Chapter 1
Cooper closed the door of the car wishing he had something interesting to keep him occupied for the day. It had been six months since he’d taken a leave of absence from Montgomery Enterprises, the company his grandfather had started and he’d been running for the last ten years. His father had stepped down, naming him CEO when he’d returned from his three-month honeymoon and announced that Amy, his new wife, was pregnant.
For ten years he’d been living the perfect life, a thriving career, a loving wife, and the son he’d always wanted, but on his tenth anniversary all that had come crashing down. He’d been standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Amy to come down for their night out to celebrate, but instead of coming down the stairs dressed for a night out, she’d come down the stairs carrying a suitcase.
When he’d opened his mouth to ask her what was going on, she held her hand up and said, “Don’t say anything. I’m going to do the talking.”
Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she set down her bag and gave him a look of pity. “I’m leaving. I’ve been a good wife and mother for ten years, but now I’m done. I’m filing for a divorce; the papers will be served tomorrow and I’m asking for full custody of Brandon,” she said, picking up her bag to leave.
Cooper stared at her for a minute, then jumped in front of the door to block her from leaving. “I think I deserve a better explanation than that.” He said.
“Honestly, I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say.” She said, trying to push past him.
“Is there someone else?” He asked, not budging.
“Hardly, although believe me I’ve been tempted, but I know better. I want my pre-nuptial payout; I’m not doing anything to jeopardize that.” When Cooper still didn’t move, she added, “I don’t want to hurt you, but I can see you’re not going to let me leave until I do, so let me spell it out for you. I only married you for the money; I figure ten years is worth the 2.5 million I’ll be getting.”
Cooper was having a hard time processing her words, “You never loved me?”
Amy laughed nastily and said, “Nope, it was all a big charade; I’m a better actor than you thought. Now will you let me go? I have a plane to catch. My lawyer will be in touch,” she said, pushing him out of the way.
It had taken months for Cooper to recover from the night, but now six months later and a sizeable settlement that had just been made to Amy, he had full custody of his son and nothing to do with his time. He’d thought about going back to work, but the company was running as smoothly as it had when he’d been there, besides he had no need for more money. The nearly 5 million dollars he’d just paid Amy was only a drop in the bucket for him, a fact she was banking on as it turned out.
Pushing thoughts of her treachery out of his mind, he went in the house where he knew his brothers were waiting for him, a lecture all ready. He knew exactly what they were going to say; Calvin would give him a long speech about keeping his mind occupied, while Carter would encourage him to get back out on the dating scene. He knew them both so well, they were both probably right, but lately he hadn’t been able to drum up much energy for anything besides taking care of his son and working out.
He’d always taken good care of himself, but lately the only time he could completely clear his mind was when he was working out. It had almost become an addiction, which although not necessarily heathy for his mind had done wonderers for his body. He was in the best shape of his life; physically, he felt better than he had in years. It was only his mental state that was still suffering.
As soon as he came in the house, he went right to the breakfast room where he knew he’d find his brothers. Grabbing a cup of coffee, he joined them at the table. “So what’s so important you wanted to talk to me?” He said, taking a sip of his coffee trying not to be annoyed.
Calvin shoved a newspaper at him. “Look at this, Scott Terrell sued the state and got the water restored to Coldwater Canyon.” He said.
Cooper read the article, then asked, “So he’s gotten the water back in the canyon. What does this have to do with me?”
“Well, isn’t the home property in Coldwater Canyon?” Calvin asked.
“Yeah, right at the top of the canyon. But......” Then he understood what they were getting at. “You think I should what, move up there?”
“We just thought it might be something to keep you occupied. You know, go up there and check it out, see what the water is going to do for the property.” Carter said, then added, “You can’t keep hanging around the house doing nothing.”
Cooper opened his mouth to reply, but the doorbell rang so he jumped up to go answer it, thinking he’d be able to calm himself before he returned. His brothers meant well, but he just wasn’t ready to do much besides hang around the house — he didn’t have the energy. When he opened the door, there was a messenger there with a special delivery letter for him; he signed for it, then shut the door and looked at the envelope.
He opened it as he walked back to the breakfast room, hoping that it wasn’t from Amy with some new demand. “Who’s it from?” Calvin asked, seeing confused the look on Cooper’s face.
Cooper read the letter, then set it down on the table, not sure what to think. “It’s from Scott Terrell wanting to meet for lunch today.” He said, then read the letter again before passing it to his brother Calvin.
“He’s a little vague about what he wants to meet with you about.” Calvin said. “Didn’t you two used to be friends?”
“Yeah, a long time ago.” Cooper said, his curiosity peaked.
“Are you going to go?” Carter asked.
“Why not. I don’t have anything better to do as you’ve both so clearly pointed out.” Cooper said, shrugging his shoulders.
Paige put her head down on the desk, again sure that she was going to have to start her Master’s thesis all over. She’d been a fool to pursue the topic in the first place, but she’d been so sure that she’d be able to find some new information on Western Mono Indians, a little known group that was forced out during the gold rush, that she’d pushed on stubbornly.
