Chapter TwelveMicah #2
I roll my eyes, though his sarcasm eases my building tension. “You do remember that I talk to Skyler, like, once a week, right?”
“Maybe, but you don’t talk to me. I don’t think I’ve talked to you since my wedding.”
I wince. He’s right, which makes me feel like a terrible sister. Their wedding was three months ago. “I’ve been busy.”
“I forgive you. You need a favor?”
I explain the situation with Dani and Ava, and before I’ve finished telling him where they are—thank you, Find My Friends—he’s on his way out to his car.
“Is that the only thing you need help with?” he asks as his car starts up. “You sound stressed.” Leave it to Kit Morgan to notice.
“I wish you could help me with this, but you’re not exactly a party planner.”
“Says who?”
I snort. “You literally begged me to plan your wedding for you when Skyler left it up to you because she was too busy with The Bookstore.” They were engaged for seven months before Kit finally asked me to help plan their wedding, three months before it happened, because neither of them bothered to start planning it.
Mumbling something about how he could have planned the wedding if he wanted to, Kit clears his throat. “I’d better focus on finding your coworkers, but we’re doing some remodeling on the store next week. I was thinking maybe Sky and I could come visit. Houston could use a friend.”
I squeal and jump up and down a few times. “Yes! Do it! Like you said, I haven’t seen you since your wedding! Wait, why does Houston need a friend?”
The lobby suddenly goes silent, and my heart drops. That feels like a bad sign.
“Hold that thought,” I mutter, though now I’m super curious about why Kit thinks there’s something wrong with my brother.
His team won the World Series this week, which should mean all sorts of good things for Houston, their best pitcher.
(At least, Houston says he’s their best pitcher.
I don’t know enough about baseball to know otherwise.)
“I need to go help my colleague with something,” I tell Kit.
He laughs. “You sound so adult when you say the word colleague.”
“I know. I’m all sorts of mature now. But really, I need to go before he thinks I’ve abandoned him.”
“He, huh?”
I groan. “There’s nothing to read into, Kit Morgan. We’re just colleagues.”
“That’s what they say in all the books.”
“Gotta go, but I will see you next week because you’re definitely coming. Byeee!”
He’s right about books, but my life would argue reality doesn’t follow the pattern, no matter how much I wish it did. Otherwise, I would have found my soulmate before now.
Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I slip back out into the lobby only to come to a halt a few feet from the room I’d been hiding in.
Fischer has placed Lila and Grant on one of the couches, and he’s pacing in front of them with a deep enough scowl that he looks like a disappointed father who just got out of a meeting with the school principal, where he learned his kids started a food fight in the cafeteria.
Grant and Lila are silent, and though I can’t see their faces, I can tell they’re trying not to laugh because their shoulders keep shaking. They’re also all over each other, Grant with his arm around her and Lila practically falling into Grant’s lap.
I slowly get closer, and the movement catches Fischer’s gaze.
“Don’t move,” he tells our bosses, and then he crosses the lobby and takes me by the arm, pulling me farther from the couch. “They’re completely drunk,” he growls.
“What? How?”
Lila bursts into a fit of giggles, and Fischer closes his eyes like he’s praying for patience. “I have no idea. What about the others?”
“They took a wrong, uh, road. Ended up in Diamond Springs.”
“Colorado?” He nearly shouts the word.
“Well, we are right on the border…”
“Not helping, Micah. We’re a week out on this event, and your boss—the person in charge of making all of this happen—can’t even speak straight let alone walk.
Now you’re telling me the people whose job is to map out the lodge and get everything finalized are hours away, making this entire trip a complete waste? ”
I wonder if he’s always been such a Debbie Downer or if this is a more recent addition to his charming personality. I take his hand, noting how little he responds to my touch outside of growing tenser than he already is. “Fischer, I know this situation isn’t ideal.”
He huffs a humorless laugh.
“But we can handle this! This might even be a good thing because now Grant and Lila have no choice but to let us take over!”
I expect him to relax and agree, but Fischer clenches his jaw, the muscles below his ears straining in a way that is more attractive than it should be. “This is a disaster waiting to happen, and you know it.”
“Or exactly what we need.”
Pulling his hand free, he folds his arms and gives me way too good a view of the way his biceps strain against the fabric when he’s tense like this. “There is such a thing as toxic positivity, you know.”
