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"Ho do I prove so they’ve already seen but won’t believe?"
"Give thenore" Marsha patted her arm "Ask, Charity Ask for what you want"
For so in coine, let alone do "How?"
Marsha gave her an enig to have to trust me," she said "And the town"
Trust someone with her future? Her job? "What if I can’t?"
"Take a leap of faith Let us surprise you"
GERALD SATERLEE WAS AN annoying sonofabitch, Josh thought as he pushed his ached, but he wasn’t about to let so a practice run
Saterlee had shown up in Fool’s Gold the day before, a week ahead of anyone else arriving for the race He claimed to want to acclimate, but Josh knew better The bastard had been sent ahead to check hi wanted to know if Josh Golden still had it
A sy would be to let Saterlee beat him easily so no one would have any expectations That had been Josh’s plan But as soon as they started riding, he’d felt his competitive nature kick in He couldn’t do it--couldn’t let Saterlee think he was better
They continued up the hill,back Brandon kept pace, but he was fading fast Josh looked up at the few miles of hill left and knew that it would just be hih, a mile short of the peak, Brandon slowed "Sorry, man," he yelled
Josh waved at his
His body had been honed for this, he told hi every day for the past two years He’d worked out in the gy every part of hi, his body had been preparing for a coed to pull it all together
As they closed in on the highest point in the road, Josh felt that y The sense that there were plenty of reserves, that he could ride forever He glanced at Saterlee and saw exhaustion in his eyes Josh kneasn’t just winning This was better--it was certainty
He slowed suddenly and reached down to rub his calf As if so hurt He bent his head to hide any hint of satisfaction Saterlee looked back, grinned like an idiot and rode on Josh watched hio
Word would spread quickly They would say he wasn’t what he’d once been That the coo rather than ability They would speak of him sadly, with respect, but on the inside they’d be pleased
He could live with that, he told himself Because on the day of the race, he would kick their collective asses And then he would walk away, having won it all It was going to be a good day
THE TV STUDIO WAS exactly as Charity re interviewed, not Josh And there was no one salivating to have sex with her Probably a good thing, she thought She was freaked out enough about the possibility of losing the hospital The idea of having to deal with an aggressive suitor would probably push her over the edge
Unless the guy in question was Josh, she thought sadly Him she would like to see But the last couple of days had been crazy busy, with her trying to pull together a new presentation Josh had left her a couple of es She’d returned his calls only tofor the upco race, but hadn’t been able to doto have to have an actual conversation Make decisions Be grown-ups But apparently not today
The local reporter, a pretty woe, waited until Charity was seated coirl had already put the htdo you think you’ll need?" the reporter asked "We don’t like the sego past twoquickly"
"Is this about the hospital bid? I thought they loved us"
"So did I They have some concerns, which is why I’m here"
"Damn My mom wants me to marry a doctor" The reporter flashed a shed, then straightened in her chair when the reporter indicated they were ready to begin A few seconds later, bright lights clicked on
"I’ here with Charity Jones, Fool’s Gold’s new city planner One of Charity’s current projects is convincing a California hospital to open their newest ca, Charity?"
Charity stared into the cao for confident and capable
"We’ve had excellent negotiations," she began, then went through a few of the particulars "Unfortunately, we seem to have hit a little bu committee has some concerns" Charity explained about the need for local support and a training progra with the committee in two days If anyone has any ideas, please e-ave her e-e" She gave that nureat benefit to the community While our current hospital is excellent, the new hospital offers a trauma center This town deserves the facility I’m determined to make it happen, but I’ll need your help Thank you"
FRIDAY MORNING CHARITY COULDN’T eat breakfast She’d been upand deleting points until she could barely re about
But as she slipped on her shoes and checked herself one more time in the mirror, she felt a kind of calh for her
After her TV appearance, so many e-mails had flooded her inbox, the city’s computer system had shut down for three hours On Thursday, it had been overloaded and fizzled for half the day She’d received phone calls, hand-delivered notes and dozens of ideas Many of them had been excellent and had rounded out her presentation Now she could only hope a se of those people actually showed up, deht place to build
She left the hotel shortly after eight andwas at nine She’d reserved the large auditoriu too optiet fifty or sixty people there, that would help A hundred would be better
"It’s a work day," she told herself as she entered the building "That will cut down on the crowd" Still, this was important If they could just make tiht she’d gone over her presentation twice, had made sure the screen was in place and checked the sound systeed for a backup coe pots of coffee The Fox and Hound had donated hter ran a bakery that would be providing donuts
Charity stepped off the stairs and entered a dark, quiet hall No one was here
She stood in the shadows, fighting disappointle member of the community had come There wasn’t anyone Worse, she couldn’t see Sheryl or anyone else from the city There was only silence
Her sto? Had sheday? Had she woken up in an alternate universe?
"Charity?"
The warlanced toward the auditoriu for her