JC

"Have a seat, son. Anywhere is fine. No sacred cows in this office."

I took a look around thinking about how true that must be, considering just about every square inch of Sheriff Eloise Harding's office was covered in paper, boxes or books. On the walls were old photos of Eloise and what I assumed were townspeople over the years, in frames that needed a hit with one of those Swiffer dust wands.

Her desk, however, seemed to be neat and organized. All of her paperwork in stacks on one side, files and folders on the other. Behind her, an older model computer sat on a stand. The screen saver was a slideshow of some of Cloudcroft best views- the mountains, the river, up above the town looking down on it.

I picked up a pile of books and newspapers and relocated them to a different chair. Kaya's keys tinkled in my hand as I pushed them into the front pocket of my jeans and sat down. I wanted to do some driving around and exploring and since she'd be working, she didn't need her pickup. I convinced her to let me drop her off, then pick her back up later. After driving around for about an hour and getting my bearings, I made a stop at the drugstore for some toiletries and found the Sheriff's office.

"Thanks for giving me some of your time. I know you're busy. I appreciate it."

"Aw hell, son," she said with a wave of her hand, her cheeks flushing pink. "I wasn't doin' nothin' but trying to decide where I want to eat for dinner. It's quiet around these parts, mostly. It's a sunny day, the snow is melting, people are happy. That means a lot less troublemaking."

"So, it's just you and a deputy? You don't have a very big police force."

"We'll increase the staff when we need to." She shrugged, looking around. "Right now, we don't need to. At last count, this town has fewer than a thousand residents. Unless we have an influx of people moving to Cloudcroft..." She leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up on the corner of her desk, then adjusted her cap so she could see me. "It ain't broke, so it don't need fixin'."

"I see. And uh... is there a plan to move more people to Cloudcroft? I mean, you've got the ski resort right here-"

Eloise sat up, both feet hitting the floor. "What are you gettin' at, son? You planning a move to Cloudcroft? Tori's cookin' just that good to ya?"

"No... no, no. I mean, don't get me wrong; the town is wonderful. The people are great, very friendly. And Tori's cooking is nice, for sure.  To be honest, if I thought it made sense to stay here, I would. You wouldn't believe my life in LA. But uhm..."

I exhaled a breath, trying to decide on an angle to take this talk. I could flatter Sheriff Harding all day, but she wasn't one to be plied with sweet words. Maybe giving it to her straight would be the best option.

"I've overheard some things about Tori and Nez Motors and Mitch Chee-"

"Yeah. He wants to kick her out so he can sell the building."

"Exactly. And... it's kind of tearing her apart, to lose her shop and her livelihood and a piece of her family history. Now's not a good time for her to take on debt, with her son going to school in a couple of years. I'm trying to figure out if I can help. I know I should mind my own business-"

"Damn straight. Tori'll tear you a new ass if she finds out you've been in here talking about her problems."

"And I get that, I do. I'm a person that doesn't need the world talking about my problems. You know what I mean?" When she nodded, I plowed forward. "But we both know who I am and what kind of pull I could have. And maybe you don't know this, but I'm... I can't walk away from this town knowing Tori and Kaya are going to lose everything their father, their grandfather built because this guy is hot out the ass to sell an empty building. It can't even be worth much."

Eloise was quiet, tapping the end of a ballpoint pen on her desk. "I'm going to tell you something. I don't want you to use it against anyone. I don't even want you to hint that you know this. I just want you to understand the dynamics, here."

I relaxed in my chair, stretching my legs out and crossing them at the ankles. Seemed like it was going to be a long story.

"Back when Pat- that's their father- lived here, he tried to hook Tori up with Mitch. It appeared to be great match from the outside. The Chee's are wealthy, according to Cloudcroft standards. Well, really according to any standard.

"Anyway, as time went on there was too much talk about business and not enough talk about love and family. Tori felt like Mitch only wanted to get his hands on the Nez land, then move her off of it, kick Kaya out and send Nasaan off somewhere, wherever Max, Mitch's father, sent his other grandchildren. None of them live in the area."