Her advisor had cautioned her against going in that direction, but she’d been fascinated since she’d been a girl and found some artifacts during a hike. Now, she wasn’t sure that she’d ever be able to finish her thesis unless she herself made a new discovery, but with only one more dig to go before her deadline, it wasn’t looking good. What she needed was a burial ground to prove her belief that the tribe used the same burial grounds, traveling many miles at times to bury their dead; no one had found a burial ground and she’d been sure that she’d be able to find one by now.
Her thoughts were spinning on their usual course, going around in desperate circles as she tried to find a way through this mess. If she couldn’t prove her thesis, years of work would have been wasted, years of her life that she could have spent making life better for Justin. Her son had been the result of the biggest mistake she’d ever made in her life, but she wouldn’t have changed a thing — he was the love of her life. But her pursuit of her Master’s had made their lives harder.
When she’d become pregnant after a drunken night with one of her professors as a freshman, she’d thought that her life was over. But thanks to her parents’ support and her hard work, she’d managed to stay on track and graduated on time, then she’d moved on to her Master’s in Native Cultures. What she hadn’t counted on was how her stubborn refusal to budge on her topic was quickly turning into the worst decision of her life.
Her negative thoughts were interrupted when Justin threw himself into her arms, shouting, “The show is on. The show is on.”
Giving him a hug, she said, “Okay, then we better get in there. I don’t want to miss anything.”
Justin was off her lap and back in front of the television before she could even get to her feet, at only 25 she sometimes felt much older than her years, of course having an eight-year-old would do that to anyone, she thought, following Justin into the living room. He was a good kid who never gave her too much trouble, but he was full of energy and their little apartment gave him little room to be a kid. He did better when he was at her parents’ house where he could play in the yard, but she didn’t dare let him outside alone in their neighborhood, so she looked for anything that might keep him occupied for a few hours.
After the show, they had dinner, and then Paige put Justin to bed, thankful that he fell asleep just after the second story. Looking at her watch, she decided that a couple of hours of work wouldn’t hurt her before bed; she’d found some promising notes in an old private collection that had just been donated to the university, so they might just be the key to finally finding the location of the Mono Indian burial ground.
She finally stumbled to bed after midnight, her eyes sore from trying to read the cramped handwriting from the journal she’d copied the day before. Copies were not always very easy to work with, especially when the handwriting was as cramped and sloppy as the journal’s was. Realizing that she’d have to work with the original pages to make any progress, she climbed into bed, too tired to even brush her teeth.
As she drifted off to sleep, she wished there was someone laying there beside her, a wish she had every night. It was the one time of day that she allowed herself to feel the loneliness that sometimes plagued her. She had no shortage of friends and family that cared about her, but that was different than having a man who loved her, or even a man who liked her a lot. Being a single mother, she’d never experienced dating; men her age had a tendency to run once they heard about Justin and she’d never been attracted to older men.
With a giant sigh, she turned onto her stomach and hugged her pillow to her — it would just have to do for now. Someday she might meet that special someone, but for now she’d be happy with Justin and her career. Surely she wouldn’t spend her whole life alone, there had to be someone for her out there, again the thought of joining one of those dating sites entered her mind, but she pushed it away, first her thesis then her love life.
The next morning when she arrived at her tiny office, it was to find a written request from her advisor for a meeting as soon as possible. She’d been dreading this day as her advisor had warned her the last time that she was close to pulling her from the program, but Paige had pleaded for this last dig. Not fooling herself for a second that this was going to be anything but unpleasant, she took the elevator to the top floor and her advisor’s office.
When she left over an hour later, it was with the clear understanding that she had the summer to find what she needed or she was out of the Master’s program. Her one and only chance of success lay in the dig she’d be working in the Western Sierra Mountains a few hundred miles north of Los Angeles. If she couldn’t find a burial ground there, it’d be over, her whole career would be down the tubes before it even got started.
`Cooper opened the door of the little café wondering what he was doing here. In the old days, he would have never agreed to any meeting without knowing what he was walking into, but these days he didn’t have the energy to be that interested. He spotted Scott Terrell across the room and made his way over, thinking that his old friend looked better than he’d ever seen him look. He’d heard a lot of rumors over the last couple of years about what Scott had been up to since he’d been ousted from the family business.
That business is what had actually broken their friendship about five years ago. Cooper had found himself at odds with Scott over a property they both wanted, and Scott had become ruthless in his pursuit and Cooper had backed out in the end, severing their friendship in the process. That old friendship was the only reason he’d decided to come today, and besides curiosity, he wanted to hear what Scott had to say because it didn’t take a genius to realize that this was probably about the home place in the mountains.
After they’d ordered their lunches, there was an uncomfortable silence, each man trying to bridge the gap in their friendship that five years had created. “I’m sorry to hear about Amy leaving.” Scott finally said.
“Thanks, it was quite a shock but we’re doing okay. I hear you got married a couple of years ago, I guess I should congratulate you. I hope you’re happy.” Cooper said, his heart not really in it.
