Page 5 of Chasing Lynda

I feel embarrassed to admit it. “Yeah. Getting married and getting my trust fund is the only way to keep Dad out of jail and save the house and not only my family fortune but all of yours too, since all your families are either shareholders in the Butten Enterprise or work for my family. If Dad goes down for embezzlement and the company goes into administration and liquidation, we’re all going to be fucking ruined.”

Bennett doesn’t sound very convinced. “How is it possible? I mean, Butten Enterprise is worth a fucking fortune. How could your dad squander billions?”

I thought the same thing and I explain it the same way Bennett’s father explained it to me. “Pop-Pop never trusted Dad. So he awarded him very limited funds and put all the company’s profits into bonds. I mean he gave Dad enough to live lavishly, but not to squander millions at high roller games in Vegas every month. He kept ahold of most of his shares and put them in those trusts to be equally divided between me and Callie. He left Dad enough shares to control the company but Dad has been selling them until he had basically nothing left. After Pop-Pop passed, the bonds have been administered by a company he appointed. They’ll handle them until we either satisfy the clause in the will or the money gets awarded to the alternate heirs. Any money accrued by those bonds will go into off-shore accounts that we won’t have access to until—”

Carter finishes for me. “Until you get married in the next three months. If you do.”

Zane sums up the way we’re all feeling with a, “Fuuuuuck! So has your dad lost control of the company?”

I nod. “As it is, my family doesn’t own Butten anymore. And Dad’s investments since Pop-Pop has been gone have been so hazardous, that those shares and the minority packages your families own are worth next to nothing. Our only hope is that trust fund because it has a fortune in other assets and liquid funds. So we can keep my father out of jail and keep your families from losing everything too. I don’t know what I’m going to do, since my chance at getting married is gone. Maybe I can beg my third cousins I’ve never met to help Dad?”

I cradle my head with my hands, slumping my shoulders as a wave of nausea hits me full on. It isn’t all the booze I’ve downed since I’ve been back from the hospital. I just feel as if the weight of the entire world is resting on my shoulders; and as it is one of them is useless, as the searing pain reminds me with every movement.

I feel a hand clap my back and Zane’s voice makes me lift my head to look into his green eyes.

“Dude, like always, we’re in this together. The guys and I were happy when you got Pleasure Beach because none of us has any intention of working at our family businesses. Regardless of them potentially going down because of your father’s situation.”

That’s another reason why I feel terrible. The guys have played football with me all these years but none of them was interested in going pro. We all agreed that we didn’t want to follow in our fathers’ footsteps, so we made a plan after high school. It all hinged on my football career. They all got degrees that were aimed at following me wherever I went.

We planned to invest the money I’d make into something that would be just ours, away from our families and their expectations. The trust fund was just the icing on the cake.

“I’ve let us all down,” I say, feeling like the worst piece of shit in the world.

Zane grabs my hand, lifting me back onto my feet, thankfully he grabs the uninjured one. “You couldn’t foresee a career ending injury this early in the game. You did everything right, Dodge. And I think not everything is lost.”

Carter nods, obviously on the same wavelength of whatever Zane is planning. “Since your plan of marrying Chrissie isn’t viable anymore, the only way out of this situation is to make Pleasure Beach so profitable that we can pay back the town in time to keep your dad out of jail and keep the resort. So we also have something to fall back on. Fuck your trust fund, dude. No amount of money is worth marrying someone you don’t love. Take it from me, I’ve seen my parents quietly hate each other for two decades. Their families pushed them together but I don’t think they’ve ever even liked each other. Let’s forge our own fucking path in life, guys.”

Bennett agrees. “Carter is right. It’s not that different than what we were planning before. The end game was always to use Dodge’s paychecks from playing ball. The trust fund money wouldn’t have been awarded all at once anyway, right? And we don’t want to be dependent on our families. So, let’s turn Pleasure Beach around.”

It’s a very ambitious plan. “It’s very risky. And we’re really out of money. How can we fund anything more than what the resort has to offer? I’m sure that Dad gave it to me because the business wasn’t profitable.”

Bennet agrees. “Right. But we’ve discussed this. Your father has demonstrated more than once that he’s a terrible business man and he did everything wrong. Bridgeport is a college town. College students don’t want old fashioned slot machines and souvenir shops. The rides that are there are fine but we need to change the image of the place. And we can start with minimal investments. We can rent a few better games for the arcade which will make us money once we attract more paying guests.”

I love the guys’ enthusiasm but I’m not entirely sold. “How do we attract more paying guests? Young customers stay the fuck away from Pleasure Beach, and the few families that come are just enough to keep the doors open.”

I don’t know if Bennett’s smirk should make me feel excited or worried. “Fuck the families! We want people to come here for Spring Break, The Fourth Of July, for weekends of debauchery. We’re gonna put Vegas and Fort Lauderdale to shame.”

I snort, frustrated. “But how?”

His smile widens. “Events. Stuff that’s cheap to organize but attracts crowds. Crowds that will spend their money on our booze and rides and will stay at the hotel. In a couple of days it’s Memorial Day. Our first two events will be a Miss Wet T-shirt contest and a Battle of the Bands type concert. We’ll also kill two birds with one stone. I can make some great promo material by putting the tits—Hmm the face of whoever wins the wet t-shirt contest on our website. And how many wannabe bands are there going to be in a college town? By offering the winners free beer for one night and the possibility of some gigs, we’ll be scoring free entertainment this weekend. And if this works, I have way more ideas where these ones came from.”

His plan is a little crazy but it could work. A flicker of hope starts burning in my chest. “Ok. We can try to do that. And I guess if we need some seed money, we could sell this,” I say, digging the ring Chrissie gave back to me out of my pocket. “This is worth at least 50k.”

Carter wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Look dude, about Chrissie ... the guys and I appreciate your attempt to fix the situation. Sure, your trust fund would be enough that we’d never have to work again unless we chose to do so. But not at the expense of you marrying a complete bitch and someone you don’t love.”

He’s right. “I know. But—”

He laughs defiantly. “Look, I’d sooner hire an actress to play the role of your fiancée and to agree to a fake marriage than let you marry that fucking ho.”

I smile for the first time this week. Carter has always had the power to make me feel better, no matter how dire the situation.

Even when his ideas are as outlandish like a fake fiancée. I look at the ring in my hand, wondering if Chrissie would agree to some kind of arrangement, if push came to shove. Because I appreciate my brothers’ enthusiasm but time is ticking and I’m not sure that one short summer can turn things around without my trust fund or the Cowboys money.

“Come here you little whore! When I say you suck my dick, you just ask how hard!”

Harsh male voices make me turn to look at the other side of the old pier. I look through the gaps in the pillars where a group of men are standing in a semi-circle and there’s a girl slumped on the wet sand.

The asshole who just spoke, grabs a handful of the girl’s dark hair, lifting her onto her knees.

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