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“I’ll have to think of a reward for you too.” She grinned over her shoulder as she opened the cottage door.
“I have some ideas.” He hugged her from behind and nibbled on her neck.
“I’m sure you do.” She leaned back into him. “But first we clean.”
And clean they did. And scrub. And sweep. And vacuum. And launder. And reorganize. And about a billion other things to make the cottages homey for the expected guests. Jackson enjoyed watching Isabel put little touches that made the spaces more inviting. Bunches of lavender tied with twine. Welcoming baskets in the kitchen full of Vermont treats such as maple candies, syrup, and a selection of woods-inspired teas. Rustic wreaths for each of the front doors. Everything she did improved the place and Jackson could tell when it came time to open her own resort, she’d knock it out of the park.
But how far out of the park would she locate that resort? That was still a big question he had, but he didn’t want to ask about it when he didn’t have any answers about where his work was going to take him either. A conversation for another day.
A few hours later, they met up with his brothers and their mates outside the main office cottage where Isabel divided up the remaining jobs and doled out profuse amounts of thanks to their amazing volunteers.
“We’d still be prepping cottages if you guys weren’t here,” she said.
“Actually, it was fun,” Tessa said. “Like playing in a life-sized doll house. This place is so cute.”
Isabel paused and surveyed the cottages and the land around them. “Yeah, I guess it is. I’ve been so focused on actual hotels and thinking about my own resort that I forgot about how charming a place like this can be.”
“Maplehaven certainly has charm,” Nicole said as she slid her arms around Christian’s waist and looked up at him.
“Quite a bit of it,” Aliza said as she leaned her head on Landon’s shoulder.
Tessa wrapped her arm around Donovan’s. “It felt like home to me the minute I came here.”
Isabel looked at Jackson then gave him a little shove. “I told my grandfather I’d update our Pine River Cottages brochure.” She waved a hand at him and his brothers. “Maybe I should put the four of you on the cover and let your charm reel in the guests.”
“When you’ve got a good idea, you’ve got a good idea,” Christian said. “Be sure to get my right side.” He flexed his right arm. “These muscles are bigger.”
Everyone let out a collective groan, but Isabel snapped her fingers and reached into her pocket for her phone.
“I think this might actually be a good idea,” she said. “Catching you guys on different parts of the property, looking as if you’re enjoying yourselves, could be excellent promo.” She wiggled her phone. “What do you say? A few candid shots and I’ll buy you all pizza and drinks at Mountain View Pizza later?”
Jackson laughed when everyone agreed to be photographed. “You can’t say no to Mountain View Pizza.”
“I know how to bribe the locals,” Isabel said. “Plus, we should celebrate that your dig site was saved.” She shook her head. “I honestly thought we were screwed on that.” She rested her hand on his chest. “And if you need to take off to secure the site better or whatever, Jackson, please do it. I don’t want to be the reason your work suffers, okay? Promise me.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll take some time a little later to deal with the site.” He slid her phone from her hand. “Right now, I think the first picture should capture genuine Isabel Perri charm.”
Because she had a ton of it and it should be shared with the world.
****
Two days later, Jackson stood at Mountain View Pizza’s bar, waiting for the takeout he’d offered to pick up for lunch. He and Isabel talked about their dinner with his family at the local pizza joint in front of Eugene the other night. Eugene hadn’t been able to shake the urge for pizza since so Isabel ordered him some for lunch today. Jackson had needed to hit the hardware store in town. He’d broken one of his smaller shovels so he’d agreed to grab the pizza for them.
In the time since they’d prepared the cottages for Eugene’s guests, Jackson had managed to rope off the dig site better and do more small-scale excavating by hand. So far he hadn’t found any more pieces, but he had learned more about the artifacts he’d uncovered. By combing through his uncle’s books, leafing through the library books that had been transferred to Maplehaven Library for him, and some additional online research, Jackson had determined the daggers and other pieces had belonged to a little known Native American tribe called the Sadekowi. Said to have migrated from northern Canada, the tribe had set down some roots in Vermont in the early 1200s according to what little information Jackson had garnered about them. His finds could help sketch in the details about this small, reclusive tribe that had been inexplicably wiped out. He’d gathered notes and taken photographs of the artifacts he’d unearthed so far. An article for shopping around to various archaeological journals was about one fourth written. He just needed a little more time to put all the pieces together.
Once I find all the pieces.
Jackson checked the clock behind the bar, pleased he still had half a day to work out at the dig site. The past two days had been the right balance of archaeology and relationship. Isabel had spent a great deal of time with her grandfather, learning what she could about running the cottages from the man while also improving some of the cottages’ operations. She’d organized a program with the high school to get some student volunteers to help out around the property. She’d convinced Aliza and Tessa to do yoga and dance workshops for the current guests and worked with Dakota to put together a package that combined staying at Pine River Cottages with enjoying an adventure at his company, Birch Peak Adventures.
Isabel had also agreed to run some cross-promotional specials with Mountain View Pizza, Albero’s, Cups Café, and Violet’s salon, Tresses. She’d updated the Pine River Cottages’ website and revamped the brochure using the pictures she’d taken of his family the other day. He had to admit it looked fantastic and was sure to catch a traveler’s attention. His favorite was that she’d done this website and brochure work while sitting next to him on his couch as he worked on Sadekowi stuff. They’d been able to stay out of each other’s way and be productive even with temptation sitting right beside them.
When they’d finished their work, however, they’d stripped each other down and made love in every corner of his cottage. His Sex Cottage.
Yeah. This balance thing was going all right.
“One piping hot pizza,” Kyle, the owner of Mountain View Pizza, said, sliding a pizza box across the bar toward Jackson. “Give me another few minutes on the calzones, okay?”
“Sure.”
