“Okay then. I guess we need to come up with a plan to make that happen.” He walks back to his side of the desk and starts fiddling with his computer.
“Wait,” I blurt. “What is happening?”
His eyes never leave the screen. “I’m looking at the race schedule to see which ones we can get you to.”
“But… I just told you I got involved with someone I was supposed to be supervisingwhileI was supervising him. Even if he wasn’t exactlymy employee, he was still my responsibility. You aren’t going to fire me for that?”If he wasn’t going to, he probably is now, genius.
“Hayden, do you know how I met Sloan?” Carter pins me with a curious look.
“No.”What does that have to do with anything?
“He worked for me.” He leans back in his chair, getting comfortable. “The resort has a spa, he was on the payroll, and while there might be a conflict of interest in seeing the person you’re supposed to manage on the job, trust me when I say that’s magnified when you pay that person’s salary.”
“Um…”
“Kane and Blake both work here too. Technically, Kane manages Blake, although they’re really more co-managers at this point.”
My brows pull together in confusion. “What are you saying?”
“When your business employs over half the town you’re going to have workplace relationships. It’d be nice to know about them ahead of time, but since I’ve been there myself, I know you can’t always plan for these things. Sometimes they just evolve. And I’m not the kind of manager who’s going to punish people for their feelings. Besides, Ryder doesn’t officially work here, so there’s really no conflict.”
I nod absently as I process that bit of good news, although in my mind I’m not fully absolved. “What about his racing career? If he thinks I don’t support it he might walk away from it. Or go back to drinking.” Though part of me doesn’t believe that since it was his decision to put the bottle down, I’d be a fool to think there’s no chance he’ll pick it back up.
“In my experience, when Ryder thinks people don’t approve of something it makes him more likely to do it.” He shoots me a devious smile. “That’s why it’s so hard to get through to him. And why you were ultimately successful.”
I suck in a lungful of air. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t approve of him going on the mountain, so even though he griped about it he had to prove you wrong. To do that he had to stop drinking. I like to think I contributed a little by leveraging the terms of his community service, but proving you wrong got him to put down the bottle and get back on the mountain. It might even get him back on the circuit.”
My jaw drops open.
“Whether he races or not is up to him, and whether you attend those races is up to you. At least I don’t have to worry about him spiraling anymore. You gave him a reason to pull himself together.”
“You’d really support me traveling to his events? Even if it interferes with my job?”
“I’m not going to pay you to travel the racing circuit.” He shakes his head despite the fact that he’s grinning wryly. “But if it’s important to both of you that you attend some of the events, we’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
“This conversation did not play out the way I was expecting.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Is that bad?”
“No,” I practically shout as blood fills my cheeks. “I’m just not sure where to go from here. Ryder was pretty pissed when he left.”
“Do you think he’ll try to drink that anger away?”
Biting my lip, I shake my head back and forth. “Hard to say. He knows he’s prone to taking a step back for every two he takes forward, so hopefully he realizes that part of what he’s feeling is a knee jerk reaction. It’s partly justified, though. I didn’t communicate what I was thinking very well, and now I’m not sure if I should try to fix it or wait for him to come to me.”
“What do you usually do?”
“Give him space to work through things… but he’s never made himself this vulnerable before.”
“Okay.” Carter nods thoughtfully. “Here’s what…” He looks at his phone when it pings. “Ryder just asked me to register him for the upcoming race. It’s here in Katah Vista.”
The queasiness that finally started to fade comes roaring back with a vengeance.If he’s making the decision to race, does that mean he’s also deciding not to be with me?
“Hayden.” My eyes snap to Carter’s when I hear my name. “All this means is he’s doing a race. That’s a sign that he’s not taking a step back. Right?”
“Right.” I close my eyes. Even though this is good for him, I can’t help wondering what it means for us. I’m torn between wanting to be happy for him and feeling sorry for myself.