“And negativity in any form is toxic on its own,” I argue. “Have a little faith, Fischer.”
“In what?”
The fact that he doesn’t immediately know what I meant stings, but it’s not his fault. He’s stressed, and I can’t blame him for focusing on the problem in front of us instead of seeing the solution.
“In me, Fischer,” I say, not as confidently as I would like. “In yourself. We’ve gotten this far, and I’m not going to give up on this.”
As he swallows, I can see him fighting his own thoughts.
He’s probably anticipating everything that can go wrong—granted, there are a lot of things—and picturing the event failing.
It makes sense given the situation, but he clearly doesn’t know me well enough to know that I am not someone who backs down easily.
It took me eight years to get my stepsister Skyler to even talk to me, and now I’ve got her driving two hours with her husband to hang out with me and my siblings.
“Trust me,” I tell Fischer, and then I walk over to the couch and crouch in front of Lila. “Hey, Lila, how are you feeling?”
She sits up so quickly that she has to grab onto Grant’s arm to keep from falling over again.
That sets them both off again, laughing loud enough that I’m tempted to cover my ears.
Once she’s relatively calm again, she smiles at me and takes my hand.
“Micah! Oh, your curls are darling today. I wish I had curls like yours.”
Okay, this camaraderie is new. Maybe I should get her drunk more often. “Thank you. Do you need some water or something to eat?”
When I glance at Fischer, he sighs and looks down the hallway to the right. “There could be some stuff in the kitchen, but most of the stocking orders for the restaurant are being delivered early next week. I’ll go see what we have.”
“Grant, darling.” Lila reaches over and pulls him close enough to plant a sloppy kiss on his cheek, though she’s still gripping me tight. “Have I told you how much Micah takes care of me? You should get a Micah. Everyone should have one.”
Grant has stars in his eyes as he looks at her with the kind of expression I wish any of my dates would look at me with. He may be fresh off a divorce, but it seems like he really likes Lila. Whatever happened during the drive, they seem to have bonded.
“I would get you a hundred Micahs,” he says before tugging her close and locking his mouth on hers.
Oh. Yeah, they definitely bonded during the drive because this doesn’t look like an unpracticed first kiss. There’s experience in it, and I would leave them to it if Lila would let go of my hand so I’m not a foot away from their tongues going to battle with each other.
Grant grabs Lila’s hips and pulls her toward him, which tugs me off my feet until I faceplant into the couch. Before I can struggle back up, arms wrap around my waist and lift me into the air. My hand pulls free, and I’m on my feet a second later.
“Grant,” Fischer growls, and he pulls the same move on Lila that he did with me, grabbing her around the middle and lifting her off of Grant.
Though Lila protests and tries to move back in, Fischer gets in her way and grabs Grant underneath the arms, lifting him up with impressive ease.
I knew he was strong, but dang . Fischer is strong . “That’s enough.”
“Getoffme,” Grant slurs, but he’s obviously too drunk to fight. That doesn’t stop him from trying. As soon as Fischer has him on his feet, he tries throwing a punch that Fischer dodges.
Fischer ducks down, throwing Grant over his shoulder, and disappears down the hall without a word.
Next thing I know, Lila’s arms are around me as she breaks into sobs. “Where’d he go?”
Though I don’t see anything wrong with Grant and Lila becoming a couple, I can see why Fischer thinks they should be separated, at least until they’ve sobered up a bit.
We don’t exactly need them going at it in the lobby while we’re trying to work.
As I situate Lila so I can walk her to a room, I wonder where the driver ended up and if he witnessed anything he would have rather not witnessed.
I’m not sure I’m brave enough to ask, but I’ll make sure he gets a good tip.
“How about a nap?” I ask Lila, though I’m not going to give her the option. Knowing her, she’ll fall asleep as soon as her head hits a pillow and then be out for a few hours at least.
“Oo, it’s snowing!” Lila shouts as soon as we enter the nearest suite, pointing to the window. Sure enough, fat flakes have started to fall, though when I checked the weather report, the storm was supposed to stay farther north. “It’s so pretty!”
“Very pretty,” I agree. I hope it doesn’t get any worse. Sun City never gets snow, and I didn’t think to prepare for colder weather. I’m in a sundress, for goodness’ sake! At least the lodge is warm.