Investing in projects or businesses is what used to fill most of my days. It can be reminiscent of gambling, but you’re able to see everyone’s cards, and I’ve always been drawn to theunderdog. The pitch that others overlooked. Not all people are good at selling themselves to me, but they don’t have much of a choice if they’re trying to get a project off the ground.
There have even been a few that I knew weren’t likely to make it, but the passion was there, and you can foster that. Just because you fall flat on your ass doesn’t mean you can’t come up with another idea. A better one.
That’s what I was searching for in people who entered my office. That spark inside them. You either have it or you don't. I have always been quite quick to spot it. I'm sure how I grew up played a role in that. You learned to read people; there wasn't another choice.
I haven't loved all my investments, but some were made through networking and a few favors. That's partly how I ended up investing in Biff’s latest project. A small group of us had been asked to invest to get it off the ground.
If people saw our names attached to them, others might invest too. That's my guess on why the King of Thieves had made such a request. It hadn't taken me long to see the house of cards Biff had built. I didn't understand why they were trying to protect him, but it's the wealthy protecting the wealthy or some shit. They protect their own. No matter how much money I have, I’ll always be considered an outsider to some degree.
My instincts have never really failed me. It’s how I so quickly knew Tinsley was the girl I wanted to make my own. I watched the fire light up in her eyes. It was a thing of beauty.
In finance, there aren't a ton of women, but I swear, the best are those rare women who can push their way through. Once they really get a foot in the door, they soar. Most of them put their male counterparts to shame. Their work ethic is unmatched.
Other men hate it. They get pissed that a woman could be better at their job. I knew from a young age, bouncing fromhouse to house in the foster system, that women were simply built differently than men.
They have a better sense for a lot of things and, more importantly, they maintain patience when it's needed. It was impossible to miss that growing up. Without the girls, we wouldn't have accomplished anything and sure as fuck wouldn’t have eaten. They ran those houses better than the foster parents. They're natural-born leaders and protectors in their own right.
The women may not be as physically strong, but that's not going to stop them, and Tinsley is one of those protectors. In everything I have found on her, that's what she's done her whole life. It's part of who she is.
It's why I only ever hired women when I needed employees and invested in a lot of pitches I've gotten. They statistically pan out better, and numbers never lie.
Though I won't invest in Tinsley's line of work. Oh, I'd buy her a whole salon, but the side hustle of the loyalty test, while entertaining to me, is also very fucking dangerous. I hate that she puts herself in that situation.
I step over to the bay window, the sun setting over the mountains lighting up the sky in pinks and purple hues, reflecting off the white snow, and small flakes fall. It’s quite honestly, picture perfect.
It seems that New Hope even manages to get their weather to fall in line with their themes. Betty might not be wrong when she said there is something about this town and falling in love.
I would have laughed at the notion a week ago. Now nothing is funny, but I know if I want a good chuckle, I need to go find my little pink-haired pixie. No one has ever made me smile more, and no one else will.
Chapter Five
TINSLEY
Kylie sits down with the plate of mozzarella sticks, placing it between Katherine and me. I dip mine in ranch, and she goes for the marinara sauce.
“You girls good?” Kylie asks.
“Well—”
“With food,” Kylie cuts me off.
“I suppose.” We already put our dinner order in, but I can’t bring myself to not order appetizers. It’s a compulsion that I stopped trying to fight years ago.
“We need to make final plans for your birthday,” Katherine reminds me.
“Not feeling it.” I shrug. Plus, I know she has them already.
“Not feeling it? You’re turning twenty-one! We can party it up.”
“We’ve been partying it up since high school.”
“There were maybe three parties our senior year, and they always got busted up.”
This is true. New Hope has two cops, a sheriff and a deputy. The sheriff is married to one of my favorite people in the world, Kindred. The woman knows everything. I haven't gotten a chance to corner her yet, but her time will come.
Two cops are two too many around here. We love them both, but they did always bust up our parties, although they’d give us a few hours before they shooed us along. Except for that one time I sent Sheriff Hudson on a wild goose chase, planting information that the party was at one location and then another. We got an extra hour that night. I might have had more fun messing with Hudson than I did at the party.
It was all in good fun. With him moving to New Hope all those years ago and then marrying Kindred, he's turned into an uncle figure more than anything. He’s set the bar pretty high when it comes to how a man should treat a woman. I love the way he loves Kindred.
