“Now I’ll turn the stage over to the lovely Caitlyn Moore, who will tell you about some wonderful incentives you’re sure to find very exciting.”
She gave Brodie a double take.
Incentives? That wasn’t exactly the word she was going to use. Partners in business, maybe—
Brodie had done a good job presenting the facts, exactly as they’d discussed. But hearing it made it sound about as warm as a multilevel marketing plan. Not that there was anything wrong with multilevel marketing, but it wasn’t for everyone, and rarely did it instill the warm fuzzies.
Caitlyn stepped up to the podium. Looked around and saw a mixture of emotions out there in the audience. She wasn’t expecting to please everyone. So maybe she just needed to do what felt right to her.
“I want to tell you a personal story.” Rather than following the PowerPoint, she began to speak from her heart. She told them the story of how her father started Moore Entertainment with one hundred dollars he’d saved from working an early-morning paper route when he was in high school. She told them he has always believed that being part of a community is so important. He learned that on his paper route. He knew the name of every single person on his route.
“He hasn’t had a chance to meet all of you yet, because he’s been having health problems, but just give him a chance and you’ll know him like family.”
She told them how he loves John Wayne and that Cowboy Country USA was a dream come true.
“It’s not just another amusement park in the Moore Entertainment portfolio. This is personal. And out of all the places in the world, he chose Horseback Hollow. He wants to be part of this community, and he would be the one standing here telling you that if he weren’t in a rehabilitation center in Lubbock, recovering. I almost lost my father. I think you can help give him a reason to live.”
The air in the room seemed to change. Everyone sat quietly watching her.
“But me telling you the Cowboy Country story is only a fraction of why I’m here. I want to tell you how Moore Entertainment will be good neighbors to you, and I will not leave here until I have answered every one of your questions.”
A hand shot up—a guy in the second row who didn’t look entirely convinced.
“Okay, I have a question for you. According to the newspaper, you’re having trouble getting your rides to work. As far as I’m concerned, the only thing worse than having an amusement park in my backyard is having a broken-down eyesore that doesn’t work. I’m afraid we’re going to be stuck with a theme-park ghost town if Moore Entertainment can’t get its act together then pulls up stakes and leaves town.”
Thanks, Truvy.
“What’s your name, sir?” Caitlyn asked.
“Rodney Young.”
“Mr. Young, I can assure you that Moore Entertainment would never leave you with a broken-down eyesore. We are still a couple of weeks away from opening our doors. We are testing equipment and fine-tuning everything around the park to have it ready and working for opening day. To put your mind at ease, I would like to invite you and your family to be our guest at the park on opening day. Come out and enjoy the park and see for yourself.”
A wave of murmurs rippled through the audience.
Caitlyn smiled at him. Rodney Young sat up in his chair and arched his brows in a way that wasn’t entirely bad.
“Well, thank you, ma’am. I’ll take you up on that offer. How do I get in touch with you?”
“You can call me in the Cowboy Country offices anytime. In fact, that goes for all of you. I want to give every resident of Horseback Hollow a ticket for free park admission on opening day.”
The crowd murmured again. Brodie put his hand on Caitlyn’s arm. She glanced at him and through his smile he was giving her a look. It flashed in his eyes for just a moment—a what the hell are you doing look—but she ignored him.
“After that, we will offer you deeply discounted resident passes. All you have to do is show your ID with a Horseback Hollow address, and we will have a special rate.”
“Could you please give us that number to the Cowboy Country offices?”
Her gaze picked out Janie in the audience. She looked horrified. But Caitlyn was as good as her word. She gave out the number.
Now Brodie’s hand was on her back, and he was subtly moving into the microphone.
“Yes, one free ticket for everyone.” He choked on the last word, but he quickly recovered. “For the day of the opening. Right. We will all have a lovely time. But getting back on track, there’s more about how we would like to help Horseback Hollow’s economy. To that end, Moore Entertainment would like to partner with local businesses who are interested in offering food and goods for sale within the park.”
Getting back on track? What?
Granted, she had varied from the PowerPoint, and he didn’t seem thrilled about her surprise offer of free admission on opening day, but that wasn’t his decision to make. Common sense dictated that if they involved the residents of Horseback Hollow, the residents would see for themselves and soften their stance.
She put her hand on his back to signal that she would take it from here and tried to lean into the microphone to finish her part of the presentation, but he didn’t budge.
And he kept talking.
So she did the only thing she could to get his attention without making a scene. She slid her hand down to his backside and pinched him.
“Yah!” he blurted.
Well, he deserved it. Edging me out like that.
Maybe it wasn’t the most professional thing to do, but the podium was wide enough that nobody would’ve been the wiser, and her body blocked the view of those who were seated to the side of the stage—and had she mentioned he deserved it?
Caitlyn was a tolerant woman. But one of the things that pushed her hot button like no other was when a man tried to override her in business, treating her like a senseless little lady.
