The last three meetings have been recaps of the points he made in the first meeting. He never gets to the conclusion.”
“The council has to vote on that?”
“No, it’s a town vote. We’re all set to vote yes, because I mean come on.” Joey held up her hands. “Beckett in a powdered wig? But Bruce never shuts up long enough to call a vote.”
“I think I’m in love with this town,” Gia decided.
Bruce argued mightily in favor of powdered wigs, but once again went to the last second with his argument leaving no time for the public to vote.
Beckett looked decidedly relieved as he adjourned the meeting.
As the crowd began to disperse, Joey unfolded herself and stood up.
“I’m going to see if I can find Carter and Summer,” she told Gia. “I’ll see you around.”
“Good luck,” Gia called after her.
She thanked Beverly for the popcorn and the commentary and decided to stop by the stage and say hi to Beckett. Just a friendly hi between neighbors, she reminded herself.
Beckett was trying to pay attention to his conversation with Mrs. Nordeman, but found himself distracted by Gianna as she approached. She was wearing gray patterned tights that ended just below her knees and a hooded sweatshirt. Her hair was piled up in a knot on her head. With siren-red hair, the woman could never blend in in a crowd.
She reached his side just as Mrs. Nordeman wrapped up her complaint about the public library not expanding its erotica section.
Beckett resisted the urge to close his eyes and instead nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll do some research on that, Mrs. Nordeman.”
“Great!” she said, breaking into a smile. “I’ll email you a list of titles for your consideration.” Mrs. Nordeman dashed off, her bell sleeves billowing behind her.
“You look like you have a headache,” Gianna told him with a sunny smile.
Beckett brought a hand to his brow. “Does it show?”
“I’d have a headache at the thought of having to wear a powdered wig, too,” she said, sympathetically. “But if you need any help researching the library’s erotica collection I’m willing to volunteer my services.”
“I appreciate that.” Beckett looked her up and down. “Did you come straight from class?”