Seven
Natalia
I’d already had a wildly productive morning when the door to my office was flung open just a few minutes before nine on Monday.
Though startled by the brash entrance, I wasn’t surprised by who I saw there.
Reid Erickson—utterly furious, albeit rather handsome. Grouch or not, I couldn’t deny that simple fact.
Try as I might, I was unable to prevent the corners of my mouth from tugging up with a smile. Without him saying a single word, I knew what Reid’s visit was about, where the fury came from, and not only did I expect it, but I was also more than prepared for it.
Even still, I waited for him to speak whatever thoughts were on his mind. And as I waited, I gave myself the opportunity to take him in again.
It shouldn’t have bothered me that he seemed to get more and more handsome every time I saw him, but in some strange way, it did.
Maybe that was just my own frustration with him taking over, though.
It bugged me to no end that he seemed to have such disdain for me when I’d gone out of my way to be nice to him.
“What’s this?”
If I didn’t believe he was genuinely irritated, I might have found the way he frowned at me slightly amusing.
I dropped my eyes briefly to what he’d held up in his hand and stated the obvious. “It appears to be a basket of muffins. Pumpkin ones, if my senses are to be trusted.”
He clenched his jaw and squinted at me. “I’d already gathered that much. What were they doing on my desk?”
So, he’d made an assumption. Was I on his mind that much?
Sitting back in my chair, I offered a half-hearted shrug. “I can’t say. Perhaps the staff here has been so overwhelmed by your kindness and great leadership that they wanted to demonstrate their appreciation.”
Reid finally entered the room and crossed it, only stopping when he made it to the opposite side of my desk. “Ah, I see. And you think I’ll believe this happened without your knowledge? The woman who seems to be aware of everything that goes on at this place.”
I tipped my chin up. Did that bother him?
“You’re right. That seems unlikely.” I crossed one leg over the other and allowed my lips to curve into a smile. “Maybe you’ve got a secret admirer.”
He carefully placed the basket of muffins on the edge of my desk and sneered at me. “Do you think this is funny?”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t imagine actively choosing to live in such misery. Didn’t Reid have anything to be happy about?
Sighing, I confessed, “Fine. They’re from me.”
“I already figured that out. I guess I’m wondering why you thought I’d need even one muffin, let alone six thousand calories’ worth of them.”
There were two dozen muffins there, but I had no clue if his calorie calculations were correct.
“It’s a peace offering, Reid.”
He jerked back at that. “What?”
This was exhausting. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot for some reason I can’t begin to understand.
You and I have to work together for the next six months, and I realize that what I did yesterday probably isn’t going to have you feeling all warm and fuzzy toward me.
” I swept my hand out to indicate the muffins.
“This was my way of apologizing to you for doing what I had to do to protect myself.”
Reid balled his hands into fists and pressed them directly onto the top of my desk as he leaned in. Whether it was meant to be intimidating or not, I didn’t know.
“What exactly did you think you had to protect yourself from?”
I shot him an incredulous look. “It’s clear you don’t like me.
I don’t know what I did to you to make it so, but I lost my cool the other night when I threw that ice pack at you, and I regret it.
I also realized that you’re able to fire me if that’s what you choose, and I can admit I panicked.
That’s why I went to see Barrett and Sylvia. ”
“So, the kind thing you did with making that dinner was really just about protecting yourself?”
I swallowed roughly and whispered my reply. “No.”
“It sure seems that way now.”
“I adore your parents, Reid.” Anger bubbled up inside me.
He could hate me all he wanted, but I wasn’t going to allow this man—or anyone else—question how much the Ericksons meant to me.
“In case you forgot or simply chose to ignore it, I’ve asked you several times about your mom and how she was doing.
It’s not my fault that you refuse to be cordial about it.
But I won’t lie and say that I didn’t have a secondary motive for paying them a visit. ”
He hesitated a moment, his eyes roaming over my face. “You’d go to those lengths to ensure I didn’t fire you?”
I pressed my lips together, unwilling to allow him to see just how real the fear of losing this place was to me.
“Yes, I would. But I can recognize how me doing that was unfair. In my defense, I had no clue you’d be there yesterday.
