Chapter 2
Iglanced out the high-rise floor-to-ceiling glass wall and sighed.
I knew I had a lot to be grateful for, more than most, but no matter what I did for the last couple of months, I couldn’t shake this feeling.
I was antsy.
Bored.
But worst of all, I felt like something was missing.
Work was fine, but I had to admit I was a workaholic, being the first to arrive and the last to leave the office. My personal life was mundane. I hadn’t dated or hooked up with anyone in longer than I wanted to admit. Hell, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d jerked off.
I’d had a house built in my hometown over two years ago yet hadn’t seen it in person, and I hadn’t seen my sister or nieces and nephew in longer than that.
I needed a change. What that would look like, I had no idea.
Almost like her Spidey senses were tingling, my personal cell rang, and right there on the screen was my oldest sister’s name: Tiffany.
“Hello,” I answered before it rang a second time. Tiff didn’t call often or without reason.
“Hello, Mr. Tilbury.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Hey, sis, what’s up? Everything okay?” Worry crept up my neck. Had something happened?
“Relax, geez. Breathe much?” She laughed. “Everything’s good, you worrywart. I was just calling to check in if Mr. Scrooge has been mobbed by his employees.”
“Mr––“ I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Tiff.” I forgot she also liked to call to pull my leg and bust my balls. But I guess that was what I deserved.
“I know, I know. You’re a busy, busy man. I just feel bad for your employees.”
“Don’t,” I clipped, knowing just how much of an asshole I sounded like.
“You made them work through the holidays.”
“Well, they’re officially on vacation the moment the clock strikes five.” I fought the guilt I felt for making them work all the way through Christmas.
“That’s if you don’t make them work overtime out of nowhere.
” She didn’t bother to mince words. Whereas everyone in the office usually highly disliked me or even hated me from October to December and was terrified of me, my older sister, on the other hand, didn’t have that issue. But then again, she never had.
Eight years older than me, she was always somehow bossier than I could ever dream of being. Thankfully for me, she never used those evil powers on me.
“Tiff.” I sighed, trying to warn her to back off, but I knew it would fall on deaf ears, so I didn’t bother.
“Are you staying in LA for your alleged work break?” she asked.
That was the plan.
To stay and come into an empty office so that when everyone returned on the fifth, we would all be ready to go. But for some reason, it didn’t sound like what I wanted to do anymore.
“It’s a vacation, Tiff,” I reminded her.
“Liar.” She laughed, once again calling me out on my bullshit. “We both know you are planning on going into the big empty office and work every day all your employees are gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if you rang in the new year right from your desk.”
I’d done that last year.
“Actually… Harrison called,” I argued for the sake of arguing. She had hit the nail on the head when it came to my plans.
“You mean Harry Storm?” I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, Harry.”
“What’s he up to?”
“Actually, I meant to tell you this; he’s back in your neck of the woods. Moonlit Pines.”
“What? That’s only like… an hour away.”
“Right,” I mumbled. “He and Carver are renovating the ski resort there.” Or maybe they were done with that, since I’d spoken to him months ago.
“Oh, wow. That’s awesome! I heard that place is amazing now. I didn’t know it was the Storm brothers who re-opened it. I’ve been thinking about heading there for spring break. You know, one last family vacation before… well…”
“Dane?” I asked, and she cleared her throat.
“Yeah, before Dane goes away to college.” Emotion clogged her tone, and I almost wanted to roll my eyes at her. The kid was a senior in high school, not some kindergartener.
“You don’t have to sound so sad about it,” I murmured, slightly callously, even to my own jaded ears.
“One day, Ash, you’ll understand what this feels like, and you’re going to feel really bad for being a jerk right now. Just wait.”
“No thanks,” I chuckled, making light of her warning. “I’m not completely heartless, you know? I get choked up at the thought of my first nephew about to graduate high school and get out on his own in the real world. I genuinely don’t want to know how much that hurts as a parent.”
“Anyways,” she sassed, ready to move on to a different subject. “What’s up with Harry?”
“They’re doing some kind of New Year’s thing at the resort.”
“Oh! Does that mean you are coming home?”
“No, but…”
“Ohmygod!” She sounded exasperated. “I was right, wasn’t I? You are working through the break?”
“Why? Do you miss me?”
“I do,” she confirmed quietly, and something inside of me made me pay closer attention. “But I get it; you’re busy. Maybe I’ll head to LA in February, see if you can get me a spot on your calendar for lunch or something.”
