Page 21 of Acadia Falls

“Tommy!” Mom smacked his hand. “Not at the table!”

“We’re going to take it, right?” Ryan leaned forward. “Right?”

I frowned. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Ryan’s expression was incredulous. “I’m sorry, but for that amount of money, it’s not just your decision. That’s almost a billion dollars.”

“I can do the math, college boy,” I said. “I know how much it is.”

“She can’t just come in and start harvesting precious minerals out of the ocean by the ton.” Mom shook her head. “She needs to understand that no matter how much money she has, it’s a delicate ecosystem. It doesn’t matter if you have the rights or not. It’s not a free-for-all up here.”

“I’ve read about her.” Tommy nodded. “She has some manufacturing plant in Arizona. She bought up the whole town, just trying to drive people out so she can do whatever she wants. That’s not going to fly in Mount Desert.”

“I know, and I told them that.” I shrugged. “But she still wants to buy the rights.”

“Wow.” Ryan scrubbed a hand across his face. “I can’t believe it.” He looked like he wanted to say something else, and I knew exactly what it was.

Our Dad had been clear: sell the Brennan fishing rights over his dead body.

“Tori’s having people over tonight,” Ryan said instead. “You guys wanna go?”

“Yep,” Tommy and I said at precisely the same time.

There was only one thing to do at a time like this: drink.

We bumped down Tori’s endless driveway in silence. “Is manganese really worth that much money?” Ryan asked, eventually.

I frowned as I steered the truck. I didn’t know much about the precious metal, but I knew enough. “I didn’t think so, but they’re using it in all sorts of tech stuff now. Phones, computers, you know—all that crap.”

Tommy stared out the window. “I can’t believe they’re offering us a billion dollars.”

“That’s because it’s unbelievable.” When I’d first discovered the mineral on one of our routes, we’d talked to a summer resident who was a professor at MIT. He’d told us that manganese was precious and put us in touch with a technology company that immediately offered us a contract. That was the first million dollars we made, and it happened fast. Ever since then, the money had been rolling in.

But so had the problems. Trey and Cuddy had been nothing but a pain in the ass, trying to steal from us and messing with our route.

“We could buy a house like this.” Ryan stared up at the Lookout. “We would have more money than Tori Blaisdell.”

“That’s messed up.” Tommy scrubbed a hand over my face. “Who’s drinking tonight?”

“Me,” Ryan and I said at the same time.

“Me too.” Tommy grunted. “I have to work tomorrow, but I always have to work.”

Tori was waiting out on the deck. She wore faded, loose-fitting blue jeans and a navy sweater and looked freakishly gorgeous. I wasn’t sure how my brother was fearless enough to touch her.

“Hey!” Her face lit up when she saw us. “You guys want a glass of wine? I was just going to watch the sunset.”

Ryan went to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Yes, please, gorgeous.”

She grinned up at him while Tommy and I checked out the deck. It was enormous, stretching the length of the house and bordering the steep, rocky shore. The view was insane—the beach extended to the right, and the channel in front of us churned. It was a prime spot for seeing seals.

Tori and Ryan took their hands off each other long enough to get the wine, and she set out a huge platter of cheese, crackers, and olives. Then she whipped out a joint, and we all smoked up, lazily watching the sun as it went down.

Car wheels sounded on the drive, and what did you know, little Alex Vejas and Blondie pulled up in the Vejas’s jeep. Then Mia Harrison, Miles Tanaka, Jimmy, another fisherman, and Tiffany Reid, the restaurant owner, showed up. Both Mia and Miles were rich AF. They’d always been a little standoffish, not that I cared. I might be as rich as them someday soon. I might be richer.

Blondie came up on the deck and ignored me. She sure looked pretty, though. She wore a black off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and white jeans, her hair loose down her back. Blondie was a ten, all right. My mind flashed to her, back in the boathouse, her pale skin hot to the touch.

I didn’t acknowledge her.