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I agreed. If it kept visitors coming in, then great.

“We’ve seen a slowdown in visits because of the snow and weather. It was expected. Now I know you all nixed the camping suggestion; that’s fine. But we need businesses for the winter. Currently, we’re a novelty, but we want sustained growth,” Inglorious said.

I began laughing with the others.

“Never thought I’d hear those words from you,” I taunted.

Inglorious scowled and ignored me.

“We’re looking at a winter programme. We can’t go skiing, but we’ve a hill where we can do tubing and sledding, for example. There’s also snowshoeing, hiking, and the lake freezes over thickly. That’s big enough for us to use as an ice rink and double for curling and broomball. Hiring out snowmobiles and offering sleigh rides are potential ideas.

“Then there is one other thing. We own Merritt Peak. We could use it as a ski slope with multiple trails,” Inglorious said, and we swapped worried glances. This sounded like a shit load of work.

“We use Merritt Peak for dirt bikes, off-roading, and hiking. I thought it was too rocky to utilise as a slope?” I said, speaking up.

“The east and south sides definitely are. I’ve had a surveyor look at the west and north. They get the most snow, and he thinks we can create some trails,” Inglorious said.

Mare’s eyes narrowed. “How much is this going to cost?”

Inglorious stated a number, which made everyone wince.

“That’s to set up?” Vortex asked.

“To clear it. But I’ve looked at the figures. With the town attractions and everything else, this is the potential earnings.”

Inglorious opened a folder and passed sheets around.

“This is in a year. The first twelve months would recuperate the investment in it.”

“I don’t know. This seems like a big deal. Couldn’t we collaborate with the resort up the road?” I asked.

“This is just a suggestion. An idea. But we gotta make winter work for us. We’re earning and don’t want that to slacken off,” Inglorious pointed out.

“If someone can take the cigar shop and hair salon, I’ll put together a winter programme. It’s what I did for ten years,” Demon said.

“I’ll take the cigar,” Moon offered.

“Give me the hairdressers,” Zorro added.

“Fine. Demon, can you bring a plan to the next meeting?” Inglorious asked.

“Yeah. No problem, but scrap the ski resort idea. That’s not viable,” Demon replied.

Inglorious nodded and closed church.

I headed into the rec room and saw Meadow marching her three kids in. Cassian wore a huge grin, while Zion looked sulky. Poet was chattering up a storm.

“No school?” Inglorious asked.

“They shut Cassian’s due to the snow. It collapsed a roof.” Meadow frowned, looking unhappy. “And they closed Zion and Poets because the heating’s not working. Typical.”

She turned back to the kids and began bossing them around. They’d been here several times and knew the drill. They sat in a corner of the rec room and pulled out a few things to keep themselves occupied. Sooner or later, they’d end up playing pool, air hockey, or foosball. Meadow would worry, and nobody would care.

“You have to help,” Poet said after an hour.

Cassian looked over at her. “Poet, I’m doing my own homework.”

“But I can’t figure this out.”