Page 92 of Love Me Reckless

“Did he know what you two were up to?”

“I’m sure he put it together.”

He starts the van and we creep to the end of the driveway. “Is that why she left the Huttons in tears?”

An ache tightens inside my gut. I didn’t see her leave, and when I went outside hoping to find her, she was driving away. “Go ahead and say it.”

“Say what?”

“I told you so.”

“Fuck that,” he says. “It’s obvious you care about her, and she cares for you too. I just wish her situation wasn’t so complicated.”

“Watching her walk down that aisle is going to kill me.”

He winces, then shoots me a thoughtful glance. “Maybe you shouldn’t go to the wedding.”

“I said I’d always be there for her, and I meant it.”

Zach turns left out of the driveway. The snowy roads have been plowed but are still a little slick, so Zach takes the turn with care.

“I got some intel from Rowdy about what went down last year, do you want to hear it?”

I shrug.

“Finn River Ranch violated the Clean Water Act. Some kind of wastewater issue. Finn River is a blue-ribbon trout stream, and a huge draw for members, so it was a big deal. Sounds like several of the ranch’s bigger investors pulled out, and the future of the ranch looked dire.”

“Enter Dunk’n Birchnuts.”

“Yep. He was brought onboard as a consultant. He specializes in renewable energy resorts.”

“Which soothed the investors, I take it?”

Zach puts the van in low four to descend the steep hill. “Yep. He’s got big plans to make Finn River a net zero property. It’ll be the first of its kind.”

Learning all types of power systems was part of my training, so I’ve worked with alternative energy before. “Solar energy won’t be enough to power those ski lifts.”

“Maybe he’s going to take them out, make people hike,” Zach says with a grin. “Talk about green energy.”

Without ski lifts, there would be no need for mechanics. I doubt members would support such a plan, but more than that, the idea of not starting my day with opening the mountain and being greeted by so many happy faces is like a punch to the gut. People cheer when I start the lifts each day, and go out of their way to thank me when I show up to fix something.The Men in Black are here to save the day.

“I doubt he’d be able to pull that off,” I reply.

“Maybe he’ll require members to have electric cars,” Zach says.

“Half of them already do.”

Zach turns right, into their new neighborhood. “What’s powering those charging ports? A lot of people don’t know that just because the energy comes from the wall and not the gas pump doesn’t automatically make it cleaner.”

Electricity is generated in lots of ways, and the user doesn’t get a say where it comes from, unless they are off the grid. “Wouldn’t that be the rub? He makes everyone feel good about going green but the resort’s electricity is coming from a coal-fired power plant.”

“He’s gotta be smarter than that.” Zach pulls into the driveway of their three-bedroom house, the SOLD sign still in the front yard.

“Maybe about business.” Frustrated, I toss my gloves on the dash. “But his intellect ends there.”

“Remember you asked me about Gold Coast? Get this. Apparently it was a fancy resort in the Cook Islands that got shut down because of a slew of environmental violations.”

“Huh. That would fit, then, wouldn’t it?” Birchnuts to the rescue.

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