Everly
There aretons of perks of living in Strutt’s Peak, but some of my favorites are the unique places where you can enjoy delicious food and an incredible drink. The views and vibes alone are more worthy of daily appreciation than when you fold in the talented chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers, who relocate to tourist locations like ours, and it's better than New York City’s and Chicago’s food scenes combined.
“David, I swear you’re more like a mind reader than a sommelier.” I lean into my dear friend as he delivers me to our table. A Grey Goose shook so cold that ice chips skim the edges of the glass with a twist of an orange slice floating on top welcomes me. I’m the first to arrive at our lunch meeting, which is how I like it. When I feel like I’m walking into an unknown business conversation, I’d rather have the upper hand and make the location my home-field advantage.
“My darling, when you tell me you’re making a late dinner reservation on a weekend, I can only assume it’s business and you’d rather not be doing it today. That, or you’re dumping some unlucky man and he doesn’t know it’s coming. Either of those calls for a clean, stiff drink to start.” David leans in, kisses the air beside each cheek, and holds out my arms, assessing what I’m wearing. “Based on your choice of clothing, I’m guessing it’s business?” I’m wearing tailored black suit pants with a camel-colored cashmere sweater. Since this is a mountainside restaurant, and I had to ride the gondola to get here, I’m also wearing my furry snow boots. I may be all business, but I’m a Colorado girl, and you don’t fuck around with dumb shoe choices when you’re on a mountain.
“It’s a bit of both, maybe.” He smiles. “Please do a tasting menu and bring along a chilled white when my guests arrive. Oh, and my father should be here as well, so please bring him-”
“I know what he’ll want. Not a problem, Miss Everly.”
I nod and smile as my old friend walks away. I’ve known David for my entire life. He’s been a fixture, much like a lot of folks in this town. You tend to get to know everyone; the gossip may not have to travel too far, but it travels fast. David was born and bred here, and most of the town knows he’s the best sommelier this side of the Mississippi River, but what only a select few of us know is that he is part owner of this place and a half dozen more just like it spread throughout the west. The man is smart, loaded, and wants to work every day the universe will let him. His words, not mine. While some like to mistake his service role as a lesser-than job to some of the billionaires that roll into town, what they don’t know is that his net worth nuzzles right near theirs.
His property butts up against our family ranch, and he and my father are business partners in what they like to call “side-hustles.” Most would call their side-hustles life changing investments. Like my father, David had the opportunities to leave Strutt’s and live around the world, but he chose to stay. There’s pride in knowing where you came from, loving it, and staying put to build your happiest life.
A beat later, David comes back with a bottle of sparkling water. “How’s Callen handling the bustle of the upcoming season? A decent amount of idiots getting arrested yet?” I ask. David’s son Callen is now known around here as Sheriff Callen Muldowney. To me, he will always just be Callen. We grew up together. One of the most crush-worthy of men, and then he went ahead and became a cop, and now has the whole uniform thing going for him. He’s delicious.
I crushed hard on Callen for a lot of years, but the feelings were always platonic on his side. It wasn’t until he was elected sheriff that he told me if he was attracted to women, which the light should have gone off right there for me—spoiler, it didn’t—that it would have been the two of us all the way.
I fell in love with him even more that day, but I wasn’t doing myself any favors by hanging on to dead hope. And then had thought maybe he was bisexual. Yeah, I was in deep there for a while. It was a low point for me, thinking that my friend who trusted me in sharing a part of him that wasn’t, and still isn’t, public knowledge, would just change his mind. I know that’s not how any of it works, but Callen, well, Callen, a lot like David, is the kind of man that you root for and hope is, in some way, a part of your life. I was being stubborn about how he was going to be a part of mine.
David just smiles as he takes the menus back. “Callen is Callen.” He sighs. “You know him, he’ll complain that people are only getting dumber and that tourists are the bane of his existence, but he loves it when it picks up around here.” I just smile. Callen has always been a person riled by chaos. He thrives in it like Henry. So I know exactly what David means.
David looks over my shoulder, and I turn quickly. I’ve been misinformed.
