“You’ll sell me the Ridley property?” That was interesting. He tried to picture the land to the north of Thorn Hill. All he’d seen from the road was a tangle of brush and scrub. Were there any buildings on it? He couldn’t say. At least it was close to town.
Virginia bristled. “I’m not selling you Cooper land. I’m talking about another ranch. A big one. It’s not for sale yet, but it will be soon. I can get you access to the seller before anyone else even knows about it. If—and only if—you help me win.”
A big ranch for sale no one knew about? That would be a miracle. Prosperous spreads in these parts stayed in family hands for generations. The ones that did come on the market were too dry, too rugged, too far from town, too one thing or another. Multiple buyers competed for them anyhow. Before today, he’d almost given up hope he’d ever find a decent place. Hilltop Acres barely qualified.
He didn’t doubt Virginia’s word, though. Living at the Prairie Garden put her in close proximity with dozens of pensioners who might be ready to dispose of a property. Hell, it seemed like she kept tabs on everyone in town.
“If we get a jump on this civic stuff, no one will be able to catch us. Give my family a leg up, and I’ll see you get your ranch,” she said.
“You want me to donate money to some charitable cause?” He supposed he could do that much and hold the ranch Virginia knew about in his hip pocket, in case something fell through with Hilltop Acres or if he wanted to upgrade at the end of the year. He’d been meaning to contribute more here in Chance Creek anyway. After all, this was his town, too.
“Money isn’t enough,” Virginia said. “Anyone can donate money to the town. We need to donate something big. Something everyone will remember forever.”
“Like what?” His ten minutes were ticking away. He needed to shake Virginia if he wanted to meet Camila.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t waste my time asking you.” Virginia pursed her lips. “Something that goes back to our roots. We Coopers built Chance Creek’s first elementary school in 1898, which means every generation since then owes us gratitude for their education. Maybe we’ll build a new high school.”
“The town already has a high school,” Carl pointed out.
“And a sorrier piece of work I’ve never seen. The Turners were responsible for that travesty. Now the roof leaks in a dozen places, the auditorium is much too small and it’s ugly.”
Carl frowned. If Virginia tried to tear down a Turner building and replace it with a Cooper one, the two families would be brawling in the streets before construction even began. At the same time, he remembered a conversation he’d had with Sven recently about how the lack of technology in schools in poorer districts meant that kids were being left behind before they even graduated from high school. That gave him a better idea.
“Chance Creek doesn’t need a new school. It needs a way to train its students for the future. You can fix up the current high school—and offer kids a better education at the same time.”
Virginia snorted. “You can gild a trash can, but it won’t smell any better.”
“Hear me out.” Carl warmed to the idea. If he was going to give back to Chance Creek, this was a good way to start. “Schools these days are changing. They’ve got 3-D printers in the computer labs, tablets in classrooms, technology everywhere. The workplace is changing, too. Not all our students are going to be ranchers. The rest need to be ready to work in an automated world—and I doubt Chance Creek High is doing much to prepare them. You could fix that. Launch a program that really sets our high school apart from the others.”
“Like what?” Virginia sounded skeptical.
Carl thought about it. “You’d still need to repair the building, but once that’s done, you need something that makes people sit up and take notice.” He thought of Sven again. “Like… robotics. That would get press like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Robotics, huh?” Virginia mused. “I like it. No one will see that coming.” She nodded as if it was settled. “I’ll need the proposal next week.”
“The proposal?”
“That’s right.”
Carl laughed but faltered when Virginia’s chin lifted in anger. How had his role escalated from pitching possibilities to overseeing the project? “Virginia, I’m just giving you ideas, remember?”
Virginia smacked her umbrella on the ground. “I thought you needed a ranch.”
“I already found one. Going to put an offer in tomorrow.” He’d like to help bring Chance Creek High into the twenty-first century but on his own terms.
Her eyes narrowed. “What ranch did you find?” she demanded.
“Hilltop Acres, over by—”
She snorted. “Hilltop Acres is a dump. The ranch I told you about is ten times as big.”
Ten times? Carl’s hands curled into fists in his pockets. He could do a lot with a property like that.
But Hilltop Acres was for sale today, and Virginia had already said she wouldn’t tell him about the other property until they’d won the prize—which would be months from now, if ever.
“Maybe so, but I can’t wait around, because—” he wasn’t about to tell Virginia about Camila “—I’ve already waited long enough,” he finished lamely.
“But you haven’t bought it yet?” Virginia watched him silently for a moment, and Carl couldn’t begin to guess what she was thinking. “I have a feeling you’ll come around,” she said finally, then turned on her heel and walked away.
“You’d better get going,” Fila said under her breath. “It’s been ten minutes already.”
“Carl can wait.” Camila didn’t know why she’d agreed to talk to him in the middle of the lunch rush, but Fila hadn’t given her much choice, nagging
