Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Boone
“What do you think, Boone?” My eldest brother, Holt, looks at me from across the conference table. “Do you think the Banner property will work, or should we keep looking?”
A coffee pot sits behind him, and all I can think is that the steam looks like it’s coming from his head. And, truth be told, if he knew what I was thinking, there would be heat rising from his head.
I’m tempted to take a picture and text it to Coy and see if he agrees.
He’d understand my need for finding things to keep me entertained.
He’s not big into business meetings or property acquisition.
He doesn’t think that spreadsheets are porn like the rest of them either.
Holt, Oliver, and Wade live and breathe the company our grandfather started. I, on the other hand, don’t.
“I think …” I begin, sitting back in my chair and stretching my legs out under the table, “that I’m ready to call it a day.”
Oliver rests his head in his hands.
Wade stares at me like he’s unsure how we’re related.
The aforementioned steam continues to rise above Holt’s head.
“It’s ten in the morning, Boone,” Holt says as if somehow I’m not aware of that.
“I know. You made me show up at six this morning for no apparent reason, and I’ve watched every single minute pass on the clock just above the coffee pot behind you.”
Oliver stands, his chair rolling quietly across the carpeted floor. “And I thought we were making progress with him.”
I love when they talk about me in pronouns.
I roll my eyes and look at the ceiling. “You don’t expect me to want to be here. Can we stop acting like anyone is surprised by this information?”
Wade raises his coffee cup to his mouth. “I’m not surprised. Quite frankly, I’m more surprised every day that I come to this office and find you here.”
My arms fold over my chest as I look at Wade. “You act like I’m never here. I’m here every single day.” My head whips to Oliver. “Or I have been since Coy moved back to town, and you told me how much you guys needed me.”
“I never said that,” Oliver deadpans.
“Nah, you did. You practically begged me. It was one of the best days of my life.”
Holt laughs. “Did you beg him, Ollie?”
“I don’t beg anyone for anything.” Oliver levels his gaze with mine. “And I certainly did not beg my little brother to come to work like the adult he is.”
“Here we go,” Wade mutters, shaking his head.
I grin at Oliver.
Words are unnecessary at this point in the conversation. We both know what I’m about to say. We both also know that I’m right, and there’s nothing he can do about it because I did, in fact, close the biggest deal in our family’s company’s history.
Me.
Not Holt. Not Oliver. Not Wade or Coy.
Me.
Holt kind of loves it because he ultimately looks good with any success in the family business.
Wade doesn’t care. He gets sick of me bringing it up, for sure, but Wade is beyond mere mortal things like pissing contests.
He’s above that, off in Wade’s world doing Wade things, and Coy has Grammys, so he beats us all without even competing.
But Oliver? It drives him nuts.
“Maybe you’re right,” I tell him, letting my eyes widen for the briefest second. “It wouldn’t make much sense for you to want me here, considering I’m so much better at your job than you without even trying.”
Oliver takes a long, slow drink of coffee before setting the cup down with a thud. Instead of firing back with a retort, he picks up his phone.
“Was it that easy?” I ask. “Wow, Oliver. Did I finally break you?”
The corner of his lip turns up. “Hardly. I got sidetracked by this text from Anjelica. She said to have you call her.”
Holt bursts out laughing. Even Wade cackles a little.
I have to pick my jaw up off the table.
Anjelica Grace is Coy’s new agent. She’s a ball of fire with a sprinkling of explosives mixed in for fun and she likes nothing more than getting shit done.
To sum it up, she’s the antithesis of me.
And, because Holt either has a dark sense of humor or Oliver got his ear, Holt told Anjelica that I would be the one to go to if she had any questions about how our family business works or needed something handled.
It’s been a delightful few months.
I force a swallow. “You don’t play fair.”
Oliver grins, mirroring the one I gave him just a few moments ago. “I’ll tell her you’ll call her as soon as we’re done.”
“Go ahead and lie to her,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t give a shit. I have … things to do. Right, Holt?”
I look at my eldest brother, my eyes pleading. It only makes Holt start laughing again.
“Come on, Holt,” I beg. “I’ll do anything. Just don’t make me talk to Anjelica. She’s mean.”
Wade sighs as he gets up to refill his coffee cup. “Okay. Enough. I don’t have all day to waste. What are we doing with the Banner property? Is it a go or not?”
“Knowing very little about the Banner property other than what we’ve said here today because I’ve been neck-deep in the label shit,” Oliver says, folding his hands in front of him, “I think we should keep looking. It’s not wide enough to do anything with, and zoning in that area is a nightmare.”
Oh, Ollie.
I sigh.
I don’t want to start sharing my opinion with my brothers because then they’ll want to discuss it. They’ll expect me to contribute. Every time I do this, I think they see potential in me, and I don’t want that.
Then again, if I don’t share my opinion, Holt is likely to listen to Oliver. And Oliver is wrong.
“Zoning is a nightmare,” I say, still trying to talk myself out of opening my mouth, “but there are two things to consider.”
“Two things? Please share with the class,” Wade says, sitting back down.
I look at him. “First, the director of building and zoning is retiring—or so says Bill Hendershott. We had lunch last week while you guys were golfing with Gramps.”
Oliver’s brows lift. Holt nods appreciatively. Wade looks impressed.
“What were you doing having lunch with Hendershott?” Oliver asks.
“I played basketball with his son, Mikey, back in high school. We keep in touch a little, mostly on social media. Anyway, Mikey was in town, and they wanted to have lunch and catch up, so I did. You’re welcome.”
Wade tries to hide his chuckle.
