Chapter 6 Pass the Salt
pass the salt
ROXANNE
The Hearth, the dining room at the Emerald Lodge, lives up to its name—warm, inviting, and with just enough rustic details to make you forget how fancy it is. This place keeps surprising me, even if some of its residents are less pleasant than the décor.
Rusty pulls out my heavy wooden chair as we take our seats at a grand raw edge wooden table. He sits beside me at the head of the table, and Allie sits on my other side as Rhinestone Cowboy takes his seat across from me.
I’m thankful I’m seated next to Rusty Wheaton, who mentioned earlier he is Duke’s stepfather.
We’re speaking about how the Faraday family acquired the ranch, and every once in a while, I catch Duke staring at me.
A hot, invisible thread wraps around me when our eyes lock—his, a dangerous kind of blue, like flame behind frost. I take a long pull of my red wine in an attempt to get my body to relax.
I’ve never had a man look at me the way he does. It’s something I can’t quite work out.
Maybe it lands somewhere between desire and loathing.
Loathing seems more fitting.
I turn my attention back to Rusty. “So uh, you were saying …”
“Oh, yes,” he says, wiping his mouth. “Ninety percent of the employees here are veterans. That was important to us since Duke, Topper, and I also served.”
I wish I had my notebook for this. Such a fundamental and interesting detail about the ranch. “Oh, which branches of the military did you serve with?”
Topper glances at Duke for a beat before answering. “Delta Force, both of us.”
“Oh, really?” Leo asks.
“Yes, sir,” Topper says, nodding. “Delta medics to be exact.”
“Was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Green Berets before an IED damn near took my leg off in ’04,” Rusty adds. “After that, they figured I’d be more useful behind a desk. I disagreed.”
Duke chuckles. “He told his CO he’d rather wrestle a bear than push papers.”
“I’d like to see that,” Allie says.
“Thank you, all, for your service,” I add.
Rusty, Topper, and Duke all nod in unison.
“Well, we’d love to learn more about what you all have done,” Allie says. “I mean, later, I mean, if you don’t mind sharing.”
“We aren’t at liberty to discuss most of it, unfortunately,” Topper replies.
Allie briefly covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh, this is next level.”
Laughter and chatter rise as the staff glides between tables, refilling glasses and setting down plates of venison carpaccio with quiet precision. Next is the salad course and then herb-roasted half chicken and a bison filet.
“I’m intrigued that you have a full-service kitchen here,” Leo says. “Not that I thought that you’d be feeding your residents slop, but these offerings are divine.”
“Appreciate that,” Duke says.
“Who designed this menu?” I ask, savoring the jus from the chicken, which is cooked perfectly.
Rusty arches a salt-and-pepper eyebrow. “Wild Bill over there.” He points to Duke, who pretends he didn’t hear us though the corner of his mouth tugs up. “He works with our head chef to create Colorado-themed offerings.”
“Really?” I say, setting down my fork. “This menu is pretty sophisticated for a Rhinestone Cowboy.”
Giggles erupt around me as eyes shift toward Duke. “Thank you,” he says after a sip of water. “I knew I needed to pull out all the stops. I know you New Yorkers can be pretty finicky about your meals, and I didn’t want to overwhelm y’all by serving Rocky Mountain Oysters the first night.”
I narrow my eyes. “I assure you I can handle anything you dish out, Mr. Faraday.”
“Wait,” Allie says, putting her hand up. “There are oysters in Colorado?”
“They aren’t actual oysters,” Topper offers.
“Oh?”
“They’re bull testicles …” I say, still holding Mr. Faraday’s arctic glare. “Battered and then … deep fried.”
Allie gulps. “Yikes, and you’ve had those before, Roxanne?”
I finally tear my eyes away from Duke’s. “Yes, I have.”
“Interesting, Mrs. Denning,” Duke says.
“Ms.,” I correct.
Duke leans back in his chair, throwing an infuriatingly sexy smile my way. “Do tell, Ms. Denning, when exactly was the last time you had hot balls in your mouth?”
Topper spits up a little water, and Allie stifles a giggle while Leo brings his napkin to his mouth to smother a laugh. I straighten in my seat. My chest tightens, but I don’t want anyone to see me squirm. I open my mouth to reply, but Rusty clears his throat to change the subject.
“Duke may have had influence over the menu, but the kitchen is run by our director of food, Thatcher Green, who is a professional chef. He created our Culinary Ops program where he trains aspiring chefs in the lodge’s professional grade kitchen.”
“That’s amazing,” Allie says. “He’s a veteran and a chef?”
“A retired Army Ranger and a Michelin Star chef to be exact. Used to run a restaurant in Denver and now we get to enjoy all of his talents,” Topper says.
“Do the vets eat like this all the time?” Allie asks.
“This is a special dinner Thatcher prepared for your arrival,” Duke says. “And while we have special group dinners on Wednesdays and Saturdays, we also have communal meals and a grab-and-go pantry.”
“I feel like we should be writing all of this down,” Leo says, glancing in my direction.
“We will,” I reassure him. “Hopefully, we’ll get more of a tour of the kitchen and get to speak with Mr. Green.”
“We can arrange that, for sure,” Topper says.
“Allie, dear, why don’t you take us through how the next three months are going to work,” Rusty says.
