“I’ll make you a deal: If you don’t find her owners, I’ll take her in when you move next week.”

I tip my head back and laugh. “She hates you!”

He smooths his hand over his stubbled chin. “That is true. But maybe we can acclimatize her before then.” His eyes twinkle as he looks at me. One minute he’s a grumpy, hard-nosed businessman—the next, my thoughtful, hot neighbor who makes plaid look like it costs a million bucks.

THIRTEEN

Byron

The weather forecast has injected the air with panic. Even Kathleen, the project manager, is jittery, and that makes me nervous. People who don’t live in Colorado think tornadoes can’t hit the mountains. The people of Star Falls know different.

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” I ask Kathleen as we stand on the balcony outside Blossom. I can see the entire town of Star Falls from here.

The main building is finished. We have proper storm defenses built into the design of the place, from hurricane glass in all the windows to state-of-the-art generators. Any trees close enough to cause damage to the main building have been removed. It’s not the main building I’m worried about. It’s the buildings that aren’t finished. There’s a real possibility that if we can’t finish weatherproofing before the storm hits, they’ll be destroyed. That includes a block of staff accommodations and ten member chalets.

“Worst-case scenario is total power loss, two blocks of staff housing totally or partially destroyed, and we lose half the chalets,” Kathleen says.

The hits just keep on coming. I feel like I’m playing disaster Whac-A-Mole. Just when a plan to get the people of Star Falls fully behind the Colorado Club starts to materialize, I have to deal with the possibility that I’m going to have to delay opening. Founding members have already paid their fees. For the first six months from opening, potential members are going to come out and experience the Club in all its glory. That can’t happen if parts of the site lie in ruin. The resort has the potential to turn into a gigantic money pit.

“I thought it was up to ten member chalets and one block of staff accommodation,” I reply.

“That’s the most likely scenario. You asked for worst case. But I don’t think it will come to that. We’re beefing up some of the storm defenses in the structures that aren’t completed. Our aim is for everything to be standing at the end of it.”

“You think some of the chalets with furnished interiors will go?” I ask. We’ve invested a lot of money into the soft furnishings. It’s going to be a huge setback if they get destroyed.