Page 51 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Yes, it is.” She grimaces, setting her jaw. “It’s definitely about that. I’ve always dreamed about leaving Leadwood for good, and this feels like my chance to actually become a part of theworld.”

“The world is right here,” Isay.

“No, it’s not. The world is out there. This is just a little piece ofit.”

I sigh, but I don’t think I can get her to see my point. She’s getting upset, and I don’t want to push her, but I’m afraid that if I let this go then she’ll just leave and I’ll always regret not tryingharder.

“We’re building something here,” I say softly. “You have to see that. Ryan bought those apartments, James opened the club, I have a project in the works, and I know the twins are on to something.” I give her a long look, hoping she understands. “We’re building something here,” I sayagain.

That gets her attention. “I know you guys want to improve this place,” shesays.

“More than that, we want to build it into something completelydifferent.”

“How?” She stares at me. “The people here don’t wantchange.”

I wave my hand dismissively. “The people here don’t know what they want. We’re going to showthem.”

She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “What’s your project?” sheasks.

I grin. “Glad you asked. It’s amuseum.”

She perks up a little bit, almost despite herself. I know she hates talking about how Leadwood isn’t such a bad place, but I think she’s getting more used to the idea that the five of us are slowly making this town amazing. And if she wants, she can be a part of that. She can be oursixth.

“What kind ofmuseum?”

“Art museum,” I say. “I’ve been collecting pieces for a long time, and Ryan needs a place to show, so…” I shrug alittle.

She looks skeptical. “You can’t just open amuseum.”

“It’ll be modern,” I say. “We won’t have many great classics, but like I said, I’ve been collecting for a while. I think we’ll have a pretty good foundation for a modern art museum, plus two extra galleries for rotating shows. Or at least that’s the plan right now, we might do a thirdgallery.”

She stares at me silently for a second before shaking her head. “I don’t believeyou.”

“Whynot?”

“You know that running a museum is my dream. And you’re just telling me this now, in the middle of a conversation about meleaving?”

I grin at her. “Come withme.”

She sighs as I stand up. “Where?”

“Come on,” I say. “It’s just in myoffice.”

She hesitates but finally she follows. I take her into my office and I pull out the blueprints that I had drafted up two months before she came back totown.

She goes through them slowly, and I make sure she notes the dates. She still seems skeptical, but as I show her photographs of my collection, marketing materials I’ve been building, and even potential sites, she slowly comesaround.

“This is amazing,” she says. “But why didn’t you tell me thisbefore?”

“Honestly?” I ask. “I wasn’t thinking aboutit.”

She gapes. “You’rekidding.”

I laugh a little. “Nope, I’m really not. The plans kind of stalled out at the beginning of the summer when my architect quit on me, so I’ve been lazy about finding a newone.”

“Why’d hequit?”

I shrug. “His wife got a job in Germany, so theymoved.”

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