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“Agreed.”
“So, we’re good?”
“We’re good,” he answered in that all-business voice again.
“Okay.” I stood. “Let’s head out.”
Jake rose from his seat and followed me into the hallway. “Where are we going?”
“On my rounds,” I answered vaguely, leading him to the elevator.
“And what exactly do you do on your rounds?” That sounded like less of a curiosity question, and more of an evaluative one.
“I try to spend most of my afternoons visiting different facilities in the portfolio, checking in on the employees, chatting with the managers.”
“I see,” he answered seriously. “And what do you do on these visits? What is their purpose?” Something about the question made me feel as if he were implying theyhadno purpose.
It was distracting how he switched from charming to all-business so quickly. Annoyance rose quickly in my chest—clearly we were already past the flirtation and straight into business—but I answered as genuinely as I could. “There are a few. Mostly, to make sure people know me, and I know them. I want them to feel like even though we’ve become a huge resort, their needs are not below my attention. I want to know that they’re happy, or find out if there’s something I can change to make their job better. I know this business inside and out. I know every job that every employee in lodging performs. So if they have an idea to make it better, I want to hear that too.”
Jake listened with rapt attention, smiling widely at the end of my little speech. “That’s definitely admirable. Have you had any employees that gave you valuable suggestions during your ‘rounds’?”
“Well… not exactly. I think it’s more about showing them I’m present, and that I care. Every job here is important, and every employee deserves to be recognized.” My tone verged on defensive and I struggled to rein it in.
“No, absolutely, I agree with you one-hundred percent,” Jake nodded. “For some reason, the population believes that everyone in the Air Force is a pilot. It’s definitely the most flashy job, and most wing commanders are former pilots—it’s just the nature of the force. We all revolve around the aircraft. But there are thousands of jobs that, while not glamorous, are essential to the mission. The runways have to be paved, for example. Pilots—not to mention everyone else—need to eat. We need properly functioning electricity and plumbing in base facilities. Each base has thousands of jobs, and only a handful of those are pilots. They don’t get the media attention, but it’s a huge policy in the military to recognize superior performers at every level, not just the top.”
My chest warmed—maybe it wouldn’t be as difficult as I thought to win him over to my side. “Yes, exactly! This resort is enormous. It started as a single ski hill, just one peak, and a tiny hotel. My grandparents, along with the Blackwells, slowly built it up. They added hotels, more runs, condos, restaurants, and when their kids took over, they expanded even more. We have stables, an events venue-” my words froze on my lips and heat rushed to my face immediately. I wet my lips and continued shakily, “Which, of course, you know. All I mean to say is, this business has grown so large it’s important that we keep ourselves from forgetting all the people at the bottom who make it happen.”
“No, you’re absolutely right. So, where are we headed first?”
We began in the main lodge. I greeted the front desk employees and introduced them to Jake, pleased to show off that I knew them all by name. We continued down the hall to the service elevator, riding down to the garage level and chatting with a few of the maintenance employees before heading back up to the laundry.
Pride swelled in my chest as we continued. I knew every name, and each employee happily greeted Jake, assuring him Aspen Ridge was a great place to work and how well they were treated. He asked them a few questions about their job, or the company as a whole, or their families, genuinely interested in their stories.
When we finished with the main lodge, we crossed to the Birch Run condos, and repeated the process. Even though he didn’t carry a notepad, I had the distinct impression Jake was filing all the information he received away for later. I couldn’t have been happier there was nothing negative for him to note.
As usual, all we encountered were happy, satisfied Aspen Ridge employees, going about their day and performing their jobs admirably. By the time we made it back to the offices, I was pretty pleased with the results of our tour. Surely, he could only agree that my techniques of maintaining first-name relationships with the employees were beneficial to the business.
When we got off the elevator, he followed me straight to my office, settling into the corner seat when I sat behind my desk.
“Well, it certainly seems like you have a very happy group of employees,” he complimented with a wide smile.
I tried to ignore the sparkle in his brown eyes when he said it. Damned Captain America charm. Heat rushed to my neck just thinking about the way those eyes devoured me on Friday night.
“Thank you. It’s definitely one of my priorities.”
“And what are the others?”
“I’m sorry?”
“What are your other priorities?”
“Oh,” that took me by surprise. “I mean, whatever my father needs me to do, obviously, to help run things.”
“I see. So what are you vice president of, exactly?”
“I’m not a VP, per se. Not in the way the other VPs are, like hospitality, lodging, food service. Technically, my position is Assistant CEO.”
His head tilted back. “Ah, I see. So you’re your father’s assistant.”
