Page 52 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Huh.” She looks back down at the blueprint. “You should keep going. Find a newarchitect.”

“I will,” I say. “But I need more than anarchitect.”

She looks up at me, and I can see the pain in her expression. My smile slowly fadesaway.

“Don’t ask,” she sayssoftly.

“Okay,” I say, standing up and crossing my arms. “I won’t ask. But the offer will still bethere.”

She turns away. “I should get back towork.”

“Yeah,okay.”

I watch as she leaves my office. I hate that she’s so conflicted, but I don’t feel bad for trying. I had to offer, had to at least tell her about this. Otherwise, I’d never forgivemyself.

I don’t know if she’ll come around. Maybe she never will and I’ll have to find someone else to run my museum. Which is fine, because this museum is going to be built, and it’s going to bring some fucking culture to this barrenwasteland.

But if she’d stay… she can make so much happen, and we can give her the means. If only she could see beyond her prejudices, beyond her hate for this town, and see the dream we all have for thisplace.

19

London

Ifill my days with the guys, and they make me feel better than I ever have in mylife.

It’s strange. I never thought I could even possibly have a relationship like this, let alone have it in Leadwood. But it’s like we’re in our own little world and nobody bothers us. The guys take turns staying over, sometimes a few of them at a time. Once all fived crashed in my apartment, although only three of us can fit in my bed at any given time. That was one intense and fun night,though.

My parents worry about me, but I visit them every day, and try to explain it. I don’t go into detail about my arrangement with the guys, or what we’re getting up to, but I do have to somehow explain theapartment.

“They’re just helping me out,” I say to my father over lunch a few days after I leave their house. “They had an extra apartment and offered it tome.”

He frowns at that. “Just an extra apartment, lyingaround?”

“Ryan owns the building,” I say, smiling. “Nobody was renting it, and he knows I’m leaving at the end of the summer anyway, so he’s helping meout.”

Dad sighs. “Did you really need to get away from us thatbadly?”

“Dad,” I say softly, smiling. “You’ve done a lot for me, but I’m growing up, youknow?”

“I know.” He smiles back. “Justsucks.”

“I know it does. But don’t worry. My new job pays well, it’s great experience, and my apartment is safe. I’m in a goodplace.”

“I hope so.” He smiles and he doesn’t bring it up again, but I can tell that it still bothershim.

Work goes great. At first, I feel a little lost, trying to run social media for a steel fabrication company, but I quickly get the hang of it. I even manage to get a couple tweets to go viral, or at least as viral as a local steel fabrication company’s Twitter possibly can. James seems happy with my work, which is pretty much all Ineed.

Henry doesn’t bring up the museum again, and I drop the subject, although I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t help but think that it’s just his way of trying to convince me to stay, and is that really so bad? I mean, the museum is clearly real, and I think they have more plans to improve Leadwood, even if Leadwood doesn’t want to improve. I hear James talking about it sometimes with the other guys, just chatting idly about possible plans and things they can do to bring more commerce and culture to the area. I love their idealism and their hard work, and I do think a lot of it is paying off already. The twins are opening a new restaurant in town, and Ryan’s trying to get approval to build a public park right near the town center on a tract of unused land he bought up a few years ago. Basically, they’re dragging Leadwood into the world, kicking andscreaming.

And there is some screaming. Despite trying to keep me sheltered from the rest of the town, I still hear the murmurs and the mumbling from the shop floor workers. There are whispers that my five guys are trying to buy up the town and turn it into some fancy resort. They’re trying to destroy everyone’s way of life, make taxes too high, that sort of thing. There are also other rumors, about me specifically, but I try not to worry aboutthat.

A month passes like this. Ryan starts construction on the top floor of the apartment building out of nowhere, which surprises me. I basically can get from the elevator to my apartment, but I can’t go anywhere else. I don’t know what happened to the other people on my floor. I heard they got bought out at absurd prices and relocated to different apartments on lower floors, which I don’t really understand. I asked Ryan about it once, but he just smiled and shook hishead.

Summer moves faster than I want it to, like everything good. Suddenly I have only four weeks left in Leadwood, four weeks left with my guys and in my apartment, and I can already feel that thing inside of me stirring, fighting against the future. I can feel the image of my future self starting to shift and warp in ways I never thought it possiblycould.

“What’s with the bad mood?” James asks me one evening, a few days into that firstweek.

“I’m not in a bad mood,” I say, obviouslylying.

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