Page 35

One of the things I love about living on Kala is that, as a whole, it’s filled with good people.

Maybe these next twenty or thirty minutes are going to waste our time, but no one actually wants Taylor to fail.

That’s not what the point was when Laiken inadvertently created a movement against Taylor’s hovering.

“I understand that grass length is too nitpicky, correct?” Taylor asks, receiving a lot of nods. “I understand that it’s about the parameters I was putting on it, though we can agree that there is a thing as too long, right?”

He reminds me of a child at school, just learning a subject. I smirk as the front rows explain to him what makes this subject important and what makes it over the top.

“Okay. How about the trees in the park? I will admit that this is a personal observation, so I want to know if it… is worth a lengthy discussion. The trees aren’t uniform, and it makes the lines of trees uneven.

I know we can’t control how trees grow, but I think there might be ways to train them.

I’ve seen online—” His words cut off, and he clears his throat. “Lengthy discussion or no?”

“No,” the room unanimously agrees.

Taylor nods and makes a note on the paper or tablet in front of him. I’m too far away to know if that’s a pen or a digital pencil in his hand.

For the next several minutes, I listen amused as Taylor brings up pet curfews, the way the water moves the sand on the beach, how the hydrants are fading from the sun, and whether we should make them rainbows.

A whole lot of things that certainly could have been put in the newsletter, asking for feedback instead of being talked about in person.

However, there were topics he brought up that we wanted to have a conversation about.

Such as adjusting the shape of the docks on Etsumi because of traffic to create a better flow.

Whose responsibility it is to correct guest behavior when we see them clearly breaking rules—any resident who sees it or reporting it to a team member, which will allow the guest the ability to deny they’ve done said thing.

Taylor definitely took extensive notes on what constitutes as in-person importance and what can be relayed as a discussion topic in a newsletter.

“I think he’s going to thrive under feedback like this,” Laiken says, a smile in his voice. “He already looks ten times more relaxed than he usually does.”

I nod. “It’s nice when people are willing to listen and learn from those around them.

It really shows the kind of person they are.

” I didn’t mean for that statement to become a parallel between this situation and the one with my father, but I can’t help but take note of what my own observation says about the person my father is.

Has he always been that person, and there’s just never been a reason to see it until now?

“Okay,” Taylor says with a smile. “I’m sure you’re dying to get back on track, though I want to express again how much I appreciate you taking the time to help me understand what’s important enough for an actual conversation and what can be expressed through newsletters and feedback.

I may need a few more of these brief educational opportunities, but I think I have a much better understanding now. Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome, Taylor,” the room says, almost in unison.

Taylor smiles brightly. “Okay, so the agenda has been tweaked a little because we have some exciting news. It was this that became the reason for our slight delay in meeting date, but we’re ready to share.” He looks at Mr. Calloway. “If you’re ready, sir.”

Mr. Calloway replaces Taylor at the podium and Taylor moves to the covered easel.

“Thank you all for joining us tonight. I have some exciting news. As you know, we’ve been talking about expanding the islands for a while now because, and I’m very humbled to say this, our growth has been exponential.

People want to be here. They want to live, work, and vacation here.

There’s a waiting list for homes, which isn’t a bad problem to have.

Except when it is. Our growth has been plateaued for a long time now because we do not have the housing to accommodate more residents.

We also have a problem keeping our young people who want to stay when we don’t have anywhere for them to live except with their parents. ”

“Yes!” several people say.

Cash and I exchange grins.

“This is why we began talking about expansion to begin with. Not just for the resort, but for you, our residents, and for those to come. You know, in our original plan, we were expanding by three islands—one more residential and two more for the resort. As anyone with basic math will tell you, we’ll again run out of residential space when we’re expanding the work capacity by double what we’re expanding the residential.

That was an oversight on our part.” He looks at Taylor and gives a nod.

Taylor pulls off the sheet and we’re looking at a color-coded island map chain. Kala’s original six islands are outlined in green. The original expansion of three new islands is outlined in blue. The second iteration of this expansion is outlined in red.

There are three new residential islands and four more for the resort. Yes, the numbers are still skewed, but the residential islands are much bigger than those for the resort.

“Here is where we’re at now,” Mr. Calloway says. “Thoughts?”

Almost everyone raises their hands in the air with excitement. I grin as I look around. My smile fades when I see my father glaring at me. I turn away and sink into my seat.