Chapter Four
Jett closed his laptop and rolled his head on his painful neck and shoulders. He had completed payroll, placed an order for new linens, and reordered Silver Bell’s meds. He pushed out of the chair and stretched. His body complained with pops and cracks for sitting too long. Sitting was never his thing.
The back-office stuff was not his favorite part of the job, but Lock sucked at it. He lost attention halfway through, and Jett would find him in the stables or out giving a guest archery lessons. Jett handed off what he could to his mother, but over the last few years, she had been handing a lot of it back.
He needed someone he could trust to do the banking. If he had a wife, maybe. That thought made him stop. He even checked behind him to make sure no one had said it out loud, but he was alone in the office. His only companions were the piles of papers on his desk, the Ryker Ranch mug full of pens and highlighters, and the pile of books that he meant to read some day.
A wife. His overworked brain was playing a good joke on him. The very last thing he wanted was a wife. He shook his head and laughed.
Lock trotted into the room, biting a shiny red apple. “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. You have apple juices running down your chin.” Jett pointed in the general direction of his brother. Lock was a slob, wearing his food as much as eating it.
Lock wiped his chin with the sleeve of his flannel shirt. Jett bit back the retort teetering on his lips about using a napkin. Lock did what Lock wanted. The rest of them had been dealing with Lock and his ways since Lock was born. But Lock was one hell of a rancher, working all hours to make sure the guests had whatever they needed. He could fix anything that broke. He handled the horses almost better than Jett did. He should tell Lock that more often, but not today.
“Your three o’clock is here.” Lock wiped his chin with his sleeve again.
He couldn’t take it another second and handed his brother a tissue. “You know you’re part owner of this place, right?”
“I am?” Lock crowed with laughter.
“Can you stop acting like a five-year-old and at least keep from using your shirt as a napkin?”
“What has crawled up your butt today? You’ve been an ornery raccoon since you came back from the bank yesterday. What gives?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I don’t have a three o’clock appointment. Who told you that?” He had been distracted, that was all. The postholiday season was always a slow time for the ranch, and he didn’t like slow times. His winter income could sometimes be unreliable, another reason he wanted that ski area.
If his brother Gage wasn’t renting out one of the guest cottages, he’d have more reason to be worried about this time of year. Gage provided a dependable revenue. He always paid his rent, and he always paid on time.
“Yo, Jett. Are you listening? There is a kid out there who says he’s your three o’clock. He’s here to talk to you about the ski team. You need to take a nap or have a beer or something. You’re starting to scare me.” Lock shook his head.
“Who is this kid?” He didn’t have any appointment for this afternoon. He had no idea who the kid was or why he would be here to talk to him. “Can you get Mom to talk to him? She’s better with kids than I am.”
“She’s not on the ranch. I tried to get him to tell me what he wanted because I knew you did not want to talk to some teenager, but he won’t say. He also won’t budge. He’s in the main room. Claims he knows Izzy, though. You want me to text her?”
“Leave her out of this. If this kid ends up being trouble, I’ll have to deal with him and Gage for putting his daughter in harm’s way.”
“Yeah. Gage would probably shoot you for that.” Lock raised a brow and tore into his apple again.
He brushed past Lock without another word and weaved his way to the lobby. A couple checked in at the front desk. They were staying for a week and had booked several extra activities that weren’t included in the overall price. He would make sure they had a good time and left a raving review.
A roaring fire danced in the stone fireplace that took up most of the back wall of the main room where guests could sit and drink tea or hot cocoa. Lock had most likely seen to the fire. Woodsmoke filled the air, and Jett took a deep inhale.
Standing in the corner by the double doors that led to the porch was a tall, lanky kid. His knit cap had the ski-school insignia on it. His parka was high-end, as were his boots. Jett held in a sigh. He had no idea what Logan Everett wanted, but he could guess he didn’t want to hear it.
“Howdy,” he said, turning Logan’s attention his way.
The kid flashed a million-dollar smile that creased the skin around his vibrant eyes. He yanked off a glove and stuck out his hand. “Hello, Mr. Ryker. I’m Logan Everett.”
“I know. You’re the captain of the ski team. I keep an eye on the teams we sponsor. Are you supposed to be at school?”
He liked to follow the local team not just because the ranch donated money, but because skiing was in his blood. He never got out on the mountain as much as he wanted to, not with all the work the ranch required of him. He usually put in eighteen-hour days. And if he expanded his business to include downhill skiing, he’d be even busier. Maybe then, though, he’d get on the slope.
When he was this kid’s age, no one could beat him. Not even his brothers. Skiing was the one sport he was better at than Gage, Kace, Lock, or Ajay, though Ajay’d had a ton of potential to beat him. If only Ajay had focused on sports instead of drugs, he might have been the one asked to be the coach. Hell, Ajay would have offered without being asked.
“Uh, I have a free period before lunch. They let us leave.” Logan glanced at the ground and kicked the floor.
Jett never remembered being able to leave the school property when he went there, but that was a long time ago.
“My dad said you two skied together back in the day.”
