Chapter 8
“My parents told me they would watch the baby for a few hours. I think they’re worried about my mental state. It’ll be nice to get out of the house, and I’m sure you can use the help around here until you hire your seasonal staff.”
It felt like Banner was telling me I needed to put her to work to distract her from her failing marriage rather than asking me if I wanted free labor.
I nudged a mug of untouched tea closer to Banner and warned her, “There have been a lot of strange things happening around here lately, and you know how my luck goes. I’m a jinx. I don’t want you to walk into a situation that might be tricky on top of dealing with your soon-to-be ex-husband. Especially if you plan on working for free.”
Banner gave me a pleading look. There was no way I could remain firm under the onslaught of her big eyes that looked like they’d been crying for a year straight and the slight tremor in her hands. It was obvious she hadn’t been sleeping well and was under an immense amount of stress.
“I’ve gotta get out of my house, Lucky. My parents act like it’s no big deal to divorce Grant and move on with my life. They don’t understand how terrified I am that he’s going to do whatever he can to take Rosie from me. On paper, I’m a twenty-seven-year-old who lives in a condo her parent’s pay for and has never had a full-time job. If I go in front of a judge for custody, who knows what will happen? I can’t stop thinking about how I ended up in this position. Why was I so blind? Why did I think having a baby would make things better and bring our family closer together?” She sniffed while reaching for the rapidly cooling tea. “I need the distraction.”
“I’m not going to have very many guests for the next month. I’m prepping for the high season and finishing up all the construction that needs to be done. If you don’t mind grunt work with an occasional kitchen shift, you’re more than welcome to hang around for as long as you want. Your main responsibility can be helping me vet the seasonal staff when I start hiring in the next few days. I’ll give you the password to the computer up front, and you can check out their résumés and set up an interview schedule.”
Since she’d grown up helping in her family’s restaurant, she would have a better idea of what I needed when hiring solid food-and-beverage staff than I did. I wanted to build a team that was willing to return every season to take some of the headache out of the process. My grandparents’ staff had been like family when I was growing up. They had known more about me and done more for me than my parents ever had. I longed to re-create that same type of warm camaraderie and atmosphere.
“I’ll do whatever you want me to do as long as you don’t kick me out.” She made a face after taking a sip of the now-lukewarm tea. “What sort of strange things are happening? I heard a rumor that you’ve been butting heads with the sheriff again. Haven’t you outgrown being a pain in his ass?”
I snorted. She wasn’t in a position to pass judgment on my behavior now or then.
I had been reckless and rebellious, and she’d always been right beside me when I was up to no good. Even with being the best of friends when we had been teens, we probably would’ve never reconnected if Banner hadn’t sought me out when I returned to Blue River. She was the only person from my hometown who hadn’t tracked me down to ask about Baker or automatically assumed I was at fault concerning his passing. She was the same sweet, bubbly girl I remembered from my youth, so I’d let my reinforced guard down and picked up the friendship right where we’d left off.
“The lodge has experienced some dangerous mishaps since I reopened. And there’s been an influx of difficult guests. And I’m not talking about people who are your typical handful. They’ve been the guests from hell. I’m sure the town gossip has been going feral over the grandmother I supposedly put in the hospital.”
Banner lifted her eyebrows and smirked behind the rim of the mug. “I might have heard a thing or two. I always wait to talk to you first before believing anything I hear through the rumor mill.” She gave me a pointed look. “People are bored in a tiny town like this. You’re the most interesting thing to happen around here in ages. Of course, everyone is focused on you.” She put her drink down, leaned on the counter with an exaggerated leer, and lowered her voice dramatically. “As well as that handyman of yours. Every time he takes a trip into town, all the tongues start wagging. And not just to talk. What’s his deal?”
I took the empty mugs to the sink and turned my back on her. “No deal. He was looking for a new job in a new place, and I was hiring.”
“So, it was fate.” Banner sounded dreamy and reminded me of when we had been teenagers, gushing over whatever guy was the heartthrob.
“It wasn’t fate. It was a happy accident. I doubt he’ll stick around Blue River for long. Everything about this place is too small for him.”
“Have you asked him how he ended up here? He doesn’t look like the type who’s interested in the leaves changing color or sampling fancy craft beer. And there is no way he’s a time-share type of guy. What else could’ve brought him to the mountains?”
I shrugged and kept my back to her. I didn’t want her to see the confusion on my face. I asked myself those same questions, but I didn’t dare pry into Risky’s life. It felt dangerous to know too much about the man.
“I’m sure he has his reasons. As long as he sticks around through this first rush, I don’t care about anything else.”
