“He’s family.”
“No.” Quinn points to me. “He’s family.”
“You don’t deserve your trust fund. Not one penny of it.” She starts back to her car. “You’re going to regret this one day.”
He waves dismissively. She huffs and drives off in a tizzy.
“What do you think Jon wants?” I ask.
“Same thing he always wants: me to take over running his posse.”
I look at him sideways. “He still has a posse?”
“He’s got half a dozen guys running things for him. A few years after he went to prison, I went to see him. I wasn’t twenty-one yet and didn’t control my trust fund.” He glances back at the driveway. “She made me go. I never told you because he wanted me to help him get back at you. Said I was in the perfect position because we were friends. He wanted me to immerse myself in your life and become a trusted part of DHR. Then he would take it over from within. I thought if I told you, you wouldn’t trust me.”
“Damn. I’m glad you didn’t say anything. I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have been suspicious.”
“You know I’d never do anything to hurt you or anyone here. I wasn’t lying when I told her you’re family.”
I pat him on the shoulder. “Same, brother. But why do you think his guys have left us alone all this time if he’s hell-bent on getting back at us?”
“Probably wants to do it himself. What would be the fun in ruining DHR if he weren’t around to see it?”
“We should tell Maddox and Owen about this.”
“I was planning to, but no need to rain on everyone’s parade until Jon gets released.”
“Hello, boys!” Lora sings across the yard. She’s wearing a tight skirt and a low-cut blouse.
I lean toward Quinn. “You’re not still sleeping with her, are you?”
“No, but when she comes here dressed like that, I can’t make any guarantees.”
“You’re early,” I say as she approaches.
“Thought we could go over my notes. I have an idea I’d like to run past you.”
Quinn slaps me on the back. “If we’re done here, I’m going to head out.”
I lift my chin. “See you, man, and thanks.”
Lora eyes my bare chest. Sweat is dripping down my abs. “How about we talk in your cabin?”
Not going to happen. “The office in the lodge is better suited, don’t you think? I’ll get a fresh shirt and be there in a sec.”
She doesn’t seem happy, but she covers it with a smile and walks away.
A few minutes later, I join her at the lodge.
“Where’s Devyn?” she asks.
“Where she always is. With Mickey.”
“Good.”
“Why good?” I walk past her and into the office.
“I wouldn’t want her overhearing any of my ideas and passing them off as her own.”
“Why would she do that?” I ask, turning on the computer.
She sits in the chair on the other side of the desk. “She might be one of those girls who capitalize off the ideas of others.”
I’m trying hard not to bite her head off. She’s been an asset to the lodge, and I don’t need any other problems at the moment. “You don’t think the ideas she’s had are her own?”
She shrugs. “Seems unlikely from someone with her background.”
I give her a punishing stare. “What background would that be?”
“Never mind. I had this idea about getting ATVs for all our guests, keeping them here at the lodge to make things easy, and offering all-terrain tours of the ranch. You could go off-trail to places the horses can’t get to. Down the ridge, for instance. It would be something else to offer guests. Might make people want to stay more than just a few days.”
I make a note and try not to seem smug. “So you want to use Devyn’s idea of offering helicopter tours and housing horses at the lodge, only change horses to ATVs? I’d say that’s you capitalizing off her ideas, wouldn’t you?”
She huffs. “Not at all. Nobody has mentioned ATVs before now.”
“However it came about, it’s still a good idea.”
“And not nearly as expensive as building a stable.”
I chew on my pencil in thought. “It’s something we could start up quickly. I’d have to buy the ATVs, but single-rider ones don’t need hauling capabilities and will be cheaper than the ones we already have. We could cover them with tarps until we get a stable built with a large storage room.” I smile. “This could work.”
She smiles back. “I’m glad you think so. I can get you some prices. We can roll some of the expense into event costs. The more we offer, the more they’ll be willing to pay. Pretty soon, we’ll be competing with some of the major ranch destinations.”
“That would be amazing.”
“Maybe there could be a full-time job in it for me? You know, sometime down the road?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m going to have to run the cost by Maddox and my uncle.”
“Let me put something together before you do. I’ll work up a brochure and do a mock-up of a new website offering the additional tour.” She bounces in her seat. “ATVs will make it easier to get guests around faster. We could not only offer an all-terrain tour of the property, but since it only takes fifteen minutes to get to the main ranch by ATV, we could offer excursions there. Say, working with the horse trainers. Or we could put on our own mini rodeo. The possibilities are endless.”
“Work something up and get back to me.”
She stands and straightens her skirt. “Anything for you. I love it here.” She comes around the desk and leans into me. “I mean it, Aaron.”
The way she’s staring me down tells me she does mean anything.
“Oh, sorry,” I hear from the doorway.
I look over in time to see Devyn scurry away. I go after her. “Hey.”
She goes into her room and sits on the bed.
I follow, closing her door behind me. “That wasn’t what you think.”
“I think Lora wants in your pants, and she was coming on to you.”
“Okay, maybe it is what you think, but it was just that second when she came around the desk. The rest of the time, we were talking business.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Good, because there’s no reason to be. I don’t want her. I want you.”
She cocks her head. “Why don’t you want her? She’s pretty, educated, single, and she doesn’t come with all the baggage.”
“Everyone comes with baggage, Dev. Every person has a past.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have regular baggage. I come with a whole trunk full of shit.”
I sit next to her. “As do I.”
“Your trunk doesn’t include being an ex-convict or the unwanted quasi-kid of a congressman.”
“So yours is more complicated than most.” I take her hand. “I don’t mind complicated.”
She glances down at her stomach and laughs. “Well, you got it.”
I think I hear something in the hall and open the door to check, but no one’s there. I peek into the office to see Lora typing on her laptop. I must have been imagining things. I return to Devyn.