“It’s bad, huh?”
“Yeah, you’ll see it when you get here. Can you come today?”
“Hold on,” I said putting my hand on the receiver. “Bart needs to talk to me about my car, are you going downtown today?”
“Yeah, I can go,” said Elm. “I can hit the bank. Sure, I’ll take you. I don’t want you driving that big truck. No, that’ll be too big for you.”
“Yeah, Bart, I can come down. What time?”
“Any time this afternoon, I’ll be here all day. See ya then.”
“Bye.”
Teak walked into the room.
“Hey, Lila, I was thinking of taking a trip downtown to grab some lunch, you want to go?” he asked.
“Actually, I have to go to the bank,” said Elm victoriously. “She’s going with me.”
“Oh. Well, maybe we can all go,” Teak suggested.
Elm rifled through some of his files on his tablet.
“Did you ever get me those receipts for the fertilizer for last year? Tax time is coming up and I need them,” said his brother.
“No,” admitted Teak. “Can’t you do it?”
“Do you work? No thanks,” said Elm. “Just go do it, it’ll only take you a few hours.”
“Aw, c’mon, I wanna go,” whined Teak.
“I’m on a bank run and she’s checking on her car,” explained Elm. “You’re not missing anything, trust me.”
Teak made a face. He was outmaneuvered.
“Oh, well,” he said a little dejected walking out. “Next time.”
“Little brothers,” laughed Elm. “It’s like we’re still kids sometimes running this business.”
“Well, it would be pretty close to lunch by the time we get down there,” I pointed out.
“Not in the budget,” said Elm tapping on his tablet. “We’ll grab lunch when we get back.”
A few minutes later, we got into the truck and started heading down the mountain. A deer ran out and across the road. It moved like a rocketship.
“Something must’ve spooked him,” said Elm. “Got your seatbelt on?”
“Yes,” I said a little worried. “What should I expect?”
“Well, deer are pretty passive, but if they get spooked their instinct is to run. I’m worried about a second or third deer crossing the path. Don’t want to hit it. The damage to the truck would be expensive.”
“What about the deer?” I pointed out.
“Oh, yeah,” remembered Elm. “That too. Surprised he’s up here. They usually stay pretty close to the base of the mountain.”
“I guess that’s human encroachment, right?” I suggested. “All his habitat being stripped away.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely some of that in this are,” agreed Elm. “That’s why we have to be careful when we take out a tree. Everyone’s all about the environmental impact. Let me tell you something, most of the real bad environmental stuff happened years ago. I mean, no sane person would rip out too many trees now. The erosion would just be devastating. The whole point of having the land is the grow stuff on it. You can’t grow stuff on it when the lands constantly shifting!”
“I get it, I get it,” I said. “Calm down, I’m on your side.”
“Sorry, I just get excited,” explained Elm. “There’s so many people that think they’re conservationists or environmentalist, but they haven’t done the research. They just reflexively defend a tree or a squirrel or a deer. Deer are a perfect example. Without their natural predators thinning off the herds, the population explodes. You think we almost hit one, imagine three or four of them running across highways in the day. Do you realize how many accidents that could cause?”
“So you’re saying shoot the deer to save the deer?” I asked carefully.
“I’m saying, ecosystems are complicated,” explained Elm. “You can’t just make laws and pronouncements willy-nilly, you have to study things.”
“Well, what about bringing their predators back?”
“Sure, just be careful when you take out the trash you don’t run into a cougar or a bobcat or whatever. Then people complain about that and it’s a whole new problem.”
“You guys seem to have a good balance. You take some trees, but you leave most of them. You have your cabin, but the rest of the forest seems pretty alive,” I said trying to make the conversation more positive.
Elm would just get amped up on any subject he talked about. I guess he enjoyed confrontational conversations. I didn’t hate them myself, sometimes it was good to have a debate. But Elm could get pretty intense, especially when you were cooped up in the truck with him for 30 minutes going down a mountain. I didn’t want him too distracted.
