Love Fast

I watch Rosey climb into the shuttle bus with a man I’ve never seen before. I know I have no right to feel jealous, but that doesn’t stop it. Who is that guy? He’s older than her, and not a local, but they clearly know each other.

“They’re ready for you now,” Gary calls. “Everyone’s having coffee in the ballroom.”

“The ballroom?” I ask. My head is fuzzy from the number of beers I drank at Grizzly’s last night, but I’m pretty sure I said I wanted this meeting in the Peak Room. I’ve invited some of the people I’ve known the longest in Star Falls for a meeting. I have a proposal for them, and I want to hear their concerns. I owe them that.

“No,” he says. “Not the ballroom. The room adjacent to the ballroom. The one with the views.”

The Peak Room. I pull in a breath and head down. We’ve definitely picked up some more applications from the people of Star Falls since I stopped avoiding town. I don’t know why I stayed away for so long. These people don’t hate me or pity me. They just know me.

I open the door to find the Peak Room full of around twenty people, coffee cups in their hands, chattering away. No one pays me the slightest bit of attention. I can’t help but smile. There’s not a room in the Colorado Club I’ve walked into and been ignored—not when those rooms are full of people here at my employ. But I like this feeling. It sums up Star Falls. Not one person is more important than anyone else.

I grab a cup of coffee and see Walt coming toward me.

“Hey, man, this place is gorgeous. The views are incredible.”

“You should know. You’ve lived here your whole life.”

He chuckles. “But I don’t know if it’s the windows or the lighting in here or what, but it looks more magical than usual.”

“Same place, different perspective,” I say.

“Right,” he says. “So what’re we all doing here? I know we’re not here for the coffee because, between you and me, Twilight Lattes does a better job.”

I clutch my chest. “You’re killing me.”

“You know you’re only going to get the truth from me,” he says.

“I’m counting on it.” I slap him on the back and clear my throat. “Thank you for coming, everyone,” I say, raising my voice to get everyone’s attention.

People turn toward me, and I gesture for everyone to take a seat. My assistant has set out chairs in a circle. I don’t want to stand at the front of an audience. I’m not of the boss of the people in this room. Some of them have known me since I was born. I can only hope to be their equal.

We take our chairs.

“Beautiful place,” Jim says. “You’ve done yourself proud, Byron.”

“Thanks, Jim,” I mutter. A man like Jim telling me he’s proud of me shouldn’t hit as deep as it does. But it’s as close as it gets to hearing it from a father.

“That one of Juney’s paintings?” he asks, nodding toward one of her canvasses. I hadn’t realized Rosalind decided to put one in here, but it looks good.

“It is.”

He nods, and a smile curls one side of his mouth. He pats me on the back before taking a seat.

“Thanks for giving up your time today. I know you’re all busy. I hope not too busy to come to the party we’re hosting on Monday night.” People murmur amongst themselves.

Donna’s hand shoots straight up. “What’s the dress code for this party?” she asks. “Is it fancy?”

Shit. I should have known that was a question people would have asked. There’s no doubt that in the eyes of the people of Star Falls, the Colorado Club is fancy. Hell, I hope in most people’s eyes it’s fancy. Relaxed fancy, but given the amount I’ve invested in this place… “The dress code for Monday is, if it’s good enough for Grizzly’s, it’s good enough for here.”

Cheers go up, and smiles light up the circle of familiar faces. I’m glad I cleared it up. I’d hate to think people might have stayed away because they didn’t think they could wear their jeans.

“I wanted to bring you all up here today because I know a few of you have been concerned with the way the Club has fenced off the boundary to the property.”

Mumbles around the circle tell me Jim’s not the only one with concerns. “I understand that this is land you’ve all considered yours for your entire lives.”

Nods and rumbles of agreement ripple through the circle.

“As you all know, I grew up on this land. Not this far up the mountain—down at the foot. I bought back the land because I understand the beauty here. I want to preserve it. So you should know that other than the trees we’ve already cleared for skiing, there are no plans for more buildings or any other changes to the landscape. I want the Colorado Club to be a place where people can experience the beauty of a place we’ve been lucky enough to grow up with. I don’t want to change that.”

“If they’re rich,” Eva shouts out.

I glance around at the people gathered. Do they all feel like that?

“It’s a good point,” I say. “Anyone who’s a member of the Colorado Club has to be wealthy. That wealth will ensure we can take care of this land for many, many years to come.”

The air almost prickles with indignation.

