Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Marlowe experienced a moment of total euphoria when she checked in her first guest. No other place she’d ever worked had mattered this much to her. She knew that it was a combination of things.
This resort being brand new, that it was the start of this new chapter of her life.
And that it mattered so much to Cody. Which she really understood now. This was proof to him that he was good enough. It was something he had felt like he deserved, something his father had been initially intent on denying him.
It was part of Cody. He said to her the other day that he wasn’t sure if he would have all of these things if it weren’t for the terrible things he’d gone through.
But that meant that this was his reward.
The evidence that all the things that he’d lived through were worth it. As somebody who really needed to believe that the hard stuff she’d been through was worth it, too, she felt that for him. Deeply.
It made the opening of the resort feel so consequential.
But it was interesting how much she felt it for him.
She couldn’t pretend that she was neutral where he was concerned.
In fact, instead of providing the rest of the information that her lawyer needed so that she could get those divorce papers served to Aiden, she took a minute to make a doctor appointment online so that she could go get testing and make sure that she had a clean bill of health.
She was kind of embarrassed she had that realization in bed with Cody. But where else was it going to come up?
She hadn’t really thought about safe sex in terms of not getting STDs, because Aiden was the only man she’d been with. And…
She hadn’t known what she hadn’t known. She’d trusted him. She hadn’t asked questions.
She had just wanted everything to be perfect, so badly, that was what she was realizing.
She had ignored so many obvious red flags in the name of keeping her own peace.
In the name of preserving a fiction that she found comforting.
One that she felt like she was owed because of how difficult her life had been otherwise.
She had taken a normal man and turned him into Prince Charming. Had taken a regular marriage with all kinds of its own regular issues and called it a fairytale. Maybe that had kept her from engaging with the things that she needed to.
She felt like she was realistic. But that was one area of her life where she hadn’t been.
She had simply decided that everything was going to work out because she had felt like she had to have something work out. Like it was some sort of cosmic balance for her to have a good marriage after the childhood she’d had.
She had been so stupid. So very stupid.
But at least now she was dealing with it.
It was almost orgasmic how smooth the first day went.
Dining service was a well-oiled machine, and they had patronage from guests and non-guests alike, with Lila and Laney receiving rave reviews from everyone who went in there.
It was a long day, but Marlowe wasn’t unhappy about it.
It was work that she felt passionately about.
She had always liked hospitality. But she only just realized at the end of the day, after the first official day of the Painted Ridge Resort being open, that she liked it because it allowed her to give other people a perfect day. And escape from whatever their life was normally.
And she could actually make it nice.
When she had been a kid, she had tried to take care of her dad, but there had been no way to make things better than they were. She only had the raw material she had.
But at a bed-and-breakfast, at a resort, all that effort could turn into something beautiful.
And that was something she really appreciated.
It was such a busy couple of days that she barely saw Cody, though they did text each other. And after the third day of being open, he sneaked into her room, and the two of them stayed up half the night, this time with a full box of condoms on hand.
She didn’t start her shift until a little bit later, and he had ranch work starting early, but they met in the middle so that they could grab coffee at Juniper and Sage.
“Cara is going to have commentary,” she said.
“I am not worried about Cara’s commentary if you’re not.”
“No. I’m more worried about having to go a morning without having a sweet treat.”
“We can’t have that.”
It felt like a very couple thing to do, to get ready together, and to head out the back door of the resort – not the front door – they were trying to be a little bit sneaky – and walk to the bakery. Though they didn’t hold hands, because they weren’t trying to flaunt whatever this was.
She would say that it felt like a relationship, but it didn’t feel like the relationship that she had been in before.
It felt like something else.
It felt like something new. Everything here did.
She felt like she was on the cusp of being an entirely different person. But in a good way. At first, she felt like she had lost control of everything. Like Aiden had taken that control away from her. Everything that she had wanted was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Now she felt like her life was so full of wonderful things that she wouldn’t have if she were still with Aiden.
