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“Of course not.”
“Well, there’s that.” She tugged on her seatbelt and shifted to look at him again. “So whatareyou going to do?”
“For starters, not jump to conclusions. We may have a little time. After all, a project of the size I have in mind doesn’t exactly happen overnight. There needs to be architectural drawings. Engineer reports. Permit filings. Of course, my cousin Porter will be general contractor so I don’t need to put out a call for contractor bids.”
“Is that wise?” Her irritation at his disregard for the environment was beginning to ebb as she realized that none of the things he was talking about were going to come together quickly. Not that it mattered if the owls intended to make his barn their new—and permanent—home. Still, she wasn’t in the real estate business, but even she knew it was not smart to do any construction without at least three bids.
When he turned to face her, she expected a scathing glare. Instead, she was faced with a smile and soft chuckle. “Normally, I would be the first to say not wise at all, but we Barons live by a multitude of codes. One of which is family sticks together. We support each other, we comfort each other, and we never cheat. Porter will come in at a reasonable price, and more importantly, he’ll have my back. Everything will be done right. Maybe better.”
She couldn’t decide if he was putting family before profit or counting on family to make him a nice profit. But her gut told her if push came to shove, and Craig had to choose between the bird and his construction schedule, that the bird wouldn’t stand a chance.
The minute he’d informed her of his choice of the Martin property and her only response was the single wordwhat, Craig knew he was in trouble. What he didn’t know was how to get out of it. Business was business, but right now he considered if walking away from the real estate project might not be the right thing to do.
“We’re meeting at noon.” Kate leaned back in the seat. “Ted has worked with me on other projects. Since I was never able to get close enough for good photos, he needs to check if there are eggs or hatchlings in the nest and if the adult owl is tagged.”
“Tagged?”
“Yes. As policy, environmentalists tag and weigh all hatchlings, then follow them throughout their lives. Migration patterns, etc.”
“Makes sense. So if there are no eggs or baby birds and mama has already been tagged, then we’re in the clear?”
“There’s still the adult bird to consider. Construction havoc, the noise, the vibrations, the general chaos can stress a bird.”
“You’re kidding.” He couldn’t hold back the chuckle. “I can show those birds a thing or two about stress.”
Kate rolled her eyes and sighed. “You know I’m not kidding.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid I do. But you can’t blame a guy for trying.” Now all he had to do was figure out a way to make his bankers, his production company, Kate, and the birds all happy. “How well do you know this guy from Fish and Game?”
“So so. Why?”
“Is he a rule follower or does he think outside the box?”
From the stretch of silence, he could only assume the question either stumped her or had her thinking.
“He definitely is a rule follower. Most government agency employees are, but I have no idea about the outside the box thing.”
“I see.” He might have to do a little research of his own. There was no doubt that Brooklyn was one helluva detective, but there was little doubt in Craig’s mind that owls were not in the former Navy Seal’s skill set. Even though Craig had excellent staff, including people perfectly capable of doing a little research, in this case, he wanted to keep the whole protected species and the potential problems that could come with that, close to his breast. At least until he had a little more data. “We’ll probably both have answers by tomorrow.”
She nodded. “Yes. I’ll fill you in.”
“Fill me in?” Momentarily taking his gaze off the road, he tossed a glance in her direction. “What time is he coming?”
“I don’t know. In the morning. He’s supposed to give me a heads up tonight.” She glanced at her wrist. “I suspect it will be first thing.”
“I’m expecting to meet with the engineer tomorrow. Maybe the architect too. I suspect we’ll have our answers sooner than later.”
“More family?”
“Excuse me?” This time he kept his eyes on the road.
“The architect and engineer.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “Engineer, yes. Architect, no. I do have a cousin who is an architect, but Rachel specializes in restoration.”
“If anything needs restoring it’s that barn.”
“Perhaps, but it’s not going to be restored, it’s going to be converted and there’s no keeping the integrity of the structure when it’s going to be used for a soundstage.”
