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“Do you believe Voss Hotels has tried to work with the community?”

The question catches me. The honest answer is yes. Eric attended a meeting himself, although he didn't know what he was walking into. But he listened, agreed to fund repairs, and promised support for businesses that lose money during construction.

Rhonda watches me, waiting.

“They’ve listened since local businesses raised concerns, and I give them credit for that,” I say. “But the community should’ve been involved before a project of this size reached the council. We shouldn’t have to find every problem after the plans have already been submitted.”

“What are you asking the council to do?” the reporter asks.

“Reject the current design.”

“Do you oppose a hotel being built on the site?”

Everyone behind me seems to wait for my answer.

“No. The Hartwell doesn’t own this boulevard, and Voss has the right to develop its property. But any new building should respect the height and character of the street around it. They can build a hotel without making it tower over every other building on the boulevard.”

“And if they refuse to reduce the height?”

“Then the council should reject the application.”

The reporter thanks me and turns back to the camera. As soon as the cameraman signals that we’re clear, Rhonda takes my arm.

“That was perfect,” she says. Then she lowers her voice. “Now, what about some shots of us chaining ourselves to the fence⁠—”

“I’m sorry, but our morning operations meeting starts in ten minutes.”

“We’ll speak later,” she calls.

I give her a quick smile that makes no promises, then escape into the Hartwell.

The lobby is quiet after the noise outside, but the knot in my stomach follows me all the way to my office.

By the time I sit down, the station has posted a snipped of the interview to their social media. I make the mistake of opening it.

The caption reads: Hartwell Hotelier Condemns Voss Development

I stare at the word condemns. It’s far stronger than anything I said.

I close the page. It was ninety seconds on local morning television. I gave Voss credit where it was due, and I didn’t say anything Eric hasn’t heard from me before. He knew I would keep fighting for the Hartwell.

Even if he sees the interview, he’ll understand.

He probably won’t see it anyway.

26

ERIC

Tom, Daniel, and I crowd around Daniel’s laptop in my office, watching the interview Rachel gave outside my development site this morning. On screen, she urges the city to reject our hotel. Nothing she says surprises me, though I have learned that she looks fantastic in green. The clip ends.

“What are we going to do?” Tom asks.

“We’ll have PR prepare a response,” Daniel says.

“We do nothing,” I say.

They both turn to me.