Banner giggled, causing me to turn my head and look at her over my shoulder. She wiggled her eyebrows at me and taunted in a teasing tone, “I think you care. You look at him the way the boys in high school used to look at you. I’ve never seen you have fuck-me eyes for anyone before. You usually treat the opposite sex like they’re a nuisance.”
I scowled at her and playfully tossed the dishrag in my hand into her face. “That’s because they are a nuisance.” I’d die before admitting that Risky might be the exception to that rule, even though he couldn’t handle a third of the things I asked him to do. “And I’ve never had fuck-me eyes.”
“You’re mistaken. If you could see yourself when you looked at him, you would know you don’t look at him the way you look at everyone else. You’re always so indifferent to everyone, but that guy matters to you. Even if it’s just a small fraction, that’s more than you feel for most.”
I wanted to say she was imagining things, but Banner knew me better than the average passerby. If she’d picked up on the weird energy between me and Risky that I couldn’t corral, there was no use denying something undefined was happening between the two of us.
“I like having him around. He’s proven himself to be helpful in a variety of ways. He seems immune to my luck. It’s nice to spend time around someone I can’t drag into the mire.”
Banner hopped off the barstool she had been sitting on and stepped next to me at the sink. She bumped her hip against mine and gave me a knowing look. “Aren’t you old enough to realize that you use common accidents that could happen to anyone as an excuse to keep people away? You’re so worried about being hurt by others because of the way your parents treated you that you’ll find any reason you can to stay alone and not let anyone in.”
I bumped her back, but I put more force into the action, which sent her tripping to the side and out of my way. Having her underfoot for a few weeks was going to be pure torture if she kept trying to psychoanalyze me.
“The last time I let someone get close, they ruined my life.” I wasn’t even exaggerating. “I’d rather not go through that again.”
She hooked our elbows together as I led her out of the kitchen and toward the massive laundry area, where I needed help washing and prepping all the new bedding and towels I’d ordered for the start of the season. I had a feeling Banner was going to get sick of helping with all the drudgery sooner rather than later. It would be better to station her at the front and let her handle the phones and answer emails instead of the tasks that required heavy lifting. Who wanted to spend hours folding laundry that wasn’t theirs?
“You can talk to me about what happened in Denver, Lucky. You don’t need to keep everything bottled up inside. I spilled my guts to you about Grant and my marriage. I want to support you the same way you’ve supported me.”
I pushed a laundry bin in her direction and silently showed her how to fold the sheets and fit the duvet covers. “There’s nothing to talk about. It was a relationship that went very wrong. I should’ve known better than to get involved with someone who showed that much interest in me. I don’t have it in me to be the center of someone’s world. I struggle to keep my own planet spinning.”
Banner sighed as she started stacking folded towels and washcloths into neat piles to distribute to the various rooms.
Once I was done with this monotonous task, it was time to clean out the individual cabins and get them ready for occupancy. I’d asked Risky to tackle a few minor repairs before I started, which meant I needed to go behind him and make sure he didn’t screw anything up. I figured I would have to redo at least a quarter of the work, so I needed to give myself ample time to get everything done.
“Most women would kill to have someone love them to the point of obsession. I understand your relationship wasn’t healthy and not what you’d thought you were walking into. I’m just saying, not every deep infatuation has to be a horrible experience. I wish Grant cared about me and Rosie above and beyond everything.” She squinted her eyes at me and muttered under her breath, “One of these days, you’re going to be the one who ends up head over heels in love with somebody. I’m excited to watch you not have any idea what to do with yourself.”
When I glared at her, she just laughed.
I grunted in annoyance and snapped, “Never.”
The only thing I’d ever been infatuated with was this lodge and the idea of keeping my grandparents’ legacy alive. No man—or woman—got me as excited as my long-held dream of following in my family’s footsteps. I purposely ignored the little voice in the back of my mind, trying to remind me that the brief, almost kiss I’d planted on Risky the other day came pretty damn close.
Banner apparently couldn’t come up with a rebuttal. We finished the rest of the work in the laundry room in an easy silence.
She left before everything was done because an employee at the family restaurant had called in sick, so her mother needed to go in and lend a hand until the evening shift came in. Before she’d gone, I’d dragged her to the computer to check the schedule with the one at her parents’ restaurant so I could find a few days to set up interviews when she was free.
I’d assured her I was fine handling the physical prep for the season on my own, but she insisted on spending time at the lodge to get her head on straight while dealing with her marriage. Belatedly, I realized I never asked her if she had started divorce proceedings yet. I didn’t care about her loser husband and all his lies because it was obvious he was a scumbag, even though I’d never met the guy. I did care about Banner and her emotional well-being.
