Page 61 of When You Were Mine

“No kidding? That’s great.” He got a strange pinch in his heart. Without his parents, he rarely returned to his hometown, so he’d lost that community. “You always understood your priorities.”

She stopped sniffing to look at him. “Yes, I did.”

Towering over her like this, seeing the indignance in her eyes, he wanted to cup her cheeks and tell her how pretty she looked, how she was always right about everything. Because it was clear—the barrier between past and present was as thin as a butterfly’s wing.

At least in his mind. So, instead, he gave her a soft smile and said, “You always were smarter than me.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She reached for a bottle of lotion. “But somehow, I managed to convince my sisters, their husbands, and their kids to get into the hospitality industry. We’re all co-owners of the resort.”

“Your mom would be so proud of the way you’ve kept your family together.”

She gazed up at him, and he saw the moment awareness hit. Everything about her softened, and she broke into a radiant smile. “Thank you for saying that. You know, it’s funny. In my mind, I did it because my dad died while my sisters were in college, and since I’d already moved away, they didn’t have a home base anymore. My whole motivation for getting out from behind the reception desk was to give them a home for the holidays. But I don’t think I realized until recently how much the loss of my mom impacted me.”

“Sounds like you worked your ass off to get where you are today.”

“I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t easy. But isn’t that true for all of us?”

It sure as hell was. For thirty years, he’d filmed in driving rain and blinding snow, he’d had to reshoot physically grueling scenes dozens of times, and he’d played therapist and negotiator to all the difficult personalities who made it so damn hard to get anything done. “How many nieces and nephews?”

“Six. Both my sisters have three kids.” She sniffed a candle. “I love having all of them with me.”

“And both husbands work at the resort?”

“Yes.”

He noted the hesitation in her tone. “But?”

“I don’t think Kelly’s husband wants to be in Calamity. Well, maybe that’s not the issue. He’s a farmer, you know? He likes physical work. He likes to be outside.”

“What’s his role now?”

“He’s our director of operations. Which is a big relief for me because I’ve always had that role.”

“Ah, okay. So, a desk job. What if you made him a tour guide? He could organize fly-fishing trips. Hiking. Heli-skiing. Things like that.”

Holding a stick of incense, she gazed up at him. “We don’t have a role like that.” It only took a moment for her to flash him a dazzling smile. “But we should. That’s a brilliant idea. It’d be great for us, and I know he’d love it.” She took a moment to appraise him. “Thank you.” Then, she moved on to a table of T-shirts. “Of course, that puts operations back on me.”

“You can hire someone to do that.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen until we’re in the black. Fingers crossed that’ll happen sooner than later.”

“How long’ve you been open?”

“Oh, we’re brand-new. Not even a month. Our hard launch is New Year’s Eve, and we’re not sold out yet. So, that makes me nervous.”

“Yeah, people have their traditions. It might take time, but eventually, through word of mouth, they’ll choose your place.”

She gave him a funny look.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just… That’s exactly what I was thinking yesterday. Calamity has a lot of great events on New Year’s Eve. Mine has to be so unique, so special, they’ll be fighting to book a room.”

“What’s your plan?”

Excitement lit up her eyes. “It’s a mix between a black-tie party and a polar plunge.”

“I’m not seeing a connection between the two.”

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