Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Having Dayne involved was certainly a relief. Now it was two for the idea, instead of the opposite.
Technically, they didn’t need Danica to agree. The property hadn’t been willed to her, but that didn’t mean Dylan didn’t want her to be a part of the business. He wanted it to benefit her, as well as their mother. If the three of them joined forces and made enough money, they could make sure their mother’s future was secure. Her portion of their father’s life insurance policy wouldn’t last forever.
Plus, it would be good for her to have her children nearby to help her as she got older.
Now, Dylan only needed to convince his sister. “Like I said, it’ll be the perfect opportunity to put that expensive degree to use.”
“I already do with my current job.”
“You work for someone else,” Dylan reminded her needlessly. “Don’t you want to work for yourself and have all the control?”
“I wouldn’t be working for you two? You’d have no say in how I run my corner of the world?”
“Well…” Dylan started.
Dani rolled her eyes. “See? No.”
“Could we make suggestions, at least?” he asked.
“You could, but it doesn’t mean I’ll take them.”
“Sis…”
“If you want me to be a part of this crazy, very risky idea, not to mention, quit my job and give up my apartment, then you let me do what I know best.”
“How to annoy your brothers?” Dayne teased.
“That would be a perk,” she murmured. “Even so, all of this will take a lot of money, boys. I can see that already without even sitting down to go over all the finer details. What you’re planning will take all kinds of staff and ranch workers, not to mention the cost of construction with all the buildings needed to make it a resort. Like you know, rooms for people to sleep and apparently… do other things.” She grimaced. “Where’s that money coming from?”
“Well, we each got a chunk from Dad’s huge life insurance policy. We can also sell off the herd, except for one or two of the calmer heifers. Sell all that expensive milking equipment. Keep some of the other livestock as part of the ‘ranch’ experience. And… Dayne and I can sell our homes, since we’ll be living here.”
“Did you even ask Dayne if he wanted to sell his place?” their sister asked.
“No, he didn’t,” Dayne answered. “As much as I love this concept, the thought of moving back to Pennsylvania and having to deal with the humidity, mosquitoes, freezing cold weather and snow…” He groaned. “I don’t miss any of that.”
Dylan agreed. “You and me both, brother, but we have three hundred acres to work with here. Acreage that’s ours free and clear.”
Dani raised an eyebrow. “And what about the rest of the money needed to create this sexual paradise?”
“We’ll have to borrow against the farm,” Dylan answered. “The real estate is worth a small fortune. The equity on this property alone should give us plenty to play with.”
“We would need to borrow that right out of the gate,” Dayne said. “We shouldn’t open the doors until this place is ready to go. As much as I hate to admit it, our baby sis is correct. To do it right, we’ll need a lot of cash. We’ll also need a good PR firm from the start. We don’t want to do this half-assed. The experience needs to be exceptional and memorable from day one.”
Dylan liked what he was hearing. “Once we get rolling, we need to start interviewing employees and maybe even hiring some before construction is complete. Plus, we need to find a good general contractor to start building.”
His to-do list was long.
“Being an architect, I’m assuming you already have the plans drawn up,” Dayne said.
“I do.” He’d spent many sleepless nights drawing, designing, and tweaking. “Since I can work from anywhere, I can continue to do freelance design work to keep some money flowing in during construction.”
Dayne sucked on his teeth. “How long have you been thinking about this?”
“Since Dad died. I knew we’d have to do something with the property.”
“We could lose everything,” Dani repeated. “Dad’s dream, Mom’s money, our money. All of it. Do you have a backup plan?”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. But I’m confident this business will be successful. Like Dayne said, we shouldn’t open until we have most of what’s in the business proposal in place.”
“The man’s got a business plan, drawings, even a damn slogan,” Dani muttered.
“Well, I didn’t want to present a half-cocked idea.”
Dayne snorted. “Half-cocked.”
“So… Are you in, sis?” Dylan asked.
“To work with you two boneheads? No. To help secure mom’s future? Yes. To keep the farm Dad loved so much in the family?” She pulled in a long breath, then released a long, loud sigh of resignation. “Before I agree, I need a guarantee that I’ll have full control of hiring the food service staff, planning the meals and handling the catering.”
“You have my guarantee.”
Dani threw her hands up. “Then, how can I say no?”
