Home Truths

by Sasha Goldie

  While I appreciated that he was trying to give me faster options, I'd rather just wait for the new part and not have to fool with this again. "No, but thank you. I'd rather go with the manufacturer part. Well, could you give me a ride into town to find somewhere to stay?"

  He flipped the bacon as I stirred the eggs. "This is the town, actually, though you probably didn’t see it in the dark last night. I actually looked into that too. The skiing competition has everywhere booked well into next week. The closest room is in Bend."

  Damn. I hated to stay that far from the property. I'd have to show the potential buyers around the land, which meant I needed to get the lay of the terrain myself. Couldn't give someone a tour if I'd never been there.

  "Okay, what about a car rental?" I could commute back and forth from Bend if I had a vehicle.

  "Not one in the area." The bacon was looking crispy, so he slid it off the skillet onto a few paper towels to drain. I'd slow cooked the eggs, and they were nearly done. Ian popped some bread in the toaster, and I grabbed two glasses and the orange juice from his fridge and set it on the table.

  "This is discouraging. I need to get out to the property and do some exploring." Ian grabbed the skillet of eggs and dished them out onto our plates. I grabbed a few slices of bacon, buttered all the bread, and we sat down. "What do you suggest I do? I'm pretty stranded."

  "I could take you to the property. I don't think you ever said where it is."

  He was right. I'd never looked it up. "Oh, you're right. Let me check my phone, I took pictures of the documents." After a quick consultation, I continued. "Parkson Acreage, it says."

  "Whoa, really? Old Man Parkson is finally selling? I can't believe it." He looked absolutely crestfallen.

  "Are you okay?" I wondered if he had some sort of connection to the land.

  "Yeah, I just hate to see such a beautiful piece of property go to developers or something like that." I wanted to put my hand on his as I watched him push his eggs around on his plate.

  Damn it. I kept my hands firmly near my own plate. "I've got to get out to that property. Do you think there's someone around town that might want to rent me their car? My insurance covers any vehicle I drive."

  "I can take you out there. Show you around. I used to hunt there, back when I hunted anyway. My father and I did." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. Probably to see how I'd react to that information.

  "Oh? I've never been." I'd never really wanted to, but I had no problem with people that hunted food to eat.

  Hunting for the sake of the kill was another story, but I highly doubted that had been his or his father's intent. "I can't impose on you like that. I don't suppose you've got a vehicle I could rent for the week? I can go to Bend and get a hotel room there."

  "No, I'm not going to rent you a car, but you can borrow one if you need it this week. And no, you're not going to stay in Bend when I have a perfectly nice guest room right here."

  Hugging him probably would've led to something far more than either of us needed first thing in the morning, so I settled with simple gratitude. "Thank you. I'll find a way to repay you."

  "You can repay me by helping with the breakfast dishes before we leave."

  I laughed and did exactly as he asked, insisting I wash and he rinse. At least I could do the harder part. When we finished, I set a reminder in my calendar to research the possibility of having a dishwasher installed as a thank you for his hospitality.

  Sometimes people didn't take thank yous too well, but I liked giving them. Getting a little creative wasn't outside my purview.

  "Let me just set the shop phone to go to voicemail. Did you bring any hiking boots?" He looked down at my loafers as we stepped into the hall to go down to the shop.

  "Ah, no, why?" I hadn't even considered that the property wouldn't have a road running through it. Or at least a driveway. If it was as valuable as it was listed to be, I figured it would be close to town or somewhat developed.

  "Let me go check the closet. I may have something. What size is your foot?"

  "Eleven," I replied and watched him disappear down the hall toward the bedrooms.

  "Eleven and a half," he said triumphantly, holding up a pair of brown boots. "Scott left them when he moved to San Francisco. Said he hoped he never had to wear them again. Not that he wore them that much while he was here." He walked into the living room, and I followed, sitting beside him on the couch. "He hated hiking, or being outside at all, really."