We made it town and Bart’s garage. Elm dropped me off and headed for the bank. I walked inside garage and there was what was left of my poor hatchback. It was pretty much a wreck.
“Oh, no,” I said knowing the end results. “You can’t fix that, can you?”
“I can,” said Bart. “But it would be cheaper to just junk it and find another car. Hell, you could probably buy a new car for what I’d end up charging. It’s wrecked.”
“Well, what do we do then?” I asked.
“I’ll give you $200 for it as scrap if you sign the title over to me,” offered Bart. “It’s the best you’re gonna get around here. Plus I already towed it.”
“That seems fair. Let me see if I can find the title in the glove box, I said.
“Sure, take anything out of it you want,” said Bart. “Maybe something survived that you need.”
I noticed the plows were all lined up and ready to go.
“Oh, did you fix the plows already?” I asked.
“Yeah, worked all night. They weren’t as bad as I thought, so we got done on time.”
The glove compartment was still in one piece and I managed to get my water-sogged titled and other paperwork. The trunk still held a few items of note. There was a plastic bag filled with a few shoes and odds and ends that miraculous didn’t burn or get wet. It took that and said goodbye to the rest of my belongings. Before I shut the trunk for good, I noticed a scrapbook with some pictures sticking out. They were burned pictures of me and Bradley and one with Annie in the background. Fitting that I was leaving that behind. Don’t even know why I took it.
I signed over the title to Bart and prepared to leave when Tanner walked into the garage. He looked cocky even though he was limping on a cane. Tanner was definitely a guy that just radiated “douche bag” wherever he went.
“Hey, Lila, right?” he said in his phony, douche bag way. “Too bad about your car. What happened? Accident?”
“Yeah, it kind of rolled down the mountain in the snow,” I explained.
“Tough break,” he said. “Wouldn’t have happened if things were plowed correctly.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I replied, not really wanting to continue the conversation.
“You should come work for me,” offered Tanner. “I’ll give you a company car and then your problems will be solved.”
I thought in my head, “No, then my problems would be beginning.”
“No thanks,” I declined. “I already have a job working for the Barretts.”
“I’ll double whatever they’re paying,” he offered. “I have more than enough money to do so.”
“Why do you want to hire me?” I asked. “You don’t even know me. You don’t even know what I can do.”
“It would be very worth it for me to hire you away from the Barretts,” he said mildly sinister. “Trust me, you don’t know them. They’re bad people. You get mixed up with them, bad things happen.”
“Is that some kind of threat?”
“No! What do you take me for?” he said indignant. “I’m being serious. The Barretts are ruining my resort business. See how close the mountains are?”
When Tanner turned around to gesture to the mountains, I stole a glance at Bart. Bart rolled his eyes. Clearly, Tanner’s pronouncement was, at best, a great exaggerat
ion.
“I’ve offered very generously to buy them out, but they’re stubborn, backward mountain folk,” said Tanner impatiently.
“I don’t understand,” I had to ask. “How are the Barretts living on their mountain ruining your resort? It’s a completely separate mountain.”
“You obviously don’t understand how ski resorts work,” Tanner said in the most condescending way he could. “Our skiers need challenges. New slopes.”
“So you want their mountain to expand?” I concluded.
“It’s not just about that.” he insisted. “The Barretts tear down trees! I wouldn’t tear down trees. I would preserve them and keep them. Not make furniture out of them!”
“Wouldn’t you have to cut down lots of trees for the slopes?” I pointed out.
“Well, a few trees,” admitted Tanner. “But those are different. It’s more of a brush clearing so that people can ski. And so that we can build another ski lift.”
“Another ski lift? Do you hear yourself talk? You would have to tear down half the trees on the mountain. Assuming you could even it do it. Their mountain is pretty steep,” I pointed out. “Why don’t you buy one of the other mountains? You have mountains all around you.”
