“No. That would just make things worse. Apparently, Gilbert Corners General Hospital which owns and runs GC Care Home doesn’t want a Gilbert throwing his weight around.”
“They said that to you? I mean, the trust pretty much keeps that place running.”
“Which I also pointed out,” he said. “That didn’t win me any points with them. The board told me they’d let me know when a replacement had been found.”
“Fucking hell,” Conrad said.
“I know. It’s almost ten years that she’s been in that damned coma. I don’t know what to do. Should I move her? I could probably donate a wing or something at a private hospital.”
Dash was looking for solutions, and to be honest, Con knew he didn’t have one. He thought about Gilbert Corners and what he’d seen yesterday. “I wonder if you don’t take one of the older buildings that’s run down in the town and make it into a private facility. Hire your expert to come and work there. Kind of give him carte blanche to set it up.”
Dash leaned back, stretching his arm along the back of his chair and looking out the window to the manicured garden. Conrad left his cousin to his thoughts, but the idea made him think a little bit more of what Indy wanted to see in the town. Conrad could open a test kitchen and offer cooking classes. Maybe in part of the old factory. But that wasn’t going to help Gilbert Corners. Was he just thinking about himself again? He needed to think bigger and bring in more business.
But did he really want to get more involved?
“Yeah, you know, I like that idea. Thanks, Con.”
“No problem. What do you think of me taking over part of the old factory?” he asked.
“And doing what?”
“Maybe put in a test kitchen where I could teach locals to cook, or I could get in touch with some friends I know who have established schools. Just use part of it. Is that dumb?”
Dash shook his head. “I like it. I’ll look into it. Your name will probably draw some people from surrounding areas. But you’d have to be in GC. And we both know how much you hate that. Right?”
He shrugged. It was complicated. There was a lot of space. He could put in a filming studio and shoot in GC. Also, his former business partner was always needling him to open another restaurant. Would moving back there be a good thing for him? He’d be in the shadow of Gilbert Manor and memories of his overbearing grandfather which never brought out the best in Conrad. “I don’t know.”
Dash put his hands on the table and leaned forward. “I’m not going to say no to you, but if you start something and then abandon it, you’ll be no better than Grandfather when he closed that factory. We can’t go in big and start building stuff only to leave.”
“I get it. I wouldn’t do that,” Conrad said, but he knew there was still a chance he might. Maybe Dash was right.
He shoved his hands through his hair and then sat back. “So it has to be something that doesn’t require my name. Let me talk to the television network. Maybe we could partner and use it as off-site place to nurture young talent and rotate different celebrity chefs through a new TV series.”
“That’s a good start. I think you were right about the town needing our attention, and this is the kind of project that would help the locals. I hate to admit this, but I sort of always lumped the town and Grandfather together.”
Conrad had, too, and it had taken Indy to make him realize that the townspeople were actually decent and nothing like his grandfather. “I agree. It’s time we made it up to them.”
“Never heard you talk like this.”
“Honestly, never thought I would. But I met someone recently who is making me see things differently.”
“The bookshop girl?”
“She’s a woman,” Conrad said. Except Indy was so much more than just a woman. She was a temptress, so sweet and sexy making him hunger for her.
“Is she? Want to tell me about her?”
“No,” he said. He wanted to keep Indy to himself but then he realized that he did want to talk about her. Maybe Dash would hear something or see something in his comments that would allow Indy make sense to him.
So he told Dash about her. He didn’t leave out anything because they were close and had no secrets. They both saw each other for who they were. Conrad might be the Beast and Dash the Prince Charming of the Gilbert family, but they were the same inside.
Deeply protective, defensive, and not afraid to walk away from everything. That bond had been forged at their parents’ deaths and hadn’t been tarnished through the accident that had shaped their destiny.
Conrad talked through lunch, and they grabbed beers to sit by the pool when he’d finally wound down.
“I like the sound of her. She’s not your usual type,” Dash said.
“No shit. That’s the problem,” Con said. “Or am I missing something?”