Chapter 7
For anyone else, the revelation that they had a legitimate enemy knocking on their door might’ve been shocking and alarming. For me, it was just another day. I acquired enemies the way others made business connections or found friendships. It was always me against everybody else—until the incompetent stranger in front of me had come along.
I couldn’t pinpoint why I felt like a man called Risky was unquestionably on my side. I knew, without asking, this odd man had my back and fell into the nearly nonexistent friend category, not the always-full-to-capacity foe one.
With all my nerves still buzzing from my almost header off the side of the deck, I grabbed the front of Risky’s shirt and jerked him in my direction. He was a large man. Tall and strong. I knew the only reason I’d moved him so easily was because I caught him off guard. When he braced himself with his palms on the wooden slats of the deck, he was close enough that I managed to give him a rushed and fevered kiss of gratitude.
I thought the gesture would be light and easily brushed off as a forgettable, impulsive, and adrenaline-fueled act. I hoped I hadn’t just handed him a reason to sue me for sexual harassment. I was ill-prepared for the heat that followed the slight touch of our lips, or the way my heart trembled when his Earl Grey-colored gaze locked on mine.
I was a woman who was used to being cold—both in personality and perceived temperature. I joked that my heart had been replaced by a block of ice when I was just a child, and now that I was grown, it’d had the time to develop into a towering iceberg. I had been certain nothing would ever melt it. But those golden eyes, lit with an internal fire and gleaming with startled delight at the barely there kiss, had icy runoff dripping throughout my entire body. I shivered all over, like I was naked in the middle of a blizzard, so I pulled away before I did something really inappropriate.
“Thank you. Your quick reflexes saved me and that guest.” I pushed the hair that had come loose from the tie out of my face.
I was sure I was going to have bruises all over. I’d been limping around and wounded since I’d opened the doors to the lodge. I was smart enough to know it couldn’t all have been a coincidence or my legendary luck. Somebody had it in for me and didn’t want me to bring my grandparents’ property back to what it had once been.
“If you think someone deliberately sabotaged the deck, we should have it on camera, right?” I looked to the corner of the overhang where he’d installed the security camera.
Risky cleared his throat and rose to his feet. He held out a hand to help me up, and I noticed his cheeks looked pink under his beard.
“I messed up when I first installed them. They didn’t start recording correctly until this morning.” He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, looking properly sheepish. “I’ll poke around and see if I can find anything that might point us in the right direction. I have to say, you’re alarmingly calm about all of this. I would think being shot at and nearly falling to your death would rattle the average person.”
I groaned and rubbed my tailbone as all my aches and pains made themselves known. “I am rattled.” And worried. But my concern was focused more on how all of this was going to affect the lodge than what it meant for me personally. “But I can’t let whoever wants me to stop what I’m doing get their way.” I brushed the dirt off my palms. They were scraped raw from my rough landing.
“You said your previous career involved fixing problems. How about I start paying you to help me fix this mess instead of giving you money to mess up tasks you clearly have no experience with?”
He had to be better at his earlier career considering he’d told me he’d been trained to do it since he was a young boy.
Through the big windows, I saw several members of the large family help the older couple through the massive front doors as a law enforcement vehicle parked in front of the building. The first responders couldn’t be too far behind them. I needed to be present for all the questioning and make sure the grandmother was carefully checked out. Even though Risky had given them a rundown of why they would never launch a successful lawsuit against me and the property, knowing my luck, they would still try to cause trouble.
Risky watched me carefully and muttered, “Didn’t I tell you I retired?”
Even though his gaze was on me, I felt like the reminder was for himself. I still wasn’t clear what his prior occupation entailed, but the bits and pieces he’d let slip gave the impression that it wasn’t a cut-and-dry type of job. He was obviously left with a lot of misgivings and reservations after walking away from what he’d been trained to do.
I snorted and waved a hand at the broken piece of decking. “Patch that up after the police have a look at it. I doubt they’ll take this incident any more seriously than they did the gunshots.” I frowned and looked at the cameras again. “Make sure all the new cameras are working. If not, let me know so I can hire a professional to take a look at them.”
