That’s exactly what I needed to hear right now, as the massive amount of work to be done at the resort is looming in front of me. Even with all of these people here to help, I know it’s going to take weeks, maybe even months, to get close to operational. Not to mention all of the money I still need to magically find.
“Do you really think I can?” I ask quietly, staring out the front window at Ethan who has noticed our arrival, and is walking over. “The other day I was thinking about selling. Even if I can’t get much for it, at least then I wouldn’t have the stress of wondering how I’ll ever make it work.”
When I glance over at Mila, she looks guilty. And nervous. Before I can ask her what’s wrong, my door opens, and Ethan’s voice fills the cab.
“There’s my two favourite ladies, I was wondering when you would get here.”
I turn to him quickly and smile, climbing down from my truck. His gaze darts between me and Mila, filled with uncertainty, so I rise up on my toes to kiss him.
“She knows, and it’s fine.”
“Thank fuck,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Alright, alright. Break it up you two. Just because I’m okay with this doesn’t mean I want to see it all the time. Got it?” Mila pushes between us, taking me by the arm and tugging me away from Ethan. Once she has us separated, she faces us, her hands on her hips.
Mila looks back and forth between us for a minute, and I swear to God she’s purposefully drawing this out to make me go crazy.
“Alright, here’s how this is going to work.” She points her finger at Ethan first. “You hurt my best friend or make her want to leave town, and I’ll disown you.” Ethan coughs back a laugh, but when Mila glowers at him, he nods. My heart is racing now, wondering what the heck she’s going to say to me.
“And as for you, missy.” The finger is pointed in my direction now. “He’s my brother. I don’t want to hear any details about anything. You understand me?” Ethan doesn’t even bother to try and cover his snort of laughter now, but instead of glowering, Mila just rolls her eyes at him before turning back to me.
“We’re best friends, Summer. He might be my brother, and I can’t help but love him, but as I said before, chicks before dicks.” She dusts her hands together. “So, you’re dating. And we’ll all be adults about this, and you two will not hurt each other, or put me in the middle of anything. Deal?”
“Deal,” I say quickly, relieved she took it so well.
“Can’t believe you’ve managed to make this all about you,” Ethan grumbles, and I shove him in the side with my elbow. “Oww. Geez, shorty, those elbows are pointy.” He rubs his side, pouting at me.
“Your sister is okay with us dating. Let it go, lumberjack.”
“Oh God, that’s the perfect nickname.” Mila snickers. “Okay, moving on. Work party time.”
And with that, Ethan takes my hand and steers us toward the group of people. “Come and meet your labourers for the day, Summer.”
When we reach everyone, he does a quick round of introductions. Aside from him and Mila, Paige and Reid are here, also, and I shoot them both a grateful smile. There are also two older men standing next to Reid. They introduce themselves as Turner and Pete, and Ethan explains that Turner owns the hardware store, and Pete is a mechanic. I thank them both profusely for donating their Sunday afternoon to me, to which Pete chuckles.
“Any chance to get our hands dirty with some good old hard work is time well spent, girly. Besides, I remember your Daddy’s big plans for this place. It sure would be nice to see it all done.”
Turner nods in agreement. “Carl would be so happy to see you back here, working on the resort.”
My eyes threaten to fill with tears. Ethan must see them because his arm around my shoulders tightens.
“Did you know my dad well?” I ask, hoping they say yes. What I wouldn’t give to be able to talk to my dad’s friends and find out what his life was like while I was gone.
“If you call weekly beers and having him kick my ass at pool ‘knowing him well’, then yes,” Turner says with a sad smile. “Sandra and I would be happy to have you over for dinner sometime and fill you in on anything we can. He missed you something fierce.”
Forget threatening to fill, now my eyes are overflowing. I can’t formulate words, so all I do is nod. Ethan’s there for me, however, just like always.
“That would be great, Turner, thank you. Maybe we can set something up before we finish today.”
Ethan presses a kiss to the side of my head, right there in front of everyone. I gulp back my tears, sniffing loudly.
“Thank you, all of you, for coming to help. It really means so much to me that you’re here and willing to help.”
Ethan drops his arm to clap his hands together. “Okay, so everyone knows what job they are starting with. The focus of today is mostly cleanup, but if you finish your assigned cabin or area and want more to do, just find me. I’ll be working with Summer on cabin number one.”
Everyone smiles, and the group breaks apart, leaving Ethan and I standing alone. I’m filled with such an immense amount of gratitude for him, Mila, and this whole damn town.
I wrap my arms around his middle and hug him tightly. “Thank you,” I mumble against his chest, feeling him chuckle in response.
