Page 4 of On One Condition

Both Ford and Callahan burst into laughter. I shake my head and cough out the words, “Fuck you.”

Next topic, please.

“Do you think she’s still in Cedar Falls?” Ford asks absently.

“Doubt it. She couldn’t wait to get the hell out of that town.” I hope she did too.

“Okay. Enough reminiscing about the whole two minutes it took to lose your virginity, and the poor girl who had to endure those short, fleeting moments,” Callahan says, earning another flip of my middle finger. “How are we going to handle the situation with this bullshit request?”

“They have us over a barrel. We don’t have any choice but to comply,” Ford says.

“You checked with our lawyers? Can they add this stipulation?” I ask.

“They can do whatever they want to do,” Callahan says. “We dealt with strict demands on the Santa Fe project and, after wasting money fighting the city in court, we still had to comply.”

“Fuck,” I mutter as I run over the construction schedule in my head and the plans for the grand opening. Two months before obtaining occupancy permits will delay us. “This is going to cost us. We’ll have to push the grand opening back. Give it a cushion just in case.”

“It’s a bump in the road,” Ford says, ever the pragmatist. “All projects have them.”

“It’s a ridiculous request, is what it is.”

“So you’ve said. Ridiculous as it may be, we’ve already bought the place. With millions of dollars on the line, we don’t have a choice, do we?” Callahan asks.

“We’re too busy. None of us can afford to lose two months away right now.” I run a hand through my hair. “That’s what we hire project managers and directors of construction for. We need to find a workaround. That’s all there is to it.”

Callahan looks at me as if I’m being unreasonable. “And what exactly do you propose to do because throwing money at them—which is what you’re going to suggest as a solution—will only make us look more corporate than we already look.”

“Or guilty of what they’re accusing us of being,” Ford finishes for him.

“So, what is the solution then? Hire everybody in town? Fine. We’ll do that,” I say. “To not put the stores on Main Street out of business? It’s not our fucking fault if that happens. We sell hospitality. How is that going to put the hardware store or bakery out of business? I mean, this letter is absolute bullshit.”

“It is what it is,” Ford mutters.

“What did Dad always tell us?” I ask. “To situate ourselves in a position of power. So how do we do that? What’s going to give us the upper hand?”

“We go to Cedar Hills for two months,” Ford states.

“Falls,” I correct, glancing over the email again before shutting my laptop. “It’s Cedar Falls. And since you’re heading out there to live for the foreseeable future until this is fixed, it’s probably best you get the town’s name right.”

“Me?” Ford barks out the word and puts his hands up in surrender. “No can do. This trip is squarely on you, Ledger.”

“The fuck it is.” I glance back and forth between my brothers as grins widen on their faces. “Not happening.” I push up out of my chair and move toward the windows that Callahan just vacated, before turning to face them. “Absolutely not,” I say as disbelief slowly trickles through me.

I know their schedules.

The projects they’re tied to.

The obligations they can’t leave mid-operation.

But I swore I’d never step foot in that town again.

Callahan barks out a laugh the minute he sees the realization hit my face. This one is on me. “What was that?” he teases.

“Look. I have an appreciation for all places. Urban. Tropical. Country. But wouldn’t this better suit—”

“When have you ever liked the country?” Ford asks.

“I did. As a teenager.”