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“You have that look in your eye.” His cousin didn’t even glance in his direction.
“And what look would that be?”
Dev barely turned long enough to roll his eyes at Craig. “The one that says any minute I can expect a crazy idea.”
“Why does it have to be crazy?”
Shaking his head, his cousin smiled. “Remember who you’re talking to. I’ve been on one side or the other of many of your bright ideas and that particular glint in your eyes only happens with your more elaborate schemes.”
“But profitable?” For the most part the more outside the box the idea, the more risk, and the more risk, the more profit. So far his record was nearly perfect.
Dev shrugged. “Expanding that one time dilapidated roadside hotel into the golf club resort was definitely a home run for Baron Enterprises.”
“And it was me who gave Chase the idea to centralize the home office.”
“True, though the high-rise tower was his idea.”
“And a good one.”
“But the mining venture, not so much.”
The family coffers had taken a slight hit with that project. In the end they’d had to let it go at a slight loss.
“So.” Dev shifted in the driver’s seat of his SUV. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking?”
“I’m wondering if it wouldn’t make more sense to move a bit further out of town, close enough for crew and other personnel to commute, but far enough out that we could build a studio that would draw other film-makers as well. You know, like that town where they filmedThe Alamo.”
Keeping his gaze on the road, Dev frowned. “Explain.”
“Is there an old town for sale anywhere?”
Dev’s brows shot up high on his forehead. “Town?”
“Nothing too big. Something that could be used for filming street scenes for low-budget movies or TV shows.”
“A town?” Dev repeated.
Craig nodded.
It took another long minute of silence before his cousin turned to him and smiled. “You almost had me on that one. Good joke.”
“I’m not joking.”
Dev sucked in a deep breath. “No, I don’t know of any towns for sale.”
“Can you find one?”
The furrows between his cousin’s brows grew deeper and one hand lifted away from the steering wheel to rub them away. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Okay. What about some old ranch? You know, not as big as Paradise Ridge but with plenty of buildings. Maybe in disrepair but would need more than a strong wind to knock it over?”
His cousin’s frown seemed to suck in his whole face. His eyes narrowed, his cheeks lifted, and his lips pursed. Except for the life of him, Craig couldn’t decide if there was an idea percolating or if the man was going to self combust.
Without warning, Dev pulled to the side of the road. “Give me a minute.” His expression clear, he tapped at his phone, swiped at it a few more times, and then nodding, looked to Craig. “Not sure about that strong wind, but do you remember Old Man Martin?”
“The one that used to tell all those stories when we were kids about wildcatting with Gram’s dad?”
“That would be the man. I got a call the other day from one of his grandsons. Seems the family spread far and wide and not till their dad passed recently did they even know they still owned a ranch in this part of the state. Even if it weren’t in pretty bad shape, no one wants it.”
