One More Taste (One and Only Texas #2)(47)

Paco stuck his head out his open window. “Hey, I know you! You’re June’s grandson! Climb on in and let Paco take you for a ride.”

All right. No problem. He assumed the front passenger seat. “Thanks, though it’s not much of a ride. We’re only going to Briscoe Ranch.”

“Oooh, it’s my lucky day. Maybe I’ll park and take a look around, see if I can find June.” He smoothed a hand over his hair. “How do I look?”

“Er…”

Steering with his knee, Paco unwrapped a mint and popped it in his mouth. “June, you know, she’s a classy lady. I’ve definitely had to up my game.”

Knox didn’t usually think of classy and Granny June in the same sentence, but Paco’s gushing opinion of her was kind of sweet. “Are you two dating or something?”

Paco let out a belly laugh. “Only in my dreams.”

Okay, that was a little less sweet, and a bit more creepy. Also, way more information than Knox needed to know. Thankfully, they arrived at the resort’s circular drive in record time. Knox tossed a twenty on the seat as a tip. “Thanks for the lift, Paco.”

Paco rolled down the passenger window and dipped his head to smile at Knox. “Wish me luck with your grandma!”

Yeah, no. Knox braced his hands on the car door. “How about this instead? You treat her right and I won’t have to kick your ass.” He’d never threatened to kick anyone’s ass over a woman’s honor, because Shayla had never needed his help, and neither had his mom, but it felt good, having family to protect for a change. Ironic, given the way the day was going to unfold, but nice all the same. He smiled and tapped his brow in a two-fingered salute to Paco, then tipped his hat to the worker manning the valet booth as he walked through the sliding double doors.

Haylie was not at her desk. Her arrivals in the morning were getting later and later. Add to that her frequent lunches that often ran much longer than an hour, and which she sometimes returned from reeking of cigarette smoke, and the picture of her job performance wasn’t a pretty one. He liked Haylie a lot, but it was time to crack down.

He rounded the corner into his office to see Ty sitting in Knox’s chair behind the desk.

“This again?” Knox said, refusing to be ruffled by the surprise.

“You and I need to talk.”

Knox set his messenger bag on the floor next to the desk. “I thought we were already doing that, all day, every day.”

“Your engineers are back this morning.”

No wonder Ty was sweating. “Good. They’re early.”

Could have been an optical illusion, but Knox swore he could see the sweat sprouting on Ty’s cue ball head. “We don’t need them. I’ve got my own team of inspectors I usually use. A top-notch company, one that knows the area. How ‘bout I give them a call and we send your city boys packin’?”

Knox eyed the bottle of scotch near the door. Was it too early to celebrate his victory? Nah.

He poured shots into the two lowball glasses that shared a tray with the bottle, then handed one to Ty and settled into one of the chairs across from the desk.

“What’s this for?”

Knox’s response to that question could go in so many different directions. Hard to pick just one. “To help calm your nerves.”

“What do you think I have to be nervous about?” Ty snapped.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Mr. Briscoe?” It was one of the engineers, looking deadly serious. “I know it’s early, but there’s something you’re going to want to see.”

Perfect timing. Knox gave his best fake look of concern. “Is everything all right?”

“Well, no, actually. We’ve found a problem. A big one. It’s why we brought Ron, the geologist, with us today, to double check that we were drawing the correct conclusions.”

Ty tossed back his second serving of scotch.

“Come on in. Give it to us straight,” Knox said.

The engineer took a sheepish step into the room. “The problem is, the original structure should never have been placed where it is. The make-up of the soil and the proximity to the lake could have supported a single-family dwelling, but not a building this size. The hill that the building is built on cannot support its weight, hydrologically or geologically. In fact, the building has already started to creep downhill. We found evidence deep in the foundation. All it would take was one big storm or, worse, a measurable snowfall, which has been known to happen in these hills, historically, and y’all could be in real trouble.”

The situation was even worse than Knox and his engineer buddy had estimated. Excellent.

“Will we be able to save the buildings?”

“We think so, but it’ll cost you.”

“That’s hard news to take,” Knox said.

“I know that, sir, which is why we’d like to show you for yourselves what we’re talking about, if you’d just follow me.”

Knox made to stand, but Ty gestured him back down. “Tell us where. We’ll meet you there in a minute,” Ty said, sounding far more composed than Knox knew him to be.

As soon as the engineer had left, Ty sloshed the scotch back, then rose from the desk. He closed the door, then refilled his glass with scotch. “You have no idea the damage you’ve done bringing those fools in.”