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Excerpt from Chapter 1:
Through the frosted glass of his office door, Jimmy saw Dennis pacing back and forth, occasionally frowning at the person who was seated in the chair in front of his desk.
Jimmy thought about leaving - this was obviously very bad timing, indeed.
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Just then Dennis slammed open the door. "Kim," he said, forcing calm into his voice, "would you please get Jimmy on the phone?"
"He's standing right over there," she said, pointing her finger.
Dennis waved him over. "I was just calling you," Dennis said, shaking the hand of his close friend.
"So I heard," Jimmy said cautiously. "What's up?"
Dennis shook his head in frustration. "I think you need to come in and sit down."
Walking into the private office, Jimmy saw Dennis's nineteen year old son, Brian Beezer, slumped in the chair. His head hung low and his handsome angular face was mostly covered by his dark brown hair. His long legs were outstretched with his feet knocking against each other.
Dennis handed a piece of paper to Jimmy. "Read this advertisement that was faxed over to us this morning. It's to be run in The Lumby Lines in a few weeks."
"Why are you giving it to me?" Jimmy asked.
"Please read it," Dennis said, turning with annoyance toward Brian.
Jimmy scanned the copy, taking note of the critical words: Balloon rides… Regional Balloon Festival…. Lumby.
Jimmy started laughing when he had digested its meaning. "Well, this is clearly a mistake, Dennis. We don't have any hot-air balloons in Lumby so it would make no sense that we would host a hot-air balloon festival." He held his hand out to give the fax back. "I'm sure someone's just pulling your leg. That, or who ever submitted this just faxed it to the wrong local paper in the wrong town."
"No, they didn't," Dennis said, glaring at Brian.
Jimmy saw how angry his friend was. "What's going on?"
"Tell him," Dennis said sternly to his son.
Brian slid farther into the chair. No one could do sullen better than the son of the newspaper's editor.
"Brian, tell him," he repeated.
"Well," Brian said at last, "Terry and I were looking at some magazines a few months ago, and saw this thing -"
"What thing?" Jimmy asked.
Brian hesitated. "An article. Anyway, it said they were -"
"Who?" Jimmy continued to press for clarity.
"The balloon group. They were looking for a town to host this year's balloon festival." Brian continued to stare at his knees which were moving back and forth. "And we thought it would be cool if it was here, in Lumby. So we pooled together some money at school."
Dennis was ready to explode all over again. "How much?" he demanded.
"Two hundred and fifty dollars."
Both men looked at the teenager in disbelief. How could high school kids collect that amount without parental involvement or even awareness?
"Go on," his father said.
"We filled out the application and got a money order." His story abruptly ended, and after a few moments it was obvious that Brian had no intention of continuing.
Jimmy coaxed the boy. "And?"
Brian twisted in his chair. He went on very reluctantly. "Well, they wrote back several times asking for more information and then about a month ago they sent us a contract."
Jimmy leaned forward, visibly confused. "Why would they possibly send a contract to you?"
Brian looked up at his father hoping he would end the interrogation, but his father just glared back. When he saw no escape was possible, he dropped his head into his chest so he could barely be heard. "I told them I was the mayor."
Jimmy's jaw opened. Part of him was impressed with how the boys managed to win what must have been a fairly lucrative deal, the other part was disappointed in how they did it. He quickly thought through the problem and found a solution. "Well, no serious problem here. We'll just call them and courteously bow out - a thanks but no thanks reply."
"I've already tried," Dennis said wearily. "In fact, I've been on the phone all morning. I was told that the brochures and catalogues for the festival, along with countless advertisements, have already been printed and paid for. If Lumby was to renege at this late date, it would cost us a significant amount of money in penalties." He paused as he looked for the contract on his desk. "As it was my son's doing, I would personally cover all penalties, but the amounts they quoted would financially ruin us. I even had Russell over this morning to review the contract and he advised we not break it."
Jimmy was still trying to find the positive outcome. "Well, it can't be that big a thing. How many folks attend one of these festivals?"
"A thousand," Brian exhaled.
"A hundred, you said?" Jimmy asked.
Dennis shook his head. "No, he said one thousand."
Stunned by the number, Jimmy finally let out a loud laugh. "But that's ridiculous! There are barely a hundred hotel rooms in a twenty-mile radius!"
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