“Insane,” Jordan said. “I knew this area was hopping, but not like this. All the little shops and restaurants in the area have kind of made this corner a destination for people coming into or going out of town. A first and last stop, if you will.”
“I saw they’re building new apartments just across the street, too,” Mason said, pointing. I looked over to a rising set of steel girders and a construction crew.
“Is that what’s going there?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah, there’s a sign on the other side of the street,” Matt said. “It’s going to be pretty large, too, with a bunch of shopping and stuff on the ground floor. Give it a year or two, and this will be prime real estate.”
“This is all pretty much what Amanda and I found out,” I said, waving the stack of papers I had been carrying around all day. “I just wanted to confirm it with our own eyes first. With the proximity to the nearby towns going both north and west, I think this is the perfect spot for us. What do you say?”
My brothers all glanced at one another and one by one nodded.
“Then it’s settled,” Mason said. “Tom, let’s go talk to the Realtor.”
As we walked over to the agent, I could see her grin stretch further. She knew what she had in her hands, and she knew that we were going to buy it. She was undoubtedly seeing zeros added to her paycheck as she stood there.
“After consideration, I think we’re in,” I said.
“Fantastic,” she said. “Just let me—”
“But before we do all that,” I interrupted, “I need to check with our insurance agent.”
The Realtor looked like she had suddenly gotten a whiff of a particularly noxious odor and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Do you need me to step away for you to make the call?”
“No, it’s fine,” I muttered, dialing the number. “Hello?”
“Mr. Anderson,” said the jovial voice on the other line. “I was just about to call you. The auditors have approved the final number, and we can have a check for you in roughly a week or so. Two at the top.”
“Perfect, that’s just what I was calling about. Let me know if things change,” I said.
I hung up and turned to the Realtor.
“I can have a payment to you in a week or so,” I said, holding out my hand to seal the deal with a handshake. She looked down at it and then up at me, a pained smile that looked like she doubted I was actually good for the money suddenly appearing.
“Oh, well, that could be problematic,” she said. I put my hand down.
“Problematic? How?” I asked.
“It’s just that this property is in growing demand. In order to lock you in at this price, I need a payment much sooner,” he said.
“Who else is looking? Another bar?” Mason asked, rather forcefully.
“Yes, in fact. I just fielded an offer by a man that owns a bar in town and is looking to relocate.”
“Danny?” Jordan nearly screamed. “You’re going to sell this place out from under us to that no-good piece of…”
“Jordan, get ahold of yourself,” I said, then turned back to the Realtor. “Just one second, please.”
I huddled my brothers again a few feet away, which wasn’t easy with Jordan pacing like a caged lion.
“That son of a bitch is trying to destroy us,” Jordan said in a barely hushed whisper.
“Either that or this guy is full of it,” Matt said.
Mason shook his head. “He was awfully motivated to sell it to us when he thought we had the ability to write a check today. But as soon as it seemed like we might not, he got all squirrelly. It’s like he has another offer on the table already and it just isn’t as good as the one he gave us.”
“Wait, so you mean to tell me he might sell it to Danny, but that Danny also might get it for less than what we would pay for it?” Jordan asked, his rage barely contained.
“It’s possible,” Tyler said. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
I pursed my lips and thought about it for a second. The only plan I had wasn’t going to go over well with my accountant, but it was worth it. I held up one finger to my brothers and took out my phone again, pulling up his name in the contacts. He transferred me, rather reluctantly, to the lender at my bank.
“Hello, Mr. Anderson, what can I do for you?” he said.
“I was calling to ask about the loan I applied for,” I said. “Has there been any movement on that?”
“Let me check,” he said, and I could hear the sound of his fingers typing on a keyboard. “Ah, yes, it looks like I just received word that you are approved. Would you like to come by tomorrow and sign the paperwork?”
I grinned. “I’ll be there bright and early. Thank you.”
“Well?” Mason said as I rejoined the group. “What was that?”
“Just follow me,” I said and made my way to the Realtor.
“Ah, do we have a deal?” she said, suddenly dropping the sad act.
“We do,” I said. “I will have the down payment for you tomorrow.”
The Realtor drew herself up, placing her hand out to shake and slapping on a smile. “I will wait for you at the office,” she said. I took her hand and shook firmly, stepping a little closer to her and dropping my voice an octave.
“If the other interested party calls you, you’re out to lunch. Right?” I asked through the gritted teeth of a smile.
“Indeed,” she said, wrenching her hand from mine at the first opportunity.
As she took off, my brothers gathered around me, and we made our way back to our cars.
“We need to go see Danny,” Jordan said. “I need to have a talk with him.”
“The hell you do,” Mason replied. “The time for talk is way over. Now he needs a couple fists to the face.”
“Guys, we have to calm down,” I said. “I know we’re all pissed, and Danny clearly deserves whatever you have in your head about how you would remedy him. But if we went down there right now, it would just give him a heads-up that we know he’s in the market for the spot and that we haven’t gotten it yet.”
There was a pause as everyone thought through it. Tyler kicked at a rock and sent it down the drive toward the store.
“Hey,” I said, “careful. That’s our rock now.”
That got a smirk out of him and seemed to break the tension of the group. I looked back over the building and the lot and clapped Mason on the back. He turned to me and then to the lot himself. For a quiet moment, we all took it in, each of us undoubtedly envisioning what it could be.
“This is going to work,” I said. “Not only is it going to work, but it is going to be great. We will set up our new bar here, maybe expand into a full-fledged restaurant, and get in on the ground floor of the expansion of this part of the city. And Danny is going to be left in the cold where he is. He can’t come up with that kind of money, and we all know it.”
There was a general murmur of agreement and shaking of heads.
“He still deserves a boot in his ass,” Jordan grumbled.
“He does,” I said. “But for right now, I am content with him helplessly watching while we thrive. Besides, we need to get the down payment first.”