“Yes, Brodie. I’m excited about being a part of the Horseback Hollow community, too,” she said in her cheeriest voice. “To pick up on what Brodie was saying, we will offer competitive compensation and make sure park guests are aware that each partner—vendor—is local by supplying signage and encouragement to visit your shop in the downtown area. Brodie and I will be making our way into different businesses in the downtown area to meet you and see how Cowboy Country can partner with you to promote your business, but if anyone has immediate interest, please feel free to see either of us before we leave tonight.”
* * *
“What in the bloody world was that?” Brodie asked as soon as they were in the car. Actually, the question covered a litany of bloody worlds. He’d wanted to say bloody hell, but he’d managed to restrain himself. Because he was in the presence of a lady—even if she had pinched his arse in public and given away opening day of park attendance.
“Yes, I could ask you the same thing. What in the bloody world was that?” she asked. “Why did you butt into my part of the presentation? I was handling it.”
Her green eyes looked about as wild as he felt. If he hadn’t been so angry he might’ve noticed how sexy she looked when she was mad. But why the hell was she mad? She’d given everything away and gotten away with it.
“I didn’t butt in, I simply steered you back on track. I understand you were nervous, but that’s why we had the PowerPoint presentation.” He softened his voice. “Why in the world did you not just stick to the plan we had agreed on?”
She glared at him for a moment that seemed to last an eternity.
“Because the plan may have worked on paper, but we were losing them. Couldn’t you see that? We were coming to them with our hats in our hands, asking them to love us, as Jeanne Marie so aptly put it. We are the ones who are encroaching on their territory, changing the face of their community. It was our place to make a magnanimous gesture, and I stand by the offer. I just can’t believe you are so blind you can’t see it.”
“You’re right, I have been blind. I’ve be
en blinded by emotions that have no business in the workplace. Caitlyn, I signed a contract agreeing to open a profitable park, and you need to know that’s what I intend to do.”
Chapter Eleven
It was exactly what Caitlyn had feared would happen.
She and Brodie had been distant for days—since their disagreement after the town meeting.
How had it all snowballed out of control?
She’d thought about broaching the subject, but the way he’d been avoiding her made her feel so vulnerable that she always pulled back when she got the urge to reach out. Reaching out meant tracking him down. Reaching out meant pushing herself on a man who obviously had only been in it for fun—oh, and for business.
Business always took precedence.
She refused to let herself think that she could’ve loved this man.
No. She wasn’t going to think about that.
So they continued to avoid each other in the name of hard work. They both stayed so busy they didn’t have to talk about what happened—or wasn’t happening—between them.
Of course, there was so much to do in the time leading up to the park’s opening that they hadn’t had a moment to spare—or share a meal or kiss, certainly not make love. If things got any colder between them, they’d be at a risk for frostbite.
But there was too much to do right now to worry about that. Today was the start of the Red, White and Blue Extravaganza, an event to celebrate the employees’ completion of the training program Brodie had created to get everyone “on the same page.”
Caitlyn was busy looking over schedules to make sure all of the areas would be covered during the pre-opening employee event.
The Red, White and Blue Extravaganza was a peer review/fun day for each of the employees. Everyone who worked for Cowboy Country USA had been split into one of three groups—red, white and blue. Over the next three days each group would take turns enjoying the park and reviewing their peers’ job performance.
Of course, nothing could just be fun when Brodie had a hand in it. Caitlyn had tried to get him to lay off, to let the workers enjoy a day of pure fun in the park that he so desperately wanted them to love. But the unspoken message seemed to be if they didn’t buy into Cowboy Country heart and soul he would fire them.
Each day closer to the Memorial Day opening, Brodie seemed to get more intense, and Caitlyn’s sinking feeling of impending disaster was nearly overwhelming. Just to keep the peace, she had decided she needed to choose her battles.
That was why she stepped back from taking the hard line on the setup of the Red, White and Blue Extravaganza. Maybe the peer review process would work. Personally, she thought it was a lot of weight to place on the employees’ shoulders. Thank goodness, one thing Brodie had agreed to was that the reviews would be anonymous. The last thing they needed right now was for Carl over at the Runaway Stagecoach ride to find out that Karen over in the General Store had dinged him for lousy service.
Brodie’s stance was that good service was good service and bad service was costly. The employees from top to bottom needed to get into the habit of providing good customer service even when they thought no one was looking.
Okay, he had a point. Of course she wanted Cowboy Country to provide the best possible experience for the guests, but there had to be another way to inspire the workers rather than put the fear of hanging in their hearts.
One of the things that she found the most distressing was that she thought she had recovered the Brodie she met that night of the Fortune wedding—her romantic, funny, kind, considerate astronomy nerd. But Brodie the Dictator had materialized again, eclipsing Brodie the Astronomy Nerd.
Did the guy have a split personality? Or an evil twin?
Now Caitlyn understood why it was difficult for couples to work together. The power struggles were killer. Someone had to be the boss, and someone had to be bossed around.