And she felt like things were better.
Genuinely.
“You good?”
She realized then that she had been awfully quiet.
“Just thinking. It’s amazing how quickly everything can change.”
“Yeah. It is. I mean, it took a couple of years for this to come together, but still, it’s incredible now that it’s open. It’s actually happening. Now it feels quick.”
“Just a whole lifetime of effort,” she said.
“Yeah. That’s all.”
They walked off the path and into the parking lot of Juniper and Sage, which was packed. The parking lot was completely full, and there was a line all the way out the door.
“Wow,” he said.
“I knew she was busy,” Marlowe said, “but I didn’t realize she was this busy.”
She felt a little bit guilty. She probably should’ve been checking in with Cara a little bit more intensely. But she’d been distracted. Distracted with Cody, well, and with her job. Both of them had been. So, she supposed she didn’t need to feel all that guilty.
Because it wasn’t only that she was obsessing about Cody, it was also that everything was new. And she was finding her feet.
They got in the back of the line and fell silent as they listened to the chatter of the patrons and guests. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and no one seemed upset at the wait. There was a lot of conversation about how good they heard it was.
Several people seemed to have driven in from town just to partake of the goodies. People were already calling it the best bakery in town.
Marlowe was practically glowing with pride on behalf of Cara. Her sister-in-law had really needed a win. A strong start to her new life.
And she was definitely having that.
Poor Cara. She was grieving. The loss of her mother, the relationship she’d once had with her brother, and Marlowe felt like she probably could’ve been there for her a little bit more.
She had forgiveness for herself, of course.
Because it wasn’t like everything had been easy for her either.
But she and Cara were definitely doing a girls’ night to catch up on everything.
The bakery was closed on Mondays, so maybe on Sunday night, they could get dinner at the Painted Ridge dining room, just the two of them, and make sure to catch up.
Cara could even spend the night in the hotel.
It wasn’t like they were at capacity. They were actually going to have a few weekends in the summer where they were, though, which was an exciting thing.
All their online reviews had been good, and even though it had only been a week, she took that as a very promising start.
It wasn’t a very long wait, and when they got up to the counter, Cara popped her head around the corner and shooed her employee away from the register. “Hi.”
She was staring at Marlowe, rather intently.
“This is great,” Marlowe said. “You’re packed.”
“Yeah,” Cara said, taking her phone out of her apron pocket and typing on it even as she stared at Marlowe. “It is.”
Marlowe’s phone buzzed in her pocket.
She took it out and saw that she had a text from Cara.
What is going on? Are you sleeping with him?
She nodded just slightly in Cara’s direction. “Yeah. So, we just came to get some sweets. What’s been the hot item today?
“The lemon and strawberry rolls. All the rolls. The cinnamon rolls, too. We can’t keep them in stock. I keep thinking I should make more, but then it feels like it’s just too many, but it’s never too many. Eventually, the newness of the place has to die down.”
“I’m going to need one of each,” Cody said.
“There’s no way you can eat both of those,” Marlowe said, tapping him on his rock-hard stomach, and then realizing that had been a little bit too intimate a gesture to do in a public place.
But it was crowded, mostly with people who had just come to stay at the ranch, and a few from town, which meant they either didn’t know her, they didn’t know Cody, or they didn’t know both of them.
“I work hard,” he said, clearly unperturbed that she had touched him in public.
“I’ll put together an array for you. But I have to be careful with my stock. I don’t want to sell out before the rush dies down.”
There was already more of a line behind Cody and Marlowe.
“When does it slow down?”
“When we turn the sign to closed.” But she could see that Cara was very pleased.
“Come here for a second, Marlowe,” Cara said. “I want to show you something.”
Her voice was very laden with meaning.
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
She stepped away from Cody’s side and went into the kitchen with her sister-in-law. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s just been the last few days, and everything opened up, and it’s been crazy. You know that.”
“Yes. But I want to know everything.”
