e frequent reental
principles,
e to justice,
ance, industry,
solutely
e the blessings
he government
d, quoting the
n. “It’s riddled
count them
ght.”
“No. I can’t understand why people
are opposed to my idea. I just want
to help the town.”
“Well, if you can’t understand, maybe
you should ask.”
She had revisited this conversation
many times over the years. It
was the conversation that got her
thinking that her vision of sweeping
in and fixing the town, just like
she’d fixed failing businesses back
home in Connecticut, wasn’t quite
right. And it made her realize that
whenever she had a thought that
began with the words “I just can’t
understand...” it meant that she
should ask.
“We can all go together,” Fred said,
meaning the three members of the
select board. Fred Morris, Susan
Jacobi, and Marty Stone. Two wry
old-timers and one fired-up new
arrival. And they did. They visited
folks.
s open on
brainer!” She
bering how
was right.
rists coming
ir way home.
nd tons of
n. Don’t the
make monanyone
who
the way they
“Well,” most conversations started
with that same winding road of a
word. “I go hunting on a Sunday,”
was heard more than once. “I’m for
it. We need that tourist money,” was
heard a lot, too. “If it ain’t broke...”
said several people, before they
talked about how they spent their
Sundays. “Money isn’t everything,”
she was surprised to hear shop
owners say. Turned out a lot of
people liked things fine the way
they were and enjoyed a day off.
Others didn’t know if they could
hire anyone to work the extra
hours. These answers surprised
Susan. When she started to tell the
shop owners how they could make
it work, Fred managed to steer her
back to listening mode.