Chapter 56 The Town Meeting
"Elizabeth! It's time to wake up. We overslept. It is back to school for you today and I am meeting with a contractor to draw up all the plans for the town meeting this afternoon." Lucas reminded her.
Elizabeth groaned. "Do we have to?"
"Yes love we do. Are you going to feel okay to teach today? I will come by at lunch and check on you." He asked adoringly rubbing her back.
"I think so. Someone kept me up too late and wore me out." She teased. "Maybe Luther should teach school today." She pulled him in giving him a passionate kiss.
"Oh, but I think Elsa is more than capable and Luther has some very pressing matters to attend to." He teased back returning her kiss and then heading to the bathroom to wash up so they could get on their way.
This would be Elizabeth's first day back at school since their honeymoon and Lucas was ready to get back in a routine. As much as he loved adventure he was more than ready to get back to their everyday life. They kissed Jack good bye and let Julie know that Laura would be in shortly. Julie wished them good luck and they were on their way.
Lucas parked behind the Queen of Hearts and walked Elizabeth to school. Making sure the fire was stoked and the steps cleared, he kissed his wife and returned to the Queen of Hearts where he would be meeting the contractor to draw up all the plans for the upcoming changes to Hope Valley. Lucas was always looking for ways to reinvest his fortune. If there was a way to give back to the town, he was always willing to do that.
The contractor, Mr. Deckard walked in at eight o'clock a.m. and Lucas had tea sent to his office and asked Gustave to make sure they were not disturbed. They had spoken briefly on the phone about the agenda and the pay for his services. Lucas made sure Mr. Deckard knew that he would compensate him well to make these projects his priority. They were going to break at eleven o'clock for lunch so Lucas could check on Elizabeth at school. They had a lot of things to draw up before the town meeting at four o'clock. The plans would include the new school, the new hotel, renovations to the Queen of Hearts, and the studio apartment for Julie. Typically it would take weeks to draw up official plans, but Lucas was paying good money to at least draft some initial plans for the expansions and fresh builds.
"Welcome back Mrs. Bouchard." Opal said. "We missed you."
"Thank you Opal. I am glad to be back."
"Mrs. Bouchard, is it true you are having a baby?" Opal asked.
"Yes Opal it's true." Elizabeth had the biggest smile on her face as her mind drifted to life six months from now when there house would be full of children of their own.
"Will you still be our teacher?" Opal asked with a curious look on her face pulling Elizabeth back out of her thoughts.
"I don't know Opal. There are a lot of things changing in Hope Valley and it is hard to say what will happen in the near future."
"I don't want another teacher." Opal said solemnly.
"We just need to wait and see what will happen, Opal. You have me for now and we need to get class started." She said walking to the chalkboard.
It was now eleven o'clock and Lucas asked Mr. Deckard to break for lunch letting him know everything was on the house. He needed to check on Elizabeth and they had made significant progress on the drafts. If they kept that up he would have some fine plans to show at the town meeting hoping to get everyone's support.
He walked into the schoolhouse while all the children were outside and had a picnic basket with lunch in it. "Lucas you didn't have to bring lunch." She said adoringly. "That was very thoughtful."
He pulled her out a salad, turkey sandwich, and some fresh fruit. He also brought her a ginger tea. "Here my love. How are you feeling?" He asked placing a gentle kiss on her lips.
"I forgot how hard it is being pregnant and on your feet all day. My feet are killing me." She said sitting in her chair and rubbing her feet.
"I will make sure to pay special attention to those this evening when we get home. It might not look good if I did that here." He flashed her that playful wink.
"How are the plans coming? She asked concerned.
"It is going well. I think I will be very prepared for them to see the initial drafted plans of the town. Hopefully they will all be on board with the changes. I will be back at three thirty to walk with you to the meeting." He sat across from her eating his own lunch before returning to the Queen of Hearts for the second half of his meeting.
Lucas and Mr. Deckard sat down to continue the drafting of the plans and were very pleased with all the changes and buildings. Lucas was sure the town would love it. He had also put together some business proposals and cost analysis for them to look at as well. Lucas was always well prepared when it came to business making sure to dot all the I's and cross all the T's. They shook hands and departed. Lucas had all the plans and proposals in his hands when he walked back to the school to get Elizabeth.
He helped her close up everything, shut everything off, helped her with her coat, and walked her arm and arm to the mayor's office. "You look like you have been busy." She said perceptively.
"Yes and hopefully it will be value added. I really hope everyone agrees and I can begin immediately." He spoke hopeful of a positive outcome.
He escorted her into the Mayor's office already full of people. There was standing room only. Lucas walked Elizabeth around to her chair at the table and pulled it out for her ushering her to sit. He stood behind her and laid the plans down on the table in front of her. He proceeded around the table to shake everyone's hands before they got started hoping to start the meeting out on the right terms and hopefully encouraging a positive outcome.
Lee stood up, "We want to thank everyone for attending this rush meeting. We know how important and valuable your time is so we will try to make this brief. I will turn the floor over to Mr. Bouchard, who is the reason for this meeting this afternoon." Lee said as he ushered Lucas to take the floor.
