Page 32 of Forever Finds Us
I said it like, “Great, that sounds fine,” but I meant it like, “Fucking great, I can’t wait to see that slithering snake of a woman. Maybe she’ll try to harvest my sperm so she can tie me down for good this time.”
Unfortunately, Gina Scott was the go-to architect for the company that had hired Lee Construction to build their new residential project when they heard I was moving back home.
Based out of Sheridan, Wy Not Homes had projects going up all over Wyoming. I wasn’t surprised they wanted to build in Jackson Hole. Their usual MO was luxury homes, but they were savvy businesspeople and knew that if they started in the area with affordable and subsidized homes, they’d build a good rep before they started buying up land for their chance to make gazillions off rich tourists and celebrities who wanted to vacation in the Tetons.
Also unfortunately, Gina Scott was my ex-girlfriend. The three months or so we’d dated last year had been some of the least sexy or fun times of my adult life. We had sex and ate dinner together two or three times a week, and she’d sat at my dining table talking about how she wanted to redecorate my house, with her eyes on her phone the whole time, checking emails or Instagram.
When I’d finally called it off, she’d tried her hardest to hold onto the joke of a relationship. It had started out great. There had been mutual attraction, but it quickly turned disappointing, just like every other relationship I’d had to date.
Something’s missing.
Ninety days later, I barely knew anything about her, and she couldn’t have cared less about my wants and desires. All she’d cared about was money and status. She had plans to make us the Wyoming building community’s new “it” couple, whatever the hell that was, and when I’d started talking about moving home, she told me it was a mistake I’d regret.
I disagreed strongly. And I realized then that her opinion didn’t matter to me, which was the night I broke things off.
If I’d tried to wrap my hand around her throat when I’d fucked her, she probably would’ve called the cops. I imagined Roxanne showing up to the call and snorted out loud.
Tab looked at me out of the corner of her eye, like I’d just grown a second head.
So, yeah. Great. Super excited to see Gina Scott again.
“And then,” Tab went on, dismissing my outburst, “after we’re done touring properties, I’ll start reaching out to the crews who worked for you last year and see if I can drum up some more interest. The guys who’ve signed on to build the inn and those who worked on the barn and the bunkhouse this summer have already said they’ll work any job you offer them.”
“That’s great. Thanks, Tab.”
“Welcome. So, tell me about this weekend. I saw your sister on my way to pick you up, and she told me you went up there to help search for that missing girl. I’m so glad you found her. God, can you imagine if you hadn’t?”
I could imagine, and the nightmare of that exact scenario had played out in my dreams and kept me up half the night.
“Actually, Deputy Roxanne and I found Natalie. She was only a couple miles from the trailhead, but she fell and broke her ankle so she’d veered off course. From what her dad said, he was really close to where we found her when he looked for her earlier in the day, but apparently she wandered aimlessly for a while, and in those woods, you can get disoriented really fast. But a broken ankle was the worst of it.
“She’s at the hospital. I imagine they’ll release her today or tomorrow if she’s doin’ well. Bax said he talked to her dad and they’ve extended their stay at the cabin a couple days so she can rest, but they’re eager to get her home. She broke her arm at volleyball camp last year, so they want the same surgeon to treat her ankle.”
“We should buy them dinner or something before they leave. They’ve got to be exhausted.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll find out when they’re comin’ back to the cabin and set it up. The diner in town caters. I’ll give them a call after we’re done this mornin’.”
Tab drove into downtown Wisper, right past the diner in question, José’s, but we didn’t have time to stop, so I set a reminder in my calendar to call José later as Tab pulled up and parked across the street from the sheriff’s station.
“Why are we here?” I asked.
“I told you, we’re meeting Mrs. Brooks. This is the first property.” Tab nodded at an empty storefront across the street from the station, then looked at her phone, clicking the screen a few times. “She’s already inside. Come on.”
“Right.” But my attention wasn’t on the rental property. It was fixed on the station, and I was hoping for a glimpse of Roxanne.
I didn’t get one, and Mrs. Brooks met us in the open door of the Main Street building, shook our hands, and introduced herself. We walked through the space she wanted us to see, but it was small and not really the right floor plan for my purposes.
The community center next to the sheriff’s station was buzzing with activity when we were done, and I waved to Devo when I saw her trying to wrangle a couple little kids through the big, open front doors, but the sun was shining on the station’s windows next door. If Roxanne was in there, I couldn’t see her.
The sharp pang of disappointment I felt surprised me.
Tab and I followed Mrs. Brooks to the next available property, but it was an old house ten miles south of town. Technically, it could’ve worked. It was big enough, but it would need major renovations if it was going to be used as offices, and I figured if I wanted to go that route, I could just build the offices on my family’s land and make it exactly how I wanted it from the get-go.
That idea had me thinking and imagining family offices, where we could run the ranch, the rentals, and Lee Construction all from the same building. I’d kept my business separate from my family for so long, but now I found myself wondering if things needed to change. Maybe being hands-off wasn’t suiting me anymore. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it though. It was a bigger deal than just relocating Lee Construction.
The third property Mrs. Brooks showed us was another house, but it was north of town, closer to the highway and more accessible. The size was right, and I could picture a big Lee Construction sign facing Highway 20, but I couldn’t muster any excitement about it now that the image of the family offices had invaded my mind.
I told Mrs. Brooks I’d think about it and we’d get back to her. In fact, I had a lot of thinking to do. She thanked us, gave us her business card, and then Tab drove over to José’s since we had to pass through town on our way back to Merv’s anyway.
