Page 17 of Snowbody

No, it was my dad.

I smiled faintly. “Dad, hi. What, uh… what are you doing up?”

“Going to get breakfast and some coffee. I need to get to the airport soon.” He looked me up and down. I was glad I was bundled up, but even so, I was worried he could tell I’d been… up to something. “What are you doing up? You haven’t gotten into a cabin yet.”

I blushed. “I just… woke up early and decided to take a little walk.”

“Hmm.” He nodded but didn’t ask any more questions. After a beat, Dad continued, “I’ve been meaning to find time to catch up with you, but I’ve been so busy this week.”

“I understand, Dad. It happens. We’ll chat when you get back.”

He nodded and gestured toward the lodge. “If you have a minute now, actually?”

“Sure, yeah. We can talk.” I smiled and followed him inside.

We took a seat at the restaurant. Already, the morning cooks were here, working hard to make a breakfast spread for our guests. One of them brought us two mugs and a full pot of coffee as soon as we sat down, promising that cheese omelets and bacon would be up shortly.

My stomach rumbled.

Jacob and I had never eaten the cake.

Dad looked at me, his expression stern. It was an expression I knew well—he was disappointed in me for something and was about to lay it all out.

At least Melody wasn’t here.

“Maddy, I’m very unhappy with the marketing stuff you emailed me last night.”

I frowned. “Okay, um… what’s wrong with it?”

“You’re not utilizing Jacob to his full potential. He’s the big draw for our resort. If you take him out of the marketing, we have nothing. I know you want to romanticize this place, but people want celebrity encounters. Not nice views.”

I frowned. “Okay, but… I talked to Jacob about it, and he doesn’t like being the face of the resort.”

“I really don’t care if he likes it. It’s what he was hired to do.”

I looked down at my coffee cup. “Okay, but… what if we just try it this way for a season, see if it works for us? If it doesn’t, we’ll talk to him about how we can balance it out. Use him to attract people without making him the sole focus of our ads?”

“No. I want Jacob Reed front and center. I want his face in every picture and his name dropped on every spot.”

I was a little shocked by how aggressive my dad was being about this. It wasn’t like him at all.

I bit my lower lip. “I… okay. Okay. Um. I’ll… work on it, then.”

He huffed in response. “I’ll talk to him myself. Get this straightened out. Do it right this time, Maddy. Understood?”

I nodded and rose from the table. “Um… would you mind asking the cook to send my breakfast to my office? I better get to work.”

“Sure. I’ll see you in a few days. I expect a new marketing packet when I’m back.”

“Of course, Dad.”

I went upstairs, managing to hold back tears until I was alone in my office.

There had to be something else going on. Dad was always stern with us but never controlling. And the way he treated Jacob was just… wrong.

I had to figure out what it was. The last thing I wanted was to put Jacob in a place he didn’t want to be.

Chapter Nine

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