Page 86 of Her Wild Coast Refuge

How can I make this right?

The words on the pages won’t focus. I go faster, skimming the keywords and highlights. After pages and pages of this, it only confirms what I know.

Hemery Tate negotiates deals for mines, pipelines, bridges, and other big projects, all over the world. To broker these deals, they connect landowners with the project leads. Sometimes this involves buying land, like for a road to be built through private property, or compensating landowners for the inconvenience of a pipeline crossing their backyard. Sometimes it’s buying the rights to extract the resources found beneath the surface.

Like Allen Daly’s mineral tenure.

Dawson and Quinn are here to finalize the Soren Creek Mine project. This was Dawson’s finish line, the deal they had to make in order for him to be free.

I dig deeper into Hemery Tate’s history and discover a story in the Dallas Business Journal about Brielle and Dawson’s partnership from four years ago.

The powerhouse duo will transform BBJ Land Brokers into a company with a competitive edge thanks to Hemery’s extensive marketing experience and James’ involvement in the family business.

“We’re excited for Hemery Tate’s bright future,” Hemery said.

“A safe and reliable one,” James added.

It’s a tall order after last year’s Otter Creek Mine disaster that released toxic metals into one of British Columbia’s most productive wild salmon habitats. It was this catastrophe that led to the demise of BBJ Land Brokers, and created an opportunity for James and Hemery.

I wipe the tears from my leaky eyes and huff a hard breath.

There’s no way I could have known any of this, but that brings me no solace. My bones ache like they’re going to snap. Thoughts are spinning around in my head like a pinwheel in the wind.

Not only did Dawson and Quinn lie to me about the future, they lied about their past.

Could this be any worse?

Something Quinn said on the walk back from fishing that first day makes sense now.

Dawson’s daddy left him a pile of shit.

Meaning he inherited a family company once worth a fortune—BBJ Land Brokers—in ruins.

Life threw me a curveball that night.

To save his family, Dawson partnered with his childhood friend Brielle Hemery and rebranded the company.

Maybe it’s unfair of me to draw comparisons between Dawson and his father’s way of doing business. But I can’t let go of the fact that Dawson’s father was partly responsible for the Otter Creek disaster. And now Dawson thinks it’s okay to take a similar risk—in my backyard?

It’s impossible to believe, yet that’s exactly what’s happened. I grip my hair and squeeze until my scalp burns, but the pain doesn’t help.

Dawson has to know what a mine in Soren Creek will do to me and my family.

Could he be so consumed by obtaining his freedom that he’s failed to fully weigh the cost? Or maybe he did, but it didn’t matter.

Either possibility is devastating.

I cradle my head and close my eyes to think of a solution.

The money my family’s scraped together isn’t enough to stop a billion-dollar mining company from moving forward. Hunter’s idea of using Dad’s bureaucratic channels is too slow.

The Margaret Mead quote in Kalle’s email drifts through my thoughts.Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

That’s exactly what I need to do: change the world. But I’m not part of the kind of group Margaret Mead had in mind.

Or am I?

After drawing a deep breath, I open my email and type a message.

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