Page 7 of Take a Hike

Silas didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just said, “Thanks,” and gestured for her to take a seat.

“You’re an outdoorsy tourism business, correct?”

“Yeah, we provide outdoor experiences from basic survival skill classes to forest walking tours, and as of last year, we offer hotel pickups in our shuttle.”

“And what do you do or teach?” she asked.

“I’m the archery instructor.”

“Oh, very cool,” she said.

For several minutes, Raven casually flipped through the Offer to Purchase documents Silas had given her, and he tempered his impatience and desire to hurry her along by occupying himself with his phone.

“This keeps you busy?” Raven asked, finally breaking the silence. “Like, do you have enough business to sustain yourselves?”

“Summer is our peak, but we operate year-round. And we’ve been going for fifteen years, so something’s working.”

“Would it be weird for me to ask how much you earn?”

Silas stilled. “Personally? Yeah, a little.”

“Forget it then,” she said with a wave of her hand.

What was with all the questions? Was she trying to get him to pay more for this place? He’d made a fair offer that had been corroborated in an official business valuation. It was also the offer he’d made Chuck, and the older man would’ve accepted it too, if it hadn’t been for his untimely passing.

“Everything okay?” he asked as she continued to study the contract.

“I’ve never really owned anything,” she said. “The most expensive thing I have is my car. And I still have eight months of payments left on it.”

Silas straightened, now on full alert.

“I might like owning a place like this. I don’t know,” she said with a shrug, and a gust of air that escaped him morphed into a hearty laugh. She could not be serious.

“Why are you laughing?” she asked.

“You can’t do that,” he said bluntly.

“Why not?”

“You have no idea how to run this business.”

“I’m a fast learner, and I have a lot of experience that I think will be helpful.”

The humor of the situation evaporated all at once. “No.”

“No?” she asked, her sculpted brows rising high.

Admittedly, it was not the best thing to say at the moment.

“Ma’am, just sign the papers,” he said as measuredly as possible. “You’ll get your money, then you can pay off your Toyota Camry or whatever.”

“No,” she said, echoing his earlier tone.

The situation was quickly turning sour. This woman could not be what lay between him and his goal of owning the business.

“I’m open to negotiating the price,” he said, preparing himself for an absurd counteroffer.

“What you’re offering seems fair to me,” she said.