"The Nez land," I repeated. "Tori owns land?"

"No," Eloise answered, her lips forming a small but sad smile. "But Pat does. He owns the house and the land it sits on, acres of it, and it has appreciated nicely."

"So... why doesn't she tell Pat that she's in trouble? Maybe he can sell some land..."

"Because the only people with enough money to buy the land is the Chee family. And it's worthless in parcels. He'd never buy just a piece of Nez land."

"So this Mitch guy... he doesn't need to sell the building, does he?"

Eloise bobbed her head from side to side, frowning a little in thought. "He might. He might not. I think he realized that this is something he can hold over Tori's head. But I hope he knows he'd have a Sheriff's boot up his ass if he tried."

"So, Tori calls off the engagement with Mitch and... what? He slinks back to his corner?"

"Oh, of course not," she said, her face growing dark with a scowl.  "Every few years he tries to get her back, win her over. This whole charade with the sale of the building is just to get a shot at that land.  If he puts her in a spot where she's desperate, then manages to help her out, she might feel generous enough to talk to Pat and convince him to sell."

Internally, I groaned. "Yesterday, he offered to find her some space to move to, vouch for her, get her in. I'm suspicious about that."

Eloise blanched. The pen stopped tapping and her eyes flashed up to mine. "You should be. He's not dumb enough to do something illegal, but he's smart enough to trap her. The best thing for her would be to get out of this without involving Chee."

"Which is where I could come in." I shared more with Eloise- my talk with Tori the night before, the drawings, what she really wanted to do. And asked her opinion if it was possible to make it happen.

"Tori can do the work. She can keep the dream alive if she has the business. But we don't have enough traffic through this town to keep that concept afloat."

"But see here's the thing.  Guys like me and my friends-"

"People with more money than God," she deadpanned.

"Yeah, us. We're not looking for high traffic places when we're thinking about a custom build, a refresh, a repair. I'd think nothing of shipping my bike to someone with proven skills. It's what? A grand in shipping, maybe? Not to brag but that's nothing for someone in my tax bracket. My friends just got on a private jet back to LA after spending a week in Taos, just hanging out. There's money to burn out there. She just needs a little bit of clout and word of mouth. She'll have orders coming out of her ears."

"Okay. So... what are we talking about here?"

"I'm talking about financing the project. Sinking some money into Nez, into Cloudcroft. Buying the building, financing the renovation, making Nez Custom Bikes and Repair a reality. Hopefully it won't ruin your town here, bringing an element that you don't want."

"If it's an element that spends money, we'll take ‘em. Cloudcroft can grow a little. It'd be nice to make money outside of ski season. But uh..." Her eyes dropped to the surface of her desk. She tapped the pads of her fingers on her well-used desk calendar.

"Selling Tori on it is going to be a bitch, right?"

She nodded. "Yep. And you'll never get her to agree to go along with it. The terms would have to almost be unfair and that would defeat the purpose of helping her. But if..."

She pointed at me, then snapped her fingers. "If it's all about you, and her helping you, that's a different story. If you give her that spiel about investing in Cloudcroft -"

"I'd set aside some money for renovation- " 

"And provide a plan for bringing people to Cloudcroft for repairs and builds, that probably won't piss her off. Another thing I think you need to do is put some money in her pocket. I'm not talking about a handout. I think you should order some bikes from her. Not a bike. Bikes."

"Bikes. What am I gonna do with more than one custom bike?"

"Sell it. Give it as a gift. Donate it back as a floor model. Shit, I don't care, but put your money where your mouth is. You just told me there's money to burn, so burn some.  You believe in her craft, in her dream? Buy into it."

"I am, but-"

"I mean personally. Buying that building is business. Buying direct from her is personal. Now lemme ask you something."

She dipped her head low, so she was basically glaring up at me. "Are you and Tori... together? You know what I'm saying?"

"No." I waivered for a whole second about what to say, but it was the truth. We had... an arrangement. But we weren't together.  Then I had a thought, and my heart thumped at the possibilities. "Why? Have you heard differently?"

