Is this because of her?
No.He’d be lying if he said she hadn’t had any effect on him, but he barely knew her.Yet, her passion had reminded him of what really mattered.What he’d been missing his whole life: community.
And they were in danger, still, even if not from him.
“Block it.”
“Jace, I have to ask you to reconsider.I know you’re grieving, but—”
“It’s done.Block my schedule and let people who need to know I’m off all projects for now.”Maybe forever.
“Consider it done.”He heard the resignation in her voice.This affected her ability to earn a living, something he didn’t take lightly since he was her biggest client by a landslide.
But he couldn’t care more about that than he did about the result of his decision.Suddenly, his future was open, free.A rush of excitement took flight in his heart.
Until he realized he had a bigger obligation to the town than just his presence and work on his father’s ranch.He had to play a part in fixing whatever assholery was happening to his town.
His town.Hmmm.That sounded good to him.If anyone had something to lose by a shit-ton of tourists piling into Banberry, it was Jace.He didn’t want them there any more than Aurelie did.
“Before you hang up, I need you to do some digging.”
“What am I digging up, exactly?”
“There’s someone here, a business tied to one person in particular, who’s buying up farms for half what they’re worth and planning to level them to put up hotels.”
“Hotels in the middle of nowhere?”
Jace ignored Cammie’s insult of the place that had raised him.Never mind that he’d had the same impulse when he’d heard the news.But that was the way of it, wasn’t it?There was LA, New York, Chicago, even, and then the rest of the country with their small, non-city lives.
“You’ll want to look at the holdings.Most likely, there’ll be a shell corporation, but what I want to know is, who’s behind it?I think this guy’s threatening my dad’s property, and I don’t think he’s gonna stop there.I need to get a line on why he’s keeping his name out of the game.It’s a little too suspicious.”
If he was going to make a go of this, he needed a clear path.
“Wow.I didn’t see anything about any of this when Anna set up the sale of your dad’s estate.”
“You wouldn’t have.Whoever is behind this is going to great lengths to keep it a secret for now.My worry is why and what’ll happen when he decides to come out of the shadows.”
“I’m on it.Can I get back to you tonight?I have some friends who owe me a favor, but they’ll need a couple hours.”
“Thanks, Cammie.You’re really helping me out here,” he added.
“Anything for my favorite client.”He swallowed the hint of guilt.She was handling his news with as much grace as he could have hoped, given he was taking away a substantial part of her livelihood by stepping out of the limelight.
Jace hung up the phone and grabbed a board on the deck, ready to tear it to shreds.But where he’d been fueled by memories of his past, a reckoning between who he’d been and could be, now he was on edge, not sure where to go or what to do while he awaited news that would affect his future.
Before he knew it, the crowbar, fueled by his anger and other more complicated emotions, had torn apart the whole east end of the deck.The sun was long past overhead and had begun to make its way toward the western hillscape.His stomach roared as he sat back on his heels and stretched his shoulders.
Fuck, he was hungry.
“This thing’s still gonna be here if you take a break, you know.”
Jace glanced up and was met with a broad-shouldered cowboy backlit by the sun.More importantly, the hand extended to him held a bag he recognized from his childhood.
“That Joe’s?”
Brad nodded.“Couldn’t have my childhood friend starving out here in the sun.”
“Thanks, man.You have no idea how much I needed this.”
