Preserving Love: A Contemporary Romance Series (Nick & Lexi Book 2) (9 page)

“Have you ever thought that maybe it’d help if we showed the world that we aren’t what they said?”

“I’ve spent my entire life proving who I am,” I snapped. “They decided it wasn’t enough.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he placed a hand on my arm. “I meant as a couple. Maybe they need to see that we aren’t the mess that they think we are. Then they can believe this battle isn’t as bas as they think it is.”

“Sounds cheesy to me,” I shrugged. “And we are the mess they think we are.”

“We don’t have to be Lexi. I love you. I want to be with you.”

“You…l--l--love me?” the word had surprised me. Regardless of how close we’d gotten or what I thought I knew, to hear the word was startling.
 

“Are you surprised?”

“No, yes, I don’t know.”

“That’s not really the reply I was hoping for.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“The truth,” he answered.
 

“I think I love you,” I began. “But then you destroyed my life. Or helped in some way even if you didn’t mean to. And I think maybe I hate you. “

“Well, I guess that’s honest,” he pulled away and walked towards the booth in the back corner. I could tell I’d wounded his pride. I just wasn’t sure I had it in me to fix it. But at that moment, he wanted to help me get my life back and as I made my way to where he sat, I knew I had to trust him and hope it worked.
 

*****

Chapter 13

Evan

“That’s a big crowd buddy,” Brad smirked beside me. “Sure you can handle it?”

I looked over at him, irritated that he’d question my ability to handle anything. From what I’d seen Brad did nothing but run his mouth and walk around the office like he owned the place. I couldn’t recall ever seeing him actually work.
 

“I’ve got it,” I smiled at him, knowing that he was hoping I would fail.
 

“I saw your girl out there,” he added as an afterthought. “Surprised she showed up considering all the shit she’s dealing with.”

“She’s stronger than you think,” I snapped, irritated he was going to bring that up.
 

“I guess,” he seemed disinterested at that point. “Guess we got lucky with her pissing off that group she’s in huh?”

“I wouldn’t call it luck Brad,” I turned to him. “Luck is people backing you because they believe in you. This was more of a trash talk the other side thing that made us look better.”

“It worked didn’t it?” He snickered beside me. “I knew it would.”

“We haven’t been approved yet,” I reminded the egotistical asshole. “Don’t count on anything at this point.”

With that I heard the introduction of my name and prepared to walk out on the makeshift stage that had been set up. The idea for having a community meeting seemed to have been a good one, given the turn out. People were packing into the area in front of the stage just waiting to hear what I had to say about the resort that was being proposed.
 

Which made me a little more than nervous. My last speech to the community hadn’t gone well. People had hated me. More than hated me. I wasn’t looking forward to stepping onto the stage and having the same reaction. Yet when I looked across the parking lot and saw Lexi standing amid the people that had been boycotting her business, I found the strength to do just that.
 

Stepping forward I took the microphone in my hand.
 

“Hi,” I spoke to a crowd that was quieting somewhat. “I am Evan Monroe.”

No one clapped. No one boo’ed me off stage. No one made any noise really. I wasn’t positive how to take that.
 

“Many of you know of me from my work on the retail development center that wasn’t approved for Biltmore Village,” I began to speak. “Others only know of me through recent newspaper articles about the proposed resort here in downtown Asheville. I’ve been billed a ‘northerner’, ‘yankee’ and other names to tell you that I’m not from here and still trying to change your city. What I’d like to do today, is introduce you to who I am outside of that description. Then I’d like to tell you a little about what it is I am trying to do.”

I heard a few murmurs from the crowd as they waited to hear what else I had to say. Taking a deep breath, I smiled at Lexi and continued.
 

*****

Lexi

I kept having to remind myself to breathe. I was worried about how this community meeting would go. I knew at that point that the community wasn’t fond of me. The newspaper had helped to ensure that with daily articles updating the city on the boycott of my shop and the problems between me and the Preservation Society.
 

Speaking of the Society, I saw several of them standing off to the side. Patty, Grant, Vincent and Mya were all in attendance. Probably waiting to see how this was going to be fucked up and how I somehow had a hand in it. Grant had filed the motion to remove me as head of the Society. At first I’d been upset, but then I realized that I’d known it was coming all along. He hadn’t kept his desires to lead a secret.
 

Patty seemed to be following him around like a lost puppy dog. I wasn’t sure what that was about and no longer felt like I cared. The only reason I still attended the meetings and worked on the plans with them is because I believed in the cause we were fighting for.
 

Evan and I had decided to have a long talk. He’d shared with me that he had no part in what had been taking place and that they pretty much had his hands tied. I wasn’t sure why I believed him after everything that had happened, but I did. I really didn’t think he was being dishonest with me.
 

Every second he wasn’t occupied with work he had spent by my side. Talking, trying to figure out a way to salvage my life. At this point we were only days from a decision from the HRC and the matter would be resolved. But afterwards we still had to resume normal living and at the moment I was unable to do so.
 

Financially I was hurting bad from the closure of my shop, but mentally it was killing me. That business had been everything to me and out of nowhere I didn’t have it anymore. I’d ended up with a lot of time to think. What would I do if I never regained what I’d lost?
 