"Just observant, is all. You crashed your bike a week ago. Tori could have repaired it and shipped it to you. The preppy sumbitches I've deal with seem to be allergic to the small town thing and can't wait to get out of here, insulting us the whole time. You seem to have made yourself right at home here."

"Oh. Well. I did my fair share of bitching, that first night."

"I seem to recall that was Nurse Kaya's fault?"

"You're right, it was. I also remember a certain Sheriff arranging for me to have a nice place to stay, with the Nez family."

""Uh huh," She hummed. "Son, I'm an officer of the law, highly trained, though I know it don't seem like it. Now, I know a liar when I see one, when I hear one, and I can smell ‘em a mile away. You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?"

It was my turn to blush, but I did more than that. I felt like my face was on fire. My throat closed up so badly I thought I might choke to death right in her office. Immediately, I dropped my gaze to the floor, which, paired with my face, told Eloise all she needed to hear.

"You walk in here talking about Tori's dreams and her future and you're just about more upset than she is. Should have seen your face when I told you she and Mitch had a thing going for a while. Believe it or not, I'm not one to gossip, so I'm not going to say anything to anyone. But I'm not a country bumpkin, Andy Griffith small town Sheriff so don't assume I'm dumb and inexperienced. I've worked the mean streets of Albuquerque."  Eloise winked at her last line, which made me laugh and paved the way to breathing again.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you with my bare hands. And you know I can do it and get away with it."

"Yes ma'am," I answered quietly, because I had no doubt she could and would do it.

"Now then. Let me get you some information on Mitch Chee, so you can get this process started."

...

 I left the Sheriff's office with the business address for Chee Properties, the real estate arm of the family enterprise. The Chee family, I'd learned, was one of the most powerful families in New Mexico. They owned properties all over the state and, long ago, had tried to take over Cloudcroft by buying up a lot of land. The plan was to bring in big city businesses, which would bring more residents and more traffic to the ski resort, which they owned part of.

Only... the townspeople at the time wouldn't have it. It would drive out the mom & pop shops and the current residents, who had no interest in big box stores. So they refused to sell their land. Over time, the family gave up their designs on Cloudcroft. The building Mitch was trying to get rid of was one of the last properties the family owned in the town.

I was happy to unload that from his portfolio. Then maybe he'd stay out of Cloudcroft and stop trying to find a way to his hands on Tori's family's land.

I didn't have everything all figured out yet. I had a feeling that all that staring and glaring the day before was because he suspected something between Tori and I. Getting him to sell me the building was going to be a challenge. And cost me a lot of money.

I drove around for a while, stopped at the river and watched the halfway frozen water babble and glide down from the mountain, over the rocks and downstream. I saw a few fish, even- and a few hawks drop out of the sky to try to catch them.

Toward sunset, I drove to the hospital to wait for Kaya to finish up her short shift.  By the time she came out of the Emergency entrance, I was tired and hungry.

"Ready?" I asked her, after she snapped herself into the seatbelt.

"Yup."

I turned the key in the ignition and the pickup rumbled to life. Kaya hadn't said a word about knowing what was up between Tori and me. She hadn't treated me any differently either, but that hadn't eased my mind at all. I was still on pins and needles, waiting for her to make a snide or sly comment, meant for me or for Tori but would go over Nasaan's head. I figured it would be better on my nerves and the tension between all of us if I just came clean.

I waited until we were on our way to a Mexican restaurant Tori had told me about. I was treating us for dinner and she'd already called in our order, we just needed to pick it up. The truck rumbled along the uneven streets for a few minutes before I got up enough courage to say something.

"So... Tori talked to me the other night." I couldn't think of any other way to start the conversation.

I thought Kaya might take pity on me, but of course she didn't. "The other night? Does she not talk to you every day?"

"I meant... she told me that you know."

"I know?" She asked, putting on an innocent voice that didn't sound right, coming out of that face.

I took my focus off the road for a millisecond to catch the evil gleam in her eyes. "You know what I mean, Kaya. About me and Tori."

