Part 71 (2/2)

parking lot. A surprising number of cars were parked

there-the majority she recognized as locals-and disap-

pointingly a number of them belonged to the same folks who

belonged to the Pine Mountain Business a.s.sociation. But

then, why shouldn't they be here? It was probably an excel-

lent opportunity for them to hear firsthand what was going

n with TS Development.

She glanced up at the sky as she walked toward the front

oor of the school. Still perfectly clear-not a single cloud in

d

113.

114Melody Carlson

sight! And the temperature had to be close to sixty, which

was downright bal my for early December in this part of the

country. Yet only days ago their hopes had been so elevated

by the snowfall. The late opening of the ski season would

probably make worried businesspeople very open to Greg

and Rick's ideas of growth and development. And who could

blame them? The livelihoods of many hung in the balance

right now. Perhaps opposing TS Development was becoming

a fool's errand. As she walked down the quiet hallway

toward the library she wondered if this was how David

might have felt when going to face the mighty Goliath. No,

she reminded herself calmly, this was not a battle. She was

confronting no one. Her only purpose today was to cover

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