Page 97 of Dandelion Sighs

He rounded out of the hallway. A tool belt hung loose on his waist and his ball cap was on backward. He didn’t wear his cowboy boots as much these days, but his hotness had only increased. That wasn’t my hormones talking. It was just fact.

“What’d I do?” he asked.

“I’m gushing about all your hard work.”

“Eh.” He waved it off and grinned. “I do what the boss tells me.”

“That’s how it works the best,” the guy joked. He put a hand on his wife’s back. “Hope we can get into one of the new cabins next year. A hot tub facing the sunset? We’ve gotta get in on that.”

“I have you on the list,” I assured him. “We’ll email you when rentals open.”

The couple gathered their kids and left.

Jasper wrapped his arms around me from behind and dropped a kiss into my hair. “The crack in the tub in the Duhamel room is fixed. Can’t even tell it was there.”

“You work miracles with your hands.”

He dropped his hold to stay around my waist. “That’s what you said last night.”

I chuckled, but warmth infused my body as if I didn’t wake up to this man every day. We still rented his house from Alder, and we planned to stay there while we expanded the rentals with a few more cabins.

Jasper had spent the summer with siblings and their spouses brainstorming where more cabins could go and how many. He had talked to county and state officials, and while none of them had ill will against REG and their efforts to build out there, they all wanted to support us. Perks of being a local.

The resort was thriving. I got to work every day with my husband. And have a steady presence to talk me down.

He released me and spun to lean against the counter. “When’s Everly getting here?”

My best friend had gotten down to visit me for a getaway before the snow got bad last winter, and this time she was bringing her family. They rented my mom’s old place. It hadn’t been empty one day since last year.

“This afternoon. I told her we would eat first. She said she’d been craving Paola’s surf and turf.”

Maria rushed through the front doors. “Sorry! Thank you so much for covering for me.”

“It’s no problem. How’s your mom?”

Maria hurried behind the counter and tossed her purse into the back room. “The doctor said she should quit eating so many potatoes, and now we have to find a new doctor. One who isn’t going to tell an eighty-year-old woman to quit eating fried potatoes for breakfast.” She inhaled and blew it out. “I mean it. Thank you.”

“And I mean it. It’s no problem. You have to be there for your mom.” These situations were why it was important to me to run a strong business. It should take care of its employees and not only the other way around.

Maria called me a month after I married Jasper. I’d finally found a few applicants who might work for her position, but she begged to be rehired. Constance had been a terrible boss, demanding and unrelenting, and Maria wanted her old job back.

I could’ve made an example of her, but I’d been relieved to hire her. One of the applicants took the head housekeeping position, and she adored Landon, who was back for the summer and cleaning rooms again.

Jasper took my hand. “Now that you’re back, I’m going to steal Sheridan for the rest of the morning and take her to the beach.”

“Have fun,” Maria called behind us.

He tugged me away. We went out the side door that met up with the gravel path he’d formed down to the water. A short dock was at the end. A pontoon with the family that just checked out was pushing off. A fishing boat that belonged to the fisherman in the original cabin on Duke property was tied off. A few families were scattered on the beach already. Thanks to the expansion of Bishop’s Landing, recreation at the bay had grown as well.

“It’s a beautiful place to own a lake resort.” He stopped at the top of the path and pulled me into his embrace. “I’m more partial to the sexy owner.”

“Mmm, sleeping with the staff turned out really well for me. My mom knew what she was doing holding on to this place.” I smiled at him. I had never felt more stable, fulfilled, or like I was exactly where I should be. “Especially when she picked you.”

Epilogue

Jasper

Five years later…