I scan his face, looking for signs of anger or frustration, but I don’t see any. I relax my shoulders. I’ve spent the last three years of my life getting the relevant permissions and permits from local and state officials, and there were never any complaints from anyone from Star Falls.

“How’s it look?” I ask.

“Pretty,” he replies.

There’s a beat of silence before I say, “I’d love to have you come and look around if you’d like.”

He sucks in a breath. “Listen, son. I’m not interested in fancy restaurants and spas and whatever the hell else you’ve got going on up there.” He takes a sip of beer and I wait for the but. I know there’s one coming. “I’ve been walking through those woods and across those mountains for a good five decades now.” He glances around the bar. “Just like a lot of other people in this town.”

I nod, keen to hear what it is he’s trying to tell me.

“I do it less in the winter. Don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. But I still like to wander with my dogs. You know?”

“Right,” I reply.

“And we’re hearing rumors about electric fencing and checkpoints and… I’m not sure that’s going to go down so well. From what I hear, you’ve got your hands on fifteen thousand acres of land—that’s pretty much everything of the mountains and the valley that you can see from this town. Much more than the five hundred acres your father had.”

I take a swig of my beer. My father’s farm had been small by Colorado standards. He grew apples mainly, and some other fruit. The farm had been in the family three generations, and I was supposed to be the fourth. At least, that’s what Mom always told me.

When Dad died and we discovered the huge loans he’d taken out on the farm, I don’t know if I was more relieved or horrified. I was no longer locked into a future I didn’t want, but I also didn’t know what the future would look like otherwise. My father’s gambling meant I had to forge my own path, but it also meant the farm’s lineage had been cut short.

Until I bought it back five years ago.

“You’re right,” I say to Jim. “Fifteen thousand two hundred forty-four acres.”

“And as well as you buying up some of the neighboring farms, some of that land belonged to the state before you.”

I nod. I’d bet Jim knows exactly the boundary line of the Colorado Club. I’m not quite sure what he’s getting at, but no doubt I will soon.

The sound of chairs scraping against the floor catches my attention. Someone comes up from behind Jim and offers me his hand.