Page 36 of The Grizzly Situation
“Where are we?” I asked the flight attendant as I peered out the window at a compact city, surrounded by lush forests, and in the distance I could see what appeared to be several lakes.
She graced me with a chuckle. “Mr. McNamara, welcome to Ursine.”
And my mind was blown.
Chapter Ten
ULY
Okay,I will be the first to admit that I’m easily impressed. Jamie showed me a toad once that looked like our uncle John, and I was utterly spellbound by it. I kept it in an aquarium and delighted in tossing bugs to my toad-uncle and watching his eyes roll back when he swallowed. Yeah, I was a weird kid. Bear Mountain? It was amazing and sure as hell not what I expected. Even seeing some pictures online didn’t prepare me for how sleek and modern the downtown looked. Steel, glass, and brick combined to make something that appeared functional, but also charming. Whoever built the town had taken a lot of care to do it.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” Cullin asked.
“It’s amazing,” I replied, trying not to miss anything. “Does everything look like this?”
“Nope, just downtown and the business center. The only other place that comes close is Mr. Lockhart’s mansion. Our people work with the environment when they build. If we remove trees for something we plant new ones. We have fields of flowers so vast you would swear it was literally an ocean ofthem. Mr. Lockhart—all of us, actually—are big on maintaining the sanctity of Mother Nature, and we all strive to be in harmony with her.”
And looking around, I could believe it. If anyone had told me before I saw this, I would have said it was some hippie kind of thing, but no, this was transformative for me. To see so many initiatives I’d heard about put into practice? Amazing couldn’t even begin to describe it. And he wanted me to be part of this? I was ready to sign on the dotted line, doing whatever he wanted me to.
“You’ll find that no matter where you go in our company, everywhere is very similar to this. Even in the busiest cities we do what we can to live in harmony with nature. Most cities and countries we’re invested in have agreements allowing us to work with the people to revitalize and create green space. Their government is happy because we do the work for next to nothing, the people are happy with changes to their quality of life, and our people who live there are happy because they’re able to breathe clean air.”
“How do you do it?” I asked, hanging on his every word.
“We recycle aggressively, copying some other countries that burn the trash, then use the ash to create roads. All the smoke from the resulting pollution is filtered and converted to steam, which is then used to water our hydroponic gardens.
The more he talked, the more I wanted to be part of this. Hell, I’d pay to belong to something like this.
“Are you impressed?”
“I am,” I admitted. “Living in the big city, all glass and steel with asphalt, trapped heat and stagnant air. This has it beat hands down. The breeze is cool, it’s not filled with gunk, and I can see trees and flowers, and not just tiny little patches of land that has a few scattered around.”
Cullin smiled, then inhaled deeply, his broad chest rising and falling. “That’s how we all feel. This gives us a chance to breathe, to keep nature as a part of our lives. Out there is too claustrophobic. We were meant to be free.”
“Why hasn’t the rest of the country jumped in?”
He scowled. “Too many in the government here and other countries feel it should be profit over people, so they deny any applications we put in. We want to stop the chokehold on the planet and find better ways to do things. They want money coming in hand over fist, with the richest usually reaping the benefits.”
“You mean like?—”
“Don’t even say it,” he growled, his warning obvious. “Mr. Lockhart invests billions every year to help. He asks for nothing in return. He donates money, stocks food pantries, aids projects that are in dire need of funding because some in the government feel the best way to help is to withhold money to groups that need it and instead give even more money and tax breaks to those who don’t. Oh, and before you ask, Mr. Lockhart pays his taxes every year without fail. And he pays more than he needs to, with whatever is returned going out again as aid packages. His accountants want him to claim it all as tax credits, but he refuses, saying as an American he’s willing to pay his fair share.”
And again, Brent showed what kind of person he is. I took in a deep breath, enjoying the warm scents filling my lungs. I could smell several different flowers that were achingly familiar. Maybe something mom had planted at some point? All I knew was that I wanted to run in the fields, flop down among the vast multitude of hues and smells, to let go, at least for a while.
To finally feel like I belonged somewhere.
“Could I stay here to work?” I asked, almost with desperation. “I mean, are there jobs in Bear Mountain for someone like me?”
Cullin shifted from side to side and his gaze, which had been locked on me, slid toward the horizon where the sun was shining brightly. “I think that’s something only Mr. Lockhart can decide. We don’t usually allow…. You know what? It would be best to ask him. I don’t want to say something and be completely wrong. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.”
He said it with a grin, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Which meant no, they didn’t usually take people from outside and I was only here because Brent wanted me to meet with his HR department, then fuck off to wherever I decided to go. That it wouldn’t be here was painfully obvious.
It was weird how much that hurt. I hadn’t even seen the town, but I felt comfortable here already, like I would fit in. I should have known better. In my entire life there was nowhere I’d gone that I would ever belong, medication or not. I shouldn’t be upset. It wasn’t as if Brent had promised me a life in their headquarter city. He said he’d help me with a job, and I should be grateful for that. They probably had all the people they needed and were trying to keep it from exploding to maintain this beauty.
“I understand.” I didn’t. “Is there a store around somewhere?”
“Sure, what do you need? I’m fairly certain they’ve got everything at the mansion you could want. Mr. Lockhart had the staff lay in supplies so that you and his other guests would want for nothing.”
Of course he did. “I want to get a gift for the boys.”
