Page 88 of Finding Forever

Before Beth could become embarrassingly emotional, Natalie stepped up to the microphone.

The music stopped. Conversations gradually faded as people turned toward the front of the room.

Natalie welcomed everyone, then thanked the council, volunteers, local businesses, artists, tradespeople, and everyone else who had contributed to the center.

Beth relaxed slightly.

Then Natalie looked directly at her. Oh, no.

“There are two people I particularly want to acknowledge today.”

Beside Beth, Kayla reached for her hand.

Natalie smiled. “When Beth first became involved with this project, I knew I was asking a lot of her. What I didn’t realize was how much of herself she would give to the arts center.”

Beth swallowed.

“She worried about every dollar, organized more people than I could count, and kept us moving forward whenever we hit another problem. And there were quite a few of those.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

Natalie waited for it to settle. “But Beth never forgot why we were doing this. She wanted somewhere people could learn, create, make friends, and feel part of their community. This building is beautiful, but Beth understood from the beginning that what happens inside it matters far more.”

Applause filled the room.

Beth felt Kayla squeeze her fingers. She looked sideways and saw tears in her daughter’s eyes.

“Don’t,” Beth whispered.

Kayla laughed softly. “I’m not doing anything.”

“You’ll make me cry.”

“Then we’ll cry together.” Kayla leaned closer. “I’m really proud of you, Mom.”

Beth blinked rapidly, turning toward the stage before her mascara became another opening-day disaster.

Natalie was smiling. “And then there’s Dave.”

The change in tone brought another ripple of laughter.

Dave was standing beside Hank near the gallery. He looked as though he’d rather repair another damaged beam than have an entire room staring at him.

“Dave took a tired old building with a very long list of problems and found a solution for every one of them,” Natalie continued. “He gave us his time, his expertise, and an extraordinary amount of generosity. This center wouldn’t be what it is today without him.”

The applause began again.

Dave shook his head, clearly uncomfortable with the attention, but then his gaze found Beth.

She smiled at him, and he winked back. Beth didn’t know how she would have managed without his calm patience. He’d taken her step-by-step through each issue, finding ways to bring everyone’s vision to life.

Later, after the speeches, cake cutting, and more photographs than Beth wanted to think about, she finally escaped another conversation near the reception desk.

She spotted Kayla talking to Dave by the display cases. Another man stood beside them. Beth hadn’t met him, but she knew immediately who he was. There was enough of his dad in his face to make the connection unmistakable.

Dave noticed her approaching, and his expression brightened. “Beth, come and meet my son.” He rested a hand briefly on the man’s shoulder. “This is Mark. Mark, this is Beth.”

Beth smiled as Mark held out his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she told him.