I told myself to make more of an effort and be a better friend to her. Just because I wasn’t interested in rehashing my failed relationships didn’t mean she wasn’t looking for an outlet to do that very thing. I was out of practice when it came to relating to almost everyone.
After checking on the progress with the ironwork on the deck, I hiked across the property to where the cabins were lined up in a perfectly straight row. They were cute little A-frame structures, each with their own firepit and utility kitchen. They were the first rooms reserved and never vacant back when the lodge had been in its heyday.
When I was a child, I loved spending the night in one of the buildings and pretending I lived on my own, like an adult. My grandmother would bring me treats, and my grandfather would sit outside and watch the stars with me until I was ready for bed. It was a safe place where I knew I would never have to be bothered by my parents or anyone else.
The cabins had taken the brunt of abuse from my absence. Several of them needed completely new roofing and insulation. It had taken a huge chunk of the money I’d inherited to get the cabins back to a livable condition, but I didn’t regret investing so much in the project. And I was secretly envious that Risky was the first person who got to stay in the first cabin I’d renovated when I returned home. It was a project I had thrown my heart and soul into. The small space felt a bit more like my own than the entire private living space I had at my disposal.
When the cabins came into view, I didn’t see Risky anywhere, but I saw a ladder leaning against the slanted roof. I couldn’t help my brow furrowing with concern and the sudden kick in my heart rate. Images of Risky tumbling off the ladder or falling off of the roof flooded into my brain. I knew he was a mess when it came to simple repairs, but he wasn’t clumsy or accident-prone. Unfortunately, logic couldn’t fight through the sudden panic that filled my body.
“Risky!” I called his name and picked up my pace. Anxiety tightened around my throat when he didn’t immediately answer me. “Hey. Are you okay?”
There was still no reply. I started to jog, telling myself that I was this worried only because I couldn’t afford to pay out a workers’ comp case if he was injured on the job.
“Risky!” I could hear the rising panic in my voice.
Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to let a man with no experience run wild with power tools all over my property. I started breathing hard and felt dizzy. The only other time I’d been this close to having a full-blown panic attack, I had been trapped in a room with a man intent on taking his life, making sure I knew I was responsible for both of us being in such a dire situation.
“Lucky?” A confused voice floated out from behind the first cabin.
Risky walked toward me, and I noticed he was wearing safety glasses and ear protection that was now sagging around his neck. It made sense if he was using the nail gun or one of the various saws needed to complete his to-do list.
I wondered why I hadn’t stopped to think about what I’d asked him to take care of before jumping to a nightmare scenario that had him bleeding on the ground with a cracked head.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’re about to lose your lunch. Did something else happen? Are you okay?” The questions came fast and furious as he rushed to meet me. The evident concern in his eyes made my racing heart skip a beat.
Risky grabbed me by the shoulders and gave my entire body a shake as I tried to form words and function through the choking panic.
“I saw the ladder … and you didn’t answer me when I called you.” I caught my breath and put a hand to my chest. My fingers twitched nervously. “I was worried you’d had an accident. Be careful. There’s no telling what can go wrong since you’re spending so much time around me. My awful luck tends to affect others in close proximity.”
Everything suddenly stilled, minus my fluttering heart, when his rough hands grasped either side of my face. His thumbs rubbed along my cheekbones, and the light breath he let out drifted across my skin.
“If something bad happens to me, it’s because I don’t know what I’m doing or because I’m overconfident and reckless. That has nothing to do with you. You aren’t an all-powerful being, Lucky. You’re not a god.”
I tried to catch my breath and lifted my hands to hold his wrists. I was pleasantly surprised when I felt the slight flutter of his pulse underneath my fingers. I was knee-meltingly relieved that I wasn’t alone in responding to our bodies touching.
“No. Definitely not a god.” If anything, I had the energy and vibes coming from the other guy lurking down below.
“Good.” His golden eyes gleamed, and his head lowered toward mine. “I already told you, adoration is pointless. If it comes down to being revered or feared, go with instilling fear every single time.”
“Are you scared of me?” My words whispered over his lips as they twitched into a charming grin that held a faint hint of malice. It was a brief reminder I should be the one who was afraid.
“Not even a little, boss lady.”
That was the correct answer because I was terrified of myself day in and day out. One of us needed to be fearless and willing to take risks. It was right there in the man’s name. Of course he wasn’t scared of little ol’ me.
This time, Risky initiated the kiss, and there was nothing slight or hesitant about it.