“Yes, of course. We realize that we have three months to capture the essence of the ranch, but this first week, we’ll go over our paperwork, and then, we want to settle in, get a lay of the land. We want to get to know the routine and experience everything you do here on the ranch.”
“Are you sure you really want to experience everything on the ranch?” Duke asks with a smirk. “Some of our activities can be pretty strenuous, and some of you don’t even have the right kind of shoes.”
My gaze sharpens. “You’ve survived combat, but somehow my footwear is your breaking point?”
“They aren’t appropriate for this environment, which was made clear when you ended up in a horse trough.”
“That was your horse’s fault.”
“Don’t take it personal, Sunshine,” Duke objects. “Goose has a low tolerance for high-maintenance.”
By now, everyone at the table is watching us hit this invisible tennis ball back and forth.
“What’s happening?” Allie whispers to Topper. He shakes his head, sits back in his chair, and eyes Duke.
“These heels have carried me through a twenty-hour trip to Beijing, a back-alley interview with an arms dealer in Morocco, and running for a train in New Delhi … they can handle anything this place dishes out.”
“I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself that stilettos don’t mix well with manure piles.”
Rusty scratches the back of his neck.
“Um, anyway,” Allie continues. “Once we get settled, we’ll start filming and interviewing anyone willing.”
“We’re here to immerse ourselves in the total ranch experience,” Leo says, putting up his palms. “So we want to work and understand what it takes to keep this place running.”
“I saw rafting equipment in the outfitter building Topper drove us past this afternoon,” Allie says. “I would love to do that.”
Duke shifts in his seat away from her and brings his fist to his mouth as he finishes his bite of steak. “We should probably ease you into those types of activities.”
“Trust us, we’re ready. We’re up for anything. Right?” Allie says, her gaze darting between Leo and me.
Leo nods. “Of course.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll give you a tour of the ranch, and you can relax before we put you to work. Once y’all get your feet on the ground, we’ll take you out on the water,” Rusty says, pushing his plate away.
Waitstaff arrive and clear our plates before bringing us the dessert course.
Instead of enjoying the Palisade Peach crumble, Duke sits and fidgets with his cornflower blue cloth napkin.
He eventually excuses himself from the table before we even finish with dessert, which is a blessing.
My pulse finally ticks down once he’s gone.
After dinner, everyone spills out onto the sundeck where the dancing light from the fire pit casts a warm glow into the night.
Staring out into the wilderness at night makes my stomach twist into knots, so I politely excuse myself, though part of me did want to hear Topper and Rusty tell stories by the fire.
I’ve had enough social interaction and long to escape to my room and so I can type up my thoughts for the day.
Everyone bids me goodnight, and Rusty urges me to take a Pendleton blanket up to my room. I don’t protest because even though it’s June, the night air still has a slight bite.
As I’m about to enter the lodge, Duke is walking out, and if I hadn’t turned my head back from saying goodnight to the others, I would’ve run right into him.
He’s shed his rhinestones and settled on jeans, a white tee, and a blue plaid flannel with his same tattered ball cap that frames his eyes in such a way they seemed to glow mysteriously in its shadow.
How does someone so dressed down look so handsome?
“Ms. Denning,” Duke says, bobbing the bill of his hat.
I turn my nose up. “Mr. Faraday. I see you shed your costume.”
“I did.”
“No more performances tonight? I must say Rusty and Topper managed to be pleasant and charming without all the theatrics.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Both those things describe me as well.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You’ve only been here six hours,” Duke says, taking a tiny step toward me. “Don’t think you have me all figured out.”
“I don’t need any more time with you to figure you out. I know your kind.”
He presses a hand to his chest. “My kind? And what kind is that?”
“The mountain-man kind.”
“Can you be more specific?”
I huff, sharp and annoyed. I’m trying to stay composed around him, but of course he smells incredible.
It’s like he bottled the wild and wore it just to be insufferable.
Pine, and something warm and undeniably masculine with a trace of soap.
It’s clinging to him and now wrapping around me as he stands too close.
“Arrogant. Selfish. Always chasing the wild. Your only love is conquering the mountain. Everything else comes second.”
He holds his stomach, laughing. “You’re way off, honey.” He drops his hands and takes another step toward me. “How do you have any experience with mountain men anyway?”
“I have plenty of experience since I was born here.”
When I say this, his expression shifts. His eyes grow wide and then narrow.
“You? You’re from Colorado?”
“I was born and raised in Summit County.”
“Really? I find that … surprising.”
“I left Colorado behind a long time ago and I’m happy I did.”
“Then why did you come back?” He peers down at me and a little prickle of electricity dances down my neck.
The current crackling between us could set the whole lodge on fire.
I shake off the feeling. “I didn’t have a choice.”
His eyebrows arch. “Oh? How so?”
“I believe I’m the one that will be conducting the interviews.”
This man actually rolls his eyes at me.
“I have a feeling this is going to be a long summer with you,” he says.
“Goodnight, Mr. Faraday.”
My arm grazes his as I brush past, and suddenly I’m on fire. I duck inside before anyone can see the color rising in my cheeks and take the stairs two at a time, muttering his name under my breath.
By the time I reach my room, my pulse is still ticked up. I should write, unpack, do anything to shake off my encounter with Duke. Instead, I fall onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, knowing sleep won’t come. Not tonight. Not after him.