Lucas responded with a nod. "I would like to start by saying how much I appreciate all of you for attending this meeting. I feel these plans for the town are a necessity if we are to adapt to the growth. As all of you know the café and saloon have been busier than they can handle. I have had to turn people away from service because of overcrowding. I would like to have the full support of the town to make these changes here in Hope Valley and I will address them one at a time.
The first one is the addition of a brand new larger hotel to be located just down the street from the Queen of Hearts. I have taken the time to draft an initial drawing and proposal for you to look at. Feel free to pass these around as I address them." He said.
"This is going to cost a lot of money, Lucas." Ned spoke concerned.
"I realize that, but the payback will be far better than the cost of the new hotel. This cost will be totally on me. It will mean more business for the town. Bigger hotel means more business for Lee, Ned, and several others in this town. We will not be able to stop progress in Hope Valley. The only thing we can control is who and how it will be run. It is only a matter of time before someone recognizes this town as a booming business town. We can either be proactive or reactive. These changes to the town are necessary." Lucas explained.
"Okay, Lucas you have made your point." Ned said still concern in his voice.
"Let us vote." Lee said.
The vote for the new hotel was passed with a majority vote of 8-2. Lucas nodded in appreciation,"Thank you, the next proposal is for renovations to the Queen of Hearts. I will be taking out all of the rooms and adding more balcony seating and upgrading the kitchen as well as adding live entertainment, he turned to wink at Rosemary. I plan on building a stage." Rosemary immediately put her hands up to her face in shock. "Please have a look at the plans and proposal before you vote." Lucas suggested.
After fifteen minutes and all the plans had been passed along, Lee spoke. "Let us vote."
The Queen of Hearts renovation also received a passing vote by majority of 7-3. "Thank you again for your understanding. I do understand the concerns about all the growth in the town, but I must admit the growth is already there. It is what we do to account for it that is going to make the difference in this town. The third thing and probably the most important thing to this town is a new school. I am prepared to put up all the cost for the new school to be built as long as the town counsel can afford to pay the teachers salaries. The proposal for the cost is in front of you. I feel this is more than a fair offer. As you know the county is threatening to intervene if we do not upgrade the school and Elizabeth does not get her certification to teach blind children, which we will be sure to work on together. As you can see the changes also include a playground for school to provide the children with a little more entertainment at recess affording the teachers time to grade papers and prepare for afternoon lessons." Lucas advised.
"Lucas this is quite a bit of money to ask from the town counsel to pay these salaries." Lee said concerned.
"Lee we are talking about the future of our children, do we want to have control of who will be teaching them or do we want the county to decide for us?" Lucas asked in that strong and determined businessman voice. "I will pay the salaries myself if needed, but it would be a good token of appreciation for the town to invest in our school system. There are so many of you who have children or will have children attending this school."
The school vote passed 10-0. Everyone thought Lucas argument was very compelling.
"The last thing is for a permit to add on to my home. We have invited Julie Thatcher to stay with us and are asking for a business permit to add on a studio apartment and art studio for her. With our expanding family for any who do not know, Julie is going to want her own space where she can come and go as she pleases. This will be of no cost to anyone in this town. It will however add revenue to Lee's business and I am sure Ned's and Bill's as well." Lucas spoke with conviction.
Lucas was granted all the building permits he needed. Elizabeth stood firm beside him at the door as they shook everyone's hands and thanked them as they left. The meeting had lasted three hours but they figured there would be a lot of questions.
They stopped by the Queen of Hearts to grab dinner to take home. Making their way to the office, while waiting on Gustave to get their dinner ready, Elizabeth shut and locked the door behind them. "Mr. Bouchard that was very impressive!" She said with a seductive smile grabbing him by the lapels and pulling him down for a lingering passionate kiss.
"Are you trying to tell me that Mrs. Bouchard likes seeing me in businessman mode?" He teased returning her kiss.
"I must admit it was very attractive and made you extremely irresistible." She said playfully.
"In that case we should not linger here too long, so we can celebrate our accomplishments." He winked while rubbing his hands up her back and giving her a passionate kiss. He left the plans on his desk. They picked up the food from Gustave and said good night. He escorted Elizabeth to the car, opened the door and headed for home where they knew they would have another steamy evening lost in celebration.
They kissed Jack, fed him his dinner, told Julie about the meeting and advised her they would get started on her apartment right away. Lucas did ask her what she would like it to look like so he could add it to the plans. She told him she would draw him a picture, since she loved art. He was very much appreciative of that. They played with Jack for awhile and then Elizabeth and Lucas gave him a bath and read him a story until he fell asleep. Then they made their own way to their bedroom, where they took their own bath sharing an intimate moment while Lucas made extra sure to massage Elizabeth's feet remembering she said they were sore. They dried off and he made sure to massage her shoulders as well, then he was pleasantly rewarded for his thoughtfulness as they enjoyed each other until they were exhausted and fell asleep in each other's arms.