Security was moving to the top of my priority list of things that needed to be handled before high season started.
“Lucky …” It sounded like Risky wanted to apologize or make excuses as to why he wasn’t willing to dive back into whatever business he’d left behind when I found him on the mountain.
I waved him off, figuring it was none of my business, and I owed him more than one for having uncanny timing and saving my ass repeatedly. I warned him, coldly stating, “Keep in mind that if something happens to me or the lodge, the job you currently have goes away.”
He opened his mouth to retort, but I ignored whatever he had to say. If Risky didn’t want to be part of the solution, in my mind, he was part of the problem. Regardless of how helpful he’d been up to that point.
I shook off the aches and pains while making my way to the front of the building. A paramedic was checking out the grandmother while several of her family members crowded around. Before the angry family could outnumber me, I was pulled aside by the sheriff. He was nowhere near as easygoing as he’d been during our previous meeting.
When he grasped my arm and pulled me to the side of his large SUV, I followed willingly, not even complaining that his hold on me was harsh enough to leave more bruises. I was going to have quite a collection by the time winter rolled around.
“You’ve been causing quite a commotion lately, Ms. Fortune.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest defensively and took a few deep breaths to keep myself calm. “I didn’t cause anything. I had the deck marked off as an active construction area and made sure the family knew it was off limits at the time of booking. If they had abided by the rules, no one would’ve gotten hurt.” I made sure my voice was loud enough that any of the eavesdropping family could overhear. “The entire incident today was recorded by one of my staff. I’ll make sure you get a copy for your report.” I lifted my eyebrows. “You are going to take a report this time, correct?”
He scratched his cheek and narrowed his eyes at me. “Yeah. The family will need what happened today documented. You are fortunate no one was seriously injured.”
I let out an ugly laugh and gave my head a shake. “I’d say what happened today is on par with my regular level of luck, Sheriff. The deck didn’t break because it was old and in disrepair. I’ve been renovating the area, so I’m well aware of the condition of every single piece of wood I’ve had to replace. The railing snapped because it was tampered with. I’m pretty sure I’m the one who was supposed to fall headfirst into the valley.”
His bushy white eyebrows twitched, and his weathered face pulled into a glower. “You’re really good at pushing the blame off to others, Lucky. I know damn well your granddad taught you to be more accountable than that. If you plan to run this place like your grandparents did, you need to understand you’re responsible for every single thing that happens on this property. It’s your job to keep everyone safe.”
Equal parts dread and irritation swirled around in a heated mix underneath my skin. I had no issue being responsible for things that were within my control, but when someone blatantly ignored the warning signs, I failed to see how I was liable for anything that followed.
“Was she supposed to tackle someone’s grandmother to the ground and sit on her until she came to her senses?” The heated conversation was interrupted by a chilly voice.
I hadn’t heard Risky come up behind me, and neither had the sheriff if the way he bristled at the interruption was any indication.
“If you look at the lodge’s liability insurance, Lucky did everything by the book to prevent a construction accident. She went above and beyond to avoid any possible guest injury. She even has it in writing that the group knew there was no access to the area during the deck repair. She’s as far from at fault as one could be in legal terms.”
I felt the weight of Risky’s gaze even though he was standing behind me and I couldn’t see his face.
The sheriff puffed out his chest and did his best to appear intimidating. He should’ve known all his posturing was wasted on Risky. The handyman wasn’t moved and had no patience for someone who spent their career ruling over a small town because he couldn’t cut it anywhere else.
“Who are you?” The bushy eyebrows furrowed into a scowl. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around Blue River before.”
I stiffened at his tone, not willing to let Risky get dragged into my ongoing feud with the law enforcement officer. “This is Declan Risk. He’s my new maintenance man.”
The sheriff made a noise of disdain. “Does your maintenance man have a law degree?”
Did he? I had no clue. It wouldn’t surprise me because around every corner, Risky had a different hidden talent that took me by surprise.
“No degree. I did work for a lawyer who transitioned into politics for several years. One tends to pick up things in that type of environment. Such as it’s always the person pointing the finger who has something to hide.” Risky chuckled and dropped a hand on my shoulder. Warmth immediately gathered under his palm, and my temper, which was just about to boil over, returned to a manageable simmer. “Should I start looking into what you’ve spent your career burying, Sheriff?”
