Page 342 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
But Ben shrugged one shoulder, grinning wickedly. “Well, I’ll see you around here,” he promised as he slipped out the door.
I waited a moment before exiting as well, wanting to give Ben plenty of time to get ahead of me. Ian was waiting for me when I got outside, though. “You okay?” he asked. “You look flustered.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ben,” I said, and it was all I needed to say. Ian’s lips quirked into a smile. I knew that he was hoping that I would end up with Ben and forget all about Adam. He wanted to see me with someone who could really provide for me, and he had his own ideas of who that would be. But I had made it very clear I didn’t want to talk about any of this with him, and Ian knew that he owed me one at the moment.
“How did the meeting go?” he asked.
I sighed. “Well apparently they want me to stick around for a whole goddamned month to make sure that things are going okay,” I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice.
Ian winced. “You don’t sound too happy about that,” he observed. He looked away from me. “Look, if you need to get back to…everything that you’ve left in Utah, you can leave.” I knew that it was hard for him to say that. He missed having me here in Vegas with him, and he had told me more than once that he was sure that my lack of check on his power was part of why things had gotten so out of hand.
Beyond that, he and I had always been close. Hell, we’d even lived together for most of our lives. He didn’t want me to leave. And he definitely didn’t want me to leave so that I could run another business and fall in love with someone he didn’t approve of.
So I appreciated what he had said, and it helped me to smile and shake my head. “Nah,” I told him. “I’m not exactly happy to be stuck in Vegas through the winter, but I promised you I’d help you out, whatever it took. If they need me here, then they need me here.”
Ian clapped me on the shoulder. “I appreciate that,” he said honestly. “Let me take you out to dinner tonight.”
“Deal,” I told him, grinning for real. “But you’re paying.”
CHAPTER 49
ADAM
Ethan skipped into the kitchen on Tuesday morning just in time for breakfast. I got him seated at the table with a bowl of steaming oatmeal and a glass of milk. “Can Charlie come over after school today?” he asked. Charlie was his best friend from the ski club.
I frowned. “We’ll have to talk to his mom when we see her after ski club,” I said. “But you know you’re probably going to be pretty tired, and you still have that science project that’s due on Thursday.”
Ethan sighed. “I want to show him the BB gun, though,” he said. “Gramps and I were practicing yesterday while you were still at work and I’m getting super good at shooting the cans down.”
“That’s awesome, buddy,” I told him, smiling. “I’m glad you’re still having fun with that. But like I said, maybe not today. But what if we talked to Charlie’s mom about having him come over on Friday after ski club and staying the night?”
“Okay,” Ethan said, and I could tell that he wasn’t thrilled by that suggestion. Friday was a long way away, as far as he was concerned. But he started chattering about his science project as he ate his breakfast.
My phone rang as we were finishing up, and I answered immediately when I saw that it was Bailey. “Hey, Bailey,” I said.
“Hello,” she said, sounding surprised that I had answered so quickly.
“Can I say hi?” Ethan asked, having heard Bailey’s name. “Please, Dad, can I say hi?”
I laughed. “Ethan wants to say hi,” I informed Bailey, passing the phone over to him.
“Hi Bailey! When are you coming back to Utah?” Ethan asked immediately.
I couldn’t hear Bailey’s response, but I felt my heart twist a little. I knew that Ethan really liked Bailey. It was another part of the reason I just had to keep hoping that she was still planning on coming back. It was another part of the reason why I never should have gotten involved with her in the first place.
I knew that Ethan needed a female role model in his life. I was glad that he had taken to Bailey so quickly. But at the same time, it just made things all the more complicated. If Bailey didn’t come back to Utah, Ethan was going to be devastated. I didn’t know how to deal with that.
I took the phone back from Ethan. “Sorry about that,” I said to Bailey.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said easily. “You know I love chatting with Ethan. He’s a great kid.”
“So what’s up anyway?” I asked, pinching the phone between my shoulder and my ear as I carried the breakfast dishes over to the sink and started washing up. I hadn’t heard back from her after I had called the previous day, but I was surprised that she was calling me first thing in the morning in response. But then again, I knew she had been busy there. Maybe this was the only time she had before she was in meetings all day.
“I have some bad news, actually,” Bailey told me, and I froze, slowly shutting off the water and straightening up.
“Yeah?” I asked, worried. Something to do with Ian, or something to do with the resort? Jesus, what if she not only wasn’t coming back but was also going to sell the place or something? Maybe one of those power-hungry ski corporations had made her an offer that she couldn’t refuse. We were still just getting used to her being the new owner; if someone else bought it now, there was no telling what changes they might make.
But for better or worse, it was nothing like that.