  "Well, I'm not Scott. I run to keep in shape in the city, and I love being outdoors. I've even been known to go camping once in a blue moon."

  "Oh, really?" he asked with a glint in his eye. "Like in one of those big drivable campers? The kind old people buy to drive around the country?"

  With a loud snort, I stood. "No, I own a nice tent. I know how to rough it too, country boy." I teased him as I walked out of the living room.

  "Where are you going, city boy?" he asked.

  "To put jeans on. Can't wear big boots with slacks. I'd look like a fool." One thing I hated was looking like a fool. I could take my lumps with the best of them, but I at least attempted to put my best foot forward.

  When I returned to the living room in jeans and a sweater, barefoot, Ian stood and stared at me with big, animated round eyes.

  "What?" I asked as I looked down at myself. I played dumb, even though I knew exactly what he was doing.

  "I can't believe it," Ian exclaimed.

  "Can't believe what? Do I have bacon in my teeth? A booger hanging out?"

  "No! I didn't imagine you to own jeans."

  I knew it. Har har. "Just like I can't imagine you own a suit?"

  "Ouch, point taken." I winked at him as I sat to show no hard feelings. "Hand me the boots, please."

  They fit, luckily. "Is there somewhere I can buy a pair of my own?" They were a really nice brand and fit well, but I wanted some that were mine.

  "You can keep those if you'd like. I have no use for them. I honestly don't know why I kept them." He pursed his lips before turning to lead the way down to the shop. "Hard to let go at first, I guess. I stuck them in the far back of the closet and until you said you hadn't brought any, I hadn't thought about them."

  "You can't give me a place to stay, feed me, loan me a car, and give me boots and expect no recompense." I appreciated the hospitality, but it was getting ridiculous. "I don't want to sound uppity, but I make good money. I'm happy to pay my own way."

  He sniffed. "Stop, you do sound uppity. One sec." He picked up the receiver to a phone on his desk and pressed a few buttons, before speaking again. "This is Ian, I'll be away from the garage all day. Leave a message if it can wait and if it can't, send someone to find me at Old Man Parkson's land." He hung up before turning back to me. "What were we saying about you being uppity?"

  I burst out laughing and pushed at his shoulder. "Let me give you some money."

  "You can buy the next round of groceries, how about that?"

  "Deal." I still vowed to do what I could to get a dishwasher installed. I'd be around him for a week, surely I could figure out someone to ask to help me surprise him. His father had passed, mom moved away. Maybe his friend Carson.

  We took his Mustang again. "If the land is so bad that we need boots, how are we going to make it in a Mustang?" I asked as we walked toward the car.

  "You don't strictly have to hike to see the property, but there's a bluff that overlooks most of it. I want to take you up there."

  "That sounds great. How long is the hike?"

  "Maybe an hour. Not too bad." He held up a backpack. "And I packed some snacks and water."

  I settled in to reread the documents on my phone as he drove. I normally memorized all facets of the documentation of a big sale but hadn't had time yet. The drive was a good chance to dig in.

  8

  Ian

  Nate spent the car ride with his face stuck in his phone, reading a document of some sort. "What are you reading?" I fina
lly asked, curious.

  "All the details my boss gave me about the land. I try to be as knowledgeable as possible before going into something like this."

  "I'll leave you to read while we drive then." Three Lakes was a small town, but the county itself was quite large. The Parkson land was probably four hundred acres, easy. Parts of it were too mountainous for development, but the right buyer could slap tourist cabins throughout it and make a killing labeling them as a luxury.

  That was the last thing I wanted. Progress was a good thing, like my friend Carson's pub, but progress of a massive nature was horrible. If they turned it into a subdivision, or worse, a strip mall, the town would grow too fast and become just another city.

  Small towns were an endangered species, and I didn't want to help destroy that.

  By the time we arrived at the road leading to the property, Nate had put his phone down and was looking out the window. "Almost there," I said and roused him from his thoughts.