“Look, Lila, you’re new around here,” explained Tanner. “You don’t understand what you’ve gotten yourself into. I’m offering you a way out. A way to help yourself. I mean, if you worked for me, you’d be comfortable and safe. The Barretts, and you can mark my words– They’re dangerous.”
“I don’t believe you,” I insisted. “They’re good people. You think just because you have money you can push people around.”
“Push people around? I employ half the county. I’m a jobs creator, baby,” explained Tanner. “People and families rely on my business. I could take my money and walk away. Live out my life in the South of France if I wanted, but I’m here. Making a difference. You should be thanking me.”
I had to laugh at that one. This guy was really full of himself.
“You don’t understand how the world works, but you will,” assured Tanner. “I’ll buy the Barretts’ mountain at some point, you’ll see. Then you’ll beg me for a job. You’ll be as broken and ruined as that car of yours over there.”
Tanner leaned in when he said that last part. He had a creep vibe about him as well as something sinister. I just didn’t see what he hated the Barretts so much. Maybe it was because they were actually happy. I was about to tell him off using nothing but four letter words, but Elm swaggered into the room and put his arm around me.
“Hey, Tanner,” he said flippantly. “You rat inside here or are you just looking for small animals to torture?”
“Oh, I was just telling Lila here about your family and how I’m going to buy your mountain one day,” said Tanner.
“It’s not for sale,” explained Elm, lowering his voice. “It’ll never be for sale and even if it were, we’d never sell it to you.”
“You’re gonna sell, Barrett,” insisted Tanner. “I always get what I want. It may take me awhile, but I get it. Bet on it.”
“I wouldn’t take that bet,” Elm whispered to me.
“Bart! Why the hell weren’t these plows ready?!” demanded Tanner.
“They are ready, Mr. Johnson, we got them done before the deadline and–“
“Don’t back talk to me. They were still late.” he insisted. “You waste my time, making me come all the way down here. What do you want? A thank you?”
“Hey!” I started to say, but Elm grabbed me.
“No,” he whispered. “Don’t make it worse for Bart. Tanner’s in a mood.”
“Next time I order something, you better damn well deliver.” insisted Tanner limping back to his car. “I am the biggest employer of this town. I don’t need this aggravation!”
Tanner got into his car, slammed the door and drove off in a huff. We all breathed a sigh of a relief. The guy was a real hothead.
“I swear, he’s going to blow a gasket one day,” said Bart. “Then he’s going to regret treating people that way. They always do.”
“Man, why do people put up with that guy? Just because he has money?” I asked.
“He’s not wrong when he says he’s the biggest employer in this town,” said Elm. “Guy like that, distorts the whole marketplace. Things would collapse if the resort closed.”
“Ah,” dismissed Bart. “The town was here before the resort. It would survive.”
“That was the 40’s, Bart,” countered Elm. “Back then, you could get by with a general store. Without the resort, the pharmacy and supermarket would close. And forget the movie theater and the mall. There’d be a lot of empty houses for sale too. Believe me, I’ve done the math.”
“You are good at math,” I agreed.
“Thank you,” smiled Elm.
“Bart bought what was left of my car,” I said waving the money in front of him. “C’mon, I’ll buy you lunch.”
“That’s not in the budget,” insisted Elm.
“It’s in my budget,” I assured him. “God, loosen up once in a while.”
“You should save that money for a new car,” suggested Elm.
“I’m good where I am for now,” I said.
The town’s diner was a greasy spoon with decent food at decent prices. I bought Elm a grilled chicken sandwich. He ordered it because it was the special and decided it was the best deal. I got myself a BLT and some fries. A perfect lunch combo in my book. How could you go wrong with bacon?
“I’m really sorry about dinner the other night,” I apologized. “Your brother showed me where your mother kept her recipe cards. I think I would do better following her instructions.”
“Oh, absolutely,” agreed Elm. “Mom was a great cook. She could make comfort food all day long. Things like meatloaf or chicken and dumplings, chicken soup– Stuff like that, was her specialty.”
“I guess it would have to be,” I said. “All the way up in the harsh wilderness, her boys need hearty food to get through the day.”
