His eyebrows lifted. "From you?"
"No, actually. From a different committee member. Jeff Henderson, I think."
"Is that so?"
I didn't like the way he said it, as if he were calling me a liar. Again.
I stiffened my spine and told him, "Yes. It is so. Even if it wasn't Jeff, it was someone."
"But not you."
"Right."
He looked at me for a long moment before flicking his head toward the projector screen. "Go on."
So I did. Over the next few minutes, I explained how these local festivals fit with his brand and how not only would he be supporting local communities all over the Midwest, he'd also be getting some great exposure.
At this, he actually chuckled.
I paused to look at him. "Excuse me?"
"Exposure," he said. "You think I need more of it?"
I almost rolled my eyes. "I didn't mean exposure for you. I meant for your products." But even as I said it, it suddenly struck me that a few personal appearances by Chase Blastoviak would go a long way in promoting not only his tools, but the festivals too.
With sudden inspiration, I added, "Although if you did decide to get involved, it would make for some great publicity."
"Oh yeah?" He looked unimpressed. "For who?"
"For you. And um, the tools."
"And…?"
"Well…" I cleared my throat. "And the festivals too, of course."
"Right. So you're not just asking for money. You're also asking for personal appearances."
"No." I paused. "I mean, I hadn't planned on it. It's just that you brought it up, so I figured I'd throw it out there." I tried to sound casual. "You know, in case you're interested."
"How about you?" he asked. "Are you gonna make appearances?"
I gave him a perplexed look. "I'm not following. Why would anyone want to see me?"
He looked ready to snicker. "You're the former Tomato Queen, aren't you?"
I didn't like the way he said it, as if the whole thing were a giant joke. And besides, his statement wasn't even accurate. Even worse, I was pretty sure he knew it.
"No," I said. "As you saw yourself, I was just the runner up."
"So a bridesmaid, huh?"
I had, in fact, been a bridesmaid several times by now. But this obviously wasn't what he meant. He meant that I hadn't won, that I'd been relegated to second place.
And now, he was rubbing my nose in it, as if it were something to be ashamed of. I wasn't ashamed. Of course, it might've been a little nicer if I hadn't lost to Emory Hawthorne, who'd been less than gracious in her victory.
I was still trying to come up with a decent response when Chase asked, "So, who was the bride?"
"Excuse me?"
"The Tomato Queen," he said. "You said you were runner up. So who won?"
I didn't see why this was relevant. Still, I felt compelled to reply, "Emory Hawthorne."
"A friend?"
It was a simple question. And yet, the answer was stupidly complicated. With a tight shrug, I replied, "Sometimes."
"And sometimes not?"
"I guess."
Chase grinned. "So you were jealous, huh?"
I saw nothing to grin about. "No, actually." Or at least, I hadn't been jealous of that.
He was still grinning. "Sure you weren't."
He was goading me again. But for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why. Forcing a smile, I said, "So…do you have any more questions before I continue?"
"Just one," he said. "What are you getting out of this?"
I almost laughed. "Nothing."
He gave me a dubious look. "So why are you doing it?"
"Because it's good for the community."
"Your community, not mine."
"But that's not true," I protested. "Have you ever gone to a festival? A local one, I mean?"
"I might've."
"See? So it is part of your community. And even if it weren't, you'd still get loads of positive publicity."
"As opposed to what?"
Wasn't it obvious? Carefully, I replied, "As opposed to negative publicity, I suppose."
"So you think we've got a problem with negative publicity?"
"No. Of course not," I said. "But you can never have too much of a good thing, right?"
His gaze darkened. "You'd be surprised."
As he said it, I had the distinct impression that he wasn't talking about publicity. But what he was talking about, I had no idea.
And I never did find out.
Chapter 18
Chase
"So tell me," Brody said. "Scale of one to ten, how crazy was she?"
I'd just escorted Mina down to the lobby and had returned to my office to find my younger brother lying in wait.
Unlike me, Brody wore jeans and a T-shirt. This was pretty standard, considering that he was the guy who handled the construction side of things.
For him, it was a full-time job.
For me, it was a once-in-a-while thing. A few times a month, I'd show up at some property-or-other, swing a hammer, and look pretty for the cameras. And then, I'd go back to what I did best – making our company a shit-ton of money.
But I couldn’t do that without Brody, not when it came to the cable show. He was the one who picked the properties, kept the construction on-track, and made sure the show went off without a hitch.
Usually, he spent very little time in the office, which made his appearance today more than a little suspicious.
Was he only here to hassle me?
Maybe.
But I couldn't exactly blame the guy. I'd shoveled quite a bit of shit his way, too, especially last year when he'd come down with a case of love-sickness – a fatal case, as it turned out, considering that he was on the verge of getting married.
Hey, better him than me.
In my office, he was leaning his ass against the same conference table where Mina had made her presentation.
In reply to his question about her level of craziness, I gave a loose shrug. "Eh, hard to say."
He laughed. "What, you don't know?"
It was embarrassing as hell, but my brother had the gist of it. The truth was, Mina had come across as reasonably sane. And her proposal had some merit.
She'd ended her presentation with a list of a hundred Midwestern Festivals that would welcome the sponsorship of Blast Tools.
When I'd