  "It really is beautiful up here," he said in response, eyes on the foliage. "This drive was so peaceful."

  I looked out at the land I’d grown up in. It was so easy to take it for granted. The rolling hills sloped ever upward into a mountain covered in winter’s bare trees. They’d bud new growth soon, and the forest would be lush green and thick undergrowth.

  "Peace is something you get plenty of around here. Not so much in a city."

  Nate laughed. "No, the city is always alive, always bustling. But it has its own beauty if you know how to look."

  "I don't think I'd mind visiting once in a while. I just couldn't live in one." I’d leave the beauty finding of the concrete jungles to him.

  "As my sister and I grew up, I vowed to find a way to make good money. Real estate seemed like the easiest way at the time. Now I really like it, too."

  The road into the property ended at an ancient cabin. "Are we on the property?" Nate asked as he stretched outside the car.

  "Yeah, the last turn put us over the property boundary."

  "I've got it marked on this map, but it's not as clear riding around." He squinted at his phone. "I wish I'd brought the actual map. This is too small." After a few more finger wiggles, moving the map around on his small phone screen, he grinned. "Found it. The cabin is marked on here. That helps."

  "There's a trail behind the house that probably isn't marked on your map. Come on." The path went straight up the mountain. The cabin was nestled in a small valley against it. The rest of the property stretched out toward the back side of the town.

  I was pleasantly surprised to see he kept up without any trouble. Maybe he really did run a lot. His physique indicated some sort of exercise.

  "This is sure different from my normal daily exercise. My legs are burning a little." He laughed as he stepped over a small tree that had fallen across the path.

  "It's more fun to me," I said. "Running on a treadmill is boring. Maybe we could hike together again before you leave." Now why had I said that?

  "I don't always do the treadmill. If I have work I need to do, sometimes I'll do it from my apartment while I run, dictating notes or reading. Usually, though, I try to go to a park near my apartment and run around the large pond in the middle."

  We chitchatted about exercise as we moved up the mountain. The morning dew still wet on the ground and a snap of chill in the air motivated us to walk quickly up the path. When we reached the top, I watched Nate's face. I'd been to the bluff many times, and the view never failed to impress me.

  He stopped several feet from the edge of the cliff, his jaw slack. "Wow," he whispered. The full expanse of the land for sale stretched out in front of us. The spring growth hadn’t really started yet, even though it was already late spring. Winter stuck around our mountains until nearly summer, at least at night. Even the winter-thin trees were an impressive sight from our vantage point.

  A breeze ruffled his perfect hair, the winter chill still clinging. I couldn't help the huge grin I gave him as he shivered. "I knew you'd like it. It's impressive."

  "When does it start to turn green?" he asked as he took in the view.

  "Just a few more weeks. Maybe a month. Our winter clings on and on."

  Would that I could've had the money to buy a piece of land like it. Build a cabin near the edge so the view could be enjoyed from the front porch. I sighed and dreamed. There were many places like it in my beloved mountains, eventually, it would happen.

  The weight of my father's legacy and shop tickled the back of my mind. My responsibility was in Three Lakes and always would be.

  Nate consulted his phone and looked from side to side, a calculating look on his face. "I bet three or four hundred houses could fit down there."

  "Wait." Anger filled my stomach, but I needed him to clarify before I let myself get worked up. I took a deep breath, staring out at the land that was apparently going to be changing forever. "Houses?"

  Nate looked at me in surprise. "Of course. Who did you think we'd be selling to?"

  Dropping the backpack off of my shoulders, I pulled out a water and opened one, trying not to let my anger show in the motions of my hands. "I don't know, maybe conservation?" I took a long drink to give me a bit of time to think of another option. "Or a private buyer that wants to put a house up here and have the best view and land imaginable?" If I had the money, I'd plop a house right where we stood.

