Page 52 of Forget That Guy
Then, in front of everyone, popped the tab on his beer can.
More people slid in as the board continued to stare.
Eventually, Odin got impatient enough to ask, “What the fuck are we even doing here if they’re not going to talk?”
The lone lady on the board, the same bitch who liked to kick people out of their apartments for no reason, shifted in her seat. “We’re unsure why we were called.”
The lady that my mother termed ‘the old bat’ was actually Carolina Edridge, one of the wealthiest women in the area. Though she sure the fuck didn’t act like it. She never missed a chance to heckle the baker for a cheaper loaf of bread.
The door shut a final time.
Fourteen times in total.
That was all that said they could make it.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs, and leveled them all with a single look.
“What makes you think you can bring in a ski resort without running it by me first?”
“Then he’s all ‘what makes you think you can bring in a ski resort without running it by me first?’ and they all collectively start apologizing like it was all some simple misunderstanding.” Major laughed with Sorcha and the girls. “They’re not going to get it passed, that’s for sure. They all decided to resign. We set up Nettie, Mable, Birdee, and Sorcha as the temporary city board.”
“Half of them didn’t even live in Bear Pass, though,” Holly pointed out. “Wouldn’t you want people on the board that actually live in the community? That’s literally the entire point.”
“We’re working on that,” I admitted as I took a bite of my sister’s favorite ‘easy meal’ to cook for the ranch. It was a chicken, bacon, ranch pasta bake that seemed to always be a pretty big hit for the crew. Half of it was already gone, and we’d only had half the hands eat so far. It was going to be a tight night if they didn’t hurry and I got a second helping along with Major and Hux that’d followed me home from the city council meeting. “But it was an emergency thing. We had to get people on it, or shit doesn’t get funded.”
Holly tapped her fork gently against her plate. “I wouldn’t mind helping. I’ve lived here my entire life. Not to mention, I can ask a few people who actually care if they’re willing to step in. There are a lot of people who are die-hard Bear Pass residents that want to see it thrive, while also not wanting to sell out to big corporations.”
That was exactly what I wanted, too.
Though I wasn’t nearly as articulate as her. “If you want it, it’s yours. I don’t want to micromanage. I just want to make sure that I’m not going to wake up with some fancy ski resort that wants to kill my mountains.”
Dinner finished up, and Holly excused herself to head to her apartment.
Major and Hux waited until she and the girls had left to go clean up the kitchen before saying, “You like her.”
I scoffed. “I like her, sure.”
I liked her a lot, actually.
I just wasn’t sure that I was going to do anything about it.
“She still hates you a little bit,” Major pointed out.
Tell me something I didn’t know…
“You should just tell her the truth at this point,” Hux said. “I mean, it’s not like you were purposefully an asshole to her. Didn’t play her and her dad. You did what he wanted. Plus, it cost you almost twice what the land was worth. Which, I still think is absurd. But you didn’t ask me.”
I snorted. “No, I sure the fuck didn’t.”
Major chuckled, clutching his belly.
Hux stood up, gathered all the empties and the rest of the trash on the table, and headed into the kitchen.
Only when it was just Major and me did he say, “Do you think that they’re going to cause problems?”
“I don’t ‘think’, I know,” I admitted. “They’re working with that company. They’ve been trying to pass it for years andhaven’t found a way to do it. They even tried taking our land ten years ago, and Dad had to fight tooth and nail.”
That’d been when I decided that as club president of the Dixie Wardens, a mantle I’d taken on early, that I wouldn’t allow anyone in this town to be pushed around.
