Page 54 of Butterfly Sisters
“It’s amazing up here, isn’t it?” he asked, before taking a swig from the bottle himself.
“I can’t believe you never showed me this.” She looked back out at the lake, the two of them falling into silence, the view taking center stage in their moment. She lay back on the blanket and peered up at the stars. Colton followed, his head next to hers. When he did, Leigh rolled over to face him, the wine giving her courage.
He did the same, his gaze devouring her as if he had a hundred things to say, but he stayed quiet. He leaned on his elbow and propped his head up with his hand.
Then he inched closer to her, his hand finding her waist, his other moving behind her head to support her. “You asked why I never brought you here,” he said, his face so close she could almost taste the bite of the wine on his lips. “Because with nothing else to distract me,” he breathed, “I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from kissing you.”
Leigh looked into his eyes. Her mind was filled with uncertainty. If she kissed him right now, she would change everything. Could she stay here for him? Indecision swarmed her and pushed out every other possible thought. She reached out and traced the typography on his T-shirt with her finger, the picture on his shirt a symbol of how far they’d both come and how much he’d changed. Then she pushed away from him, rolling onto her back. He didn’t protest, and she wondered if the same questions were going through his head. As she lay there with him, she was sure of only one thing: for better or worse, nothing would ever be as it had been between them.
EIGHTEEN
When Leigh rose from the most magnificent night’s sleep, she checked her phone to find an email from Top Mountain Supply Co. They wanted to come out to see the property. That was all four. With Jimbo back this morning, she got ready for the day, had breakfast, and jumped in the car, headed for the Greystone Properties office. When she arrived, she knocked happily on the little trailer door.
“Yeah,” Jimbo’s muffled voice came from inside.
When Leigh let herself in, Jimbo was on the phone. She smiled, despite his absolutely awful business etiquette.
He stared at her over a pair of readers. “You don’t have to fight me on this,” he barked into his phone. “The revenue alone will drive up your property value.” He rolled his eyes, listening, and finally hung up the phone. “Yeah?” he said on a frustrated exhale.
“All of the retailers have agreed to meet,” she said. “I’ve got them scheduled for next week.”
He brightened just a bit when she said that—as much as she’d seen Jimbo brighten. “That’s great news,” he said. “I need to get those buildings filled sooner rather than later. I’ve got a fight on my hands with a resident, and maybe getting those businesses open will shut him up. He needs to know that I can get this done with or without a fight.”
“Not to intrude, but who’s fighting you?” she asked, wondering if she could use her negotiating skills to sway them.
“Just some nobody farmer named Colton Harris. He’s a thorn in my side.”
She could literally feel the blood run from her face, down her body, and into her feet. “Colton Harris?”
“Yeah.” He yanked off his readers and tossed them onto the coffee-stained desk calendar. “He’s been against me since the beginning.”
“Why?”
“He claims that retail will ruin property values.” He blew a heavy breath through his lips and shook his head with disgust on his face.
She could definitely see how Jimbo could rub Colton up the wrong way, and she could only imagine what he must think of a man like Jimbo heading up retail property in the area, but the development would be strong—she was making sure of it. The property was located well away from residential areas and the companies she was courting would be an asset to the locals. “I know him,” she said. “Let me talk to him.”
Jimbo let out a skeptical laugh. “Good luck.”
“While I’ve got you,” she said, pushing Colton’s issues aside, “there’s the matter of fronting the cost of getting the four businesses here.”
“What do you mean?” He stared at her.
“Well, there’s sorting out their travel details,” she said, “organizing and arranging their flights and accommodations once they land in Nashville. And we’ll probably want to send them each an e-gift card to use for their entertainment while they’re here, along with a hired car to pick them up at the airport.”
“I don’t have that kind of money,” he barked. “I thought you were doing this pro bono.”
“Well, I am. You aren’t paying my services, but you still have to front the cost to get them here.”
Jimbo rubbed the scruff on his face. “I’m in the red,” he said. “I don’t have enough to pay for it.”
While she didn’t love the idea of using some of her savings to pay for everything, maintaining a good reputation by being true to her word with the companies involved and giving Greystone a good name in the industry would be worth it for her career. Especially since she’d already put it on her résumé and she had the interview with Rycroft looming. “I’ll pay for it, but once we seal the deal, I’m sending you an invoice.”
As she looked at Jimbo’s snarling face, she couldn’t help the uncertainty that bubbled up within her. She had to make this work.
When she got home from Greystone, she texted Colton that she needed to talk to him. While waiting for a response, she wandered through the cabin, looking to see if anyone was home, finally finding Meredith outside, sunning herself down on the dock. With a sigh, she retreated to the kitchen.
At the table, Leigh spent an hour organizing the potential retailers’ visits to the property. She’d corresponded by phone with all four contacts, securing their details and getting them set up for their visits. With every online reservation, her bank account took a hit, and she prayed she was doing the right thing. Working with McGregor’s massive budgets, she’d never felt the vulnerability that filled her right now. She didn’t have the giant machine of McGregor and its reputation behind her. This was all on her shoulders and the pressure to get it right was mounting.
