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“I’ll be spending your money. And bringing things into your house.” And she got up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, and right then he would’ve given her any damn thing she asked for.
“Fine with me. I don’t have to go, right?”
“No,” she said. “In fact, you weren’t invited. It’s a sister shopping trip.”
“Far be it for me to interfere. When is this happening?”
“I don’t know. When are you free, Fia?”
“For a Copper Ridge day? I can make myself free. It’s been too long since I’ve driven out to the ocean.”
“All right then,” Gus said. “Do what you must.”
“Can I borrow a truck and trailer in a couple of days?” she asked, smiling sweetly.
“Shit, woman, how much stuff are you going to buy?”
“Your house is empty,” she said.
It wasn’t entirely, and there were rooms that hadn’t been disturbed since his childhood, and he decided not to think on that.
“Fine. Fine.”
And pretty soon after that everyone else started filtering in for the meeting. He shook hands with the Kings, and exchanged brief words. Only Landry lingered for a minute to make conversation, and he had to wonder if he was doing it just to loiter in the vicinity of Fia, who was doing her best to keep her distance from him. As always.
He knew that Alaina—and everyone else—thought that Fia and Landry had had an ill-fated love affair. Gus didn’t think so. Of course, he didn’t know what else would explain the behavior, but he just didn’t think that was it. One thing about being distant from people was that you watched them. And he’d seen quite a few love affairs come and go among staff on the ranch. It just didn’t look like that in the end. There was something more like...embarrassment that seemed to come off of Fia, and something else. But it wasn’t his business. Even if Fia was...borderline family now.
He got to speak first at the meeting, standing up and outlining the increased financial demands that they were running into. The need for new electrical in all the buildings, and how that had really run up the tab, and the cost of various permits, which was adding up faster than he’d anticipated. Plus the certifications. “But we already have people signing up. And I think it’s going to make a big difference.” He read some of the stories, including the newly adopted autistic boy, a child who had seen his mother killed by his father and had lost his voice. So many tragic stories coming in, and far too relatable to Gus in many ways.
And when he was finished, he knew he had everybody pretty well on the hook. Well, maybe not Denver, who was sitting back with his arms crossed. But it was always hard to tell with him.
Next up it was Fia’s turn to talk. “The renovation of the barn is going well, but we have to have a road put in. I need to negotiate with Levi Granger. And we need to come to terms on the cost arrangements. But I have a feeling the burden is going to fall largely to us.” She named a sum of money that was actually more than what Gus had just asked for.
“Time-out,” Landry said. “Levi Granger? And his anti–Four Corners ranching collective?”
“His collective has nothing to do with it,” said Fia, her outrage at him daring to address her obvious. “And anyway it isn’t inherently anti-us.”
“It is, but even if it weren’t, this is overextending the community pot.”
“Excuse me?”Fia said, her eyes burning bright.
“With what the McClouds are up to, and what you Sullivans are up to, we’re spending left, right and center.”
“Both are ventures we stand to profit from,” Fia said.
“I understand that,” Landry said, standing up and taking the floor. “But the budget is what it is. We have an agreed-upon amount for the year.”
“Oh, that’s bullshit, Landry,” Fia said, like she had forgotten she was in front of anybody. “What does it matter if we spend more now, or spend more next year? It’s arbitrary.”
“Finances are not arbitrary.”
“Look who’s a fucking accountant all of a sudden,” she said.
“Just a second,” Gus said, standing up. “It doesn’t have to be like this. We can figure something out.”
“I’m going to convince him to split the cost,” Quinn said, standing up, her strawberry-colored hair bouncing with the moment. “I’ve got a plan, and I intend to bring the community into this. We’ll have a meeting about the farm store and projected impact and then I plan to get Levi—”
Landry lifted a shoulder. “What would be in it for him?”
