Chapter 3 #2
“When you head out toward the ranch, nothing is paved. But we figured guests wouldn’t want their car getting all dusty and rumbling along the gravel road. Just be forewarned, if you take your vehicle out that way,” he said, pointing off to the right. “It’s not so nice.”
“How big is this place?” Cara asked.
“About four square miles. The cattle ranching operation is back as far from the road as possible, and on the opposite end of the property from the resort. We wanted the resort to be close enough to town that people could go eat dinner elsewhere if they got tired of eating here. Also, go shopping or whatever else they might want. Also, we wanted to make sure your bakery was close enough to be patronized by people in town as well.”
“I appreciate that,” she said.
Of course, it added value to the ranch, and she was going to have to share her profits with the Grayson family, even though they weren’t charging her rent, but Marlowe didn’t say anything about that right then.
“I know I’ve seen pictures,” Cara said. “But I’m still really excited to see it. Especially the sign.”
She could remember Cara’s excitement over this whole thing, and she ended up feeling angry at Aiden all over again.
He hadn’t just left Marlowe; he had left his sister, too.
When she finally had a chance to live her own life and not just be a caregiver to their mother. Which he hadn’t helped with.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.
“Yeah. It’s very exciting. Cara really is the best,” Marlowe said, turning to look at Cody. A mistake.
God, somehow, he was even more gorgeous in profile. His nose was straight and strong, his jaw perfectly square, his chin just right. She hated a weak chin. But there was nothing weak about Cody Grayson. Not even close.
She swallowed hard and looked away, but then she found herself glancing at him again out of the corner of her eye. At the strong column of his throat.
“I can’t wait to taste her baked goods,” he said. “Kind of a tough thing to get a handle on with a long-distance interview. But since I decided I trusted you enough to hire you, I figured I’d trust your review.”
She couldn’t tell if those words were loaded or not. She didn’t know him well enough to say. But it compelled her to defend herself, even if only a little.
“I didn’t lie to you,” she said. “About Cara, or about myself. It’s just… Everything kind of changed. And maybe that’s hard for you to believe, because I know men tend to side with men, but –”
“Oh, I don’t fucking side with men,” Cody said.
There was such a hard edge to his voice, sharp like a blade, it shocked her.
“My dad wasn’t worth shit. He left my mom to raise three children, and even before that, the relationship wasn’t good.
He only ever saw her long enough to get her pregnant again.
Had nothing to do with us. It was the shock of my life to discover that we inherited this place.
Doesn’t surprise me that your husband took a job with you, then abandoned you at the last minute. ”
She blinked. “Oh. Well… I’m sorry.”
“Now we’ve both overshared,” he said. “So, it’s fine. Just as long as I don’t have to worry about the work being done, I don’t care if it’s being done by two of you.”
Of course, there was a matter of salary. He had been planning on paying a quoted amount to two people.
“Well… the money…”
“I’ve got to talk to… Shit, I’ve got to talk to my sister, because she’s more up on that. I mean, I know it, I have all the spreadsheets, but… Just let me go look at the paperwork.”
He definitely sounded like this was something he didn’t want to deal with, and fair enough. He had hired her to make less work for him, not more.
She almost felt bad, except even when he was being nice, he was abrasive.
You would think that it would do something to blunt those good looks. But it didn’t. Because he was just that hot.
They pulled up in front of a small, white building with board and batten siding. The windows were black, and there was a sign hanging off the front, round and bright with the words Juniper & Sage Bakery.
She had collaborated on the name for the bakery with Cara, and in emails back and forth with Walker Grayson, who was the marketing director, and probably Cody’s brother.
It was gorgeous. There were little planter boxes in the window, with pink flowers that looked like they had been freshly planted there, bravely defying a potential next frost that might hit still as spring was trying to push its way through.
“Oh,” Cara said. “Oh, it’s gorgeous.”
Cody put the truck in park, and it had just clicked over when Cara leaped from the truck and walked toward the bakery, hands clapped.
Cody got out of the truck, too, and Marlowe ended up just sitting there.
Cara looked comically small standing there next to Cody.