“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I was fat when I was a kid,” confessed Elm.
“Really? I’m surprised.”
“It’s true. The guys were always out doing stuff, I was sitting around reading or surfing the Internet. I ballooned up. Then I started to count calories and I started to lose the weight late in my high school years. Reached my goal weight just before prom. Looked like a totally different person.”
“Impressive. It’s hard to lose weight.”
“Well, it’s a lifestyle change. Losing it is easy. Keeping it off is tough. It took a few years to get used to the lifestyle, but now I’m thin.”
“Man, I cannot lose weight,” I lamented.
“You? You don’t need to lose weight,” laughed Elm. “If anything, you need to gain some. My mother would’ve stuffed you to the gills trying to put some meat on them bones, girl.”
The sandwiches arrived. Elm made a face.
“Ugh. Bacon,” he said. “That’s so unhealthy.”
“You don’t like bacon?” I said, shocked.
“Of course I like bacon, everyone likes bacon,” said Elm. “That’s not the issue at all. I’m sure all the devout Muslims and Jews would eat bacon too, based on its taste alone. But fried bacon, incredibly unhealthy. Bad for your hearts, probably with the fat, not great for your kidneys or your liver or your heart for that matter. And a BLT? It’s got mayo. That’s the worst.”
“You really know how to take the fun out of things,” I kidded him. “Can you not live for once in your life? Just live a little?”
“I take plenty of chances,” he assured. “And I live my life to the fullest, I just want to be smart about it. You’re being frivolous.”
“Frivolous? For ordering one BLT?”
“This entire trip is frivolous. You could’ve made a BLT back at the cabin.” insisted Elm. “I mean, of course, you would’ve had to fry the bacon and toss the fat, but still. You could almost handle
that with your remedial cooking skills.”
“I am mildly insulted by that comment,” I said. “Plus I wouldn’t be able to make these crispy fries.”
“Okay, the fries, I’ll grant you,” Elm said. “Only because we don’t have a deep fryer and even if we did, getting that much oil hot enough takes too long and is a waste. Plus dumping it in the woods is a problem because it attracts the bears, so–“
“Why don’t you have the BLT?” I suggested. “Live a little.”
“Oh, no-no-no,” said Elm, waving it off. “It’s so unhealthy.”
“So what? Live a little. With me. Here, we’ll go halfsies,” I suggested. “You take half of my sandwich and I’ll take half of yours. Then we both get some.”
I made the switch on our plates before he could object. Elm looked down at his sandwich. He was definitely tempted.
“I shouldn’t, ya know? You’re ruining years of careful dietary planning,” he laughed. “You know that? You’re completely disrupting it.”
I bit into my half of the BLT. It was crunch, warm and delicious. I was almost regretting switch halves, but I wanted him to have it.
“You can have just one,” I assured him. “Go on. Bite it.”
Elm looked down at his plate, sighed, picked up the BLT half and bit it. He made satisfied noised.
“Mmm, oh, God, this is good,” he said. “I’ve missed you bacon.”
“It’s just a little treat,” I said. “You have to treat yourself every day.”
“Then I would eat bacon every day and that would defeat the purpose of a strict dietary regimen,” said Elm. “But once in a while, I get it. I’m sure my body can metabolize this one time. It’s only once, right? Maybe once or twice a month would be fine. I’m sure. I’ll have to look online. See what the Internet says.”
I bit into the chicken. That was even better.
“Oh, my God, the chicken is delicious,” I noted. “Hold on. Does this have chipotle mayo?”
“Well, it has something on it to give it flavor,” he admitted.
“You were just chastising me for eating mayo and yours has flavored mayo on it.” I said. “Do you not see the hypocrisy here?”
“Hey, I was perfectly fine with my grilled chicken sandwich,” insisted Elm. “Then you started butting in and touching my food uninvited. We could’ve just went back to the cabin and had lunch.”
Loved by the LumberJacks_A MFMMMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 9
