Chapter 2
Chapter Two
WEST
“And after that we’ll have the zipline, followed by—”
“Simon,” I say, holding up my hand to stop him.
“Yes, Mr. Hayes?” He blinks at me as he clutches the clipboard tighter.
“It’s just West, remember?” I remind him, and he nods. “Do me a favor and take a deep breath.”
He seems confused but follows the instructions. Once he lets it out, he waits patiently for direction. Simon is a great employee, but sometimes he can be way too high strung.
“I got here five minutes ago. Can I take a moment to appreciate our surroundings?” I nod to the view from the back porch of my cabin, and he presses his lips together, staying silent.
As soon as I dropped my bag, I came out here to take in the fresh air.
I love getting outdoors, but unfortunately, I don’t get many opportunities.
Being the owner of Nibbles is far more demanding than I ever imagined.
When I started the company, it was because I love animals and I saw a need the market wasn’t meeting.
Apparently millions of people agreed with me because Nibbles took off in ways I never dreamed of.
These days I’ve got assistants for my assistants, and I can hardly leave the office. Hell, I started this annual retreat as an excuse to get out of the office. Last year it was so busy I couldn’t come at all, but I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again.
I’m using this time to really think about what I want my future to look like.
I’ve got a brother with a wife and kids, and I have to actively remind myself that I’m happy for him and not insanely jealous.
I am happy for him. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel longing every time I saw a picture of his family.
I spent years getting my business off the ground, and now that it’s where I want it to be, I notice that it’s all I have. Hell, I can’t even have animals because I’m never home to take care of them. It’s a part of my life that’s missing, and I’m finally going to face it head-on.
Deciding what to do with the company going forward is something I’ll have to figure out, but I already know one thing for sure. I can’t keep running on the same path and hoping for a better view.
“Okay, Simon,” I tell my assistant. “Give me the rest of the run-down.”
“Great,” he says and then immediately spills about a thousand words out at once.
He’s the one in charge of running the retreat and making sure it all goes smoothly.
I might have a reputation for being a hardass, but I’ve never so much as raised my voice at him.
The whole event could go disastrously wrong, but what would be the point of getting upset?
It’s not like we’re out here curing cancer.
“Where’s your cabin?” I ask him, and he seems surprised by the change of subject.
“It’s right down that path.” He points to a trail through the woods, and I nod.
“Why don’t you go take a few moments for yourself before the bonfire?”
Simon blinks once, twice, three times before he nods slowly. “I guess I could go check on the kitchen.”
Clearly he’s got too much on his mind to slow down. Instead of trying to convince him to chill out, I usher him out of my cabin. He hurries in the direction of the kitchen, and I shake my head. He’s truly wonderful, but he’s going to give himself an ulcer.
I check my watch and see several alerts pop up at once.
Then I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket.
The weight of my responsibilities is too much lately, and before I have a chance to talk myself out of it, I slide off my watch and toss it in the closet.
Then I take out my phone and do the same.
I shut the closet door and nod to myself, already feeling better.
Once that’s done, I step out of my cabin and see a sign that points to the lake.
Needing some quiet time before the bonfire, I walk through the path in the woods that leads to the water. It’s almost summer, so it’s hot, but the breeze coming off the lake makes it feel incredible.
There’s a large dock with built-in seating and a view of the mountains that surround it. It’s the kind of place that I would come to every night if I lived here. The moment I have the thought, I toss it away. I work too fucking much to enjoy something like this.
I’ve run myself ragged trying to make Nibbles into a success. For the first time in years, I feel the exhaustion of it. I’ve put off my own needs for so long that maybe I don’t know what I want anymore.
I rest my hands on the railing as I lower my head, trying to quiet all the internal noise. I’m not an old man, but suddenly my bones feel weary, like I’ve been trying to hold the weight of the world. I suppose I have been.
Not only do I have to think about myself when it comes to the future of Nibbles, but I’ve got employees depending on me too.
People that have families of their own and mortgages to pay.
They rely on my company to take care of them, just like I rely on them to help make Nibbles the best. It’s not like I can close up shop and backpack around the globe.
I’ve got to think about the people that got me where I am.
A soft squeak pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts, and I look up to see where it came from. It sounds like an animal, which is not surprising considering I’m in the woods. But when it happens again, there’s something about it that sounds out of place.
I push away from the dock and walk toward the woods. The sun is beginning to set, so the light isn’t as good as it was when I first walked out here. It’s hard to see what’s through the trees, but I see a flash of something white and furry before I hear the sound again.
“Hello,” I call out, but there’s no response.
The sound of a branch snapping from overhead has me spinning around and looking up. That’s when I see it: two furry white ears poking out from behind a tree.
“What the—” Before I have a chance to finish my sentence, the ears come out a little more, and I see they are attached to a woman.
I blink a few times to make sure that what I’m seeing is real. A woman wearing cat ears is stuck in a tree.
“Hello,” the woman says, looking sheepish. She starts to wave, but then she teeters and has to grab on to the tree again to keep from falling.
I curse under my breath as I rush over in case I have to catch her. “Be careful.”
“I bet you’re wondering how I got up here,” she says, her voice shaking a little. Is she scared?
“I have to think it’s got to be a pretty good story,” I tell her. I keep my voice even and calm so she doesn’t panic. “But why don’t you come down and tell me.”
“That’s a great idea.” She hesitates. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s an option.”
“Are you stuck?”
“I think it appears that way,” she says, looking at the surrounding branches.
She’s not that far off the ground, and there are several large branches she could use to climb down on.
I have no idea how she got up there, but I remember climbing trees with my brother when I was a kid.
And I remember getting stuck in them a time or two because I climbed too high and was terrified once I got up there.
“What’s your name?” I ask, trying to keep her calm.
“Bellarose.”
“Okay, Bellarose,” I tell her as I start to roll up my sleeves. “If you can’t come down, then I’ll come up there and get you.”
“Wait, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I think the good idea train left the station when you decided to climb the tree.” I look up at her, but she’s too far away for me to see her expression.
“True,” she says, sighing heavily. “But to be fair, I was lost in the woods, and I thought if I could get to higher ground, I could find my way.”
“I think the signs might have worked better.” I point my thumb over my shoulder to the bright orange posts with large letters and arrows showing where everything is.
“Oh,” she says, as if seeing them for the first time. “I suppose you’re right.”
I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from chuckling. Who the hell is this woman?