“Thanks, I was very lucky to find Marissa. It’s a long story but sometime I’ll tell you the whole thing,” Scott said, knowing that the last thing Cooper probably wanted to hear was how happy he and Marissa were.
“I’ll look forward to it. But why don’t you tell me why you wanted to meet with me today.” Cooper said, suddenly tired of the lunch and wishing he hadn’t come.
Scott looked at his old friend and decided he looked tired and bored, so he got right to the point. “I wanted to talk to you about the property your family owns up in the mountains.” Scott said.
“How do you know we own property up there? It’s just an old farmhouse and some useless land.”
“I found a copy of the deed in the old courthouse in Cedar Ridge. Your grandfather’s name was on the deed, and since the county didn’t have title to the land I assumed you still owned it.” Scott explained.
“Cedar Ridge? I’ve never heard of a town up there. We’ve held onto the property simply because it’s what my grandfather wanted. His family had to leave when they put in the dam and he never got over the loss. He always said that it killed his dad, and he dreamed of the day it could be brought back, but without water that’s impossible.” Cooper said, a little annoyed that Scott was poking into his family background.
“That’s why I wanted to see you. There’s going to be water.” Scott said, a big smile on his face. “I managed to discover that the state took water rights from everyone in Coldwater Canyon without following the law.”
“How did that happen?” Cooper asked, his curiosity growing.
“It was the depression, and almost everyone had already left the canyon looking for work. The people who stayed were just too beat up to fight, and instead they left too. No one fought them, so the state just took the water and called it a done deal.” Scott said, handing Cooper the lawsuit he’d filed.
“You got the state to give back the water?” Cooper asked, shocked.
“Well, they didn’t have much choice; the legal ramifications of what they did were far reaching and potentially very expensive. In a matter of months, Coldwater Canyon will have water again.”
“How did you get involved in this? It doesn’t seem like your usual kind of project. Are you going to develop it?” Cooper asked, not liking to think of all the mini-mansions that could be built on the land up in the mountains.
“My wife owns most of the canyon. She bought it in a bundle from the county for virtually nothing. We’ve got 250 acres including the town of Cedar Ridge and we want to develop it, but not the way you’re thinking of.”
“There’s going to be prime real estate once it’s got water. What are you thinking?” Cooper asked, finding he was interested in the project all of the sudden.
“We were thinking of eco-tourism, hiking trails, and maybe a camp for kids from the city.” Scott said, pushing anther stack of papers in front of Cooper.
“You’re kidding. That doesn’t sound like the Scott I used to know. You could make millions of dollars on that land, and this doesn’t sound like much of a money maker.” Cooper said, picking up the proposal and thumbing through it.
Scott laughed, a sound Cooper hadn’t heard very many times during their friendship, then said, “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that in the last few years. Look, all I’m asking is it that you give it some thought.”
“Why do you need my approval?” Cooper asked, not seeing what his role in this project was.
“Well, actually I was hoping for more than your approval.” Scott said, then continued. “I know you’ve had a hard time lately, and I also know you stepped down from Montgomery Enterprises; my guess is that you need something to occupy your time.”
Cooper only shot him a dirty look. They hadn’t spoken in years and now Scott was trying to tell him how to live his life. Scott saw the look and quickly continued, “I know our situations are much different, but I had to face an entirely new life myself not that long ago. I know how it feels.” Scott was sure he’d said enough so he stopped talking.
Cooper studied Scott for a few minutes, thinking about all that he’d heard about him over the last few years, then smiled. “Sorry, I just get so much sympathy it gets old.”
“This isn’t sympathy, this is an opportunity to do something great for the state and the people, and believe it or not I’ve become a bit of a champion for the environment. I’d like you to join us, if not I’d like you consider giving us access to your property, you’ve got primary water right you know.”
“I’ve seen pictures of the property from back then and it was really beautiful. I have to admit that I’m intrigued by the idea and I want to see that town.” Cooper said, feeling a little excited for the first time in a long time.
“How about this: take these home and look at them. Marissa and I have put a lot of thought into this. It’s never going to be a money making endeavor, but I don’t exactly need to make money.” Scott said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m going home tonight, but you can come up anytime you want and I’ll show you around. I’ve got a couple of great horses that could use the exercise and we have plenty of room if you want to stay.”
“I’ll think about it.” Cooper said, suddenly sure that he’d be making a visit to Scott in the near future. “Can I bring my son with me?”
“Sure, Marissa would love to have you both come for a visit.” Scott said, “Just let me know when you want to come.”
Cooper drove away from the meeting with Scott feeling lighter than he had for a while. It was intriguing to think that he might be able to bring the home property back to life. Not that he could see himself living at the top of the Coldwater Canyon, but it would be nice to have the property livable again.
Without even looking at the papers Scott had given him, he made the decision to take Scott up on his offer. Pulling over, he called Scott, “Okay, you’ve got me interested.” He said when Scott picked up. “Brandon gets out of school for the summer in two weeks, we could come any time after that.”