Chapter Thirty-Seven

The next week remained as hectic for Shiloh as the first day. The company started early, worked through the weekend and sometimes ended very late. Adam took some time to show Annie the city, and then helped her move into her new apartment. He hadn't gotten much more than a passing "Hello" from Shiloh the entire week.

The night before the land bid was due Shiloh ended rehearsals early, ordered dinner in her room and settled in to work on her bid. She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she called.

"Adam."

She unlocked the door. "Adam, hello."

"Is your bid ready?"

"Not yet," she said twisting her lips, opening the door wide and pointing to the wads of paper in the floor.

"Shall we talk?" he asked, smirking.

"Come in."

Adam's stance became rigid as he cocked his head to one side. "Shiloh, we should do this somewhere else."

She stepped into the hall, looked around, then grabbed his arm and pulled him in. "No one will ever know." Closing the door, she cringed, seeing his disapproving frown. "Besides, I really don't feel like going out tonight. Have you had dinner?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't find it too awkward to stay.

"No. I thought we might be discussing this over dinner," he said, looking at her from underneath his eyebrows.

"That's a very good idea. I ordered enough food for an army," she said as she removed the covers from the serving dishes on the round table in the middle of the room. I thought it would be a long night, and I wasn't sure what I wanted, so…"

Adam walked over to the table, smiling when he saw all the different dishes. "Do you do this very often?"

"I used to do this back East, but I don't seem to do it much here. Maybe it's the schedule I keep while getting ready for a performance. I've also been known to do this when I'm working on something I'm not looking forward to."

Adam poured himself a cup of coffee, picked up a fried chicken leg and took a bite. "If you're not looking forward to it, why bother?"

"Because I want the land. It would double the size of the Flying W."

"Shiloh, why do you want to expand the Flying W? You have the horses. I would have thought you would be expanding that, not increasing your land holdings."

Breathing deeply, she answered, "Because at some point, I'd like to get married and have children. That's if I can find a man who's willing to put up with me," she said, biting her lip. "I do hope that one day I will. And I'd like to leave something for my children and grandchildren." As she spoke, she took the chicken leg away from him, handing him a napkin, placing the chicken on a plate, and then handing him the plate. "Like your father leaving the Ponderosa to you and Joe and Hoss one day." She prepared a plate of peppered beef, carrots, and potatoes, took a napkin from the table, and walked to the sofa, sitting down with her leg folded underneath her. Adam cocked his head and raised one eyebrow, causing her to huff and roll her eyes as she moved her leg out from under her. "I know…it's not very lady-like." She settled in with her dinner, and patted the sofa cushion next to her, beckoning him to join her. Adam finished preparing his plate and complied.

"What part of the process are you having trouble with?" he asked.

"Well, I've estimated the amount of timber and split that between soft and hard woods. And I tried to do some homework several weeks ago. I tried to find what the surrounding property sold for, and I found as much information as I could on any recent timber contracts." She glanced sideways at him. "There wasn't much public information about that."

"Everyone that's bidding on this land will do the same research you're doing. Your problem is that everyone who's bidding has timber history of their own. They're looking at their own records; which bids won and which bids didn't. The other thing that's going against you is that you have no reputation in the timber business. You're an unknown. So the likelihood that you're going to get any contracts soon is small. The seller knows that the land is timber rich."

"Then why wouldn't the seller just sell the timber?"

"Because the owner is a speculator or an estate. The property was either purchased to make a profit on the sale of it at a later date or it's part of a deceased person's estate. A speculator's not in the timber business and doesn't want to be. An estate wants to liquidate as quickly as possible. You're a small ranch compared to those bidding. You can't match the larger ranches."

"But if I'm the highest bidder…"

Adam interrupted her. "Shiloh, it's not just the bid. It's the deal. In order to win the bid, you don't necessarily have to have the highest initial bid. You have to offer the better deal with the timber. How's your peppered beef?"

"It's very good. You should try it." They both got up and went to the table. "Do you want to try the veal?" she asked, moving the serving dish next to his plate.

After they were seated again on the sofa, Shiloh returned to the bid conversation. "All right, so it's the deal. You're saying that making a deal with me is more risky for the buyer because it would involve selling the timber, and that would be harder for me because I have no reputation in the timber business."

"Yes, that's right."

"So I need to offer a better deal…and I need an advantage because I have no experience."

Adam had taken a bite of an apple dumpling. "This is good. You should try this."

She took a bite from her plate. "Mm. That is good…brandy sauce," she said, licking her lips. Then she laid her head back on the back of the sofa. Adam watched her talk to herself, her eyes moving to different spots on the ceiling. He could only imagine what was going on in that head of hers. "All right," she said raising her head. "I know what I'm going to do."

"Now, tell me."

"Why would I tell you? You're my competition."

"I'm also the ranch trustee, and I have to make sure you don't get the ranch in financial trouble."

She looked at him doubtfully. "Do you honestly think I have any chance of winning this bid?"

He smiled apologetically. "Honestly, no," he said, letting the subject drop. He stood up and placed his empty plate on the table. "Glad I could help, though."

Shiloh walked him to the door, leaned against the side of it and smiled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling back. "Good night." He turned to leave, and then turned back and winked at her. "Lock the door."