The older man went stonily silent and glared at the man stepping up to protect me.
“If one wants to get technical, don’t you get paid to keep everyone in Blue River safe? That includes Lucky. Regardless of your personal bias and history with her.” Risky laughed again and tugged me backward until I was standing at his side. “If anyone has a legal complaint that will hold up right now, it’s her.”
Realizing he’d talked himself into a corner and that he couldn’t bully me when someone had my back, the sheriff adjusted his belt and dropped his sunglasses over his eyes. He told me he would be back in touch with me about the deck and assured me he would send a copy of his report for my records once it was written. I could tell he was glaring at the man next to me the entire time he made his exit. He left before pacifying the angry family, which led to more dirty looks sent my way and more threats of legal action. Overall, it was a shit situation that wasn’t going to have a simple resolution.
“I thought you were retired.” I couldn’t stop the snarky statement from slipping out when I turned to face Risky.
I appreciated him jumping in to save the day, but I was surprised after his earlier hesitation.
“I like this job.” His gilded gaze slid along the mountain range. “I like this place.” He turned to look at me, the corner of his mouth hiking up in an entirely too tempting way. “And my new boss is interesting. I’ve got more than one reason to stick around. If that means I have to semi-unretire, so be it. I’ll do my best to help you fix whatever is going on.”
I noticed he hadn’t said he liked me, but that was fine. It was better if he stuck around because he was curious and not because he had any soft and romantic feelings for me. Romance always went south and soured when I was involved. Interesting had no stakes. If he got bored or suddenly decided I was bland and basic, he would move on to the next adventure without a backward glance. If there were messy, emotional entanglements —I shivered when I recalled the last time I’d tried to walk away from someone who had feelings for me.
Nothing about Risky gave me the impression he was mentally unstable and had the propensity to be unhinged, but I’d been burned by a normal guy before. Considering Risky was the opposite of normal, I didn’t dare imagine all the ways things might go wrong if we became entangled.
“We really need to pinpoint who wants the lodge shut down by any means.”
We paused the conversation to deal with the disgruntled family. I’d thought they were going to check out. Instead, they decided to stay until the matriarch was released from the hospital. There was more noise about refunds and legal action. However, once everyone watched the video that clearly showed the grandparents ignoring my warnings and pushing their way onto the deck, the group quieted down. I still needed to feed these people while they were still considered guests at the resort, so I headed to the kitchen after the family settled down and meandered back to their rooms.
Risky followed behind me, patiently waiting for the list he’d asked for.
I tried to compile a mental note of anyone whom I might’ve wronged over the years, but there were too many names to keep track of without writing them down.
I sighed and let my mind drift while I whipped up a bunch of club sandwiches to serve for the late lunch I’d promised the remaining guests.
“There are two lists. One is people who would benefit from me no longer being in the way of selling the lodge. That list is mostly my relatives, my mother and father, in particular. There are also numerous real estate developers who have been hounding me to sell the property for years. And people like the sheriff, who think I’m a disgrace because I didn’t come home and take care of things right after my grandfather passed away.”
I gave him a bland look and nudged him to help me take everything I’d just prepared out into the dining area. It was nice to have a second pair of hands helping. I needed to get a move on with hiring the rest of my staff before the weather changed and business picked up. I couldn’t wait until I had all the wrinkles surrounding the reopening ironed out.
“The list of people who might have a personal grievance with me is much longer.”
Risky snagged a bag of potato chips and watched me with curious eyes. “My former boss used to say if you have at least five people ready to take you out at any given moment, you’re doing something right.”
I blinked at his statement, waiting for him to tell me it was a joke.
Risky met my look with a shrug. “She’s a unique woman. One who also has her fair share of enemies.”
I hummed a sound of disbelief because I couldn’t find the words to aptly describe how I felt when he compared me to such a formidable-sounding woman.
