Part 138 (1/2)

folks, they came out when land was dirt cheap and they

bought up all they could afford. Not a bad investment

either.”

”Anyway,” continued Gavin in a businesslike manner. ”I

thought, why wouldn't this be a good location for a nice,

well-developed community?”

”You mean to compete with Pine Mountain Estates?”

said Maggie with the full realization of what this could mean

slowly dawning on her. She looked to Clyde. ”Is it even p05-

sible? Are you really interested in doing something like this

with that property?”

He shrugged. ”I'm not going to be around forever,

Maggie. And while I'm still here, I'd like to do whatever I

can to preserve our quality of life in Pine Mountain. I think

a carefully planned development could be a real boon to our

area. But not like the kind of cheap setup those development

boys are proposing to do. They don't give a hoot over what

happens to this town. And I wouldn't be surprised if they

both don't just clear out of here as soon as they get their

money in their pockets and that Byers fellow takes over.”

Maggie nodded thoughtfully. ”That same thought had

occurred to me too.”

''But there is one small concern,'' said Gavin. ''And it

involves you...”

She knew what he was hinting at. ”You mean, would I

mind having a few neighbors?”