Griffith Tavern (Taryn's Camera Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

involved,” Daniel added. “Do some fundraisers, you know? We started a Kickstarter fund over the weekend. We’ve already raised almost $500. Joe here is our social media marketing expert. He’s been on Twitter and Instagram and everything, just trying to get the word out.”
    “Just seems like nobody cares much about their own history anymore,” a guy with shaggy auburn hair and a black Pearl Jam T-shirt said. “What’s the matter with people? This tavern is one of the biggest things in the county and everyone’s just letting it fall down around them.”
    Taryn smiled. “You guys are after my own heart. If I was rich, I’d already be poor because I would have spent all my money buying all the beautiful old buildings to fix them up.”
    The group smiled and a couple laughed.
    “The couple that owns it? The guy is a descendent of one of the original owners, the one who bought it after the turn of the century. They’re real sympathetic to us and want us to work it out, but they got hit hard in the recession. They need the cash,” Joe explained. “Like, now. I think they’ve got a bunch of debts.”
    “I hear that,” Taryn mumbled. “So if someone else comes along and tries to buy it after your option expires…”
    “They’ll have to sell to them. And that’s already happened,” Daniel muttered, studying his shoes. “A development company wants to buy the land, tear down the tavern, and build a shopping center there. It’s a good location because in a couple of weeks they’re going to start working on a new exit ramp off the interstate and then it will be prime real estate. We won’t have a chance.”
    Taryn could see the disappointment and stress lining everyone’s faces. She felt it, too. It seemed like there was always something in the way. “Then I guess we need to find money, huh?” she smiled. “A lot of it.”
    “Too bad the legend isn’t real,” Willow sighed. She stared off into the room, looking wistful.
    “What legend?”
    “There’s a story that Permelia, the owner’s wife, was really wealthy. He bought her from Boston. You know, a mail order bride?” Daniel let the question trail off as everyone nodded. “Well, supposedly she didn’t have a family or anything but had inherited a ton of cash. Or gold. Whatever. Anyway, she brought it with her and hid it on the property. Nobody’s ever found it.”
    “A buried treasure?” Taryn laughed. “That’s awesome!”
    “A few pieces of gold were found back in the eighties when they were doing some digging,” Willow explained. “I can’t remember what for. Anyway, it was in the ground. Probably just someone lost it somewhere along the way and it got buried in the dirt. They had metal detectors out for weeks. Never found anymore. Added fuel to the story, though.”
    “I bet,” Taryn agreed. “Damn. Too bad that story isn’t real. Gold would help. A lot.”
     

     
    D espite the good day she’d had, Taryn was feeling down. It was late and since most of the music channels had ceased playing actual music on television anymore she felt restless and annoyed. Music was her stress reliever but all her CDs were in the car and she was too lazy to go out and get them. Everyone was into Spotify and things like that these days but she didn’t get those sites. Most online technology confused her, unless it had to do with photo editing. Even that had taken awhile for her to learn.
    Fall was hard for Taryn. Her husband, Andrew, had died in October. They’d just been to a festival the day before. He’d eaten three caramel apples, the kind loaded with peanuts, chocolate, and Oreo shavings. She’d bought a handmade clock. The day felt so normal, no indication her world would come crashing down around her in less than 24 hours. Now she couldn’t even smell caramel or listen to the song “Amazed’ by Lonestar (they’d sung it at the top of their lungs on the drive home) without feeling panicked.
    Funny how sometimes the good memories