Looking For You All My Life Part 72

this story, to collect the facts and then get out of there-and

quick!

She sat next to the door, s.h.i.+elded from the front by others

who were already seated. She had no desire to be observed

by either Greg or Rick, and she had no intention of creating

a scene of any sort. She opened her little notebook and

hunched slightly over, her eyes focused on her notes as she

listened intently to Greg rambling on and on about what a

good thing this project would be for the entire community.

-He could actually be quite compelling and charismatic when

he put his mind to it, and obviously this development was

important to him. He had much to gain by its success. She

wondered if Cherise was here today. She'd barely seen her

this morning during her workout at the fitness center, but on

her way out she'd noticed that Cherise's eyes were red and

puffy. Not a good sign.

"And now," continued Greg as if finally coming to the L

main point, "I'd like to introduce you all to Mr. Cohn Byers,

our idea man and the visionary for designing this commu-

nity. Meet the man who will partner with us as we continue

to develop Pine Mountain Estates." The crowd applauded

politely but, to Maggie's pleasure, without much enthusiasm.

That was the first time she'd heard mention of a name for

the development. She jotted it down and glanced up to see if LookingforyouAllMyLife115

she could get a good look at this Cohn Byers person. She'd

already researched and read enough about him and his

shoddy developments to feel as if she knew him personally.

She imagined him to be a fast-talking, sixtyish, potbellied,

slightly balding man, probably wearing a light-colored suit

with s.h.i.+ny white shoes and a gold chain or two around his

thick neck. But to her surprise, a rather attractive gentleman,

tall, tan, and blond, and probably only in his late forties,

stepped up to the podium and shook Greg's hand.

"Greetings," he began in a friendly tone. "What a beau-

tiful region you folks all live in. I can see now why they call

this G.o.d's country." He paused to look around the room at

all the faces, as if trying to recognize each one individually,

then he continued. "However, I've heard that you've come

upon some hard times with your local economy and some of

you are struggling right now just to keep your businesses

afloat. And for that very reason you should all be extremely

thankful for Greg and Rick here. These guys have the kind

of foresight and vision to realize an opportunity that will

bring this town back on its feet. They are presenting your

community with a fantastic opportunity to stabilize and

escalate your economy throughout the new millennium." He

paused, like a showman, as if waiting for approval or

applause, but only a few people responded. The majority

seemed reserved, or perhaps simply unsure, and a number of

them still appeared fairly skeptical. Somehow their reaction