If this project weren’t so important to her father, she would just as soon go back to her office and research in Chicago and leave big business to the cutthroats.
Animals didn’t talk back to you. If you respected them, for the most part they respected you. It was the truth, but she found it depressing. She’d been having visions lately of growing old surrounded by a zoo park of animals, but without a husband and family to love her.
That was why she couldn’t quit now. She needed to stick with this project and see it through until the end. Maybe it was even more important to prove to herself that she could do it than it was to prove it to her father.
It was hard to keep her thoughts on the schedule. She found herself getting to the bottom of the page and having to admit that she hadn’t comprehended what she’d read. Did she need to schedule two or three in the Lazy River Shootout? And was that for the day the White team or the Blue team would be hitting the park?
Ugh, she needed to go back and check. The last thing she needed was to mess this up.
She was scrolling through the computer file with the schedule when her cell phone rang.
She was tempted to let it go to voice mail, but then she saw her father’s number displayed on the screen.
“Hi, Dad. Is everything okay?”
“It couldn’t be better. I’m in the car right now, and your mother is driving me home from that godforsaken rehab center. I am a free man. Looks like I’ll probably be able to attend the opening ceremony on Memorial Day. You have planned a ribbon-cutting, haven’t you?”
“Yes, of course we have. This is such wonderful news. When I spoke with Mom yesterday, she didn’t tell me you were being released today.”
“It wasn’t finalized until I saw the doctor today. She didn’t want to mention it in case it didn’t happen. But I knew it would. Hey, listen—” He must’ve held the phone away from his mouth because what he said next was a little muffled. It sounded something like, “I need to discuss this with her, Barbara, but I’m not getting upset. See, I’m perfectly calm. I can discuss business and keep a level head.”
His voice was clear again. “So what’s this I hear about you giving the entire town of Horseback Hollow free admission on opening day?”
Great. Just great. The only way he could have learned about that was through Brodie.
“Dad, it made sense. We don’t have many fans in the town— Well, we didn’t. But now I think people are starting to come around. We need to be good neighbors, and this was the best way to do it. We had to be the first ones to invite them to our house. It’s amazing how far a little goodwill will take you.”
Her dad made a noise on the other end of the phone that sounded like, hummm, before he said, “Well, no skin off my nose. I’ll take the revenue loss out of the bonus based on opening day sales that I was going to pay Hayes. That way we should break even. And if your theory holds true, we may even come out on top a little bit.”
So that was why Brodie was so mad at her. Giving away tickets meant money out of his own pocket. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was. He was a business consultant. Business consultants earned a handsome reward for pulling off miracles. Still, the reality of it burned a little.
“I appreciate you being my eyes and ears while I’ve been laid up. You know, taking time out of your own research to hold down the fort for your old man. Your being there has given me more peace than I’ve had in weeks. Months, maybe. Since you’ve made the sacrifice, after everything is up and running at Cowboy Country, we will seriously revisit those plans for that zoo park you’ve wanted for so long.”
Caitlyn blinked. Was this her father speaking? Had those words just come out of his mouth?
“Of course, Dad. It’s the least I could do. You needed me.”
“Well, I need you to keep working with Hayes. Follow his lead. No more surprises, okay? I need that park to open on Memorial Day. If anyone can pull off this opening, he can.”
Ah, okay. There it was.
His words were like a sucker punch.
She was the eyes and ears. Brodie was the bril
liant mastermind.
She wanted to ask him, What about inviting the town to the park? That was her idea.
Despite the fact that he was a Fortune, she was the one who’d made inroads with the locals—well, okay, maybe by virtue of his birth they’d had an easier time getting on the town meeting agenda. But again, town meeting—her idea.
But there was no time to sulk or demand credit. What would it get her, anyway? A medal? A bonus? Respect?
Hardly.
In her father’s eyes she was the dutiful daughter. That role did not command respect. Love, yes.
Respect, no.
She had a vision of her mother, the epitome of the proper wife, who was always at her husband’s side. She made life nice for her husband and for Caitlyn, too—arranging her life around them. It had never dawned on her until now how much of herself her mother had sacrificed.
Was this the way she’d imagined her life would turn out?
More important, was she happy? Or was there something else she was capable of that might have made her so much happier? At this point, she might never know.
Because of the subservient role her mother had always played to her father, it had always been important to Caitlyn to be her own person. To know what she wanted and what she was capable of and to go out and get it. That was why she’d broken the engagement to Eric. He’d cheated. If she’d looked the other way, that wouldn’t have just been subservient, that would’ve been selling herself short, giving him permission to disrespect her. Because she knew she wanted and deserved so much more.
She wasn’t going to let anyone bring her down or make her feel less about herself.
So why couldn’t she tell her father that she’d played so much more of a role in the park’s success than he realized?
Searching for the words, she opened her mouth to tell him, but all she ended up doing was sucking in a breath to fill in the cracks that were starting to form in her bravado.
My Fair Fortune Page 13