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“Good. No issues. He spent a lot of time networking and visiting with people he knew. We had a drink together after the first day, but I was pretty much on my own.”
All of this is a massive lie. I wasn’t alone for a second of that trip. If anything, Ethan and I were together more than I’ve ever been with anyone.
My memory flashes back to all the times we had sex in his condo and now I’m not sure I can take Delaney there. Too many memories of Ethan and I naked in that place.
Not that I don’t already have nightmares about what Delaney and Alex do in our hot tub. Maybe I should bring her to Ethan’s place in Seattle as payback for all the times I know she and Alex christened our place.
“I didn’t figure there would be. He’s super easy to work for. I was worried about his intensity with getting the ski school up and running, but he’s super low-key,” Delaney says, and I completely agree with her. There’s no one else I would want to work for.
“I was talking to Max today and he mentioned that he finished his EMT license. Guess that’s what he’ll be doing in the off season,” Delaney now adds.
“Yeah, I’m glad he found something. I don’t think he was really keen on working at Holden. How about you? You finalize plans for the off season?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m going to run the training gym for our prospective students and Alex is going to do some traveling and checking out potential candidates since he finished up that last semester of school he needed. Should work out well.”
I let out a yawn, not trying to make Delaney think she’s boring me, but I am exhausted from the weekend and the travel. I can’t believe I have to be up in seven hours to go to work.
“You ready for bed?” she asks, and I nod, my eyes feeling heavy.
“Yeah, I am. I’ll see you in the morning. You want to grab lunch tomorrow?”
“Sure. I’ll come by your office when I’m free. Sound good?”
I nod again, yawning, my eyes growing heavier by the second. “Good night,” I tell Delaney, getting up from the chair and heading to my bedroom.
“Night, Zo. Glad you had a good time in Seattle.”
My alarm vibrates on my wrist, waking me up way earlier than my body actually wants to get up. The only thing getting me out of bed is seeing Ethan, and I scramble to get in the shower and over to the lodge as quickly as possible.
If I get in early enough, I might be able to catch him before everyone starts to file in for the day. The night staff will be leaving and the day staff will be coming in, but that should give me a little bit of downtime before the day begins.
I’ll have to check in with the night staff to see if there’s anything I missed and the same with my day staff, and I know I’ll have a ton of emails to check up on, especially given I missed Monday.
“Good morning!” I call out to Alex as he sits at the table having a cup of coffee. He tosses up a hand in greeting, pointing to a travel mug on the counter.
“For you,” he says. “Laney’s already gone for the day. She’s working on getting the training facility set up with the guys Ethan hired. Figured you’d want a coffee and to be out the door early.”
“Good guess,” I reply, grabbing the mug from the counter and heading out the door.
“Grab a hat!” Alex calls, chuckling. “Your hair is still wet!”
“Okay, Dad,” I call back, pulling a hat from the pocket of my coat and smashing it down over my wet hair.
I trudge through the melting snow, the sky still dark, the sun just starting to rise as I make my way over to the lodge.
It’s always a bustling place, even during the off season. People come to stay and enjoy the gorgeous mountain view and the crystal blue lake year-round and today is no exception.
We still have the last of the skiers and snowboarders trying to suck the life out of winter one last time. The parking lot is filled with cars and the slopes will be busy in an hour or two. The place that will be the busiest right now is the coffee shop near the entrance to the lodge. And I’m totally grateful to Alex for the coffee so I don’t have to wait in the line for good coffee.
I come in through the back, heading straight for my office, I hang up my coat, pulling the hat from my head, I shake out my hair. It’s still wet and I should probably pull it back so I don’t look like I just rolled out of bed. Even if I did.
I keep a blow dryer in my desk for times like this anyway. While my computer is turning on, I take the blow dryer from my desk drawer and run it over my hair, letting it dry the wet strands while I multitask, opening my email and checking voicemails.
After a few minutes, I check in with my staff, listening to most of them complain about lodge guests and our need for more housekeeping staff. All of these things I hear on a regular basis and I try to keep the positions filled, but it can be hard. I should meet with Elissa and see if I can possibly pick up some of the people she decides not to hire.
“There’s a couple staying here that would like to talk to you about booking a wedding,” Casey tells me. “They stopped by a few times. I sent you an email with their room number, names and contact information.”
“Thanks. I’ll reach out to them today,” I tell her, already overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I missed. “Anything else?” I now ask, as Casey has been a bit standoffish with me since the incident where I caught her gossiping about Ethan and me.
