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“And that’s totally your choice,” I said, putting a hand on his little shoulder. “But I hope you’ll try again because if you live your whole life being afraid of stuff, you won’t get to live very much at all. And you might miss out on some really great moments.”
I silently cursed the wisdom of my own words. I’d been living in fear of something I really loved for the last few months, something that had brought me some really great moments over the years, including the one immediately before the avalanche, when I’d qualified for the Olympics. I knew, if I could convince Ben to get back on the slopes, I would have to honor his bravery and do the same myself.
He nodded at me, then said, “Okay. I’ll try one more time. But if I fall again—”
“You can get back up,” I said. “And try again. Because I know you’re strong and brave, right?”
He hesitated, then nodded again. “Yeah. I am.”
“Great,” I said. “Now let’s go have some cocoa with your sisters.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
James
“Say that number again?” I asked in dismay as the caterer quoted me what it would cost for the benefit.
“Two hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars, for the four courses.”
I was loaded, don’t get me wrong. But numbers like that still had a tendency to make my head spin and my palms sweat “Okay,” I managed to choke out. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Excellent, Mr. Warner. Would you like me to email you an invoice now?”
“Please,” I said, feeling like I was cutting off an arm and mailing it to her. “Thank you, Kristie.”
What I wanted to say, of course, was, “Fuck you all the way to the moon and back. I’m serving pizza.” But I had to keep the reputation of the lodge in mind, plus it would get me anenormous tax break, and it would also make me money in the long run.
In the meantime, though, I was going to have to make a deal with the devil himself.
There was something about sitting on the other end of a call that you really didn’t want to make that made the wait for an answer so much worse.
“Mark Karth’s office,” said a friendly female voice. “How can I assist you?”
“Hi there,” I said as politely as I could manage. “It’s James Warner, can you put me through to Mark? We have a deal he’s been hounding me about for months and I’m finally ready to accept defeat.”
There was a silence on the other end, and I could almost hear the wheels ticking. I bet she was smoking hot and knowing Mark, she definitely put out. But shit like that only made me more thankful for Haley, now. I couldn’t imagine working with someone who was modelesque but had the brain of a goldfish.
“I—”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It was a stupid joke.”
“Oh…”
Another long pause followed, and when it didn’t seem like Mark was being fetched, I said, “So can I talk to Mark then?”
“Oh,” said the bubbly voice. “Yes. One moment.”
Some gratingly pleasant music came on the line and I turned to my desk to look over a few of the contracts my lawyer had sent over for my Olympic qualifier location bid. I couldn’t exactly send them in until I threw the benefit, but it was good to have a look beforehand.
“James!” came Mark’s voice on the other end of the line. “I hear you’re ready to talk about my proposal.”
“How old is she, Mark?”
“Who?”
“The receptionist. Let me guess, five-nine, billowy red hair, legs that go on for days?”
Mark laughed and I could almost hear him checking her out. “Wrong,” he said. “She’s a brunette.”