“Sunday night. Girls’ night. We’ll drink a bottle of wine at the Painted Ridge Dining Room.”
“That sounds great. But don’t let me cock block you.”
“I haven’t had this much sex in years. My body needs a break.” She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. If ever I am tempted to forget that my brother sucks, things like this remind me.”
“I’m not trying to make commentary about your brother, that’s the thing. Just about this.”
“But everything’s good. He’s not holding your job over your head.”
“No. He’s actually a really great guy. He’s… A little bit surly, sure, but he’s good.”
“He seems like it.” Marlowe’s gaze drifted behind Cara, toward a plate with a strawberry roll on it that was wrapped in Saran Wrap.
“What’s that? Is it a to-go order?”
“Kind of. I always set something aside for Zane. He’s always doing odd jobs around the building. And he won’t come in the front door because it’s too crowded.”
Marlowe lifted her eyebrows.
“It’s not like that. Trust me. He’s not interested.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No. I did not ask him. Because as I’ve already said, I couldn’t handle that.”
“You didn’t say you didn’t want to.”
“I don’t want to,” Cara said. “But he’s… sad.”
She had a feeling that if rough, surly Zane heard Cara refer to him as sad, he would start a literal riot.
She couldn’t help but notice that Cara had taken a special interest in Zane, whatever she said.
That actually made Marlowe feel a little bit uneasy, because of all the men on the ranch, and there were more than just the core four guys, Zane felt like the least accessible person.
He seemed distant. Not closed off in that way that Cody was, where he still put on a pretty good show, but like something else entirely. And the things that Cody had said about him made her suspect that he was seriously broken underneath all that muscle.
Not that she didn’t think people like that deserved… whatever. A relationship, love. She just didn’t think her sweet sister-in-law should be grist for that particular mill.
Cara was far too sincere. Soft and kind, and everything that a man like Zane Barton wasn’t.
“Just be careful,” Cara said. “You don’t deserve to have your heart broken again.”
“I don’t need a talk from you. You’re in your twenties. I am wizened. I’m your elder. I know what I’m doing.”
“Doesn’t everybody think they know what they’re doing if the guy is hot enough to make them ignore their natural survival instincts?”
Ouch.
“I guess so. The risk is worth it, how about that?”
“Well, that’s something at least. Details on Sunday night,” Cara called as Marlowe walked out of the kitchen.
Cody was standing in the dining room holding a stack of pastry plates and a couple of coffees on a tray.
“What was that about?”
“The third degree.”
“It’s nice that you have her.” He looked far too amused for his own good.
“It really is. I love her dearly. If I had lost her, too, I really would’ve felt like I lost my whole family. She’s it.”
“Well, I’m glad you have her. I’m glad we have her,” he said, gesturing down at the rolls.
“Me too.”
They took their food outside and managed to chickenhawk a table right as a small group left, and they watched as wave after wave of customers continued to pile in.
She watched Cody as he ate the pastries and saw how proud he looked.
Of course. She was proud of Cara, but he had been an essential part of this.
He had put it together.
The bakery was Cara’s baby, but he was the one who had the vision for this whole place.
That sense of pride she had the first day on his behalf only got more intense.
“You did amazing,” she said.
He ducked his head just slightly, for a second, and she realized he was almost… bashful. Much like if Zane ever heard Cara call him sad, she had a feeling if she ever said the word bashful to Cody, out loud, he would turn every table in the establishment over.
“You can take a compliment,” she said.
“Not well,” he admitted.
She had never seen the man look even remotely uncomfortable. Not like this.
“If I take a compliment, then I’m going to get complacent.”
He took a bite of the strawberry roll, and his eyes went back in his head. “Lord Almighty. This is amazing.”
“Complacent in what way?”
“I don’t know, it might turn me evil.”
He was keeping his voice light, but she could see that he meant it.
She reached out and put her hand over his. “Cody Grayson, you are the farthest thing from evil. You’re a damn good man.”
They finished eating in silence after that.