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There’s a nice crowd, and I don’t see the girls until April’s in front of me.
“You better be so glad you didn’t bail,” she says, her smile and bear hug softening her words. “Holls and I were about to come drag you out of your office. Come on, we lucked out.” She grabs my hand and leads me to our favorite table. “Can you believe no one beat us to it—it’s been months!”
“Meant to be,” Holly says, holding her arms out toward me.
“Sorry I’m late,” I say as I’m hugging her. “I was in a meeting.”
“With Loverboy?” she asks, her eyes all lit up as she does a little dance on her stool. She lifts her thumb toward April and they both speak at the same time:
“I haven’t told her a thing yet, so get after it.”
“Loverboy? Oh my God, you better spill.”
“I’ve been dying to tell you,” Holly says to April. “Dying. And you’re going to die that she hasn’t told us this before today.”
April’s doe eyes turn to me and I’ve never been able to resist her. The words are out in a rush.
“He’s not Loverboy now.” I hold my hands up. “Don’t get your hopes up. The guy I slept with in Boulder is Jamison Ledger, AKA, the new owner of the resort, AKA, the new boss who is ruining my life.”
April’s too stunned to speak for a moment until Holly nudges her.
“Right?” Holly says.
April blinks and frowns. “How did this happen? And what do you mean he’s ruining your life? Is he being rude?”
I think of how he helped me calm down earlier, the way he hustled around my desk and managed to get me breathing steadily again. Even though he was the one who got me in that state to begin with.
“He’s not rude, no. He’s annoyingly nice while systematically dismantling everything I’ve built…Granddad built,” I correct myself. “He plans to operate the place from across the country. He’s not even staying in Landmark.” My voice rises and I try to rein it back in. “It’sLandmark Mountain Lodge & Ski Resort, where the foundation is family and community, not some amusement park in Orlando that he can make all nice and shiny and expect it to last. They tear down and rebuild something completely different every few months in those places. When he’s done with Landmark Mountain, we won’t even recognize it…I give it two years max.”
April grabs my hand and squeezes it, and the joy looks punched out of Holly’s face.
“I’m sorry. I’m a real ball of delight these days.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. This is a big deal. We need to get a drink in you…” April waves at Pierre and lifts up three fingers and he nods.
“So, what was this meeting about? He’s really tearing the place down and rebuilding it?” Holly asks.
“No, I was saying…” I put my head in my hands. “I’m all over the place.”
I take a deep breath and look up to see a lemon drop sliding in front of me. It’s been our drink at The Dancing Emu since we could drink, but of course, my mind goes back to where it seems to be on default.
That night. That fucking night.
Literally.
“For my favorite girls,” Pierre says. “Should I bring the artichoke dip out? Maybe the deconstructed steak tartare?“
“Yes,” we all chime in.
Pierre bends his tall, lanky body into as much of a bow as he can in the crowded space and then hurries off.
“So back up,” Holly says. “What is Jamison trying to do to the lodge?”
“He does plan to renovate, and he wants to show me a few ideas…he actually asked me to stay on as general manager and I said no.”
They both gasp.
“Why?” April asks.
