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“Christ, man, I know you’re an island of one but at least let me on the beach.”
Lucas’s eyes locked on Jax. Neither of them spoke for a long moment but a whole conversation played out without uttering a single word. Lucas was in a bad way.
“I’m stuck, man,” Lucas finally said. “I’ve been stuck. Here in Sierra Vista while you all have been out living your life.”
“Running your own business was your goal and here you are running a multimillion-dollar business.”
“But it’s not mine. I stepped in to fill a vacancy, help out where I could. But that vacancy got larger and larger until it took over my whole life. I love this place, just like the rest of you, but I don’t get to enjoy it on the weekends, or when the rest of you pop in for a family visit. We’re halfway through the season and I haven’t had the time to even hit the slopes. Not once.”
“Okay, so more time. What else do you need to make this feel like yours?”
Lucas tipped the back of his neck to look skyward. “In the beginning, I felt as if I was actually running the company. Then Kent became less and less involved and now I’m the CEO, president, GP, and a god-damned therapist all rolled into one.” Lucas’s gaze held steady, concerningly intense. “I had to walk away from AvalancheEx.”
Jax froze, cemented to his seat, beyond boggled about why his brother would make that kind of decision. He’d put everything he had into AvalancheEx, an adventure company that specialized in extended excursions for extreme athletes and executives. During grad school, Lucas landed an internship with a successful excursion company and discovered he was a natural for identifying challenging and team-building courses. His thesis was a business plan for AvalancheEx and not only did it earn him the highest marks, but it also caught the eye of a few investors.
Lucas had invested his time, his heart and, to Jax’s knowledge, his cut of the life insurance policy from their dad.
Jax’s gut clenched. In comparison, he’d left his hometown and family behind without ever looking back. Maybe he was a selfish asshole. He knew the lodge had struggled after their long-standing general manager left for a job in Aspen. He’d just assumed that Lucas wanted the position. He’d never said differently.
Then again, Jax had never asked.
“You told me the investor backed out.” Lucas shifted uncomfortably in his seat and that was all Jax needed to know. “That was your dream. You’ve talked non-stop about it since we were kids.”
“Exactly. We were kids. Some of us have to adult for a living.”
Implying that Jax spent his days playing in the snow. Which was as far from the truth as it could get, and Lucas knew that. Jax’s first impulse was to tell Lucas to go screw himself, but he pushed down his frustration and tuned into what his brother was really saying. He’d given up his dream so that someone else could live theirs. And Jax hadn’t even offered to help.
“Do Peggy and Kent know?” Jax asked.
“Nobody knows, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lucas laughed humorlessly. “When was I supposed to do that? When you got your first sponsor or when you won your first medal?”
“The moment you started considering backing out of your deal. We’re brothers, you should have told me no matter what was going on in my life.”
“What would it have changed?”
“I would have had your back. I’d have helped you find a new general manager.”
“Finding a GM isn’t the problem. Keeping them is. Over the past two years, I’ve hired three, all of whom quit and all of whom stated on their exit interview that they weren’t allowed to properly do their job because Kent can’t let go. So unless you want to tell Kent that he isn’t welcome at the table, then I don’t see a solution.” Lucas paused, as if reading the room. “You want to talk about Cindy?”
Jax shook his head. “I’m kind of enjoying being on your island and I don’t want to have to punch you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Take Life by the Balls
Don’t be stingy with hugs.
It was after ten when Milly finally plopped down on the couch. She’d reconfirmed delivery times and dates, sent out itineraries to VIP guests, and had back-to-back meetings with her staff. The only other person she wanted to meet with by day’s end was Jax.
Bright and early, he’d greeted her with the perfect good morning faux peck and a hot cocoa. He’d kissed her when they’d bumped into each other in the hallway—for onlookers, of course. Even sat next to her during all three of their meetings, so close their thighs brushed whenever she shifted in her chair.
She’d shifted a lot. And he’d noticed. He’d also noticed when her gaze fell to his crotch. Milly had turned bright red. Jax had winked. Then, about midday, everything changed. He vanished into his office for a meeting with his brother and when he reappeared that contagious smile of his had also vanished.
Milly waited for an appropriate time to check in on him, but she couldn’t find even a spare minute. It was as if he were avoiding her. She tried to stuff down the doubts that began to swirl around, but it was impossible. Which was why she was curled up in her pj’s, on the couch, eating pickles. Some people sobbed into a bowl of ice cream when they did stupid things—such as engage in a fake relationship with a guy who puts his career above all else. Milly ate pickles.