Mostly I wondered who had initiated all of this and why they’d done it. I knew that I’d never have the answer and it didn’t matter. The goal had seemed to be to destroy me to have the building approved, but sometimes it felt as if it were an attempt to destroy the relationship with Evan. I wasn’t sure why that would be a goal for anyone. No one even really knew us as a couple.
 

If it had been the goal, it hadn’t worked. Evan and I were stronger than we’d ever been. As we’d made the plan for the community meeting, we’d realized that we loved each other. We’d understood that we’d needed each other in our lives. We’d also realized that we could make it through this or anything else that anyone would throw at us.
 

“The crowd is awfully quiet,” Kendall’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.
 

She had never attended these things, so I was surprised when I saw her beside me.
 

“What are you doing here?”

“Supporting my best friend,” she shrugged. “Besides, I heard these things are filled with available men.”

“Best kept dating secret in Western North Carolina,” I teased. “How do you think I met my man?” my eyes drifted to the stage, where Evan stood quietly preparing the part of the speech we’d worked so hard on.
 

“I thought that was Facebook,” she laughed.
 

“Maybe,” I couldn’t help but giggle. “This has been very odd, hasn’t it?”

“It’s been unique,” she corrected. “But the best things are.”

“I hope this works Kendall,” I confessed my worry to the only person I could. Evan had to hear my support. He didn’t need to be worried himself.
 

“If not, I suppose you could move away,” she suggested as a joke.
 

“I doubt that.”

“He’s about to speak again,” she told me, her way of quieting me.
 

Evan lifted the microphone to his mouth again. I saw him take a deep breath, look at me with a smile and open his lips to continue.
 

“I’m not really a Yankee,” he started. “Not by your definition. I have lived in a lot of places. My job takes me around the country. I move in, help progress a development and then move out. It can be a lonely life, but it never really mattered. My career was what was important to me.” He cleared his throat. “But when I moved into the Asheville area, things changed for me. I found that things I hadn’t planned on being important, became important. Things like community and friends. I saw people coming together over something important to them. I saw friends stand behind friends. I saw what it meant to belong somewhere. I saw all of that through my work in the community and it made me want more out of life. I had walked away from my career with a choice to settle down here in Asheville. Make a home and life in Western North Carolina with this lovely community and the woman that taught me just how important all of that would be. Alexis Haraway.”

He took another breath and I steeled myself for what I already knew was about to come. What would surprise the rest of the attendees.
 

*****

Chapter 14

Evan

“I’m not here in Asheville simply because of the proposed resort,” I continued. “I am here because I chose to make Asheville my home. Because of the community. That much I want everyone to know and understand. My purpose here is because I want to be here.”

I paused another moment, looking at Lexi and hoping to see her support. This was the hard part. The part where people were either going to love or hate me and I was afraid of which and from whom.

A simple smile from her was all it took to find my courage.
 

“Lately I’ve seen a side of that community that upsets me. It’s not what drew me to the area. In fact, it’s made me question that decision. Before you start getting angry, let me talk a little more.”

This was it. The time that I stood up for myself, Lexi and the community.
 

“The only reason that I am involved with this resort is because it was originally my design. You see, what I do with fighting for a development to be built is not my dream. Designing beautiful buildings like those found throughout the city is my dream. A long time ago, before I’d ever heard of this town, I designed a building that I had hoped to someday see implemented in one of the many cities I’d lived in.”

The crowd went completely silent. No one could even hear a breath among them.
 

“GHM approached me not long after I’d resigned from my position with the decision to live here and offered to use that design if I would work on the project. I was going to turn it down once I realized that the proposed location was here in yet another historical district. I didn’t want to bring further problems and a worse reputation for myself to this beautiful community.”

A few people whispered as I took another breath and reached for a drink of water. I heard Brad whisper from behind the makeshift curtain as well.
 

“What the fuck are you doing man?”

“It was Lexi, known to many of you as Alexis, that convinced me to not give up on my dream. She had no clue what it entailed at the time or that it would involve the city. She just knew that my dream was to design a building and she encouraged me to do so. With her blessing, I accepted.”

A few grumbles were heard, but I didn’t give them time to continue.
 

“As it turned out, it didn’t matter. The building that is proposed and the design I created are vastly different. Yet it is based on my design, and the rights were signed over, so I have continued with the project. But there have been many variables in this deal that I think the community has overlooked.”

“Evan, you better get back on track!” I heard Brad hiss at me.
 

“First we have a big company that doesn’t know or care about the details of the community. They are in a business. That doesn’t make them bad, or wrong, it is just fact. They are here to do a job and go back to their own homes and families. So they are doing what is required to get that accomplished. This includes using any information that would benefit them in making this happen fast.”

“Monroe!” Morgan was behind me now.
 

“They are a good company and their plan is a good one. A resort really would draw people to a place that I personally believe they would love. But their tactics aren’t necessarily something I would choose myself.”

I took a sip of the water to my side and closed my eyes.
 

“On the other side you have a group of people that has vowed to protect this city from anything that might be thrown in its way. They are here to preserve the history that makes Asheville special. For a while they have been led by Alexis. Who might I add fought diligently and with all she had against the retail center. I was highly impressed.”