She was so petite, maybe five foot one if she was lucky, and she came up well below Cody’s shoulder, she was talking and waving her hands, animated like Cara was, a cartoon princess so excited for this next chapter of her life.
Marlowe couldn’t move.
Because this was her new life, and she wasn’t supposed to be doing it by herself.
Cara was getting this whole fresh start, a dream, and she wasn’t losing a huge piece of herself in order to get it.
Envying Cara wasn’t very nice, but right then, Marlowe couldn’t help it.
Cody wasn’t even really Cara’s boss in the same way he was Marlowe’s.
Cara was renting the bakery space, so it was much more independent.
If Cara wanted to, she could have a fling with Cody.
Not only was she unencumbered by employment, but she didn’t have the baggage that Marlowe did…
You’re losing your mind.
She probably was.
She should just be relieved that Cody was letting her stay. That had been a concern.
But she was also just… She was exhausted in her bones.
She had been running on pure adrenaline for the past week, first getting packed up and ready to go, then trying to deal with the fallout of Aiden ending their marriage, and then keeping her fingers crossed, praying to a God she wasn’t sure even listened to her at this point, that she would still be able to have this job.
She had it. She had the job. But that was it.
Her marriage was over.
And now it felt like there was nothing to do but sit in it.
She was physically safe. She would have enough money to survive, she had a place to stay. It was better than it could’ve been.
No. What she didn’t want to do was give Aiden any credit for that. She didn’t want to believe that he had been setting her up to be okay without him. Because that just made her angry.
Cara looked through the windshield, back at Marlowe, and Marlowe shifted.
She needed to get out of the truck. She forced herself to do it, her fingers felt like they were filled with cement as she undid her seatbelt and opened the door.
She got out, rocks crunching underneath her shoe as she turned and slammed the truck door before shoving her hands in her pockets and making her way toward the two of them.
“Isn’t it great?” Cara asked.
“It’s fantastic. Genuinely. This is amazing. I’ve done a lot in hospitality, and this is by far one of the most complete, amazing places I’ve ever been. I’m not just saying that.”
Cody turned to look at her, the corner of his mouth tipping upward. “I wouldn’t care if you were.”
“Why? Because flattery is nice even if it isn’t sincere?”
“No,” he said. “Because I don’t care about your opinion.”
There he was again, being as abrasive as possible, and it still made her stomach feel warm.
“Well, that’s nice for you. I think I have to care about your opinion, though. Professionally.”
“Not really. I’m mainly going to be out of your hair, I promise. I hired you to do the job. So, unless you mess up spectacularly, what I’d like is to just not notice you.”
This was the least comfortable interaction with a boss she’d ever had, and she wanted more.
She wanted to run away from him and stand there talking to him forever.
At least when she was standing there with Cody, her body felt so electrified that she couldn’t feel the crushing pain over the end of her marriage.
She didn’t feel quite so out of body. She felt grounded. Felt like her feet were firmly planted on the ground, and that was a relief. All things considered.
They stepped inside the little building, and for the first time, Marlowe actually felt something like happiness.
Okay. This was really gorgeous. Really, really gorgeous, and she could see people wanting to come here, to drive out of town and sit in the rugged surroundings and have coffee and cake.
She hadn’t been kidding when she said that Cara was the best. She really was.
Guests would love to come here, take a little break from the imposing elegance of the hotel, and be in a place like this, which was just so cozy and lovely.
“I like this,” she said again. “The elegance of the hotel, the rustic surroundings, the absolute cuteness of the bakery, this is exactly the kind of multifaceted experience that guests will remember. Not offering you my approval, I know you don’t want it, I’m just commenting.”
“Comment noted,” Cody said.
“I literally can’t wait,” Cara said, brushing tears away. “This is just a dream come true.”
Again, Marlowe felt something tight in her stomach. She was so glad that it was a dream come true for Cara.
This wasn’t her dream.
Yes, she could be thankful that she had landed here, that this was a safer place to be than stuck in New York with no lease and no idea what she was going to do next, but it didn’t make it pleasant.
Nor did it make being around Cody feel comfortable in any regard.