The second option is out of the question. “A rodeo?”
“You have a huge arena, it wouldn’t be that hard to add some bleachers,” Tessa says with a grin.
I’m glad someone is enjoying this conversation because it sure as fuck isn’t me. “No.”
“Killian, that’s probably the most lucrative of the options. We can charge for admission, the participants can pay a fee, all you have to do is provide some food, which I bet we could talk to the bar and grill to see if they’d donate, and it would help the town by bringing people in.”
I clench my jaw. None of this would even be a conversation if it weren’t for Travis. Which, reminds me.
“We’ll come back to this list in a second,” I say lifting it. “Where were you this morning?”
She bristles. “Working on that list and acquainting myself with the town. I went to the coffee shop, checked out a few other little stores which is why I think the rodeo is the absolute best option.”
“I didn’t realize you weren’t going to be here when I got back from checking on the horses.”
Tessa lets out a long sigh. “I didn’t know I needed to tell you when I was going to be out?”
“You don’t.” I pull back my feelings about it. I don’t know why I’m fighting her on it. She doesn’t have to inform me, but for a minute, I was worried and I’ve started looking forward to seeing her in my kitchen.
Which is really stupid.
“Okay.”
I need to shift gears away from this list for a minute. I can’t even wrap my mind around doing any of this. “I spoke with a company in Virginia Beach today about looking into Travis’s whereabouts.”
Her eyes widen. “You did? I hired someone as well.”
“Yes, I know you said your friend couldn’t find anything so far, but the company that I was put in contact with is known for this. It’s going to cost me a bit, but we’re on a time crunch and bleeding money. Time is of the essence.”
“I agree. I pushed my friend again, but he said he can’t find anything after the day we last had him here. So, either he was planning whatever the hell this is or he’s missing and needs help.”
Both explanations suck. All I can hope is that he has a damn good reason for screwing me if it’s the first and we find himquickly if it’s the second. Well, honestly both require me to find him.
At this point, I’m pissed and don’t understand how he could do this to me. I trusted him, gave him the reins to do as he thought and he fucked me. Took off with a vague note and a mountain of problems.
Now I need Cole Security to do their magic that Miles assured me they can, since it’s going to cost me a small fortune.
That’s with a friends and family discount.
“Hopefully this yields some results.”
“Okay, so back to what we can do at this point, look at the list,” Tessa urges.
I exhale and go back again.
“You’re kidding me, right?” I ask as I look at the third option.
“It’ll be fun! Bachelorette parties, girl’s nights, women love a cowboy, and I’m sorry but you’ve got Stetsons and boots running rampant on this ranch. Think of all the money you could make while we work on the bigger picture.”
“No.”
I’m not hosting these parties.
“I heard while I was in town that there are at least two women getting married—just think about that. You can charge one big fee, and we could set up a program that requires little financial up-front cost.”
I know she’s trying, and all of these ideas are exactly the point of her being here. To help unfuck the issue and also create a way to bring some income to the ranch. But I meant selling horses.
I didn’t mean this way.
