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And that was what brought her to downtown Cupid Ridge this Friday morning. She was standing in front of her town’s now-closed movie theater, brainstorming ways they could make this business work.
She lifted her phone to her mouth, unlocked her phone screen, and said, “Add online ticketing to my notes.”
Then she spent the next minute or so fixing all the errors the voice recognition software made. It would have been faster to type the note from the start.
Online ticketing was the last item on a long list she’d made the previous week on her visit to that other theater. To buy tickets, Cupid Ridge residents had still been forced to stand in line all the way up to the day the theater closed. They didn’t even have one of those kiosks in the lobby that let customers buy tickets at the last minute.
Newer theaters, on the other hand, had kiosks, comfortable seats that reclined, and multiple screens. Those small conveniences made a big difference.
“Theater’s closed, ma’am.”
There was something about that voice that sent Bobbie’s heart racing. She knew, even before she turned, that it wasn’t a stranger or even someone familiar, like Mike, coming up behind her. All her senses just immediately went on alert when Gus Knott was near.
He had a smile on his face, his hands jammed into his coat pockets as he approached. He wore a cowboy hat—not something she’d seen him wearing in a while. At one time, he’d rarely be caught around town without one. That was before his wife died, though. Bobbie couldn’t help but remember their conversation and how his love for ranching changed once he was a widower.
“Just checking things out,” she said. “I had some ideas. I thought maybe peering through windows might help me sort through them all.”
Should she tell him she paid a visit to a neighboring town as homework for the potential business partnership? She hadn’t sold it that way to herself at the time because she kept reasoning that partnering with Gus was a bad idea. But in addition to the way he made her feel alive again, the thought of starting something new and building it into a successful business thrilled her in a way nothing had in a long time.
“You might need these,” he said with a smile.
He pulled his left hand from his pocket to display a long lanyard with keys in various sizes dangling from it. She would guess there were at least a dozen.
She recognized that lanyard, though. It was bright red and had faded lettering where the name of a popular movie studio once was.
“I just had coffee with Mike at the diner,” Gus said. “He knew I was heading in this direction. He told me to take a look around. Since he still owns the place, I’m technically not supposed to have these, but what can I say?”
The smile on his face told her exactly what he could say. He’d charmed Mike just like he charmed everyone else.
It had clicked into place at some point over the past few days that Gus Knott hadn’t been some evildoer, making underhanded deals to make his ranch a success. He was simply a solid salesman—someone who could get people to do what he wanted based on how likable he was.
“Let’s take a look,” he said, nodding toward the building.
He walked around her and headed straight for the door. Before she even had a chance to turn around, he’d unlocked the door and was holding it for her. Apparently, he’d known which key to try in the lock first.
Without glancing at him, she breezed through the door and into the lobby. The smell of popcorn still assaulted her senses once she was inside. She’d always assumed that was because the snack was actively being cooked. But apparently, it lingered in the air long after the last batch had been made.
Behind her, the door shut. She turned to see Gus standing just inside it, arms crossed over his chest as he inhaled the aromas surrounding them.
“You have to love the smell of popcorn,” he said. “It takes me right back to childhood.”
Childhood. She hadn’t expected that reference.
“You came here when you were a kid?” she asked.
“Yep, and I carried the tradition forward with my own children,” he said. “We spent so many weekend nights here when they were kids. Then, one by one, they outgrew it and instead wanted us to drop them off so they could hang out with their friends. Gradually, Sharon and I moved our movie dates to Sunday afternoons after church.”
Bobbie laughed. “Yeah, same with my family. Once Sawyer got a car, sometimes he’d pack all the younger kids up and bring them here. I think it made him feel like an adult.”
“I never could get Phoenix on board with things like that. He hit sixteen and was all about his friends.”
Phoenix was a football player with Sawyer. Bobbie remembered that all too clearly. They were on the same team, vying for quarterback, throughout their sophomore and junior year. Phoenix finally landed the spot.
When they reached senior year, Sawyer quit the team, despite Bobbie telling him it was bad sportsmanship. His dad supported him in the move. It seemed laughable now that Thomas would rather his son leave the team than play alongside a Knott.
“And our kids will be parents soon enough,” Gus said.
Bobbie smiled. “Don’t remind me. I still feel too young to be a grandmother.”