“But the other thing the Colorado Club does is bring opportunity to Star Falls. I left town for a lot of reasons, but leaving allowed me to spread my wings. I didn’t have to follow my father’s footsteps, or travel to earn a living. The Colorado Club gives the next generation of Star Falls a way of taking opportunities without having to leave a town they love. They can stay here and still plow their own path. I’m hopeful the Club will breathe new life into the town, give people more reasons to stay. I don’t want to spoil anything—not the environment, and not our town.”

Silence spreads across the room like a blanket.

“What about the fencing?” Jim asks.

I nod, wanting to address the issue head-on. “I have a dilemma here, because as I’ve said, you have to be wealthy to be a member of the Club. The membership list will be small. This isn’t a huge resort where there will be thousands of people passing through. The Colorado Club will be a second home for a lot of its members—a place they can escape to. Members want peace. They want unspoiled beauty. They don’t want to be one of a thousand people on a mountain. We have a good number of celebrities signed up already, and they want to guarantee their privacy. Sometimes their wealth will attract attention they don’t want, which means security is of paramount importance.”

“The mountain should be for everyone,” a guy I don’t recognize says from next to Jim.

I nod, wanting people to feel free to express themselves. But I haven’t finished yet.

“Ultimately, I don’t want to cut the people of Star Falls off from Club land. But access has to be limited. To that end, I want to open up much of the land one weekend a month to residents of Star Falls. You’ll have to show proof of residence, but you will be free to roam during that weekend.”

“So all that stuff about security and anonymity was just a bullshit excuse?” the same guy says.

“No,” I say. “During that weekend, members will know they might come across residents of Star Falls. They will be offered additional security, and we’ll have an increased staff presence generally outside of the main building.”

People start talking to each other.

“And that’s not all.” An image of Rosey’s smile comes into my head. I have to blink to push it away. She’d love this next bit. I wish she were here. I can almost feel the way her hand would smooth over my chest, the press of her lips against my cheek. I clear my throat and try to push her away. It’s getting more difficult, not less, to forget her.

“As you know, my family owned the orchard at the bottom of the mountain. At the moment, the border of the Colorado Club on the southeast is the border of my family’s farm. I’m going to change that. Most of the apple trees are still producing fruit, and I think it’s kind of a shame that those apples—which are delicious—are going to waste. I’m going to move the border of the Club so the land my family’s orchard stood on is excluded. And then the orchard will be run as a working farm again, the profits of which will be donated to Star Falls. It will create additional jobs, and you never know—Star Falls might get its own brand of cider.”

I glance around to see people’s reactions. My gaze settles on Bryan Tessay, arms folded, same scowl on his face he’s worn for the last thirty years. He used to be my father’s right-hand man until he lost his job after my father’s death.

“We’ll need your help,” I say to everyone, but looking at Bryan.

He nods. I know Bryan well enough to know that’s him giving me his stamp of approval.

I take a few minutes to steady my breathing and swallow past the lump in my throat. “I’m happy to take questions or chat about any other concerns.”

“Are you just saying this so you get more applications for all these jobs you have?” Sue Johnson says. “Someone told me you just want to recruit waitresses and bar staff.”noveldrama

There’s no such thing as a secret in Star Falls. If anyone knows every skeleton in every closet, it’s Sue. “Recruitment was a real issue for us a few weeks ago. Luckily, we’ve seen an increase in the number of applicants. From people in Star Falls, but also, from surrounding towns. I think word has spread, and I have you to thank for that. At the moment, recruitment isn’t a problem. I want to maintain a great relationship between the town of Star Falls and the Colorado Club. I want us to coexist and work together to ensure the survival of… of our town.” New York will always be in my blood, but Star Falls is who I am. I don’t know how I’ve denied it for as long as I have.

“Yeah, well. We want that too,” Sue says. “I like your idea about the orchard.”

The air in the room shifts. Around our circle, shoulders drop and jaws unclench. Even I sit back in my seat.

“I presume access to the land doesn’t include the slopes?” Nancy asks. She’s grinning, like she knows the answer I’m going to give, but she has to ask anyway.

I chuckle. “I’d be very happy to receive a membership application from you,” I say. “If you meet the criteria, I’ll personally approve it and we’ll welcome you to the slopes.”

She shrugs. “It was worth a try.”

I answer a couple of questions about job security, and whether or not members will use the shuttle bus. After that the meeting breaks up. Jim and Sue are the last to leave.

“You know, it’s not like I’m going to be lining up every first Saturday of the month to cross into Colorado Club land and walk Jenkins,” Jim says. “But it sure is nice to know that I can.” He slaps me on the back. “You did good, son. Keep it up.”

I try to swallow past the lump in my throat. The people of Star Falls don’t care that my father was a drunk who gambled away my family’s farm. They just care about me—because I’m one of their own.