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I just hate the way he looks at her. Probably a mirror to the way I look, gaping at her ass. I drag my hand across my face. Being this close to her and knowing what she looks like when she comes, what that body looks like underneath…it’s a fucking torture I’ve never experienced.
“What’s everyone doing here?” she asks, turning in a slow circle.
Kill me now. And go a little slower so I can get a better look…
“Doug? You’re not on until tonight,” she says. “What’s going on?”
He flushes and glances back at me, hurriedly looking away, but not fast enough for Scarlett. She spots me next to the bookshelves and walks over. I pick up a book to subtly fan myself before she reaches me.
“What am I missing?” she says.
“I’m not sure. I just realized myself how many people are hanging around. Could it be because my family is coming?”
“Your brother Zac, the guy who recently won the Super Bowl?” She snorts. “Yes,pretty sure that’s it. I don’t think anyone will be obnoxious and hound him for autographs or anything, at least not the locals, but they’re still a nosy bunch.”
She lifts her hand.
“Hold on, I’ll take care of it.” She clears her throat. “Listen up, everyone. Guests of the hotel, I apologize. You can ignore me.”
She smiles at an older gentleman who’s been staying since Friday and he smiles back. She’s so good with the guests.
“This announcement is for the Landmark Mountain staff. I know all of you are excited to meet our new co-owner, but I need all of you who aren’t on the schedule today to clear out, and all of you who are to get back to work. Don’t make me regret telling Jamison we’ll be cool about his brother coming in. I’m sure you’ll all get a chance to meet Zac in the next few days, but let’s not overwhelm him by being here all at once when he’s bringing his family for the first time, okay?”
The room starts clearing out immediately, by about eighty-five percent, when it’s all said and done.
“Impressive. Thank you.”
“Sure. I hope you have a nice visit,” she says.
I don’t tell her they’re here for more than just a visit, because when she agreed to having Albert be our point person and to not be a part of the renovation discussions, I began to consciously keep her out of the loop.
Not because I ever wanted to. It’s been hard every step of the way, not only because I like her way more than I should, but I also value her input and would love to have her be part of this process.
“Thanks,” I’m in the middle of saying as the doors open and my family walks in.
Scarlett turns to see where my attention has gone just as my niece spots me and yells, “Uncle Jamison!” as she runs and leaps into my arms.
I hug her hard and then dance around the lobby while I’m still holding her. She laughs so hard, her little hands on my cheeks.
When I come to a stop, I set her carefully down, making sure she’s not too dizzy before I let go of her. She looks up at me and signs,YOU.I MISS.
I point at her and sign the same thing back to her. She wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes. God, I love this girl. We text frequently and are on Zoom calls every other day, but it’s not the same as seeing her in person.
Zac gets her attention and grins. “Are we going to get any attention over here or is it all about Ivy?” Zac says, signing as he speaks.
My niece has been deaf since she was three, and although it was challenging for our family to learn American Sign Language when we found out, we’ve become pretty fluent with signing in the past five years. Even Pappy, which is damn impressive for a man his age. For the most part, we still speak out loud while also signing, for the benefit of those who don’t know the language, but we even do that when it’s just us, so I guess it’s really out of habit. Ivy speaks too and is shockingly good at lipreading, which can make people think she hears more than she does.
I hug my brother and reach out for Autumn to come in too. “It’s so good to see you guys. Can’t even tell you how good.”
“I think he missed us,” Autumn teases. “We’ve missed you too. Ivy’s talked about this trip nonstop since she found out we were coming.”
She makes a silly face at Ivy when she signs about her, and Ivy ups the silly-face ante and then does a little happy dance next to me.
“Where are Pappy and Magnus?” I look around, expecting to see Pappy chatting with someone at the front desk or maybe still outside.
But no Pappy, just Scarlett standing over there, watching me with an expression I haven’t seen from her before. She flushes and turns back toward the counter.
“Scarlett, come meet my family.” I motion for her to join us and she makes her way over, looking a bit shy.
