Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Hear me out, Byron.” I probably shouldn’t be interrupting my boss like this, but I don’t have much more to lose in this life than everything I’ve walked away from. And anyway, he’s short-staffed—he’s not going to fire me. “This is all about presentation. When I’d had customers on the phone asking me when their cars would be finished, I’d tell them it was taking a little longer than anticipated because we were detailing the car before it was returned to them. People stopped complaining.
“I think if you tell your billionaires and centimillionaires—thank you, by the way, for extending my vocabulary with that particular phrase—that you’re respecting local culture by giving Star Falls residents limited access to the land on these days, in these areas, you’re highlighting the Colorado Club as a company with a conscience. By extension, that means your members have a conscience, too. Your generosity and consideration is their generosity and consideration. Your billionaires get something for nothing—a clear conscience. They don’t need to know it’s all a ploy to drum up local support, just like my customers at the garage didn’t need to know their detailing was included in the service price and only took twenty minutes.”
I hold Byron’s gaze as he silently stares back at me. I try and read his expression. Am I about to wear a face full of eggs? Is he going to leave?
“You’re really smart,” he says finally, and I feel a little glow inside me at his approval. “We need to sell it to members like it’s part of our offering. It could work if we open up the land on certain days, or certain parts of the land on certain days. During those times, we can just direct members to other areas. Or offer them additional security.”
“Exactly,” I say. “It’s doable.”
“I’ve got to sell it to Jim. He’s going to want access whenever he wants.”
“The limited access is the price they pay for revitalizing employment opportunities in town. If all the young people are leaving because there aren’t any opportunities for them, the Colorado Club gives them something to stay for.”
Byron nods. “It really does. Or it could.”
“I agree,” I say with a smile.
He holds my gaze, his stare intense. It heats me from the inside out, like he’s trailing his fingers over my skin, bringing every goose bump to life. “It’s a really creative solution, you know?”
I laugh. “I never even went to community college.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re not clever. It just means you didn’t go to college.”
I glance down at my pancakes, full with his praise and the way he sees me. “Thank you.” I take a bite of pancakes. “Now you have to help me find Athena’s family.”
“I’ll make you a deal: If you don’t find her owners, I’ll take her in when you move next week.”
I tip my head back and laugh. “She hates you!”
He smooths his hand over his stubbled chin. “That is true. But maybe we can acclimatize her before then.” His eyes twinkle as he looks at me. One minute he’s a grumpy, hard-nosed businessman—the next, my thoughtful, hot neighbor who makes plaid look like it costs a million bucks.
THIRTEEN
Byron
The weather forecast has injected the air with panic. Even Kathleen, the project manager, is jittery, and that makes me nervous. People who don’t live in Colorado think tornadoes can’t hit the mountains. The people of Star Falls know different.
“What’s the worst-case scenario?” I ask Kathleen as we stand on the balcony outside Blossom. I can see the entire town of Star Falls from here.
The main building is finished. We have proper storm defenses built into the design of the place, from hurricane glass in all the windows to state-of-the-art generators. Any trees close enough to cause damage to the main building have been removed. It’s not the main building I’m worried about. It’s the buildings that aren’t finished. There’s a real possibility that if we can’t finish weatherproofing before the storm hits, they’ll be destroyed. That includes a block of staff accommodations and ten member chalets.
“Worst-case scenario is total power loss, two blocks of staff housing totally or partially destroyed, and we lose half the chalets,” Kathleen says.
The hits just keep on coming. I feel like I’m playing disaster Whac-A-Mole. Just when a plan to get the people of Star Falls fully behind the Colorado Club starts to materialize, I have to deal with the possibility that I’m going to have to delay opening. Founding members have already paid their fees. For the first six months from opening, potential members are going to come out and experience the Club in all its glory. That can’t happen if parts of the site lie in ruin. The resort has the potential to turn into a gigantic money pit.
“I thought it was up to ten member chalets and one block of staff accommodation,” I reply.