“I hate to say it, but my parents could go on the personal list as well. Their lives would be a whole lot easier if I were out of the picture. There’s a roommate from college. I inadvertently stole her long-term boyfriend, and she always swore she would ruin my life if given a chance. There’s a ski patrol guy whose leg got broken when we collided on a run when I was a teenager. I destroyed his hopes of Olympic glory. I got a teacher’s assistant fired for getting handsy with me sophomore year. My boss at the hotel I worked at in Denver got arrested after I turned him in for embezzling money.”
There were all of those people in my past with no mention of the strange figure I had seen the night of the storm.
“I can’t forget my former boyfriend’s family members.” I cleared my throat as ugly memories assaulted me. My hands curled around the back of one of the dining room chairs, and a cold sweat dripped down the side of my face. “He wanted to be together forever. He proposed to me, and when I turned him down and broke up with him, he took his own life. His entire family blamed me for what had happened even though he was significantly older than I was and had a long history of mental instability. His younger brother particularly held me responsible for the way everything had gone down. And you’ve seen how the locals feel about me and what happens when there’s an extra-troublesome guest to deal with. The options are endless.”
Risky chuckled softly. “You do leave quite the impression on people. Tell me more about the ex-boyfriend. That feels promising. Unrequited love is a real bitch.”
My knuckles turned white as I held on to the chair for dear life. “Baker Canton. If you google his name, you’ll find all the information you need.”
It had been a horrifically splashy and tragic breakup that made numerous headlines.
“I don’t want to google. I want you to tell me what happened.” His voice was gentle, and his gaze was warm and compassionate. However, there was a cunning glint in his eye that reminded me I shouldn’t underestimate him just because he was kind to me.
“I met Baker at the same hotel where I had gotten the boss fired. He was the only other person who agreed to be a witness to the theft. All the other employees turned against me and did their best to get me fired because they hated the new management that came in after him. We got close fairly fast. That should’ve been the first hint that something was off. He was skilled at reading between the lines and picked up on the division between me and my parents. He always walked the line between father figure and romantic partner. I don’t let people in very easily.” With him being the newest exception.
“I was young and knew I needed to come back to Blue River as soon as possible. I was ready, especially after my granddad passed away. I wanted to go home. Baker was far more invested in our relationship than I was. I thought we were having fun and hanging out, but he didn’t want to let me go, and he refused to let me leave.” I sighed and dragged a hand down my face as awful memories started to swirl. “Every time I tried to go, he would threaten to do something drastic. He always claimed he would hurt himself or me. At first, the words were enough to make me hesitate, but when they stopped working, he turned to action. He would cut himself. He overdosed. He locked himself in a room with a loaded gun. His behavior got progressively worse, and the threats more extreme. I was stuck in Denver for far longer than I’d planned to be because I felt like I couldn’t leave him. I almost escaped several times, but each attempt ended terribly. I was convinced I was responsible for his well-being. I thought that him loving me was what made him so ill.”
I blew out a deep breath and tried to wrangle my out-of-control emotions. “Baker’s family played a part in me taking on all the blame. I let them convince me he had been fine before he met me. That wasn’t the case. He had a long history of mental illness and acting out against his partners. We played a pretty nasty battle in the press after the truth came out. There’s a lot of blood left from the fallout.”
Risky gave a low whistle and stepped back as the group with the family reunion started to wander into the dining room. They all flashed a dirty look in our direction but still helped themselves to the free food. I didn’t bother to ask for an update on their grandmother. It was best to let any communication surrounding that situation happen through the sheriff or a legal representative. I didn’t have the money to have a lawyer on retainer just yet, but I had a trick or two I could pull off if I were truly backed into a corner.
Risky put his hand on my shoulder, and I felt his fingers slide until they were resting on the back of my neck underneath my messy ponytail. He gave the sensitive spot a little squeeze that felt more than friendly and lowered his head until his lips touched the curve of my ear. The brush of his beard against my sensitive skin sent goose bumps racing across my body. His whispered words made that block of ice in the center of my chest melt even more.
“It’s better to be hated than it is to be loved. Making someone mad is a thousand times easier than making them happy. Why would anyone pick a nearly impossible task instead of a sure thing?”
Why, indeed?