Hatch banged the gavel and called the meeting to order, then stood. “Thanks for takin’ the time, brothers. We have a couple of things to discuss. The first is expansion. As you can see”—he waved his hand around the room—“we are bursting at the seams and have officially grown out of Big Ernie’s.”
Voices murmured their agreement.
“The club still owns those hundred acres, give or take, out in Ridgefield and I’ve been informed there’s another twenty acres just south of it that’s opened up that has a home on it coming up for sale. We need to vote on if we want to buy it, add it to the existing and expand our interests. It’s close to the grow operations, so it’s a no-brainer in my opinion, but as always, nothin’ gets done without a vote.”
“What about those of us who live here?” Razor asked.
“You can still live here,” Hatch said. “Nothing changes if you don’t want it to. Half of us live and work here, half of us live up there as it is, so some of us would move, some of us would stay, but the clubhouse would move up there, because we can build something three times the size up there. I think we can build it in less than a year, if I do it with my brothers, and if any of you with experience wanna help, you can earn while you build.”
“What about the rest of the land?” I asked.
“We like what the Howlers’ have done out in Colorado,” Hawk said. “Main clubhouse with individual family cabins surrounding it. If we need to lockdown or just want to stay overnight, we can do that.”
“New business. Biker bed and breakfast,” Harm retorted, and the room laughed.
“Isthis gonna be a business?” I asked. “Or just club?”
“Another vote,” Hatch said. “The land’s zoned for both commercial and residential, so we can decide on if we want to open another auto shop or somethin’ else?”
“Dispensary?” Buzz asked.
“Too many kids, brother,” Hatch said. “Need to keep that separate. But with our reputation, another auto shop would clean up.”
“Right, vote,” Ace said. “All in favor to buy the land?”
Hands went up around the room.
“Nays?” Dad asked.
No one raised their hand, so Hatch banged the gavel and said, “We’ll call the realtor tomorrow.”
“When do we need to figure out the business side of it?” I asked.
“Once we get plans in place, we gotta pull permits,” Hatch said. “I’m thinkin’ we got about a month to make our final call, then go from there.”
“Are you leaning a certain way?”
“I always like to earn,” Hatch said. “So, I’m leanin’ toward business and personal. If we get the new land, it’s on a main stretch, so it would be a good place for a shop, close to a gas station, not another station for a while. If tourists break down or wreck, we could help get ’em on their way. We could expand into towing, buy a couple of used tow trucks. If locals break down or wreck, our new location doesn’t have a whole lotta competition around there.”
“I vote business and pleasure,” I said.
The room nodded in agreement.
“We could just vote now,” Dad said. “Everyone’s here.”
“Right,” Hatch said. “Vote now?”
The room murmured with agreement.
“All in favor to use the land for commercial and residential?” Ace called out.
Hands went up around the room.
“Nays?” Dad asked.
Again, no one raised their hand, so Hatch banged the gavel and grinned. “I’ll get Cade on pulling permits once we buy the land. Thanks, everyone. Dismissed. Officers, stay.”
I headed out with the rest of the men and found Teagan in the kitchen, pulling a pint of ice cream from the freezer. “Hey.”