So, I’m sorry for any strife that my words then might have caused between you and your parents.
That was never my intention. And I realize that you’re dealing with a lot of change right now, and that can’t be easy, so I’m trying to extend an olive branch.
” I tossed my hand out to the edge of the desk, feeling marginally defeated. “Or a basket of muffins, I guess.”
Reid continued to study me, like he was trying to work out answers to questions he never intended to ask.
“I don’t need your apology,” he clipped. “And I certainly don’t want your pity. I’m perfectly fine, and I hate pumpkin anyway.”
God, what a jerk.
I was tempted to ask him why he didn’t just slap me across the face. It’d be much easier. And it would probably hurt a whole lot less.
Uncrossing my legs, I leaned forward, forced myself to be wildly interested in something on my computer screen, and murmured, “Then put them in the break room for everyone else to enjoy, if you’re unwilling to accept them.
Evidently, you’re allergic to kindness, and if I had known, I wouldn’t have wasted my time. ”
I began clicking away on the mouse and finally just opened a blank email. My fingers flew across the keyboard, typing all the things I wanted to say to Reid but couldn’t for fear that I’d give him the good reason Barrett had mentioned him needing to actually fire me.
Reid growled, and I suspected he wanted to say something else. For whatever reason—likely some merciful divinity—he kept his mouth shut, picked up the basket, and walked away.
A few hours later, I saw them sitting in the break room, and I hated the way it made me feel.
But there was a hint of redemption on Tuesday afternoon when I entered Reid’s office with some financial reports and saw two empty muffin wrappers sitting in his trash can.
Reid
I hated it here.
There was nothing quite like agreeing to subject myself to six months of this place when it was the very thing I’d despised for so long.
Now, I was stuck.
If I wanted this place to cease to exist, I had no choice but to suck it up and deal with it.
But I wasn’t quite sure how much more I could take.
I hadn’t even made it through the second full week, and I was ready to tear my hair out. Every day brought something else I couldn’t deal with.
The work itself wasn’t necessarily the problem.
I could manage all the required tasks that my dad had previously handled as owner and operator of the retreat.
I’d caught on quickly to all of it. Of course, I didn’t take on all the extra that I’d been informed he liked to do for what I could only assume he believed was fun.
Unfortunately for him and anyone else who preferred his presence, the very last thing I wanted was more time spent in a place I didn’t care about salvaging.
My biggest problem being here was her.
Natalia Barton.
No matter what I did, she seemed to keep popping up.
She’d even taken to decorating my office, even after the showdown with the muffins. Even after I’d lied to her about hating pumpkin.
There wasn’t much that rattled me these days, but there was something about her that made me feel this urge to find ways to keep my distance.
At the very least, she’d been kind enough when she’d gone about decorating my office not to make it look like her own.
God, it was like some Thanksgiving fairy had vomited all over the place in there.
But in my own office, she’d done just enough to annoy me.
And if I weren’t so busy trying to stay on top of the actual work I needed to get done, I might have taken some time to rip the decorations down.
I considered going to her and giving her an earful about it, demanding she remove it all, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of knowing she got under my skin. The woman seemed hellbent on making my life more miserable that it already was. She didn’t need any additional fuel.
As it was, I couldn’t comprehend how she did any of it. Because if there was one good thing I could say about Natalia, it was that she didn’t slack when it came to getting any of her tasks completed throughout the day. Somehow, she managed her responsibilities and all the extras.
Natalia was industrious. That much was true.
And she did it all with a constant smile on her face.
God, I didn’t know how she could stand it—being so cheerful all the time. Especially when all her happiness seemed to stem from anything and everything to do with this place.
But as bad as all of it had felt getting to this point, I got the distinct feeling that today was going to be my worst day yet.
Because apparently, I had to participate in something I hadn’t been made aware of until nearly the last minute.
Whenever a group was leaving the retreat, there was a farewell dinner of sorts, and I was required to attend.
This wasn’t simply one of those things my father did for the heck of it.
Evidently, being present at the last meal with the people who’d come to the retreat at Sandstone Heart was a necessity.
I came, but I wasn’t happy about it.