Page 8 of The Last Resort
“Hard pass on that, Matthew. You can keep your reindeers and sleigh. But don’t forget to give my regards to Santa. The fat man in a red suit owes me big time. I’m still waiting on that private yacht I asked him for last Christmas.”
Matthew laughed. “Hate to break it to you, Mia, but Santa lives at the North Pole. And yes, I get it, you won’t be coming out to Aspen until the Summer.”
He caught the sound of keys being quickly tapped, then Mia came back on the line.
“I’ve just emailed you the details for the planning meeting. Let me know if you need anything else. I’ve got a catchup with Bryce in ten minutes, so I’d better go. Talk to you soon.”
She was gone before he had the chance to say goodbye. He’d long accepted that Mia only had one speed, and that was full throttle.
Putting his cell down, Matthew had a sudden thought. If the model was going to be ready soon, he’d need a place to set it up. Being a rental, the apartment had locks on the doors of both bedrooms. He could put the model in the second bedroom and whenever anyone came to clean or service theapartment, all he’d have to do would be to make sure that door was kept locked.
He picked up the hotel’s landline phone and dialed reception. “Hi, this is Matthew Jones. I was wondering if I could get someone over to clear out the second bedroom in my apartment. Yes, that’s right, I would like all the furniture removed. I do a lot of yoga and need the space. Thank you.”
“Thanks,” said Rachel, doing her best not to give Dan a dirty side eye as he brought the last of her super heavy suitcases into her bedroom and placed them in the corner.
And bless your evil heart.
Finding out that the man who’d broken her sister’s heart was still around and from the look of it staying on permanently was a bitter pill to swallow. She’d had a year of being disappointed by the male of the species. First her father, then her ex-fiancé. She wouldn’t be seeing either of them any time soon, but living under the same roof as villain number three was going to take some getting used to, as well as some serious holding back of snarky remarks.
“You are very welcome, Rachel,” he replied.
And you are very welcome to kiss my ass. You son of a…
If she gritted her teeth any harder, her jaw would break. And as much as Rachel hated to admit it, she could understand why Kellie would be reluctant to let her husband go.
Dan Brock was handsome in that all-American, rugged, mountain-man way. He was tall, well built. Worked as a pilot and winchman for the local mountain rescue service. He’d even done a neat job on repairing Rachel’s broken head. The only thing missing was a T-shirt stretched acrosshis broad chest with, “Mister Perfectly Fine”printed on the front.
Getting over a man like Dan would take a special kind of woman. And if the way that Kellie stared into his eyes with such devotion every time, she looked at him was any indication, her sister was still hopelessly in love with Dan.
Rachel’s silent dislike followed Dan to the door, where—to her surprise—he stopped and turned round. “I’m glad you’re here, Rachel. It means a lot to Kellie to have you come and stay. You’re welcome here for as long as you want.”
Her fingers curled into tight fists. If she hadn’t been sitting with her left knee wrapped up in several ice packs, she would have climbed off the bed and wagged a finger in his smug face. The best she could manage was a weak, “Thank you, Dan.”
Kellie appeared in the doorway, giving her husband another of her lovestruck looks. Rachel’s fingernails dug deep into the palm of her hand. Any moment now, she’d draw blood.
“Did you mention the job?”
Dan bent and placed a tender kiss on his wife’s lips. “No, babe. I was going to wait until Rachel had got settled, but I can ask now if you like?”
“Yes please, honey,” purred Kellie.
I don’t know how much more of this lovey-dovey stuff I’m going to be able to stand. I seriously want to puke.
It wasn’t just the adrenaline from the fall that had her stomach churning. Her brother-in-law took a gentle hold of his wife’s hand, and together they faced Rachel. Dan cleared his throat.
“There’s an old rundown ski lodge, called the Green Tree Resort which my father inherited from my grandfather about five years ago. My parents are keen to sell it, but they will only let it go to the right sort of buyer. To someone who willtry and preserve the original building. I’ve convinced them that they should engage an architect to help advise them during the sale process.”
Kellie was bouncing on her feet with excitement. “And we were thinking that since you are a qualified architect with commercial design experience, who just happens to be in the market for a new job…” Her eyes glinted with unshed tears. “That you might be interested in taking on the role.”
The penny finally dropped for Rachel. Now she understood why her sister had been so keen to get her to pack up and move to Aspen. While it was a cunning move on Kellie and Dan’s part, it was also an absolute godsend. A proper project would help set her career back on track and take her bank account off its tenuous life support.
An old resort. It could be an interesting gig. And if she did a good enough job, it could possibly lead onto other things.Bigger things.Aspen had an international reputation which meant that any success here would reflect well on her chances for future projects. She’d be a fool to walk away from such a great opportunity.
But first I want to see this place. It all sounds too good to be true.
People close to her, people she’d trusted, had burned her in the recent past. Those wounds were still raw. The scars barely formed. So before she agreed to anything, she wanted to have a full understanding of what she might be getting into. To be able to say no if this project wasn’t right for her.
“Where exactly is this Green Tree Resort? I mean how far away is it? I’m interested but if it’s way out in the backwoods of the Rocky Mountains, I might have second thoughts.”