“The likely replacement seems to be Zaraton, and she eats out of our, meaning my, hand. Second,” I say, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible, “the Banner area may not be wide enough right now, but it will be.”
My brothers stare at me silently.
I straighten the collar of my shirt. While I may not love business stuff and I avoid getting involved, the moment when I impress them is usually pretty great. I can’t lie.
This is no exception.
“The three hundred acres or so to the east of the Banner property—the one held by the Greyshell Trust—they have a problem with access,” I say.
“Right now, they access it through the Banner parcels, but that will be shut down as soon as someone buys it and nixes the permission. Greyshell knows that. They’re landlocked on all other sides, and from what I hear, they’ve pissed everyone else off with the diplomacy of a wounded badger, and no one will give them a right-of-way. ”
Wade narrows his eyes. “You’re missing something. They’re legally entitled to access. Even if they can’t access it through the Banner parcel, the county will have to ensure they can get to it.”
“Yes, you’re right,” I admit. “They have legal rights to access the property, but they do not have a legal right to run dirt bikes and four-wheelers through there, which is what they’re doing. It’ll cause a bunch of problems, and they know it.”
Oliver sits back down. “So, what are you saying, Boone?”
“I’m saying that if you send the right emissary to whoever controls Greyshell, that maybe they’ll sell to you too.
” I sit back in my chair. “It won’t be cheap, but think of all you could do with Banner and the three hundred beside it.
That area hasn’t been incorporated yet—meaning the price is as low as it’s going to get.
The city is encroaching, which we know. I would think it would be better to get Banner and Greyshell than just Banner.
And I think that getting both of them is very much worth our time.
” I smile at them. “But what do I know? You’re surprised I’m even here. ”
I thought about saying that I’m just a pretty face, but even I have to admit that our faces are a little too similar to isolate my own. I’m more debonair, though.
I should’ve led with that.
Holt’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree. This—my knowledge about land acquisition, not my debonair looks—is speaking his language. I halfway wonder if his girlfriend, Blaire, has to talk business to him in bed to get him turned on.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Wade says, grinning. “You do know how to work.”
“I never said I didn’t know how. I just said I don’t like it,” I say.
Oliver smiles. I can tell it pains him. “You do realize it makes it that much more asinine that you refuse to cooperate on anything when you come in here and actually contribute on this level.”
“I realize,” I deadpan.
Holt laughs as he picks up his pen. “I like this, Boone. I’ll have legal get started on finding out who controls Greyshell, and we’ll go from there.”
No one at the table speaks. We all just sit quietly, looking at each other.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “Can I go home now?”
Everyone starts laughing.
Everyone but me.
“I’m serious,” I tell them. “I helped. I did my part. I actually did more than any of you today, which is historic. Now can I go?”
Wade blows out a breath as he gets to his feet. “You just want to go home to play with the girl next door.”
“So?”
I try to fight the smile creeping on my face but realize it’s pointless.
Jaxi was the focus of my brain most of the night. It was terrible knowing she was alone next door and not being able to go see if she wanted to hang out.
I’d want someone to hang out with me if I was alone in a new place, after all.
But she’s not me. She’s way prettier than me. And she’s not the warm fuzzy kind of person like I am either. She didn’t even invite me in after I was basically a hero without a cape.
The more I thought about her, the more curious I became. Libby wouldn’t give me much information when I texted her off-and-on, prying in the gentlemanly-est way I could. Her responses were short and to the point and left me with more questions than answers.
I’m pretty sure that was by design.
Women, man.
Libby finally stopped answering my texts around midnight. Jaxi’s light went off around one thirty. I went to bed around two and got three hours before Holt called to remind me to be at the office at six.
Oliver shakes his head. “You really just find women in your house? How does that work?”
“It’s hard being me,” I tell him.
Oliver rolls his eyes. “I honestly thought you were making the whole thing up until Coy had Leo come by.”
I roll my eyes back at him.
Wade distracts us when he begins to stack his things into a neat, orderly pile. “I have to say that this doesn’t surprise me either. I’m more surprised that this type of thing doesn’t happen more regularly for you.”
“It’s nice to know you believe in me,” I joke.
He looks up at me but doesn’t stop stacking his stuff. “That’s one way to say it.”
“Wade,” I say, leaning back in my leather seat. “Do you ever just wake up in the morning and think, ‘I’m going to be friendly today’?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so.”
Oliver scribbles on a yellow legal pad in front of him. “I have a lunch meeting with Anjelica at Hillary’s House in thirty minutes. Anyone want to join us?”
I make a face. Wade shakes his head. Holt defers.
Oliver picks his briefcase up off the floor and clears his throat. “I need to get going, or I’m going to be late. I’ll see you guys at Mom’s on Sunday.”
“Later,” Holt says.
“I’m leaving too. I have a drawing I need to finish by the end of the day,” Wade says, following Oliver to the door.
“Love you, Wade,” I call after him.
He shakes his head in response.
Once the door is closed, Holt cracks a smile and sits back in his chair. The leather squeaks with the movement.
He watches me closely in a way that only a big brother can.
“What?” I ask him.
“Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “Poke at Wade. Instigate Ollie. Play dumb and then blast us all with information that you just happen to have in the oddest of ways.”
I shrug. “Hendershott wanted to go to lunch, so I went. It wasn’t like I was off trying to get information. It just … finds me.”
Holt eyes me curiously for a long minute. I have no idea what he’s thinking, and the longer it goes, the more anxious I become.
“Holt,” I say softly.
“What?”
“Can I go now?” I almost whisper.
He bursts into a fit of laughter, sitting back up in his chair. “Go on. Get out of here. Tell your new girl I said hi.”
I gather my things and get out the door before he can change his mind.