“That’s right. Your dad and I were on the same team.” He ignored the comment about school. Not his business if this kid skipped or not.
Markus Everett had been the one to beat back when they were kids. That rivalry had kept him up at nights. Markus had apparently shared some stories. If Jett had to guess, they were embellished with Markus always coming out ahead.
“What brings you out this way?”
“I was hoping I could talk to you about the coaching position. Mr. Durrell said you turned him down. I was wondering if I could try to convince you to change your mind.” Logan flashed that smile.
That smile probably got a lot of girls to swoon, but Jett was not falling for it. “Mighty determined, huh? I can appreciate that in a man, but that’s not a position for me. I’m happy to sponsor again. I’m sorry you came all the way out here. I could’ve saved you a trip. How about if I get you a hot chocolate for the ride back?” Giving this kid a free hot beverage was the least he could do.
Logan put his hands up as if to stop him—from doing what, he didn’t know. “Mr. Ryker, please hear me out a second. I’ve seen all your trophies back at the school. Skiing was important to you when you were there. It’s important to me too. If you don’t coach the rest of the season, we have to forfeit. It’s my last year. And my only chance to get a scholarship to ski in college.”
“I’m not a coach. I appreciate what you’re saying, but someone else would be better for the job.”
“There isn’t anyone else. Mr. Durrell has asked around town. Everyone has said no, including my dad. He doesn’t even want me to ski. He thinks I’m wasting my time. Which I don’t understand since he skied in high school too. He still does. He says it’s not a future for me. Anyway, I can’t lose this chance to ski. Please, Mr. Ryker. We need you.” Logan unzipped that fancy parka. He was probably sweating in that thing. The fire was heating up the whole area.
“Not that I’m agreeing with your father, but a professional skier doesn’t make that much. You’d have to have a second job. He’s probably just preparing you for the future in something that has a better return.”
“You sound just like him. I know I won’t make that much unless I’m in the top three of the sport, and I’m not even going to the Olympics. But I can get a scholarship to a school in Colorado, and then I don’t have to worry about my tuition. Which my father says is my responsibility.” The smile slipped, and the kid failed to right it.
Jett really didn’t want to take on this team. He didn’t have the time or the patience. Taking care of kids was more Gage’s thing. But desperation had passed over Logan’s eyes, darkening them like storm clouds rolling in over the mountaintop.
The idea of doing something that Markus Everett was against had a certain appeal. They had always been rivals, and that included who would win Autumn Archer. For a while, Jett had believed Markus had captured Autumn’s heart, but they didn’t stay together. He never wanted to see Autumn hurt, but when news of their broken engagement had circled the town, he wouldn’t deny the shot of triumph in his gut.
Just because he had sent Autumn away didn’t mean he wanted her to be alone and unhappy. When she hooked up with Trent, Jett had been glad. She deserved to have what he could not give her. He never wanted to lose to Markus, was all.
“Okay, kid. I’ll do it. I’ll call Durrell and get the info about where and when. You drove a pretty hard bargain. I can’t deny someone the chance to go to college.” And if his helping annoyed Markus a little, so be it.
If he were being honest, he always saw his brother Ajay in every teenager. Ajay had needed help but hadn’t asked for it until it was too late. Maybe if he had been paying better attention back then to Ajay’s problems, his little brother might still be here. And he would have made one hell of a coach.
“Thank you, Mr. Ryker.” Logan stuck his hand out again. “You won’t regret this. We’re a great team.”
Jett slid his hand into the kid’s sweaty one. “Yeah, okay.” He needed to get back to work before he changed his mind. He had no idea how he was going to pull this off.
“There’s one more thing.” Logan dropped his hand and his gaze.
“What do you mean ‘one more thing’?” This kid had set him up, playing on his guilt and now clobbering him with another request.
“We need a new place to practice. The ski area we were using closed down. You’ll have to help us find somewhere.”
“Did Mr. Durrell send you here because he thought I had some connection with a ski mountain? I know the same people he knows. Someone else is going to have to find your practice spot.” He did know someone who had space. He didn’t want to ask her.
“Mr. Durrell doesn’t know I’m here. I thought I could convince you better than he could. Does this mean without a practice location you won’t be the coach?”
“Nah. I said I’d do it, and I will.” He couldn’t go back on his word now. He’d said he would, and those words were his bond.
“Thanks again. The team is going to be thrilled. I’ll text everyone. Can I have your cell? I can put you on the group chat.” Logan held out a hand.
“I’ll get everyone’s number from Durrell. When is your next practice?” He ignored the gesture. When he was ready, he would input those numbers, after his head accepted the fact he agreed to coach. For now, regret was a possibility.
“It’s supposed to be tomorrow, if we have a place to go. We really need the time on the slope. The team is mostly freshmen this year. They aren’t very good, and we have a competition on Saturday.”
Yeah, he was already regretting this. He would have to talk it out with his brothers and see if they could cover him some of the time. But he did have an idea about where to take that practice.
“You should get back to school before you’re late, and I have to get back to work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks again, Mr. Ryker. You won’t regret this.”
Famous last words.