The Cove Conundrum Read online

  Holly stood up and pushed her big, round spectacles up her nose. "Inside of my shop we found a time capsule. It somehow had been lost and was supposed to have been opened over seventy years ago."

  An excited murmur now rippled across the room.

  Nate waited until they had quieted down. "Richard had suggested that this was something deserving of at least news coverage and I am inclined to agree. This is a remarkable discovery. But, a documentary about our island might be even more powerful. Madison, you mentioned you knew some people in the film industry. Would you feel comfortable reaching out to them and arranging some interviews?"

  She huffed like he was an idiot to even ask. "Listen, I was going to organize all sorts of travel shows if you had just fulfilled the contract your uncle had made to partner with the cruise ship companies."

  "We're not selling the island to developers," Nate reminded her for the umpteenth time.

  "SO, yeah, I could make some calls to the people you dissed."

  "We don't have a whole lot of money to do this," Nate cautioned.

  "I'll go for the cheapos," she replied.

  "We want a team worthy of this historic occasion."

  "Spend the big bucks!" someone from across the room shouted. "If we hate it, we can take the money out of Trevor's property taxes."

  The whole room laughed, but there was a little bit of menace to it. I could see Trevor trying to figure out how to best align himself in this room now that folks had learned it was his girlfriend who had the brains in the relationship.

  Speaking of which, Madison stood up and flicked her blonde, flat ironed ponytail over her shoulder. "I, for one, am proud of Trevor's ingenuity and leadership. And, when this turns out to be as big of a success as I know it will be, I hope you will remember his leadership in two months when it comes time to seat new members on our city council." She smiled like a snake at the incumbents.

  And it all made sense.

  "She thinks she's going to get that boyfriend of hers on the city council?" Granny snorted. She patted my arm with a long finger. "Shoot, you should run against him just to teach him a lesson."

  "I don't know if I'll be here this November," I softly reminded her.

  I saw a brief flash of sadness cross her face, but she quickly covered it up. "You'll be here as long as you want. And I was just speaking on principal. Somebody needs to educate Trevor that you have to be a partner to this community before you go around asking people to support your vision."

  Granny's mutterings were interrupted as Madison continued.

  "Besides," said Madison, aiming all this at Nate. "I know that as an historic site, there will be SO much construction and renovation going on to make sure all of the buildings are up to historic whatever code. It will be great to record these expensive, complicated restoration projects that all of the city is going to be faced with."

  And that was an uncomfortable truth.

  In trying to save Seaside from developers, Johnny and Nate had gotten an historic designation for the whole town, but that came with a heap of expensive red tape of which the townspeople were already starting to feel the pinch.

  But Nate, the people person that he is, did not shrink from this gauntlet that Madison threw down.

  "That's a great angle," he replied, turning to the audience. "Who here doesn't love those home renovation shows? They've made stars out of ordinary people like us. Authenticity will be our selling point. And if the documentary is ever sold or a... reality home renovation show is made, we will make sure it helps ease the financial burden for our entire community. Great idea, Madison!"

  Nate gave her a cool smile.

  Checkmate.

  Chapter Seven

  Several days had passed since the town hall meeting. I heard the bell over the door to Bitter Beans tinkle and I smiled.

  "Give me just a second, Nate!" I said, taking off my apron.

  He was looking great, wearing a crisp, plaid shirt and new jeans that were cut just right.

  "You sure Granny can get by without you?" Nate asked. The shop was completely empty.

  Granny came out of the kitchen and gave him a welcome wave. "I'll handle any galloping hordes as long as you promise to keep that Madison in check."

  I gave Granny a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back soon." Then I turned to Nate. "Is the film crew here?"

  "They should be over at Trevor's bar now," he said, opening up the door for me. "Hope everyone is ready for their close-up."

  Granny called across the room. "You tell us what you think of that film crew, you hear? We want a documentary, not a reality show!"

  "I'd totally watch The Real Shop Owners of Seaside," he joked.

  "While I would welcome an opportunity to trash talk that Madison girl on national TV, you make sure they show all the goodness and heart of this island."

  "Will do!" said Nate with a laugh, and then we left.

  We walked down the boardwalk to Trevor's bar. The doors had once been painted like the swinging doors to a saloon, but Madison had gotten a hold of a can of paint and redone them with trompe-l'œil of ship portholes and worn plank wood. I was going to compliment her on her skills, but Nate leaned over. "She spent two months mortgage payments getting those done."

  Poor Trevor. I actually thought about feeling slightly bad for him as I spotted him behind the counter until I remembered that he had fallen for Madison hook, line, and sinker. She had been absolutely horrible to all of us in the bakeoff last month. I thought that Trevor had finally seen the light when he had broken up with her. But, alas, he came running when she whistled and he was back on his short leash.

  I gave him a resigned wave.

  "The crew is in the backroom," he said, jerking his chin to a doorway as he stacked pint glasses behind the bar.

  "Thanks!" Nate said.

  We wandered through the archway into a room with turquoise walls. There were three guys who looked fresh out of film school lounging in a booth, trying to act cool as Madison sat between them, turning on the charm.

