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Kate kept an eye on Craig the entire time Ted was talking. None of the Barons looked overjoyed, but she knew this would happen. Knew how it works when big business collides with Mother Nature. The only problem is this was the first time she wished she weren’t on the other side. She really wanted to find a way to make everyone happy, but truth was, when it came to conservation, compromises needed to be made on the side of big business because endangered animals had no other options.
“I need to get going.” Ted took a step back, extended his hand to gently pat Kate on the arm. “I’ll be in touch with an update.”
She nodded. “Thanks.” From where she stood she could see Craig biting down hard on his back teeth. She couldn’t blame him, his very expensive plans were about to blow up in front of him.
Ted waved at the other men, and their eyes followed him to his vehicle. No one said a word until the engine turned and the dust disappeared onto the main road.
“Now what?” Porter asked.
“We hit the drawing board. Plans need to be finalized. Permits have to be applied for. Decisions made. None of that will happen overnight.”
Both cousins nodded and Craig’s calm approach took a little of the nervous edge off of Kate’s concerns that Craig would blow a gasket.
“You know,” Porter tapped at the papers spread out on the hood, “we’re going to be ready long before the Fish and Game Commission gets around to dealing with these bats.”
Craig pressed his lips tightly together, sucked in a deep breath, glanced down at the rough draft of his plans, and looked back to his cousins. “With the grace of God, maybe the eggs will hatch and the bats will leave sooner than later.”
She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but she didn’t have much choice. “You do realize once the eggs hatch, it will be weeks, possibly months, before the birds will leave the nest?”
Craig nodded. “Sometimes, you simply have to play the odds.”
Somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better. “Show me what you have planned.”
Craig’s head snapped up. His eyes wide and focused on her, for a minute she thought he was going to say no. “Come around here.”
Circling the massive ranch truck, she sidled up beside him and immediately recognized her mistake. Arm brushing up against his was a much bigger distraction than she needed. Taking a short step to the side, she bumped into one of the cousins. “Sorry.”
Cooper smiled. “No worries.”
Craig skewered his cousin with an intense glare before clearing his throat and tapping at the papers. “All of these are existing structures according to the survey that was done. They all have to be examined in detail to determine the extent of any structural issues before we proceed with remodeling.”
“Wow.” She hadn’t realized how many buildings there were or how large the property was.
A slow smile teased at the corner of Craig’s lips. “Told you it was perfect. This,” he pointed to the main house set back across the driveway from the barn, “will be our offices.” One by one he moved from building to building explaining his intentions. “Multiple sound stages, converting the existing large farm equipment buildings into storage for cameras and lights.”
“How much room do you need for lights?”
That had Craig chuckling. “We’re not talking table lamps. These are massive lights designed to make a set, whether indoor or outdoor, look like broad daylight.”
“Really?” She turned her attention to the storage garages on the paper, and then squinting, tried to spot the actual buildings in the distance.
“Really. The lights are huge, hot, expensive, and on wheels. Not having to spend $5k to rent the suckers for days on end will be a huge budget savings.”
“Oh.” Five thousand dollars seemed like a lot of money, but she supposed movie equipment might fall into the same category as home ownership. Cheaper than renting.
“It’s all about money, budget, and timing. If we’re shooting a scene on the beach in Malibu with a massive hill in the background, when the sun goes down, filming can’t stop. So the lights go on. You can get around it a little with close-ups, but the folks who have their back to the hill need those lights, otherwise it looks like they’re in front of a black curtain.”
“So you’re saying not everything I see on screen is real.”
Craig let out a deep in this throat chuckle. “Not even close. And those lights wreak havoc with wildlife. Every owl, deer, and bird on the face of the planet will misconstrue the lights for daylight.”
“So, you’ve dealt with wildlife before?”
“You mean like the time we did a bonfire scene on the beach and a family of raccoons went berserk?”
“Oh, dear.”
“Well. Not in a bad way. The baby raccoons were totally freaked so mama raccoon kept squawking and making noise trying to deal with the babies. Pretty much, when filming outdoors with bright lights, audio becomes a nightmare. Every creature comes alive and audio picks up every animal but can’t capture the actor’s dialogue. You hear crickets not the actors. It just adds to the joys of moviemaking.” His phone sounded, he glanced down at his phone and raised a finger. “I have to take this.”
