Brodie admired the hell out of his brother. “What email?” And why would the general manager of the Owl Hoot Consortium talk to his brothers? They’d had very little to do with the creation of the ghost town. “Help him how?”

“Didn’t you read it?” Will asked. “He says they’re underwater. Main Street’s half empty because no one’s going to open a business unless there’s enough traffic coming through town.”

“We have plenty of tourists.” Even though not the intention, Brodie took it as a rebuke. “This hotel’s booked solid even in the shoulder months.”

“Right,” Will said. “The interest’s there, for sure, but the town’s not getting repeat business. There’s not enough going on. It’s pretty expensive to come all the way out here just to see a staged shoot-out and eat in a fancy restaurant.”

That stung. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” This is my baby.

His brother looked at him like he’d just asked him to pitch handfuls of wedding cake at him.

“You’ve moved on.” Will said it like it was obvious. Like he hadn’t given a single thought to including him. When he looked surprised, his brother said, “You’ve got great ideas, you get them up and running, and then you move onto the next project.”

“The next project was Knox’s digital platform,” Brodie said.

Gray’s wife had decided to sell her couture wedding gowns online. Brodie had only meant to talk to some three-D modelers about the concept but had found himself immersed in the whole project. Pretty interesting stuff.

“Don’t know what to tell you.” Will shrugged. “We all got the same email.”

“When?”

“Couple days ago.” Will grinned. “Actually, it was Tuesday. I remember because Ruby had a play date at someone else’s house. My girl walked in the door, spotted their Bernese Mountain dog, and chased him all around the living room. Broke a lamp.”

“Will?” The bride waved him over.

“It’s cool,” his brother said. “We’ll figure it out.”

He took off, leaving Brodie alone. He felt restless, uncomfortable in his skin—which wasn’t normal for him.

Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his emails looking for Pierce’s name. How was it possible that Owl Hoot wasn’t making enough money to cover its costs?

He found the email and quickly scanned it.

…only three shops in the hotel…

…constructed the artisan stalls but never filled them…

…your father’s vision has gone largely unfulfilled.

A sharp pain hit his chest. After his dad died, the four of them had gone through his belongings. Brodie had found a file labeled Ghost Town. In it, he’d found schematics for revitalized buildings, along with cocktail napkins and scraps of paper filled with ideas for attracting tourists to the area.