Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
And Marcellus was number one in wanting to change that for us.
He’d come from fucking Seattle with his big city views, and his ‘money, money, money’ morals.
He didn’t care about the local baker who donated to the Little League every year. He didn’t care about the mechanic in town that’d been fixing cars for fifty years now. And he certainly didn’t give one flying fuck about a cattle business that would need water to survive.
A hot commodity for the area.
“Well, hello there, Marcellus,” I drawled. “The rest of the board in like I asked?”
They blinked and shifted nervously on their feet.
They knew I ran this town.
They might think they were running it, but it was my club and I that enforced laws around here. Even the sheriff was on our side.
Nothing big happened in the three towns in our area without it being run through us first.
And the fact that they tried to sneak this one in…
“We are.” Marcellus cleared his throat. “What’s this about?”
I ignored him and Knox and headed inside the room where they all met.
They all took their seats on their high chairs surrounded by their podiums and waited for me to talk.
I took a seat in a rolling chair and crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“Uh, Denver?” Knox asked, shifting uncomfortably. “What’s this about?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
The door behind me opened, but I didn’t turn around.
I knew who it was.
My club would trickle in one at a time when their schedules allowed.
Whoever had just come in yanked the seat back loudly and sat, stretching his feet out in front of him.
The slow, methodical “click-click” of a toothpick rolling across teeth let me know that it was Odin.
I nearly laughed.
Out of everyone in the entire club that could get here first, it had to be him.
Odin was by far the grumpiest, meanest, and least patient.
He already sounded like he was ready to leave.
The city’s board shifted in front of me even more nervously.
The door banged shut again, then I heard Hux say, “Ow, dammit. What the fuck?”
I looked over my shoulder at him rubbing his elbow as if he’d hit it on the doorframe on his way inside.
“Sorry to interrupt.” He took a seat.
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.