“I’ve always wanted to be my own boss.”
Ben nodded in understanding. “You could make this place a success all on your own. We’re offering a limited partnership. One you can live with. We don’t want to take the choices and decisions from you. We’d stay at The Dancing Pony. You’d have your own staff here. It’s a lot to hammer out, if you think this place has possibilities.”
“Yes, it has tons of possibilities.” They took pictures of the interior and then slipped out the back doors and looked around the deserted lumberyard, which was enclosed with a fence overgrown with some sort of vine. “We’d need a huge cleanup crew. No doubt about it.”
Ben gestured at the fence. “That could be torn down and the area resurfaced for more parking.”
They went back inside, and her heart pounded as she stopped in the middle of the interior and turned in a circle. I could do this. The little spark in her heart ignited into a flame.
What should I name you?
* * * *
“Camilla, you already have all the financial backing you need. You don’t need the bank.”
Ben watched Camilla’s reaction to Ethan’s statement with interest. Her brows furrowed, she shifted in her seat next to him, in O’Reilley’s Steakhouse, and then she squinted at him. She’d spent the last several minutes describing her dream of owning a nightclub that combined country and western elements with a little rock and roll.
“Huh? But I’d need to get loans to cover the cost of the renovations. I have to qualify for the purchase of the building.”
Ethan grinned at her. “How did you pay for college and your trip to Europe? Did you go into debt?”
“No. I worked up front and paid my bills. I had money saved in the bank for the trip in advance. I don’t have any school loans to pay off.”
Ethan nodded as if she’d made her point. “Look at this the same way. You’ve proved yourself to us, and the people who come in The Dancing Pony. Up front. We want to help you achieve your dream, and we have a good friend who feels the same way. This person wants to see you put that degree to good use.”
“Who?”
Ben chuckled. “They want to remain anonymous for the time being.”
Ethan nodded. “Yeah, for the time being. You’ll find out eventually.”
Camilla seemed to be having a hard time coming to grips with what they were telling her. “I don’t need to meet with anyone? Get approved?”
Ben stroked her shoulders, which seemed stiff. “Sugar, you already know them. You’ve been approved. Have been for some time, actually, so I hear.”
Grace giggled as she gave Rose Marie a bite of her vegetables. “Camilla, that means you can get started on the renovations sooner.”
Jack nodded. “I have men waiting to be put to work. We might be able to have it ready by Christmas or New Year’s Eve.”
With dazed eyes, Camilla looked up at Ben and then at all of them like they were speaking a foreign language. Her eyes teared up, making a knot form in his chest. She couldn’t understand what it was they saw in her, why she was a good risk. Her difficulty with the happy situation made him fall even more in love with his hard little worker.
“That simple? Oh, damn,” she murmured as her tears overflowed and she blotted them with her napkin.
Ben kissed her temple. “There is one thing you need to do if you want to move forward with it.”
She sniffed. “What’s that?”
“Figure out a good name.”
“Oh.”
Quinten raised his hand. “I got it. The Randy Stallion.”
Ethan grimaced. “The what?”
Quinten snickered. “You know, The Randy Stallion and The Dancing Pony.”
They all started laughing, and Adam said, “The Rutting Rooster?”
Grace snickered and said, “The Prancing Pussy? And if you have a restaurant, you’ll need to name it too.”
“The Bucking Bronc.”
“Roped and Tasseled.”
Rose Marie picked up on the excitement as they started bandying around names, clapped her hands, and crowed, “Yo Gabba Gabba!”
Ben watched, enraptured as Camilla laughed so hard tears ran down her flushed cheeks. He wanted a lifetime of making her happy like that. Would fifty or sixty years with her even come close to filling the void he’d felt in his heart up until the moment he’d met her?
Grace looked around the dining room and whispered, “You could name the restaurant Chantilly’s Steakhouse. Give this overpriced joint a little competition.”
* * * *
On the way home from O’Reilley’s Steakhouse, Camilla turned to Ben and said, “Can I ask you about something?” She was alone with him in the vehicle, since Quinten had arrived separately in his truck and was now following them home.