  "Private buyers like that are hard to come by. People don't buy huge plots of land like they used to. If we're lucky, one of the buyers at the auction will be private, but statistics show that it's most likely land development. Houses or shopping. Possibly industrial, but unlikely." He shrugged. "Sorry, man."

  "Sorry? What about conservation? The possibility of a private buyer that only wants to put one home on it. Or even breaking it down among a few private buyers who would only put a few homes up here would be far preferable to a developer."

  His eyes furrowed. "It would be great, sure. I mean, yeah, I live in the city and really, I'm not much for small towns, but a view like this? I'd be a fool to not want to conserve it. But, conservationists generally have so much less money than developers. I have to go where the money is."

  What a fucking idiot I was. Of course, he would sell it to developers. He'd even already said something of the sort. What had I been thinking, bringing him up here? He was a businessman. Money was the name of the game, end of the story. "Take your time, I'll be at the car." I tried not to let my dejection come through in my voice, but Nate still noticed.

  "What is it?" he asked, reaching out to touch my arm.

  I looked down at his hand and shook my head. "Nothing. I don't know why I imagined anyone but developers would want to buy such a large plot of land." My disappointment must've been pretty obvious. "It's okay. You have to do your job. Take your time, I don't mind waiting." I backed away with my hands up, leaving Nate standing in the forest staring at me. It was probably pretty jerky of me to leave him in a strange forest, but the path down was pretty clear. If he couldn't find his way down it, he had bigger problems than his car.

  I tried to calm myself as I stomped down the mountain. Nate hadn't sealed any deals yet. He hadn't even set up his auction details yet, I didn't think. He'd said something about the buyers coming to Bend, but nothing was set in stone. An idea formed in my mind of us on laptops at my kitchen table, combing the internet for private buyers to come to his auction and outbid the developers. Or maybe some bright idea would form that could help us find a way to sell to developers.

  By the time he returned to the car, I was much calmer. I’d sat in the driver’s seat and sipped water, leaving another bottle in his seat so he could rehydrate. I didn’t want him to sell to a developer, but I also didn’t wish him ill.

  He didn't really stay very long. Grabbing the water gratefully, he downed half of it before I’d even turned the car around. The drive back to my place was incredibly awkward. Nate didn't say much, just scrolled through his phone. "Sorry," he said as we left. "Just makin
g some notes and consulting my sister."

  "It's no problem. I understand that you’re doing your job. Truly I do. But if I don’t make sure my voice is heard, and then you do sell to a developer, I’ll hate myself. To be clear, I believe a large development on that land will ruin this town. The influx of people will have a negative effect on the economy and tourism. The growth would be too large. And if a retail developer goes in there, we don’t have the population to maintain steady business for some of those establishments. Our local places are always booming, but that’s because they’re small." I finally took a breath. "They’re mom-and-pop shops that thrive because busy to them is slow to some of those big retail companies you’re trying to attract." Nate stared at me, eyes wide with shock. It might’ve been the most words I’d said at once in his presence. "So, yeah. I needed you to hear that."

  "Okay," he whispered. "Okay."

  I really didn't say much more after that, contemplating what I might do when we got back to my place. Best not to mention my intentions until I was sure.

  "I'm just going to go for a walk," Nate said when we got out of the car. "See if anyone knows of a place I can rent a room." He smiled at me tentatively. "I'm sorry."

  The words wouldn't come out of my mouth, and he walked away without me saying that I wasn't really mad at him, but mad at the situation, and the inevitability of Three Lakes growing into something I wasn't ready for it to be.

  "Damn it." I opened the garage and gave the car waiting on me some side-eye. Luckily, the owner didn't need it back for weeks, and I could give them a discount for the delay. Instead of grabbing my tools and getting back to work, I checked my messages and opened my laptop. The only message was my mom, checking in from Florida. We called each other every few days but going a week or more without talking to her wasn't any reason for concern. She kept very busy down there with bingo and all the activities in her retirement village. My business came in spurts. Some weeks I was bored to death, some weeks I couldn't keep up.