I sighed. “And that means?”
“It means we buy up the land, relocate the residents with generous compensation packages, and drill, baby, drill. Everyone gets paid handsomely to start fresh somewhere else, and we get access to a significant new revenue stream. It’s a win-win scenario.”
Right. A win-win scenario where an entire town got wiped off the map so the Bancrofts could get richer. Somehow I doubted the locals would see it quite the same way. We’d done this dance before. Many times.
“Why me?” I asked, though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. “Why not Isaac or Hudson or one of the others?”
I caught the hint of disapproval that was never far from the surface when he looked at me these days. “Your brothers are all busy with their own responsibilities. Isaac has his new wife and stepson to think about. Hudson has Diana and their daughter. Hayes has his hands full with his expanding business interests.”
“You mean they’re all tied down?” I asked dryly.
“Bitterness doesn’t look good on you, Kent.”
“Bitterness? I would have to be jealous to be bitter, and I’m definitely not jealous of my brothers swimming in diapers, spit-up, and whatever plague their kids bring home from school every week. Trust me, I’m perfectly happy with my current arrangement.”
And I was. While my brothers were dealing with midnight feedings and soccer practice schedules, I had spent the fall enjoying VIP access to the best ski resorts in Colorado and Switzerland. Beautiful women, expensive wine, perfect powder—that was my idea of a good time. Not cleaning baby crap and pretending to care about finger paintings.
“Why would I want to trade that for…” I gestured at the map. “Whatever the hell this place has to offer?”
Northwood didn’t sound like it had beautiful women or high-end amenities. It sounded like the kind of place where people went to disappear from civilization entirely. Did they even have running water? Wi-fi? Dad said the town was desperate, dying. The opposite of fun.
“It doesn’t matter what you want, Kent. It’s time you pulled your weight and contributed to this family’s success the way your brothers do. You’re thirty years old. You can’t spend the rest of your life playing while everyone else works.”
There it was. The ultimatum I’d been expecting for months now. Ever since Isaac had settled down with Mina and Hudson had married Diana, I’d been the odd man out in the family. The bachelor. The playboy. The one who wasn’t “contributing” in any meaningful way.
“Since you don’t have a wife and children to worry about, and since you’ve never particularly cared for Christmas anyway, you’re the obvious choice for this assignment,” my father continued. “You’ll go to Northwood, you’ll investigate the situation, and you’ll secure this deal. You’ll meet with the family that owns most of the town—the Northwoods, appropriately enough—and you’ll convince them to sell.”
He made it sound so simple. Just walk into this struggling town, flash some Bancroft money around, and watch everyone line up to sign on the dotted line.
“What happens to the town once we get the oil rights?” I asked.
“The town gets flattened to make way for the drilling operation,” he said matter-of-factly, as if we were discussing the weather. “It’s the only way to extract the resources efficiently. But don’t worry. Everyone will be compensated generously for their inconvenience. They’ll be able to relocate to whatever equivalent shithole town they choose and start fresh.”
“And if I refuse?” I asked, though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to that too.
His smile turned cold. “Then you forfeit access to your trust fund, effective immediately. No more ski trips to Switzerland. No more penthouse parties. No more credit cards with unlimited spending. If you want to live like a Bancroft, it’s time you start acting like one.”
There it was. The threat I’d been waiting for. Do this job or lose everything I’d ever known. It wasn’t really a choice at all, and we both knew it.
“When do I leave?” I asked.
“Tomorrow morning. I’ve already had your assistant book you a flight to Albany and arrange for a rental car. The weather might be an issue. There’s a storm moving through the area. But I’m sure you’ll manage.”
Of course there was a storm. Because traveling to the middle of nowhere in upstate New York in late November wasn’t going to be miserable enough without adding blizzard conditions to the mix.
“How long do you expect this to take?” I asked.
“As long as it takes to get the job done. A week, maybe two at most. It’s a small town, Kent. How complicated can it be?”
Famous last words. In my experience, the things that looked simple on paper were usually the ones that turned into complete disasters in real life.
Dad stood up, signaling that our conversation was over. “I’ve prepared a brief with everything you’ll need to know about the town, the key players, and the property values. Study it on the plane.”
He handed me a thick manila folder that felt like it weighed about ten pounds. Great. Light reading for the flight.
“And Kent?” He paused at the door of his study. “Don’t disappoint me. This deal could set us up for the next decade. I don’t want any of your usual half-hearted efforts or creative interpretations of instructions. Get it done.”
With that, he walked out, leaving me alone with the map and the weight of expectations I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet.