  She held out her hands to us like we were all best friends forever. "Nate! I'm so glad you're here! I know you're so super busy and we're so lucky to have been able to snag some of your time. And Paige! I didn't know you were coming..." She wrinkled her nose ever so slightly. "There's not quite enough room at the booth for six. Maybe you might want to go sit at a different table?" She waved her fingertips toward a spot near the door.

  "Go ahead and sit in the booth, Paige," Nate said. "I'll grab a chair."

  Madison's face fell. "Oh. Well, I guess that works, too."

  She sat down and skooched closer than she probably needed to while I slid in on the bench on the other side. Nate pulled up a chair just as Trevor entered.

  "Can I get anything to drink?" he asked.

  "We'll have six shots of whiskey from the top shelf and something yummy on draft as a chaser," said Madison.

  Nate stopped Trevor. "What a comedian. We'll all have water."

  Again, Madison looked like she was going to kill us and the film folks looked a little disappointed, but I was impressed that they were professional enough to say, "Yeah, we'll just do water, also."

  Seeing Trevor's face fall, I think he had been banking on a healthy bar tab in exchange for hosting this meeting. But getting trashed during a job interview didn't exactly seem like the right foot to start on. I certainly wanted to make sure we were all sharp if we were going to start talking about the exchange of money for services.

  "I'm Nate," said my boyfriend as he leaned across the table to shake hands with the other guys. "My family owns most of the land on this island. The responsibilities are shared between me and my cousin, Johnny."

  "I've been telling them all about you." Madison squeezed the arm of one of the filmmakers. "These boys and I all went to school together. They were all a part of the film department and their parties were out of control," Madison gushed. "Oh! I should have introduced you! Silly me! This is Carter, the director."

&n
bsp; He was a skinny guy, about our age. He had a black goatee and wore a black shirt that said, "Property of Quentin Tarantino."

  "And this is Zach. He's the sound man."

  A guy with a thick belly gave a little salute.

  "And this is..." she squinted at the small man sitting beside them.

  He rolled his eyes and held out his hand. "I'm Aidan. I'm responsible for keeping these guys on budget and securing of the permits and releases, so I'm sure I'll be talking to you a lot."

  "A pleasure to meet you," said Nate, graciously. He motioned to Madison. "So what has she told you?"

  Carter leaned back with nonchalant coolness. "We heard you found a time capsule and were interested in having someone film its opening?"

  Nate nodded. "Madison had proposed this idea and it is starting to grow on me."

  "Well, it could be like that old guy, Geraldo Rivera, opening up Al Capone's tunnels and finding nothing but dirt. I mean, it happened last century and people still talk about what a trash fire it was. So, we gotta find an angle that will make this interesting whether there's something good in there or not." He took the water as Trevor returned with the tray. "So, the way I see it, we start by interviewing all of the old residents of Seaside. You know the ones who have lived here their whole life. Who are stuck in the past and unwilling to do things differently. The people responsible for the loss of this time capsule—"

  "I don't think that's the focus we want," Nate interrupted.

  But Carter was in full swing. "But SMASH CUT, we introduce this bake-off you had last month, where young, vibrant people from the mainland invaded with their recipes and new ways of doing things. It is a cultural clash!"

  Madison looked smugly satisfied at how much the director had gotten her vision. Nate looked horrified. He quickly covered it up. "You certainly have an interesting angle."

  "It's all about hooking the viewer if you want this to stand out on Netflix, man. So, we start digging into the dirt. Talk about the sabotage. The people who died. The people whose lives were threatened. And then we bring it all together by showing how this time capsule heals the wounds caused by the debacle you had."

  Nate's eyes were huge by this time. He picked up the glass of water and downed it in one gulp, then set it down. "Well. Thanks so much for coming over. You've given me a lot to think about. We are interviewing several crews for this project, and I will let you know as soon as we have come to a decision."

  The guys' faces fell and they looked at Madison accusingly. I think she convinced them this was a slam dunk.

  She reached out and placed her hand on Nate's arm. "This is the only crew, Nate," she said. "This is your one shot."

  I could see that this was news to him and sort of blindsided him. But rather than taking the easy way out and just hiring these guys, he replied, "Not sure where you got that idea. I have a few more on deck. Would love to have your input on their vision and credentials."

  "Madison," Carter hissed. "I thought you said—"

  There was nothing Madison enjoyed more than people admiring her credentials, but I could see that flattery wasn't going to be enough in this situation. She flicked back her hair. "Well, I wish you had told me before I invited my own personal contacts—" She stood and said through a clenched smile, "Let me walk you to the front door."

  "Nice meeting you all. Perhaps we'll meet again." Nate got up, replacing his chair, and headed out.

  I got up and scrambled behind, not entirely sure what was going on.

  As soon as we stepped onto the boardwalk, Madison grabbed Nate by the arm and hissed, "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

  Nate, to his credit, didn't yank himself away. Instead, he stated diplomatically, "I don't think they are going to be the right fit."

  "They are friends of mine."

  "Madison, the last time we brought friends of yours to the island, people died."

  "That's neither here nor there," she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

  "Someone hated you so much, they went on a murderous rampage for justice. Call me a little gun shy, but all my red flags are going up and I can tell these guys are bad news."

