Page 10 of Just a Plot Twist
Once I catch my breath a little, I speak up.
“And what do you do when you’re not enjoying nature on a Saturday morning?”
“I live and work in Denver,” he says. “But I have family in Longdale, so I come here often.”
“Are you an avid hiker?”
“I’m a computers guy, so does that answer your question?” His bass laugh is nice. “I like to run, but—” he pauses to inhale, and I feel a kinship with him since he’s also out of breath. “Hiking is a whole other skill set.”
My hips and outer thighs burn, so I run my palms down them to rub them out. “You’ve got that right. So, IT nerd, do you program video games about goblins and elves?”
“I’m not that kind of nerd. But I like reading the fantasy genre. Do you have something against goblins and elves?”
“Not at all. Just trying to get a feel for the level of your nerdiness.”
“I don’t do much programming. I’m working to update the backend of the finance company I work for. We’re bringing in new software.”
“The city of Longdale could use an update on our software.”
“How long have you worked for the city?”
“Oh, going on nine years now. I’m actually working on a trailways project, so that’s one reason I came. To check out the state of things up here.”
The other reason is to get my burning, sore hinny back in shape, dang it.
“That’s cool. What do you hope to do with it?”
Normally, I wouldn’t go on and on about the project. It’s something that wouldn’t interest a lot of people. But this guy? Heseemsinterested. Besides, he has nowhere else to go, so looks like he’s stuck listening to me.
“I spent a year creating an exploratory report with our city manager. It’s a project that the mayor asked us to head up. We’re cataloguing and codifying our trail systems to further protect our land. Now it’s time to find some more funding and get this project off the ground.”
“You think the local government will have your back?”
I swallow hard. “That’s the hope. It’s one of the reasons I have to get this right.” I pause to breathe. “I have to be so convincing they can’t say no.”
“I should talk with my brothers who live here. They might know of ways they can support. If enough of their people are behind it, maybe the city will have to say yes.”
“Your brothers have people? Fancy.”
He chuckles. “No, I just meant that the more support you have, the better, right? My brothers might be able to help. They own a resort company and want to do what they can to preserve the area.”
Wait.
Brothers?
Resort company?
Finance company in Denver?
It’s clear now who this mystery man is.
“Oh!” I let it escape before I can school it. “I know you. I mean, I knowofyou.” I nod and throw a look back at him over my shoulder. “My sister is Sophie, Oliver’s wife. And you must be his oldest brother?”
He’s a Tate. And it’s a family rule that we hate the Tates. Ever since they outbid the Hansons on the acreage for the resort, there’s been bad blood between us. Except Sophie married one, a fact that my grandparents still aren’t totally okay with.
And actually, this guy’s not a Tate. Technically, his last name is Kilpack, after his adoptive family. It was a whole thing awhile back when Thomas discovered he’d had a baby he didn’t know about when he was still in college, before he even met Celine.
The thing is, the Hansons are sworn enemies of the Tate family. But Sophie and I are Lawsons—our father’s last name—and it’s their beef, not ours. I never got why it was such a big deal.
