Lassoed by Fortune

Had he started that baseless rumor? She didn’t want to think that and he had come to her defense when Silas Marshall had tried to heckle her, but Liam wasn’t the kind of man who could be easily swayed with just a few well-placed words and a smile. The man was nothing if not frustratingly stubborn.

“Now listen,” she said. “I’ve done some research on the subject of the Fortunes. I found out that this family always gives back to the community they’re in, usually far more than they ever received. Why, they even built a medical clinic in Red Rock and started the Fortune Foundation.”

“What’s that?” Dinah Jackson queried.

“That’s a nonprofit, charitable organization that helps take care of people in need,” Julia answered, addressing her words to the woman directly. “People who might have fallen on hard times through no fault of their own.”

“Oh, handouts,” someone snorted contemptuously.

At times, these people had more pride than sense, Julia couldn’t help thinking.

“No, a hand up.” She put emphasis on the last word. There was a difference. “The foundation helps people stand up on their own two feet again. As far as I can see, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

A smattering of murmurings rose around the room again as people made comments to their neighbors, rendering their own opinions on what seemed to be the Fortunes’ obviously selfless behavior.

There were a few in the gathering who required more convincing—Liam among them—but for the most part, Julia could see that she had managed get the wavering and undecided thinking about the benefits of having this new restaurant here.

The mayor scanned the room, took note of some of the expressions and made a judgment call.

“All right, I think that we’ve had a fair amount of pro and con debating on this subject for tonight. It’s getting kind of late and we all have somewhere to be. If there are no objections, why don’t we put the matter to a preliminary vote, see where we all stand on this issue right now? Remember,” he warned, “no matter what the outcome of tonight’s vote is, nothing’s final. You all have time to think about this, do a little research before we take a final vote on the matter. As of right now, there’ve been no concrete bids made yet, no proposals about building this restaurant.

“As far as I know, this could just be one great big rumor with legs,” Harlan told the people at the meeting, chuckling at the verbal image he had just created for them.

“If the preliminary vote turns out to be yes, then I will personally go to Marcos and Wendy Mendoza and convince them to build their second restaurant right here in the heart of Horseback Hollow,” Julia promised.

The “heart” of Horseback, at the moment, only involved a two-block radius since that was all that actually comprised the little town.

“Mendoza?” Clyde Hanks echoed, confused. “I thought you said that the Fortunes were the ones who were behind this venture. Just who the heck are Marcos and Wendy Mendoza?” He, as did many others, wanted to know.

“Her name’s Wendy Fortune Mendoza,” Liam told the man tersely.