With a smile, Dylan pulled his sister in for a hug.
She shoved him away. “Yuck. Now I’m wondering where those hands have been.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“Forget what I said about having a stick up your ass. Now I’m wondering what else you’ve had up there, kinky boy,” Dayne ribbed.
“I’m not wondering, so please don’t tell us.” Dani glanced around the farm and released another long sigh. “From an innocent, humble dairy farm to a pervert’s paradise.”
“We can use that in the advertising.” Dayne joked, then slapped Dylan on the back. “Okay, who’s breaking the news to Mom?”
The work needed to get the resort up and running seemed endless. A lot of it included major construction, so he hired a general contractor to oversee it all.
The contractor they hired, Ford Harris, was well known in the area for quality work, as well as having a great work ethic. That was exactly what they needed.
The sooner they could get everything done, the sooner they could open and start making back some of the money they were investing. Dylan had sold his home in Virginia and moved into their parents’ farmhouse while Dayne was in the middle of selling his house in North Carolina.
Once Ford finished the two new wings on the farmhouse—one for him and one for his brother—the contractor would begin updating the original house where Danica would eventually reside. Besides sharing the original kitchen, she’d have her privacy for the most part, as would they.
Their sister was currently living with their mother in town until Dylan could move out of the main house and into his wing. They were not only updating the farmhouse’s interior; they were completely changing the exterior to match the soon-to-be-built lodge.
With everything going on, Dylan was overwhelmed but it was satisfying to see his project and their future business all coming together with only minor hiccups.
Since he was already in town to cross more things off his insanely long to-do list, his sister had asked him to stop at the butcher and see if they’d be willing to provide all the meat for the resort.
Dani wanted as much locally sourced food as possible. Fruits, veggies, meats, baked goods… Dylan agreed and also wanted to keep as much money in the community as possible. The town of Fisher Falls had about six thousand residents, but, for the most part, it was a close community.
As expected, the local butcher was thrilled. He had connections with farmers in the area to get whatever the resort needed, including game meats like rabbit, venison, bison and wild boar.
The bell above the door jingled when he stepped out of the shop and onto the sidewalk. When the afternoon sun blinded him, he squinted and automatically reached for the sunglasses on top of his head, then froze.
His chin jerked back and he blinked.
Then blinked again at the woman walking in his direction to make sure he was seeing who he was seeing.
The second she spotted him, her steps stuttered before she stopped and stared.
He knew he’d eventually run into her.
Only, he didn’t expect it to be today.
Dropping his shades into place to help cover his reaction, he wasn’t sure if he should simply ignore her and head back to the ranch, or stay and say hello.
His first instinct was to avoid her. Of course, that reaction pissed him off, so he forced himself to stand his ground and wait.
With a head twitch and a set jaw, she began walking again. Unfortunately, toward him and not in the opposite direction.
“Dylan?” she asked in a damn wispy voice that made his chest tighten. She had an uncanny knack for telling him apart from Dayne—despite his twin trying to trick her many times—but it had been a long time since she’d seen either of them.
“Erin,” he greeted after prying apart his clenched teeth.
She ran her gaze up and down him, making him tense even more. “You look good.”
If she expected a return compliment, she would be waiting a while. But she did look good. Too good.
Of course, that pissed him off, too.
Her long dark brown hair hung loosely around her bare shoulders. She wore a yellow sundress that showed off her tan, with a wide leather belt cinched around her narrow waist. Of course, she wore cowboy boots with her skirt.
Her looks and her “all-American” girl style hadn’t changed a damn bit.
She was the same as he remembered but also different. She clearly embraced her thirties. Her maturity fit her even better than her youth. Not that—he did some quick figuring in his head—thirty-three was close to being old.
But thirty-three was a long way from when they dated back in high school.
“I ran into your mother at the grocery store the other day. She mentioned you were back in town. How long are you here for? We should grab a coffee or something.”
Coffee? Was she kidding? Like they were long-lost friends who needed to catch up? “I’m here for good.”
She hid her surprise at that news well. “I thought she said you were only here to sell your family farm?”
“That was the original plan. But…”
“Plans change,” she finished softly. “We know that only too well, don’t we?”
“Yeah, Erin, we do. Dayne and I decided to keep the farm.” She didn’t need to know why.