“Sounds good. Call my assistant.”
“Shut up!” she laughed. “Okay, I should get going. I have a couple of deliveries to make before I have to get the kids from school.”
“Any other reason you called?” I asked, and she paused. The line went so still and quiet, I had to check my cell to make sure I hadn’t lost her. “Tiff?” I called. She sighed softly.
“I just missed you, wanted to hear your voice, make sure you were okay. And see if maybe you have somehow changed your mind about coming home for the new year.”
“Oh…” Slight awkward silence fell between us.
“You do have that brand-new cabin you had built, remember?” I did. I still hadn’t set foot inside of it since the contractors finished it two years ago.
“I remember,” I muttered. “The place holding up okay?”
“I think so. Dane stopped by there last week, said racoons haven’t taken it over yet, so there is that.”
“Shut up.” I chuckled.
“Okay, well… I should really go. Love you, baby bro.”
“Love you, too, sis.” And with that, the call ended. I stared out the window again. The view should have been great, spectacular even. But with all the smog, you couldn’t see out as far as usual.
That feeling I hadn’t been able to shake off crept back up, and my eyes dropped to my cell.
I pulled up my call log, my sister’s name still highlighted as the last one received.
I just missed you. Wanted to hear your voice, see if maybe you have somehow changed your mind about coming home for the new year.
Home. What a concept.
Was Sugarloaf still home? I’d been born and raised there but had left the moment I got my diploma. But did that mean Los Angeles was home? I stood and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall and leaned against it.
It hadn’t felt like home in a long, long time.
But Sugarloaf and the mountains still felt like it.
Home for New Year’s?
She hadn’t pushed or tossed in an obligatory guilt trip over me not visiting at Thanksgiving or Christmas for the third year in a row. She honestly hadn’t pushed or begged me to return for this holiday, either. But suddenly, the idea of heading back to the small mountain area sounded… nice.
Fun even.
I could stop by and visit Harry, too. We hadn’t seen each other since grad school. Shit, had it been that long?
A trip home. For once, the sound of it wasn’t horrible.
I glanced up and caught my reflection in the glass, I was smiling.
Yeah, heading home didn’t sound like a half bad idea.
I hurried to my desk and wrote out a company email, letting everyone know they were good to leave now.
Once it was typed out, I grabbed my cell and pulled up my nephew’s information with a plan in mind.
I pressed Call. It rang three times before the kid answered.
“Hey, Uncle Ash!” His voice was completely different, so much deeper than I had last talked to him. Fuck. How long had it been since I’d talked to him instead of the usual texting we did?
“Hey, Dane, how are you?”
“Good. You?”
“Good. Listen, Dane, I wanted to see if you could do me a favor?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I’m going to head into town and––“
“You’re coming home?”
“Yeah, but I want to surprise your mom––“
“Oh, okay.”
“So, will you help me?”
“Help you what?”
“Surprise your mom.”
“With a visit?”
“Yeah.” I grinned. The kid sounded distracted. He was probably playing video games.
“Oh, okay… you, umm, staying at your cabin?”
“That was the plan.” I chuckled. “You good?” I asked because he sounded off.
“Yeah, sorry, just, umm… just studying.” He cleared his throat. “Mom’s going to love having you home for New Year’s.”
“Let’s hope.” I chuckled.
“When do you think you’re going to get here by?”
“Maybe tomorrow evening.”
“That’s cool… How long you staying?”
“You sound a little less excited than I thought you would,” I pointed out. Something about his tone was off. “You sure you’re good, Dane?”
“No, yeah, I’m good. And Mom’s going to flip when she sees you. She’s missed you. Uh, you should totally stop by here first, though. Before you get to the cabin. I think that would surprise her more.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, grabbing my things for the night and hitting Send on the email to my employees.
If I got home and packed tonight, I’d be able to leave first thing in the morning with minimal stops, I should make it to the cabin before dinner.
“I’ll call you when I get close, okay?”
“Sounds good. Call me! Before you get here! So I can make sure we surprise Mom!”
“Alright.”
“But stop here first,” he repeated. If I hadn’t been distracted, I would have picked up on the weird tone in his voice.
“Yeah, yeah.” I patted the pockets of my suit jacket for my keys. “I’ll call you.”
“Cool. See you soon, Uncle Ash,” he said before I ended the call.
With a rejuvenated pep in my step, I headed out of the office, waving goodbye to actual smiling employees, who probably thought I’d just lost my mind