CHAPTER TWELVE
Logan
The next morning, Logan woke up thinking about Tess’s birthday party. First, he allowed himself another chuckle at her dancing—an image that made him curious whether octopuses had seizures. Finally, something she couldn’t do well.
More intriguing though, was her reaction to his gift. The sincere excitement in her eyes when she realized what it was. And the enthusiastic desire to play it right away.
She’d passed his mix CD test—the first woman ever to do so—and he wasn’t even dating her. Or trying to date her. They were just friends.
And not only had she loved his inexpensive gift, she’d seemed genuinely uncomfortable with Carter’s extravagant one. Yes, Tess was a rare woman indeed.
After a quick shower, he headed down to the office. He planned to spend a few hours drafting a plan for the renovations and making task lists so they’d be ready to go the next day.
He’d been hard at work for a couple of hours when Max entered.
“You know it’s Sunday,” he said, taking a seat across from Logan. “I’m not paying you by the hour, am I?”
Logan shook his head. “Just getting a jump on everything so we can hit the ground running tomorrow.”
“Wanna hash it out over lunch?”
“Yes. I’m starving.” He stood and gathered his notes. “I heard a rumor about some place in town that serves to-die-for pie?”
“That’d be Karla’s,” Max said, nodding. “I’ve got some errands to run after though, so how ’bout we drive separately?”
When they entered the diner, almost everyone waved or nodded at Max.
“Hey, Max.” An older woman approached. “Who’s your friend?”
“Hi, Edna,” Max said. “This is Logan. He’s new to town and heard about your pie.”
“’Course he did. And lucky for you, honey, first piece is on the house.” Edna winked. “Come on in, find a seat, and I’ll be with ya in a sec.”
They found a booth near the back and slid into opposite sides. “It’s hard to believe towns like this still exist,” Logan said. “I like it.”
“We’ll see what tune you’re singing in a month,” Max joked. “Charm might wear thin when you realize you’ve got no privacy or secrets.”
Edna dropped off two iced teas and took their orders. Once she’d hustled off to the next table, Logan showed Max his proposed timeline.
“First thing tomorrow, I’ll have my attorneys form an LLC. As soon as they have the name, I’ll open a bank account and seed it with five hundred K. That should be enough to start.”
“You have that kind of money lying around?” Max narrowed his brows suspiciously.
“Yes.” Logan didn’t elaborate. He still wasn’t ready to come completely clean about his financial status.
He’d endured a twinge of guilt over the subterfuge when answering the question last night about what he did for work.
His response hadn’t been a full-on lie, barely even a lie by omission.
He and his brother had flipped houses, and he was handy with a hammer.
He simply left out the part about how they’d turned a few house flips into a multi-million-dollar business.
It was liberating to fly under the radar and not have anyone know what he did. Or how successful he was at it.
“Lawyers should be able to whip up a contract by the afternoon,” Logan said. “Once you look it over and sign, we’ll be good to go.”
A flash of panic crossed Max’s face.
“Not getting cold feet, are you?” Logan asked.
“No, it’s just all happening so fast.”
“Sorry. I don’t know any other speed.” Logan paused before continuing. “Look, I don’t want you to feel like I’m running over you or taking too much control. I only wanna help, but I do tend to get a tad gung-ho sometimes. You’ll let me know if I’m moving too fast or stepping on toes?”
“Yes. No. I mean, you’re right.” Max sighed. “You are moving fast, but it’s a good thing. I need a kick in the butt. Since Jenny passed, I’ve been in a fog, basically just holding it together for Lilly’s sake. A push will do me good.”
Logan nodded. “Goals and plans have a way of boosting motivation.”
“I appreciate everything you’re doing,” Max said. “Really. What else ya got?”
“Okay, well,” Logan said. “This may be a sensitive topic, but what do you think about getting someone to watch Lilly during the day? You were right about Lyle having all of his guys working for him in Meredith. So, it’s just us for a month, and I could really use you.”
“Way ahead of you on that front,” Max said, sipping his iced tea. “I’ve known for a while that I need help with her, and my parents have already agreed to step in. They’ve moved here for the summer. Just arrived two days ago.”
“Perfect. Are they staying at the inn?”
“Yes,” Max said. “And my dad’s pretty handy. Maybe we can talk him into helping too.”
“Great. We’ll take whatever we can get until Lyle’s back. Next, the front desk. I noticed you work it a lot. Do you have anyone else to do that? To free up your time?”
“Yes, Dixie and Janet normally run that. I only do it when both of them are unavailable—on sick or vacation leave. Dixie returns tomorrow, so I’m all yours.”
While they ate, Max looked over Logan’s notes.
He’d spent the morning mapping out the summer, prioritizing what needed to be done first, and planning the logistics of how to finish the work as soon as possible.
“Any thoughts on the timeline I’ve proposed?” Logan asked after Max had read through it all.
“You think we can start demoing by Tuesday?” Max asked, eyebrows shooting up.
“No time like the present.” Logan shrugged. “That okay?” Maybe he was pushing a little hard, but he wasn’t hanging around Green Valley Falls just to make plans and write to-do lists. A decision had been made, and now it was full steam ahead.
“Yep,” Max said. “Let’s get to it.”
They spent a good hour going over the to-do lists and divvying up tasks.
