Kahli found herself back at the Commerce Guild the next morning, and Antoine was leaning against his desk, watching her as she reviewed the commissions.
"Big town meeting tonight," he said casually.
Kahli met his gaze and raised a brow. "Oh?"
"Mayor Gale asked me to tell you to be there."
Kahli frowned. "That usually means he has some impossible job for me."
Antoine smiled slyly. "Maybe."
Kahli narrowed her gaze on him. "What do you know?"
He pushed himself up onto the desk. "You'll find out tonight, huh?"
Kahli groaned. "Why is it always me? I mean, that's not exactly fair. What about the other builders?"
"Mayor Gale likes you."
She frowned. "That's not a good reason."
Antoine rolled his eyes. "Everyone likes you," he said. He smirked. "Some more than others."
Kahli hesitated. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Antoine looked at his nails, disinterested. "Oh, you know how it is," he said. "Rumors spread quickly in a small town like Portia."
Kahli crossed her arms. "And what rumors are you spreading?"
"I swear, it wasn't me," he said defensively. He met her gaze. "Honest." He picked up a nail file and began filing his nails. "People just notice things, yanno?" He glanced at her. "Or lack of things."
"Lack of things?" Kahli repeated.
Antoine shrugged. "Sure." He paused. "For example, Nora's still pretty new around here, too. So people have had their eye on her. And they notice who she's been socializing with. And who she has stopped socializing with."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about."
"No one knows I like Arlo but you and Emily and Sonia!"
"Who said anything about Arlo?"
"Shut up, Antoine!"
Antoine giggled. "Kahli, you make it so easy."
"He doesn't like me," she muttered.
Antoine shrugged. "People see things."
"Yeah and they saw him and Nora hanging around."
"Guess he's just into strange."
Kahli blew her hair out of her face in exhaustion. Without another word, she turned and made her way to the door.
"See you tonight at the meeting, right?" Antoine called after her.
She cursed under her breath. She wasn't exactly looking forward to whatever this project was. But on the plus side, at least Mayor Gale paid well.
Kahli busied herself with the animals for the majority of the day and even took a break to visit with Sophie, who, of course, had a fresh pie waiting for her. By evening, she was back at the plaza where Gale was waiting to begin the meeting.
"Welcome, everyone," he said cheerfully. "Nice Sunday evening we're having. I've got some wonderful news to share today. The city state of Sandrock and our city of Portia have agreed to build a road through the Eufaula Desert between our cities. This will cut travel time by over half. The governments of both cities will fund this road together. We have sufficient reserves built up during my time in office, so funding isn't in question. This is a part of a grand plan that I've been hatching over the past year to make Portia a center for commerce and travel in the Free Cities."
Gale turned to the young man to his left.
"Here with me is Mint, an engineer from Vega 5. He'll be spearheading the building of the road. Our builders in Portia and builders from Sandrock will assist him in bringing this to fruition. We'll have a meeting tomorrow to discuss how we're going to go about this business. That's all for now."
As the crowd dispersed, Gale and Mint stepped down into the plaza and approached Kahli and Higgins, who had quickly appeared at her side, eager to get his hands on any work they offered him.
"Mint, I'd like to introduce you to our two best builders, Kahli and Higgins." Gale turned to them and grinned. "We have a lot to discuss still, but I expect to see you in my office first thing tomorrow morning."
"Oh, not to worry," Higgins said. "Portia's number one builder will be there."
"Yes, I will, thank you, secretary." Kahli grinned at Higgins who was visibly fuming. She turned to Mint. "He's a nice guy, but not quite all there. If you need to get in touch with me, I suggest speaking to me directly."
Mint laughed and Higgins stomped his foot. He pointed at Kahli as he backed away. "Keep talking," he sneered. "A sharp tongue won't get you anywhere in this business."
"Alright, alright," Gale said, but Higgins was already out of earshot, storming away from them. He turned an apologetic glance to Kahli and smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow morning."
*****
The next morning, Kahli stood in Mayor Gale's office with him, Mint, Higgins, and Albert. Gale wasted no time in their meeting, speaking excitedly as soon as Kahli showed up the next morning.
"I'll start by emphasizing how important this is to us," he said. "Once we connect Portia to Sandrock with the new road, we become the de facto transportation hub between Vega 5, Sandrock, and Walnut Groove. That's an envious place to be in!"
He gestured to Mint in introduction. "I've known Mint here since he was a pup. He's one of the best engineers around and will be heading this project. Mint, if you please."
Mint smiled to Gale in thanks, then spoke to the rest of them. "Hey everyone. Let me give you an outline of our objectives for the Portia part of the project. Broadly speaking, there are two phases to this project. In phase one, we'll start the road from Sandrock as the terrain there is easier for construction. During that time, we'll need the builders here to complete a bridge across the Portia River connecting to the desert. Once the bridge is complete, we'll move on to phase two, which is the construction of a rest stop along the southern banks of the Portia River.
