Page 45 of Inglorious
“No. Those two were priorities. What are you thinking?”
I considered the hotel, but honestly, without shops, that was pointless. There’d be no reason for anyone to stay.
“Start on the strip of shops. If we can open them, we offer the tourists something. There’s the jail, but if we have prisoners banged up, sightseers can only view reception. After all, we plan to have that as a working sheriff’s office. Add to that, they can’t enter the clubhouse. There’s only the trout farm and the saloon to visit currently. Those two won’t bring enough visitorsin. The doctor’s office and clinic will clearly be operational and unavailable to tourists. Maybe put a team on the stables?”
Rock nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. They’ll allow you to store horses for guests to hire. The blacksmith is probably a good idea. If it’s a working one… people will come. There’s that guy who is sharing Harley’s smithy. He might know of someone, as there ain’t many blacksmiths around. Are you looking to move your current stables here?”
I nodded. The smithy made logical business sense. “Put the team doing the shack on the blacksmith when done, and the team finishing the saloon on the stables. Then move into the shops. And no. The other stables are established; it would be a mistake to move them.”
“Thinking about it, we’ll have a team free soon, which can start on the shops.”
“How much extra will that cost us?” I asked dryly, and Rock chuckled.
“Funny enough, nothing. If you recall, we initially charged you for four teams, but as building stopped, we reallocated them elsewhere. We’re just putting a team back in place that should already be here,” Rock replied.
A strange sensation hit me as I looked around Main Street. When I’d seen Merritt, we’d been looking for somewhere to start afresh. Our old clubhouse had too many bad memories attached, and it often felt like they were haunting us sometimes. Everyone knew Merritt was up here. Merritt had been a ghost town that lookie-loos liked to come and see. It was a rite of passage for teens to come and scare each other with ghost stories.
The fact that the state was selling it off seemed a sign. I liked the isolation the Hills afforded us, but we were a ten-minute ride to civilisation. Sure, the buildings were falling down. Half had collapsed, but they were repairable. Somehow, in anothermiracle, the biggest hotel slash saloon had been sturdy and survived time.
Immediately, I’d claimed that for the clubhouse and brought in Apache and Rock to complete the designs to restore the town. It had been a year of drawing up architectural plans, followed by two and a half years to push them through. We’d finally got approval when we announced Unwanted Bastards intended to open a fully functional doctor’s surgery and clinic. There were several communities around here that desperately needed a doctor.
The promise of jobs also helped, as we would employ many of the local people. As soon as Rock and Apache had the go-ahead, work had started on the clubhouse and the sheriff’s and doctor’s offices. The fact that we were allowed to have a sheriff here was also a bonus. He would be required to back up Rapid City, but Merritt would be his principality.
“It’s amazing watching something come back to life,” Rock murmured, and I caught his eyes. That had a double meaning there.
“Yeah. I’ll let you be. Bringing in a third team is great. I’ll inform Nanci. If you can get the fourth team to work on the houses… that would be fantastic,” I prodded, and Rock laughed. One small section we’d planned to use as the houses for the club. The houses were bigger there and suited a family. Out of the three hundred houses, I’d planned to keep sixty for the club.
Not that I envisioned having sixty members, but as men grew old and new prospects arrived, houses would be needed for them. Sixty should be enough. Until they were filled, we could rent them on a short-term basis.
“As soon as one becomes free,” he replied, and I headed out.
When I entered the clubhouse, I stopped and stared in surprise at the person standing there with Nanci.
“What are you doing here, kid?” I exclaimed as the teenager turned.
“Hey, dude. How are you doing?” Joe asked. I studied Joe from head to toe. He looked well. Joe lived next door to my grandparents’ home. He’d been eight years younger than Rhea but had adored her. Joe had followed Rhea like a puppy until she left twelve years ago.
“I’m cool. What are you doing here?” I repeated and offered Joe a half smile.
“Heard you’re looking for prospects and thought I’d apply,” Joe replied. I held Nanci’s gaze. This would be awkward. Joe was a shoo-in. I knew Joe personally, and the kid had become a good man.
“Well, I’m guessing you two know each other,” Nanci said.
“Joe grew up next door to my grandparents,” I explained.
“Aw, you watched him grow up?” Nanci asked with a hint of teasing.
Offended, I scowled. “Nanci, I ain’t that old.”
Joe laughed. “Older than me.”
“Shut up, kid.” I wondered how to phrase the next thing I wanted to say. “If you’re looking for recommendations, Joe has mine. Nanci, I wouldn’t hesitate taking him as a prospect.”
Nanci’s eyes warmed as she realised I wouldn’t attempt to dictate her choice, and I saw Joe glance between us. He spotted Nanci’s patch, and his gaze flicked to me, puzzled.
“Ain’t no secret, Joe. Kid, I hit the bottle hard after what happened. Shit took its toll on me and the club. Nanci is covering president while I heal. She deserves every respect possible,” I informed Joe.
“Mum and Dad heard. They reached out to you, but you never responded. The family felt for you, Inglorious,” Joe replied.