"About you fucking my sister? About you two sneaking around behind me and Nasaan's back, stealing away together, making the sex?" She giggled at that last part, almost obnoxiously shouting it.

"Yeah," I answered, sighing, glaring out of the windshield. I wouldn't give her the pleasure or benefit of reacting to her comments. "About that."

"Yeah, I know about her southern hospitality. We don't all offer that, you know."

"I... never mind."

"You...what? Aren't interested in me?" Kaya burst into giggles. "Oh, no, the handsome, suave, debonair celebrity JC Chasez isn't checking for me! Whatever will I do?"

"I didn't start this conversation to insult you and you know it. And where are we going? I feel like been driving down this street for hours."

"It's the next block up." She nodded her head up the street, so I kept rolling. "I'm just playing with you, JC. I didn't know you were so sensitive."

"I'm not. But don't make me out to be a, you know... an asshole because I find your sister attractive-"

"And fuckable."

"Are we gonna have an adult conversation about this?"

"You know that episode of Friends where Chandler can't pick on anyone about anything, and the dork Ross decides to wear leather pants and he wants to say something so bad, until eventually he explodes and yells out, ‘Ross is wearing leather pants!'

"You know what, I missed a lot of Friends episodes. I was on the road a lot. I've been trying to catch them in reruns, though."

"You gotta ruin everything with that celebrity shit, don't you? My point is... that's been me for the last two days, waiting for Tori to tell you that I know what you two are doing. So I can say something when Nasaan isn't home. By the way, I heard you guys the other night."

I pulled over in front of Mi Cabanita and put the truck in park. "You did not."

"Okay, I didn't," she admitted. "But I heard you go into Tori's room and the door close. And I swear I heard a moan. I almost got up, but I didn't hear anything else. If you guys aren't careful, Nasaan is going to find out. And if you think I'm protective? That Aunt Eloise is protective?"

She hissed a breath, shaking her head.  "We've got nothing on Nasaan. Don't mess with his mama."

"I'm not trying to mess with her. I mean... not in a bad way. But we're adults, and we- together- decided this was something we wanted to do."

"And I'm not arguing with that. Scout's honor," she said, placing a hand over her heart. "I'm just telling you how it is. And I know you two think you can keep it quiet, but good luck with that. Three people today asked me if that celebrity guy was still staying at our house. Then asked me if you were really cute in person and gave me the eyebrows like we were fucking."

"Damn. It's been a long time since I was in a small town. I forgot about that gossip thing." I paused, then quietly confessed, "I bought condoms. At the drugstore. That was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

Kaya laughed. And laughed and laughed. "Oh my God," she screamed, almost choking when she laughed again. "You should have just had me pick some up for you. Felicity at Cloudcroft Drug is a huge gossip. Didn't Tori tell you?"

"Yeah. She did. But I was... distracted." I remembered that I'd been thinking about other, sexier topics while Tori was talking about why she couldn't buy condoms. My eyelids slid closed and I couldn't help but laugh at myself. "Well.... shit."

"Shit is right. The whole town will know by morning." She laughed again, then popped the door latch. "You're paying for dinner, right? Dig out the credit card, Pretty Boy."

I tossed the keys to her, then opened my door. "You're driving home."

"Can I hold the credit card? I don't have a platinum Visa."

"You are like a child," I grumbled. But I dug my wallet out of my pocket, slipped the card from its slot and handed it to her. "Happy?"

"Enormously. But why doesn't it say JC Chasez on it? What's Leo Enterprises?"

"That's my production company. It's what all my writing and studio work is billed through, all my projects and stuff."

"Oh." Her eyes grew wide. "Your projects. Like people you write for and record with? So you're kind of a big deal, then."

I grinned, laughing. I pulled the door open and waved her inside the warm restaurant. I smelled tortillas and peppers and delicious Mexican food. "I've been trying to tell you that since I got here, Nurse Ratchet."

The mention of my production company, though, gave me an idea.  What if I could buy that building without Chee knowing it was me buying it?