The plan was to do the room remodels a few at a time during the summer’s peak season, and then do the lobby and remaining rooms during the September lull.
“The bedrooms will be pretty straightforward,” Logan said. “Replace the carpet, repaint or redo the wallpaper, and bring in new furniture. It’s the bathrooms that’ll be a pain. Especially if we get in there and find any plumbing issues, mold, or rot.”
“Sounds right,” Max agreed. “The plumbing was redone in the seventies, but that’s been fifty years ago now. There are a few units that need some piping replaced. We’ve just been keeping those rooms out of circulation.”
Logan made notes as they talked.
“I looked at what you had in mind for the room design, and I love it.”
“That was all Jenny,” Max said. “She was the one with the eye for fashion and Feng Shui and all that.”
“Do you know if she had ideas on where to purchase the décor?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll take a look through her stuff. I do seem to recall she had some wallpaper samples at one point. She wanted a rustic-chic vibe.”
“Do you mind if I check around for sources?”
“Not at all.”
They finished their food, and Edna brought two pieces of pie. Logan dug in immediately, demolishing it in four bites.
“Does the pie live up to the hype?” Max asked.
“Absolutely.” Logan wiped his lips with his napkin. “Probably should’ve savored it a little more,” he said with a chuckle.
“It’s GVF’s brand of heroin,” Max said, finishing off his own piece with a satisfied sigh.
“Okay.” Logan refocused. “So tomorrow, I’ll get the LLC set up, open and fund the bank account, and write up a contract to lock Lyle in as soon as he’s done in Meredith.”
Max nodded. “And I’m going to call the insurance company to see if we need to tweak anything during construction, find a place to donate the old furniture, and order a dumpster to be delivered.” He’d perked up at having a purpose, making Logan even more sure of his decision to stay.
“Once I get back to a computer, I’ll print you a list of companies that do bulk furniture orders for hotels,” Logan said. “You can start sifting through options for dressers and desks. We should order those ASAP, ’cause sometimes they take a while.”
“How do you know all this stuff?” Max asked. “What exactly do you do for a living?”
Logan realized that if they were going to be business partners, he needed to be somewhat honest. Max was trusting him with his livelihood. It was important that he knew Logan was more than just a big talker.
“My brother and I own a company that dabbles in everything real estate related. We own several commercial properties and a few franchises. This will be a side project for me though. Nothing to do with our company.”
“Oh, okay.” Max relaxed. “Well, sounds like I’m in good hands.”
“Look,” Logan said. “I’m as altruistic as the next guy, but the bottom line rules when it comes to business projects.
If all goes according to plan, you’ll be out of debt, have repaid my loan, and be in the black within two years.
You—scratch that—we will make money on this deal. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“Appreciate the honesty.” Max laughed.
Back in his car, Logan called Cooper and gave him the Reader’s Digest version of what he and Max had decided.
“I think it’s great you’re staying down there,” Coop said. “From your description, it sounds like a nice town. Maybe Annie and I should come visit. Bring the kids.”
“Annie would love it,” Logan said. “Lots of quaint little shops, a town square park, and homey restaurants. Big change from Houston.”
“Cool. We’ll pencil in a trip.”
“All right. Email me after the offer’s sent tomorrow?”
“Yep. Any news on the Tess situation?”
Logan could feel him waggling his eyebrows through the phone. He didn’t want to encourage him, but answered despite himself.
“You won’t believe me,” Logan teased.
“Well, now I’m intrigued. Spill it.”
“She passed my mix CD test.”
“What? How’d that happen?”
Logan told Coop about the last-minute invite to her birthday party, how excited she’d been to play his CD, and how she’d actually tried to give back the diamonds from Carter.
“Holy mackerel,” Coop said. “You should put a ring on that.”
“Whoa,” Logan said. “Slow down, speed racer. That’s getting way ahead of things. Plus, who knows what she’ll think when she finds out I’m buying her store.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, keep me updated on that whole sitch. And let me know if you need any help with this side project.”
Logan thanked him and hung up. As he pulled from his parking space, he spotted Nick and Faith walking hand in hand. They saw him and waved. It was an everyday, mundane gesture, but heartwarming. He’d never really thought of himself as a small-town guy, but this place was growing on him.
He stopped by The Tool Shed—the only hardware store he’d seen in town—to see what their capabilities were in terms of ordering and delivering large amounts of lumber and sheetrock.
Logan laid out the scope of the project and the approximate quantities of supplies they would need. The manager—Tony, according to his name tag—was polite but admitted it was probably more than they could handle at his small store.
“You could try The Woodshed for building supplies,” Tony suggested. “That’s just passed Meredith. And then there’s The Furniture Depot. They’re a furniture wholesale supplier a few miles up the freeway in the opposite direction.”
“Sounds perfect.” Logan shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for your help, Tony.”
On a whim, he drove to The Woodshed and whiled away the afternoon perusing tiles, carpet, and bathroom countertops.
That evening, Logan sat with Max in the lobby. Lilly played with dolls at the coffee table between them.
“It’s been a productive day,” Max said. He’d grabbed two beers from the bar before sitting, popped the top off one, and handed it to Logan before opening his own.
Logan nodded in agreement. “We’ve got a solid plan. A way forward.” He held up his bottle to clink. “Tomorrow, the real work starts.”