"We're going to call this new town South Block," Mayor Gale said. "Not too original, I know, but it'll be a place where all the travelers can rest and enjoy the view of Portia."
"We're working with Albert's company, A&G Construction, to build the bridge and South Block," Mint explained. "I'll be leaving for Sandrock in a couple of days. Albert will be in charge of the local plans after that."
"Right-o," Albert said proudly. "I've pretty much worked with everyone in this room before, so I'd say this will go as smooth as a water troll's butt. As for the builders, I'll post all the bridge commissions in the Commerce Guild starting tomorrow."
"Why don't you just give me all the commissions," Higgins said. "I can do it all."
Albert rolled his eyes. "I keep on tellin' you mate, there's more to life than just work. And that would be against guild rules, anyways."
Higgins had a permanent sneer on his face, it seemed, but he didn't bother to argue more about it with Albert. "Is that all then?" he said. "Some of us have work to do."
Kahli bit her tongue and watched as he left Mayor Gale's office. Gale sighed and shook his head.
"Can we try to work together on this?" he muttered.
Kahli offered him a sympathetic smile. "You know I always play nice," she said.
"Sometimes it's okay to play dirty once in a while," Albert said, and he winked at her.
Kahli rolled her eyes, then turned to Mint. "I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise," Mint said with a smile.
Kahli said goodbye, then quickly left Mayor Gale's office. She stepped out into the plaza which seemed to steam in waves in the hot, summer sun. What she would give for a refreshing swim.
It seemed her and Emily were on the same wavelength, because when she got home, she found Emily sitting on the fence waiting for her. She had two towels on her arm, and she hopped down when she saw Kahli, grinning ear to ear.
"You didn't pick up some work, did you?"
Kahli shook her head.
Emily tossed one of the towels at her. "Good. It's too damn hot for that shit. We're going swimming."
"You read my mind," Kahli said.
She quickly changed into her only bathing suit, then got Star from the barn. She hopped on bareback, helped Emily up behind her, and they rode to the river where Star eagerly splashed in. The mare nickered happily, tossing her head and splashing in the cool water, and Kahli and Emily jumped off her back and into the water as well.
Kahli splashed water at Star, and Star squealed and flapped her lips excitedly when the water hit her muzzle. They took turns climbing onto the mare's back and cannonballing in, challenging each other to see who could make the biggest splash.
They were so wrapped up in their refreshing swim that they almost missed the three Civil Corps officers trotting down the length of the river, and Sam's excited cheers grabbed their attention as she hurried toward them.
"What the hell, guys?" Sam barked at them. "I want to go swimming, too!"
"You're working," Remington reminded her.
Kahli stuck her tongue out at her.
Sam turned to Arlo. "It's like a hundred degrees out here," Sam whined. "The horses need a break!"
Arlo sighed. "Whatever," he said. "But take -"
It didn't matter what he was going to say next, because Sam was already commanding her horse forward, and the horse eagerly stepped into the water. The remaining two horses, however, decided that they could not be left on the shore in the sweltering heat, and they leapt forward unexpectedly, catching both Remington and Arlo by surprise as they galloped into the river.
"Oh, what the hell," Remington muttered. He tried to lift his legs out of the water, but he was already soaked. He slouched in his saddle, defeated.
"Sam!" Arlo scolded, but Sam wasn't listening, already in the water and slipping off her horse's tack to allow her to cool off.
"Don't look at me," Sam said. "You're the ones that have no control of your horses!"
Arlo slipped off his horse, splashing down into the river, though he did not look annoyed. Kahli swam to Spacer while Arlo worked at removing the saddle.
"Is Arlo working you too hard, my little Space-Man?" Kahli cooed to the horse. She stroked his muzzle and he let out a content sigh. "You deserve a good swim, yes you do. You're a good little horse, aren't ya, Spacer?"
"You know," Arlo started. "He's gotten fat since you got here. He could use the workout."
Kahli grinned. "Does Arlo not give you enough treats? My poor boy, you're going to wither away, aren't you?"
Arlo removed Spacer's bridle, then pushed the horse away from them. He trotted through the water, happily shaking his head.
"You're a bad influence," Arlo said to Kahli. "Sam used to always put her job first."
Kahli scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please. She still does. Don't be such a stick in the mud."
Arlo crossed his arms. "I'm not. But I don't appreciate being soaked."
Kahli grinned, then lowered herself until the water was just under her nose. She held her gaze on Arlo.
"What are you doing?" Arlo asked, hesitant.
Kahli sucked in a breath and submerged herself completely underwater. She reached forward quickly and pulled Arlo's legs out from under him, causing him to fall into the water with a yelp. They surfaced at the same time, much closer to one another than either were expecting, and their gazes met.
"Ha!" Sam barked out. "That'll show ya, Arlo!"
Kahli swam back quickly, putting space between them, and pulled her gaze away. Her cheeks were pink, though she couldn't be sure if that was because of Arlo or simply from being in the sun a little too long.