  She rolled her eyes and gave him an exasperated sigh.

  "YEAH!" he said, pointing at her face. "THAT. Anyone who would put up with THAT kind of a reaction to life is not a person I want to do business with."

  She squinted her eyes at him. "Well, bring in your crew and you'll see what a treasure I laid before you."

  "There is no other crew. I'm going to kill this project, we'll open the capsule, have Richard call the newspaper, and that'll be that."

  "You are the WORST. No wonder this island is about to go under," she spat.

  I could tell Nate was holding back a lot of choice words about what exactly was causing the problems on the island.

  Trevor poked his head out the door. "Everything all right out here?"

  Madison swallowed down everything and gave him a stiff smile. "I'll be right in."

  As he disappeared, she turned back to Nate and me. I could see she wasn't happy about what she was about to say, but she said it anyway. "My only goal here is to help get Trevor off this island and that is not going to happen if he's stuck in this two-bit dive bar. I'll put out some more feelers and maybe we can find someone that meets your approval."

  "Someone with some semblance of experience outside of college would be great," said Nate. "I'm not footing the bill for a documentary that's going to show up on someone's YouTube channel."

  "YouTube is huge."

  "I'm not here to get internet famous."

  "FINE," she replied, as if he was really putting her out.

  "Thank you," he said.

  She shifted her weight and folded her arms, then huffed. "Actually," she confessed, her voice full of self-loathing, "there is another guy who responded to the posting who might be serviceable. I didn't want to introduce you to him because I thought my friends had a much clearer vision and matched better with our target demographic."

  "I think I can speak for our entire community when I say we want the Bob Ross of the documentary filmmaking world," assured Nate. "Whatever demographic your friends are good for? We don't want that."

  "Well, I'll give him a call. His email said he could be here tomorrow."

  "Great. This time tomorrow?"

  She looked back at Trevor's Saloon with dread. "Yeah. This time tomorrow..."

  Chapter Eight

  Nate, Johnny, and I walked into the bar. I couldn't help but cringe as some sea shanty music greeted us. Madison had taken the theme to an entirely new level.

  Nate had filled Johnny in on all of the decision making and got him up to speed.

  "So, like, we're all going to be movie stars?" asked Johnny. He shook out his long, blond curls dramatically and flexed his biceps.

  "Not movie stars," cautioned Nate. "Just... local television and maybe some streaming channel stars."

  "Cool!" said Johnny. "I'll see if he wants to tape a camera to the front of my surfboard and get some B-roll footage." Johnny leaned over to me. "That's, like, atmosphere footage. Not about bees. Or rolls. Although maybe we should get some cinnamon rolls in the picture. Did you bring any?"

  "Sorry to disappoint," I said. "But if you want to head over to Bitter Beans afterward, I'm sure Granny will hook you up."

  An older guy was sitting at the bar. He was wearing a button-up jean shirt and sunglasses were perched on top of his salt-and-pepper hair. It was that casual messiness of a man who wants to seem like a guy who rolls out of bed looking that good, but the hair product gave away that he put some thought into it. He turned around when we walked in and gave us a wave.

  As soon as we got close, he reached out his hand. "Nate? Paige?" He tilted his head. "And... Johnny? Did I get everyone right?"

  Nate smiled. "Bang on. And you are?"

  The man laughed. "Go figure Madison didn't even tell you. She has her angles, doesn't she? I'm Hal."

  "Like the movie?"
asked Johnny.

  "Promise to open the pod bay doors for you."

  Johnny seemed delighted by this connection. "I like this guy. Hire him."

  Nate, however, was bracing for impact. "Speak of the devil, is Madison joining us?"

  "Naw," said the guy, sitting back down. "Seemed like she had a lot of ideas and I wanted to find out which ones were your ideas and which ones were hers, so I sent her off on a few errands. I'm calling it 'location scouting' and I'd be much obliged if you didn't mention it to her."

  I already liked this guy, too, and was feeling on board with Johnny's plan.

  He rapped his knuckles on the bar. "What are you drinking? My treat."

  "We couldn't possibly..."

  "It'll be the one and only time that money flows this way, so take advantage of it," he cautioned. From the twinkle in his eye, I was pretty sure that this was a bald-faced lie.

  "I could use a Coke," said Johnny sitting down. "The waves were gnarly, man."

  "Gotta rehydrate after attacking those beasts." He turned to Nate and me. "And you?"

  "Just a coffee for me," I said, knowing it wouldn't be as good as what we had at Bitter Beans, but any port in a storm.

  "Same for me," said Nate.

  Hal waved Trevor over. "Got a couple orders for you!"

  "Your regulars?" Trevor asked, his drink tray already loaded.

  The three of us said, "Yep."

  Hal laughed. "I guess it really is a bar where everybody knows your name."

  "I try to keep it friendly," said Trevor, setting a soda in front of Johnny.

  "Well done, my good man. That's how you keep happy customers coming back." He turned back to us and said, "Well, how about you breakdown what you need, then I can tell you what I do, and hopefully we can find ourselves meeting in the middle."