Page 95 of On the Edge

“Good,” she says, and I’m not sure when she switched back to Team Nate, but I’m glad we’re on the same side here. “Send me the details, and I’ll be there tomorrow.”

CHAPTER24

NATE

Blackstone, New Hampshire

Jed claps his hand on my shoulder. “This is it, kid,” he says. He’s only five years older than me, so I assume he’s used to talking to his own children this way. “This is going to change your life. You’re one hundred percent sure you want to do this?”

I nod. Even though this isn’t happening the way I wanted it to, I still know that buying the majority share of Blackstone is a smart investment. Originally I did this more for Jackson than anything else—to preserve the mountain she loved and help it grow in a way that would allow it to retain its independent, small-town feel. But it’s a smart investment even if she’s not involved. And this mountain, where I raced for two years in high school while falling in love with Jackson, has sentimental value for me as well.

“It’s not going to be too hard on you, being here all the time even if you’re not with her?”

“You’re my lawyer, Jed, not my therapist.”

He bristles a tad at my comment, evidenced only because his lip twitches and he tightens his grip on my shoulder. “It’s my job to make sure you make good decisions. And I want to know you’re not pissing away this many millions of dollars on a project you’ll lose interest in or that will take a toll on you emotionally.”

There’s no way this isn’t going to take a toll on me emotionally, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it. This is a smarter investment in my future than racing, so after this season I’ll be back in Blackstone growing my business and leading this mountain toward a more sustainable future.

“It’ll be fine,” I tell him.

“Okay,” he says, reaching for the door to the conference room. Behind it sits Blackstone’s entire board of directors, including Jackson’s dad and her race coach from high school. People I thought would be like family to me by now, but as usual Jackson’s inability to fully give her heart away has prevented that.

“Let’s do it,” I say, nodding my chin toward the door. Jed swings it open, and we walk in.

Thirty minutes and a shit ton of signing paperwork later, I officially own fifty-one percent of Blackstone, and the rights to expand the backside of the mountain and build a small village with a world-class hotel there. Once the paperwork is signed, every member of the board comes over to shake my hand, welcoming me into their fold. Except for Rory Shanahan. He stands at the head of the table with his arms crossed, immobile until every other board member has left.

Rory looks at Jed, then back at me.

“Should I wait outside?” Jed asks.

“Sure, I’ll meet you there in a minute,” I tell him.

Rory’s shoulders relax a tad when Jed leaves, but he still stands there with his arms crossed. “I don’t have to tell you how epically you fucked up this time, do I?” he asks.

My spine stiffens. “Ifucked up? With Jackson, you mean?” He nods in response. “Rory,sheleft me. And I had to find out she resigned from my coach.”

“All I know is that my baby is sitting at home with a broken heart. And you are once again to blame.”

I think my heart skips a beat when I hear the wordhome. “Jackson is here?”

He nods again. “And she’s even more messed up than last time you left. Probably because this time she’s not trying to hide her feelings from everyone, telling us she’s okay when she’s clearly not.”

“I’d like to remind you that I left last time becauseyoutold me to,” I say. I’m not a teenager in need of fatherly advice, and he’s hardly one to give it, given the role he played in our split five years ago.

“That was the right decision at the time. You wouldn’t have made it back then, not the way you two were fighting and making up every few days.Thiswas your chance. And you blew it. Whatever she needed from you when those photos were taken, you didn’t give it to her.”

Oh, he knows about the photos.

“How could I, when she left me? When she ran away back to Park City and then didn’t even get in touch? It’s been weeks and I haven’t heard from her once. I didn’t even know she was here.”

“Maybe because you ran back to Europe.” He voice is ice.

I focus on keeping my feet firmly planted on the floor, since my body seems to want to launch itself at him, my fists itching for a fight. Anything to release the pent-up anger at how Jackson left me.

“I was called back to Europe by my coach, and told that I’d lose my spot on the team if I delayed at all. I didn’t have a choice. It was Jackson’schoicenot to call me like she said she would.”

“Did it ever occur to you,” he says as he drops his arms, shoving his hands into his pockets, “that maybe she didn’t call you because she had to find out from her former boss that you were back in Europe? Did you ever stop to think how that looked? Like you were leaving her, just like you did before?”

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