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With a sharp nod, I started for the outbuilding Elvin had indicated. Clearly, it had been painted to blend in with the pines surrounding it. The building I’d seen out front, on my drive up the private road leading here, matched this one. That one had a sign on it that had made me chuckle, though: Elvin’s Workshop.
And that was another reason Buttercup thought Elvin should stop policing. The man had three jobs and a growing family.
A twinge of jealousy pulsed through me for the briefest moment. Yeah, I wanted something like that. Success. Family. But people didn’t exactly see ski instructors as stable. We were like the Baywatch crew of the slopes. Seasonal hunks. Not taken seriously.
I huffed a sigh. And an outdoorsman. That was my job now, too. I knew jack about the occupation, despite loving being outside. I had a lot to learn. Elvin told me not to worry and promised this Pete guy would teach me.
I grinned, thinking of a Grizzly Adams type guy, rugged with a big beard and a gruff personality to match his weathered look. He’d call me City Slicker or Boy and tell me he didn’t need friends. That would be a problem for Pete since I tended to make friends with everyone.
Maybe, that was a problem for me, too. In the past, being everyone’s friend had gotten me kicked about a lot. But like the proverbial dumb puppy, I’d just kept coming back for more. Sander’s Lodge would be different. I’d learned to stand up for myself years ago, now. Mostly, it worked. Unless lies were told, like at my last job.
After pulling open the building’s creaky screen door, I opened the main door and stepped inside.
“Hello,” I called as the spring hinge on the screen slammed it shut, making me cringe. “Pete?”
But it wasn’t a grizzled mountain man who stepped from the next room. A blonde pixie appeared in the doorway, her bright blue eyes, jeans and a pink T-shirt that hugged to her shapely body, and plump lips curved into a small smile shaking me into a stupor. Her smile lifted into a smirk as if she knew she’d stunned me into silence. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, studying me.
“Well, hey there. You’re Mikaly?”
“Yeah…”And you’re my future wife.I swallowed hard. “I… I’m looking for Pete.”
Two
Petunia Franko
I’d expected the new ski instructor, who’d double as my assistant, to be hot. I mean wasn’t that the stereotypical thing? Hot ski instructor? I’d done my research on him before he’d been hired, and man, did he warm me up from only a picture. In person, though…
He was different from what I’d expected. I hadn’t expected him to be just my flavor of man, in his thirties, rugged and not as polished as the pretty boys I usually encountered on resort slopes. Heck, Anderson, the last one here, had been a transplanted surfer dude who doubled as a runway model on the off-season. That was why we’d needed a new pro. Late last spring, Anderson had been hired for full-time work by Dior or Klein or Abercrombie. I couldn’t remember which one. And it didn’t matter.
Because we got this guy. Intelligence poured from him, even though I’d stunned him stupid when I’d popped out of the backroom. I’d bet my next two paychecks he had no idea who I—
“Um, is Pete here?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts as he regained his composure-- pretty quickly, too. That was a good sign. You had to be a fast thinker in this job. “Do you know where he is?”
Yup. Got that one right. No idea.
The question was, would I play him or put him out of his misery right away. Decisions, decisions.
“I do.”
“Okay. If he’s busy…” Mikaly shrugged. “Elvin sent me over because I’ll be assisting him. But if Pete’s busy, maybe you can just show me around. Maybe, show me my office so I can get settled.”
“Sure. Come on back.” I jerked my head toward the way I’d come. The front of the building where he’d entered housed a few supplies, but it was mostly a place for guests to cool their heels while I got them whatever item they’d be renting for the day. The attached room I walked back through, without looking to be sure Mikaly followed me, was basically a warehouse of gear we stored on row after row of steel shelves.
“This is impressive,” he murmured. Points for him. That meant he was scoping out the area and not leering at my butt. The same couldn’t be said of most of the male coworkers I’d encountered in my position, men who thought I was too girly to possibly be a survival guide or lead outdoor adventures.
That was before I’d come to Sweetville a few years back when the lodge had reopened.
“Thanks. Since Elvin hired me two years ago, we’ve really worked to build up the inventory with top-of-the-line supplies. The lodge was closed for a long time before Elvin took over, and they never had an outdoor branch—other than the skiing anyway.”
“So…do you work with Pete? Elvin didn’t mention someone else. A team’s good, though. I…”
He trailed off as we entered my office, and I walked behind the desk. I indicated to one of the visitor chairs across from it. I rarely had guests back here, so usually the seats were piled with samples or supplies that needed to be inspected or cleaned then reshelved. Knowing Mikaly was coming, though, I’d tidied up. Sort of.
His chin angled, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully when I sat. See, I knew he was smart.
“You’re…Pete,” he said.
With raised brows and a grimaced smiled, I nodded. “Guilty.”
