Page 10 of Luke

She shrugged. "Are you staying? You didn't make a reservation."

"Do you have a room?" he countered.

"One of the smaller cabins is available, but the lodge is sold out through Labor Day weekend."

"I'll take whatever you have."

"For one night?"

"Not sure."

"Okay," she said, her tone cautious and careful. "Do you need help with your bags?"

"I can get my own bags."

"Then I'll see you inside."

"Great." He blew out a breath as she returned to the house. He'd come here with one big question: Why had his dad left him the resort?

Now, he had more questions: Why was Lizzie here? Why had his father hired her without telling him? And why on earth had he decided to spend the night?

Unfortunately, he didn't have any answers…

* * *

Lizzie walked across the lobby to the tall reception desk and stepped behind it, putting a hand on the counter to steady herself. She couldn't believe Luke was here. She also couldn't believe Colin Brannigan was dead. If anyone had told her an hour ago that either of those things would be true, she wouldn't have believed them.

The two Brannigan men had impacted her life in huge and very different ways.

Luke had broken her heart when she was twenty.

Six months ago, Colin had been her savior—an unexpected white knight who had appeared during the worst moment of her life.

Now, Colin was gone and Luke was here. Both events seemed incredible.

The front door opened and Luke walked in, a backpack over his shoulders, a duffel bag in his hand. She wished he'd gotten fat or gone bald, instead of looking hunky and hot in faded jeans and a T-shirt that clung to his chest and ripped abs. He'd always been in great shape, and that hadn't changed.

But he looked a little worse for wear today: his dark-brown eyes were bloodshot, his beard was on the scruffy side, and there was an air of weariness about him. She had a feeling his dad's death had affected him more than he would admit. The two of them had had a very complicated relationship.

Clearing her throat, she threw back her shoulders and got down to business. She didn’t know why Luke was here. It had to have something to do with his dad's death. Surely he wouldn't stay long, probably no more than a night. Then things would go back to normal, although in recent months she'd discovered that normal was a constantly changing state.

Now that Colin was dead, there could be big changes coming to the resort. The best-case scenario was that she would continue to manage the resort, and deal with Colin's lawyers as she'd been doing the past six months. But somehow Luke's appearance didn't bode well for a best-case scenario.

Turning to her computer, she put in a reservation for the only available cabin, wishing she had something better to give Luke, but she didn't.

She grabbed a key from under the desk and pushed it across the counter. "You'll be in Cabin Eleven. If you go back down the road, it's the last cabin on the right. You can park in front. It has a nice view of the river."

He took the key. "Thanks."

"Are you planning to go to Yosemite? Are you scouting the area for one of your films?"

"No."

She was a little surprised at how reticent he was. He'd always been a man of strong opinions, of action, a man who knew what he wanted and went after it with single-minded purpose. He seemed bemused and confused today, probably because of his father's death. She could understand that feeling. But she needed some answers. "What are you doing here, Luke?"

"My father left me this resort, Liz."

She swallowed hard at that piece of information. "Really? Just you?"

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