“Hear me out, Byron.” I probably shouldn’t be interrupting my boss like this, but I don’t have much more to lose in this life than everything I’ve walked away from. And anyway, he’s short-staffed—he’s not going to fire me. “This is all about presentation. When I’d had customers on the phone asking me when their cars would be finished, I’d tell them it was taking a little longer than anticipated because we were detailing the car before it was returned to them. People stopped complaining.

“I think if you tell your billionaires and centimillionaires—thank you, by the way, for extending my vocabulary with that particular phrase—that you’re respecting local culture by giving Star Falls residents limited access to the land on these days, in these areas, you’re highlighting the Colorado Club as a company with a conscience. By extension, that means your members have a conscience, too. Your generosity and consideration is their generosity and consideration. Your billionaires get something for nothing—a clear conscience. They don’t need to know it’s all a ploy to drum up local support, just like my customers at the garage didn’t need to know their detailing was included in the service price and only took twenty minutes.”

I hold Byron’s gaze as he silently stares back at me. I try and read his expression. Am I about to wear a face full of eggs? Is he going to leave?

“You’re really smart,” he says finally, and I feel a little glow inside me at his approval. “We need to sell it to members like it’s part of our offering. It could work if we open up the land on certain days, or certain parts of the land on certain days. During those times, we can just direct members to other areas. Or offer them additional security.”

“Exactly,” I say. “It’s doable.”

“I’ve got to sell it to Jim. He’s going to want access whenever he wants.”

“The limited access is the price they pay for revitalizing employment opportunities in town. If all the young people are leaving because there aren’t any opportunities for them, the Colorado Club gives them something to stay for.”

Byron nods. “It really does. Or it could.”

“I agree,” I say with a smile.

He holds my gaze, his stare intense. It heats me from the inside out, like he’s trailing his fingers over my skin, bringing every goose bump to life. “It’s a really creative solution, you know?”

I laugh. “I never even went to community college.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re not clever. It just means you didn’t go to college.”

I glance down at my pancakes, full with his praise and the way he sees me. “Thank you.” I take a bite of pancakes. “Now you have to help me find Athena’s family.”