Page 69 of Bailey Bangs Her Brother's Best Friend
“I said I wanted a draft.”
Morgan leans back against the cooler behind him and tips his chin up, crossing his arms.“Try it.”
Silas nudges me.I look at him, and he tips his chin to the back of the room.I glance over my shoulder and then do a double take.
Meredith, one of the local realtors in Here, is at a booth with three other people—two men and a woman.They’re not Herevians, and there’s paperwork spread out in front of them.
Are these potential buyers for the lodge?
My eyes meet Silas’s and I see my concerns reflected back in his wide eyes.What if they’re serious?What if the lodge sells before the season is over?
And Silas and I can’t even say anything about it.
I gesture with my head, somehow accurately conveying to Silas that I want to divide and conquer, because he nods, stands, and walks toward the back, passing right by the booth with Meredith and the strangers.
I turn my attention back to Morgan and the biker chick.She’s studying the beer.“Adequate.You got tater tots?”
“Yup.”
“Loaded?”
“Yup.”
“They any good?”
“Please, I have excellent taste.”
“Fine.Whatever.”
Morgan turns, the biggest goddamn smile on his face.“Oh.My.God,” he mouths to me while passing on his way to put the food order in.He doesn’t see her eyes drop the length of his body and back up.
She catches me watching her in the mirror and scowls at me.I mime zipping my lips and tossing away the key.
Now that the show’s over (kind of; Morgan returns to his place across from the biker chick and that’s gonna be our entertainment for the night, I can already tell) Hunter gets up to check with Paul about the secret menu for the day.
I look around for Silas and he’s pretending to study one of the menus at one of the booths.Thankfully, Meredith’s group isn’t paying him any attention.Silas comes back and takes the seat next to me.
“What’d you hear?”I say, leaning in.
“I think they’re looking at financials.Do you know what an e-bidet is?”
I wrinkle my nose.“Like a toilet?”
“Uhhh...”
It clicks in my head.“Oh.EBITDA.Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.It’s a metric to measure potential cash flow and earnings for a business.Holy shit.They are talking about buying the lodge.”
“Yeah,” Silas says.“And one of the people is wearing a shirt with?—”
“Okay.”Hunter interrupts from the other side of the bar.He’s leaning on his elbows, and he ticks off Paul’s specials with his fingers.
We order, and Silas whispers the name of a big skiing conglomerate.My heart sinks.This company is known for treating their employees like crap and unhappy guest experiences.
What would happen to Here if this company buys the lodge?
They leave not long after, and the bar gets busier.Herevians come and go and we spend the night playing darts, enjoying the food, and watching Morgan make a fool of himself while the biker—whose name is Rory—continues to be unimpressed.
Or at least acts like she is.
