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“Pappy and George hit it off and George asked if he could bring him back in an hour. He wanted to show him the Sikorsky XR-4,” Zac says before Scarlett reaches us. “Magnus wanted to see it too.”
“Damn…I was planning to take Pappy over there to see that…”
Scarlett stops in front of Autumn and smiles warmly at her. “Hi, I’m Scarlett. There’s been a lot of excitement around here about your visit.”
“Oh, Scarlett. It’s really nice to meet you,” Autumn says. “How do you spell your name?” she asks, still signing the whole conversation to Ivy.
“S-C-A-R-L-E-T-T,” she says.
Autumn nods and spells out the letters for Ivy, pointing at Scarlett. “Jamison has told us so much about you.”
The color on her cheeks deepens, her eyes jumping to mine. I haven’t said a word to my brother or sister-in-law about our night together, only that Scarlett is the granddaughter of the owner and we work together, but I’m pretty sure Autumn will make a few assumptions based on Scarlett’s expression right now. Sure enough, mischief is written all over Autumn’s face when she directs her attention back to me.
“And this is my niece, Ivy, the best little girl in the world,” I say, grinning at Ivy as I sign the last part.
Scarlett watches my hands in fascination and then waves at Ivy, her smile wide. “Hi,” she says. “I wish I knew sign language…”
Ivy smiles back. “Hi.”
Scarlett’s smile widens. “Beautiful family,” she says, looking at Autumn again.
Autumn is thanking her when I pound on my brother’s back. “And this is my big brother, Ballzac…I mean Zac…and Zac, this is Scarlett Landmark.”
She laughs and Zac shakes her hand.
“Don’t encourage him,” he says, but he’s laughing too.
“I have brothers, so it feels like I’m in a room with them right now,” she says. “Nice to meet you, Zac.“
“It’s really nice to meet you. Jamison says you’re the heart of this place…and that he wouldn’t have been able to do this whole transition without you.”
Scarlett looks at me in surprise.
“Well, he’s settled in surprisingly fast,” she says, and I’m returning her same look of surprise.
She leans in like she’s confessing something.
“You better be glad you have a beautiful wife.” Her eyes are flashing and I have no idea where she’s going with this. “Because I just left Sunny Side and there’s a wager going on in town that just keeps growing—who will capture the heart of Landmark Mountain Lodge’s eligible bachelor?” She winks at Autumn, and I can tell my family already likes her because they all laugh and lean in like they’re drawn to her. “I’ve put my money on Claudia.”
“Who the fuck is Claudia?” I scowl.
I sign everything but the wordfuck, but I know I’ve still blown it by the way Ivy’s eyes grow wide. I make a funny face and she giggles.
“Don’t tell me you’ve got a trail of broken hearts around here already, Little Squirt,” Zac teases, and I cringe, knowing he’s giving Scarlett more ammunition.
“I’ve never even met a Claudia,” I mutter.
Zac laughs. “Notice he didn’t say anything about the broken hearts…”
I glare at him and his laugh dies down when he sees I’m serious. He puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls me in.
“Best guy I know, right here,” he says, backtracking. “He’s apparently lost his sense of humor since becoming a resort owner, but it was bound to happen sometime…” He looks at me, his eyes apologetic despite his light tone.
I’m the one who’s always stirring up shit with him, teasing him mercilessly and able to take it when he hands it out, so Zac is all kinds of lost right about now. I’m lost myself, playing catch up to why I care so much about what Scarlett thinks of me.
“Well, I just want to know who Claudia is,” Autumn says. “If Jamison is finding a love connection, we’ve got to give our approval first. Me and Ivy, right?”
“Right,” Ivy says, signing emphatically.