“Well… I’m sure your mom is thrilled that you and Dayne have come home.”
“Danica, too, since we’ll be running it as a family. We’re doing this for Mom. Dad, too. He wanted us to take care of her and that was a huge factor in our decision to come home. How about you?”
“How about me, what? I never left,” she murmured. “You know that.”
“I meant, are you thrilled I’m home?” he asked more sharply than he should. But the long-buried bitterness was bubbling to the surface.
She pinned her lips together. “I have to go. It was good seeing you, Dylan.” She turned and strode away.
“Talk about whiplash, Erin,” he called out. “You’re all open and welcoming when you think I’m only home for a minute, then as soon as you find out I’m here to stay, your reaction changes. Are you no longer up for coffee and small talk?”
She stopped abruptly and spun on her boot heel. “Do you want the truth, Dylan?”
No. “Always.”
“Because it’s easy to fake it for a short bit of time. It’s too much work to do it forever.”
Damn. “Then don’t. I’ll be busy out at the farm turning it into a resort. I don’t have time to play those types of games, either.”
She nodded. “Welcome home, Dylan.” She turned and began walking again.
“Good to see you, too, Erin. Tell your husband I said hello,” he yelled, no longer bothering to hide the jealousy in his tone. He was done pretending.
She stopped dead in her tracks, then stood there for far too long.
She didn’t bother to face him when she finally responded, “Next time I visit his grave, I’ll pass along the message.” With that, she strode away.
He was so focused on her and what she said, he jumped when Dayne came out of nowhere and bumped a shoulder into his. “Who’s the hot piece of ass?”
Dylan pulled in a sharp breath through his nostrils. When he finally managed to loosen his jaw, he muttered, “Erin.”
“No way!” burst from his brother.
“Yeah.”
“Well, hot damn! Too bad she ditched you and married that Kyle guy.”
She didn’t ditch him and apparently, she was no longer married. “He’s dead.”
Dayne ripped the baseball cap off his head and slapped it against his thigh with a thwap . “Sounds like she’s available, then.”
Normally, he’d think Dayne was being heartless about Erin losing her husband, but his brother had been pissed at Kyle Hart when he married her not long after Dylan left.
“Not to you,” Dylan informed him.
“All’s fair in love and war, brother. I figured you learned that when Kyle stole her away.”
Dylan gritted his teeth. “He didn’t steal her.”
Dayne chuckled, knowing the truth. “No? Then why doesn’t she have your ring on her finger and your babies right now?”
Erin was the reason no woman had his ring on their finger, and he didn’t have any children. “She didn’t want to leave, and I never wanted to stay. Apparently, that no longer made me a viable option.”
Dayne elbowed him. “Well, now you have your chance.”
“That ship has sailed,” he mumbled.
“Ships don’t only sail in one direction, Dyl Pickle.”
Dayne using a stupid childhood nickname wasn’t helping his mood. “She’s probably dating someone.”
“So?”
He turned to face his brother and shook his head. “Really?”
Dayne shrugged.
“Anyway, I’m surprised Mom didn’t tell me that Hart died.” She had to have known but decided to keep it from him. Her children might be in their thirties, but she still protected them like they were children.
It was both endearing and annoying at the same time.
“What did he die from?”
“How the hell do I know? I certainly wasn’t asking his widow how it happened, jackass. I wonder about you sometimes.”
“I wonder about you all the time,” Dayne responded on a laugh. “Wanna grab some lunch while in town?”
“At Mom’s?”
“No, at Patsy’s Diner, Dyl Weed.”
“Are you five, Great Dayne?”
Dayne chuckled. “God, I miss making up names for each other.”
“Again, are you five?”
“Oh, good to see that stick is back in place… Lodged up your tight ass.”
“At least I can say my ass is tight. I’m sure as hammered as yours is—” Dylan shook his head. “Why am I letting you drag me down to your level?”
“Because deep down we’re the same, brother. You might not want to admit it, but it’s true. You coming up with the idea of an adult amusement park proved that.”
“It’s not an…” He grimaced. “I’m not sure I want to sit across from you at the diner. You’ll probably give me indigestion.”
Dayne threw an arm around Dylan’s shoulders and steered him in the direction of Patsy’s. “I’m buying. And you’re in luck, I have a roll of antacids in my pocket in case you need them.”