Jin walks toward the table. Full swagger. His confidence was always the thing that attracted me to him the most. After that, it ended up being anticipation and then nothing. Flat soda. Total disappointment followed by self-loathing for using him to scratch an itch. But now, he approaches, and I can only find a bit of anger stirring in my belly. I thought my father was coming, and that this was pure business, but now I’m worried he’s looking for a weekend pick-me-up. My mind immediately runs to Jack.
“David, great to see you again.” He extends his hand out as he approaches.
“Mr. Cormick, excellent to see you again, sir.” David turns my way as he leaves, and an unspoken nod has me thanking him again for the stiff drink.
“Jin, is my father joining us? I was under the impression this was a business meeting and he was going to be here.” I sit and cross my arms.
“No, I just left the ranch. He won’t be coming, and I already spoke with him about my concerns and the reasons I wanted to speak with you. Actually, I wanted to speak with him first before I went ahead and spoke with you. I have some things I want to address, and I needed his”—Jin shifts uncomfortably, and all of a sudden, I’m sweating—“...his approval to approach you with what I’m thinking.”
My mind is reeling right now, and I’m anxious that I’m going to need to have a repeat conversation with him about how much I respect him, but we’re far better as colleagues. “I’m going to be honest here, Jin. I was expecting to deal with a work-related crisis, and now I’m-”
“Everly, don’t,” he cuts me off, and I uncross my arms. Taking the last sip of my drink, I look up and see David coming our way with a refill and a bottle of chilled white wine.Good man.“This is work-related. In a way, it’s more about you and not about Riggs Outdoors. I want to fund you.” I look at him, confused, waiting for more. “I want to be your investor. For the apparel and accessories that I know you’re behind. I want to offer you the opportunity to do it. Do it big and make it exclusively your brand.”
“My brand is the Riggs brand. They’re the same.”
“Yes, but they shouldn't be. I’m seeing what’s going on from a numbers perspective, the industry, and how your brand could disrupt the current space if it’s nurtured properly.” I let him continue, but I’m already starting to get defensive in how I’m responding to him in my head. “I wasn’t going to approach you about this until I spoke with your father first. I didn’t want anything I said to you about this to make it feel like I was going behind his or your brother's backs about what my intentions are with how we could separate and build this as your own.”
Right there is where he loses me. “What are you talking about, Jin?” I take a long sip of my refreshed drink. “First, you aren’t even supposed to know about my role in the apparel and accessories part of our business, but that’s a moot point now, apparently, so let's move on. This isn’t something I’m willing to discuss. I mean, I’m being groomed to run Riggs as soon as my father is ready to retire.” He moves to interrupt me, and instead I hold up my hand to stop him. You never interrupt a woman on a roll, ready to tell you exactly where to shove your current bullshit. “Hell, who do you think has been running it so efficiently for the past handful of years?”
He sits back coolly to my clearly fired-up tone. “You, obviously. You’re a damn rockstar, Ev. We all know that. That’s exactly why I wanted to talk to your father first. I wasn’t about to poach you or plant an idea in your mind without getting clearance from Asher beforehand.”
“You told my father that I should leave and pursue something on my own?” I laugh. “I’m sure that went over well. He’s been so damn happy to have me at the helm with him.”
“Of course he has. Please tell me you’ve thought about this before? You had to have wondered what it would be like to go out on your own.Notjust be a part of the family business?”
“Nope.” I pop thePto exaggerate, but of course I’ve thought about it. I thought about it when I left New York City, but I made my choices and I’ve accepted making decisions that impact other people and staying committed to them. Especially now when we’re at a huge turning point for our company.
“Well, out of all the things you’ve ever said to me…” He raises an eyebrow, clearly remembering the time I said to him the dimple in his ass could also operate as a soup bowl. In my defense, it was after a lot of drinks and my filter got thrown off and exchanged for the mouth of a very thirsty and aggressive woman. “The fact that you’re telling me it's never crossed your mind, I feel like is your way of telling me you’re not ready to talk about this.”
“Damn right I’m not,” I say defensively. “Jin, I’m also very wealthy and so is the rest of my family, so if this is something I wanted to pursue and have funded, I would have done it. Withmyfamily. Not you.”
He leans forward on the table and rests his fisted hand on his temple. “You and I both know that if you thought about this for real, then you would agree that an investor is more than just money, but the connections, doors, and details.”