AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Faith knew the last thing he wanted was for that information to get out. Someone could swoop in and grab the money before he had a chance to finalize things.
“Lucky told me,” Nic said. “Was he not supposed to? It might be my fault. I brought it up, and he seemed fine with opening up since I seemed to know what was going on. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it, but when you said he was helping you…”
“It’s not final yet.” Holden sat back and looked around. “I guess I should stop being so paranoid. It’s not like there’s a long line of entrepreneurs eager to build a ski lodge in a town with minimal tourism revenue—compared to other places, anyway.”
“I have thoughts about that,” Nic said. “A better idea than getting funding from some guys in suits in some big city.”
Faith smiled at those words. She’d hardly call Knoxville the big city, but it was bigger than Misty Mountain, for sure.
“They weren’t really in suits,” Holden said. “They were young guys who looked like they just graduated college. They have some extra investment money and are looking to find businesses they can snatch up and make a profit on.”
As the conversation continued, Faith could hear J.J.’s voice in her head, asking her dad not to talk business at dinner. That made her miss the eight-year-old. Not that she really minded listening to two guys go back and forth on this venture of Holden’s, especially if it kept him from worrying about his daughter.
“I say keep it here in Misty Mountain,” Nic said, tapping the table to emphasize his words. He paused while Mrs. Preston set their drinks down in front of them. Once she was gone, he picked up where he’d left off as he pulled the paper off the straw. “There have to be some locals with money who are eager to invest. Lucky, for instance.”
“I need Lucky’s help with gathering subcontractors and such,” Holden said. “He’s my partner in that sense.”
“But he might be interested in investing too,” Nic said. “There are others in town with money. Maybe not at yours and Lucky’s level, but if it’s a good business opportunity, they will at least throw a little money at it.”
Okay, she’d been away a while, but surely a bunch of rich guys hadn’t sprung up all over town while she was gone. “Who?” she asked.
“Matt for one,” Nic said.
“The mayor?” Faith asked.
Charity nodded. “He’s doing pretty well for himself these days. He has rental properties all up and down these mountains. He’s building a group of them not too far from here.”
“Also, his buddy, Denver,” Nic said. “He’s still small-time when it comes to investing, but his repair shop is doing really well these days. I’m sure he’d love to hear you out. It’s worth a try.”
“We could bring everybody together for a town hall and see if Misty Mountain wants to invest in it,” Faith said. “Isn’t that what they do when they build sports stadiums in some towns?”
Nic smiled. “Yeah, I think that falls into a different category.”
“Why?” Faith asked. “If a ski lodge stands to bring a bunch of business to Misty Mountain, it would generate tax revenue. People need somewhere to eat. Those tourists would inevitably come down from the mountain to patronize our local restaurants.
“Sounds similar to me,” Charity jumped in to say. “Unless you think your ski lodge might not attract a lot of people.”
Now they all looked at Holden. That thought hadn’t even occurred to Faith. In the time she’d spent with Holden, she’d learned to trust his business ideas.
Holden stared thoughtfully ahead for a long moment before finally saying, “Being new to this town, I just didn’t feel comfortable reaching out to strangers. I thought getting money, even if it meant going overseas to do it, would pull revenue into this town without taking anything from it.”
“But you wouldn’t be taking anything,” Faith said. She hesitated as everyone looked at her. She was definitely not an expert in this area, but she offered her thoughts, anyway. “The town would feel like it was part of making the ski resort happen. When was the last time we came together to start a business?”
“The theater,” Charity said. “I guess you weren’t here for that. Over the summer, the theater was in jeopardy of being turned into something completely different. Jordan and Lucky saved it, and now it’s doing great.”
Oh, yeah. It was still a dinner theater, but better than ever. Faith’s mom had told her about that.
“The town came together to boycott it, though, didn’t they?” Faith asked.
She struggled to remember what her mom had told her. It had even ended up on the news.
“They boycotted the owner turning it into a concert venue,” Nic said.
“It was still going to be a dinner theater, but with musicians performing,” Charity added. “They worried it would bring in the wrong kind of tourists.”
“What kind of musicians?” Faith asked, her surprise at this news coming through in her voice.
Nic laughed. “It was some country music star from a couple of decades ago. Hardly someone who would bring in the riffraff, but you know how people are about change.”
