Page 7 of Ace of Spades
“I would love that, sweetheart. Things are just really busy right now with the plans for the resort, but I promise I’ll try.”
My heart sinks to my stomach. Well, there goes any hope I might have had.
“Thanks,” I mutter.
“You know what—why don’t we go out to celebrate tonight? It’s a bit of a drive back to Canyon Springs but how amazing does a steak from Regino’s sound?”
“Sure.”
“Gracie, you can take the night off. I’m taking the ladies out to dinner,” Dad tells our cook.
“Sure thing, Mr. Sorrels.”
“Now, back to the resort—Hailey, I talked to the team and I think I have a good shot at getting you that marketing role. That is, if you plan on staying in Cedar Creek?”
“I’m not really sure,” I admit.
“Have you thought about where you would want to go?” Mom asks.
“I don’t know,” I confess. With rodeo and job searching, I hadn’t really put much thought into it. Wherever I ended up would be a fresh start, but the thought of leaving the only two people that had been constants in my life was quite frankly terrifying.
“Well you know you’re always welcome to stay here as long as you’d like,” my dad tells me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you. It’s just—I don’t know if the small-town life is for me. I loved Canyon Springs, but Cedar Creek is just so… I don’t know, I just don’t feel like we’re welcome.”
“Why do you say that? Did something happen?”
My dad’s features turn worried, a threat in his tone.
“No,” I lie.
“You know you can tell me. Did somebody say something?”
“I mean, not exactly. I just ran into a few of the guys from town at the rodeo, and they didn’t seem to love having us here.”
“Well not everybody is open to change. It might take a little bit of time, but they’ll come around. Having the resort here is going to do wonders for their businesses, they just can’t see that yet.”
Except for the fact that you’re bringing in a bunch of chains and small businesses are dropping left and right.
“Right,” I breathe.
“Who was it?” he asks, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“Weston Langford and his friends.”
“Of course,” Dad scoffs. “They see us as competition for their little guest ranch that they’ve been trying to get going. It’s hopeless if you ask me, but for some reason, they think that we’re going to get in the way of their business. The thing is, they’re not gonna have any business to begin with.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Just stay away from them. Especially that Langford kid, he’s bad news. His mom is one of the tenants at the trailer park that’s given me the most issues. She seems to love that place for some reason and doesn’t want it torn down. Not sure why, the place is practically falling apart. She’s like a pestering gnat that has nothing better to do than try to make our life harder just for the sake of it. Trailer trash, the both of them.”
I wince at his harsh words. I hadn’t known that Weston’s mom lived at the trailer park. It made more sense now why he hadn’t exactly taken well to me when we met in Texas. First, my dad was threatening their business. And now, my dad was essentially his mom’s new landlord. No wonder he wasn’t a fan.
“Take it from me,” dad adds. “Those boys are nothing but trouble. It’d be wise of you to keep your distance.”
Don’t I know it.
Chapter 4
