“Wemeaning me and Jackie,” Lincoln clarified.
“—to fix it up for those people to live there again,” Jackie finished.
Oh. A ping of disappointment suggested he’d let the idea of having a camp there burrow deeper than he’d realized. “Well, like I said, it was just a thought. I can probably keep going with what I was doing.” A peek at Sarah’s creased brow suggested she didn’t agree. Okay, then.
“But here’s the thing,” Jackie continued. “From all that we’ve been able to discover, and a quick visit out there last week, the place is so dire that it will require years of work to bring it up to any kind of government code. But we wanted to secure the land. Golden Elms, where Lincoln’s grandfather is, is a fantastic facility for the elderly, but not specifically designed for people with some of the special needs who were basically incarcerated at the Lodge.”
Jackie glanced at Lincoln, who took the lead. “So, Dan, we wanted to know if you were potentially interested in joining with us to secure the land and invest in a new venture to construct a facility that is designed for people with special needs.”
“Wow.” That was something he’d never considered before in his life. “Um, I need to think—and pray—about it.”
“The property is large enough for you to still hold camps, and feel as wildernessy as you like,” Jackie said. “And because it will likely take a number of years to get all the proper permissions before building can even commence, it will be good to see the land being used and not see what infrastructure remains just rotting away.”
The idea had merit. A glance at Sarah’s wide eyes and smile suggested she was a fan.Lord?“Are you saying that the camp would have to stop after it becomes a special needs facility?”
“I don’t see why it would,” Lincoln said. “The property is over a hundred acres, not all of which is suitable for residential purposes, so it’s definitely a big enough location.”
“And you want us involved—why?”
Lincoln shrugged. “You’ve been known to have a connection here in Muskoka for years. You’ve even had your house featured on MTV.”
Oh, that. Back when he’d been young and proud of his new contract with Toronto and just bought his cottage in Muskoka, and doing what he could to keep the team’s PR team happy.
“Your connection here is entirely different to someone others see as a ‘blow in,’ as I think I heard myself described recently.” Linc grimaced. “Someone with no roots, just money, who wants to try and change things.”
“But Jackie, you’ve lived here for years, haven’t you?” Dan asked. He thought that had been mentioned before.
“But I’m not the one with the high profile.” Her voice held wryness.
“Oh, I seem to recall something about a Muskoka chair.” A moment when she’d gone viral for fending off Toni’s ex by wielding a heavy wooden chair.
“Please.” She shook her head. “That wasn’t even fifteen minutes of fame. Maybe ten.”
Dan smiled. “I think it was enough that people would know who you are.”
“But I’ll always be known as Lincoln’s wife, not in my own sense. And while I’m okay with that, it does mean that people will look at him and disregard my connection because they’re so focused on Linc.”
Huh. He’d never really realized just how much of a woman’s identity could be lost because of her more famous husband. Gratitude struck him that Sarah’s career meant she had already established her own identity separate to him.
Linc sat back in his chair. “So that’s why we wondered if perhaps you would be interested in partnering with us in this project.”
“Are you saying you’d want me to be the spokesperson?”
“To be the name attached to it,” Linc said. “We’d be the charitable organization in the background who puts up the funds.”
“How much are we talking?”
Lincoln named a figure which was about twice Dan’s annual salary.
Whoa. “Sorry. That’s way too much for me.” Which was a shame, as he’d started to feel interested—
“No, that’s the total. You’d only need to put in twenty percent.”
Huh.
“Oh my gosh.”
He glanced at Sarah. Her green eyes had gotten even wider. “What is it, hon?”
