“Sorry,” I said and finally pulled them away.
“Get those back here, I’m freezing,” she demanded and pulled my arms around her again.
I breathed in a deep large breath of air and could smell that delicious, sweet scent coming from Sarah. I immediately wrapped my arms around her again and snuggled up close. There could have been so much more happening that night between us,
but I was very content laying there with her in my arms. I didn’t need to push her for more. I didn’t want to. The feeling of her next to me was plenty to satisfy my desire, at least for that moment.
“It’s raining,” I whispered. “Do we need to do anything with the horses?”
Sarah laughed and then pressed her body back against mind. She thought I was joking, but I actually had been wondering if we needed to do anything with them. When she closed her eyes and went back to sleep I assumed the answer was that we should leave them be. They were horses, I figured they were probably used to dealing with the elements. Well, at least Buckjoy was.
Her ass was completely distracting me. I had been perfectly fine with cuddling and going back to sleep until she pressed that damn, round, delicious piece of her body up against me. I tried to pull my hips away from her and she moved close to me again. She might have been doing it unconsciously, but I felt like she was purposely teasing me.
The rain continued throughout the early morning and by the time Sarah’s alarm went off so she could get the sunrise the rain had stopped almost like it was on a schedule. The mist that was on the ground from the change in temperature and humidity made for one amazing photo when the sun started to come up.
This time Sarah didn’t stand in the water and instead opted to lie in the wet grass just next to the creek. She sure was determined to get some good photos for her father. She looked at a couple different views before she decided on the one that worked best. Once she got down to the ground, she ended up moving around a little to get a few more photos, and by the time she stood up, she was wet and muddy.
“You’re wet,” I teased. “You should take those clothes off.”
She just laughed and continued on with her photos. I felt a little out of place as she worked, but it didn’t take her long before she took a break to talk to me.
“I just really want to get some good pictures,” Sarah said as she looked through the ones she had taken so far.
“Tell me again why your father wants to sell this land?” I asked.
“He’s not making enough money to keep it all, basically. But he was going to sell it to a friend of his for much less than it is worth. I’m going to help him list it with a realtor and see if I can get an offer for what it’s really worth.”
“What do you think it’s really worth?”
“I’d like to get ten million for it, but I don’t know if there are any buyers who will see the true potential of the land like I do. I’d settle for five million. If we could get that kind of offer, it would set my parents up to finally relax and maybe even do a little semi-retirement.”
“What do you see as the potential for the land? I mean besides its beauty of course.”
Sarah turned toward me and jumped up from the ground where she had squatted down to take another couple photos. I saw a spark of excitement in her eyes like I had seen when she was talking about writing a book for women. This land made her happy, I could see it, I could feel it; it was sad that her father was going to have to sell it in order to make ends meet.
“This part of the ranch would make a fabulous executive retreat. I mean, think about it. We have mountains in the winter, hiking in the summer. I’d put a big lodge at the base of the mountain and build a hiking trail with a bridge over the river. It would take some fundamental land upgrades to get it going. There’s no electricity or water out this way, but once that was all done, this could be one of those amazing, high-price resorts that companies bring their executives to for team building. I haven’t crunched all the numbers, but my best estimate is it could be profitable in two years if there was good marketing at the opening of the ranch.”
Her excitement was contagious. As Sarah talked about the idea of an executive retreat on that location, I couldn’t help but see her vision, too. It sounded amazing; like a perfect way to spend time and enjoy this beautiful land.
I knew a lot of businesses who enjoyed taking their top salespeople and executives on team building retreats. I knew they were popular and companies were willing to spend decent money for retreats that were truly innovative and secluded.
“Why don’t you buy it and build that dream resort?”
“I’ve got a little money from my severance package, but I’m certainly not rich enough to do what needs to be done here. Not only would it take buying the land, the land improvements would cost millions as well. Plus, building the lodge and all of the rest of it. It’s a great plan, but it will have to be someone else’s future; it’s not mine.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand all the costs for something like this. I just saw how excited it made you and thought you’d make the perfect executive lodge owner.”
As much as I wanted to continue our conversation, I knew I would put my foot in my mouth. She could get backers to fund the building, or loans to finance it; I knew business and I knew there were plenty of options available to Sarah. The frustrating part was Sarah knew there were financing options; she had an MBA. It wasn’t the financing that was holding her back; Sarah didn’t believe in herself enough to take on such a huge task.
“It’s all right. Maybe someday I’ll get one or two of my other dreams.”
“I’m sure you will,” I said and then tried to change the subject. “Should we start heading back? I’ve got tons of jobs to get done today and don’t want to disappoint your father or Forest.”
“Yes, let’s head back.”
Sarah seemed sad as we loaded up our things and got on the horses to head back to the ranch. She was happy out by the river and I wished that someday she would be able to have her dream of living up there or running a business there. Or at least that they would be able to sell the land to someone who would pay her father a decent price for the land.
The Millers were quickly becoming some of my favorite people. They were genuine and friendly and even though they knew nothing about me or the trouble I was in; all of the Millers were taking me in and treating me as if I belonged there. I hadn’t had that sort of feeling in my life in a really long time.