133. Sterling
Chapter 133
Sterling
My teeth are touching the cookie, but I don’t bite down.
Taken off?
Her mom took off?
“I found a studio apartment that rented month to month and moved there after graduation. I was still working the jobs I had in college, but when I found the listing for my last job, I jumped on it. I wasn’t exactly qualified, but I’d had to fix a lot of shit in that RV, so I knew enough.” She keeps talking, but I’m still stuck on her mom taking off . “I think I was there for like eight years? But then the building got purchased, and I lost my job.”
I blink at her. “You were there for nearly a decade, and the new owners just fired you?”
What the fuck?
“Yeah. Said they would use their own people . Which meant I lost my job and that I had to start paying rent. Which, I’ll add, was much more expensive than it was when I first moved in.” Courtney lifts a shoulder, like that didn’t devastate her life.
“That’s shit. ”
“Kinda was. But then I found this gig.” She smiles at me. Fucking smiles.
And I see it all so clearly now.
Courtney losing her job through circumstances out of her hands.
Her housing situation flipping on her. Costing her more than she could afford.
Her finding the job at the Lodge, packing up her life, and driving across the country to start over.
Courtney finding me.
Me telling her I wouldn’t hire her.
The way she must’ve felt…
Fuck.
The way she must’ve felt when I told her no. When she had nothing to return to.
I put the cookie back in the bag.
“I’m sorry.” My voice is hoarse.
Her smile wavers, but she keeps it from falling. “It all worked out. So, when did you buy the Lodge?” She changes the topic.
I feel like a piece of shit. And I want to apologize for my behavior, but if she doesn’t want to talk about it, I won’t force it. “I bought the land when I was thirty, then spent a few years building my house and the cabins while I continued to work elsewhere. But now, Black Mountain Lodge has been open for twelve years. And in that time, I’ve bought up more property, especially from my old bosses when they retired.”
“That’s pretty clever.” Her expression is impressed, and I like it more than I should.
“Thank you. Most people don’t know it, but all the cabins and camping sites we take guests to… I own them.”
Her brows lift. “Really? Even the guys don’t know?”
“Pretty sure they all think I rent them from someone else. And since it keeps them on schedule clearing out and cleaning up…” I shrug. “Why mess with a good thing?”
Courtney snickers. “Clever boy.”
“I have my moments.” I reach back into the cookie bag and take out the one I put back .
“So…” She closes one eye, and I pause with the cookie halfway to my mouth. “How old are you?”
Not expecting the question, I take a moment, trying to remember how old I am, before I answer. “Forty-six.”
She smiles. “Forget for a minute?”
I grunt and bite the cookie.
“When’s your birthday?” She asks me what should’ve been the obvious next question.
But I’m still caught off guard.
And I don’t want to tell her.
But I can’t really refuse.