Page 344 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
Ian laughed, but I could see the concern in his eyes. “I just… I really appreciate you sticking around to help me fix things,” he said. “But I don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped here. You can leave if you want to. We’ll figure something out.”
I sighed. “I miss Utah,” I said simply. “But it’s one month. Even if I were to sell off the resort, I own the condo there, and I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon. I can always go back some other time. No real reason for me to abandon you now.”
“Are you thinking about selling the resort?” Ian asked in surprise. I could hear hope there, plain in his voice, and I couldn’t help sighing again.
“I did think about it a couple times,” I admitted. “Not seriously. But I know that Bill and the others wish that I was still around here for the long-term. And to be honest, I just feel a lot more competent here. I know what I’m doing. I know the industry. I’m still just getting to know the ski industry. That said, I just like the ski resort a lot more.”
“You never really wanted to work here,” Ian said, nodding. He glanced down at his food. “And I guess you probably miss Adam as well?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said frankly, even though I wasn’t sure that I wanted to have this conversation with Ian. He would probably just try to convince me that I was stupid for missing Adam when Ben was practically throwing himself at me.
But to my surprise, Ian nodded. “I’m sorry that I dragged you away from him. And that I did everything I could to screw things up for you while you were there.” He paused. “I’m not going to lie, I still think you could do better. But part of why I was so frustrated to find out you guys were together was that I was really hoping that you were going to get sick of Utah and come back here to the casino business.” He grinned crookedly at me. “But that’s never going to happen, is it? Even if Adam wasn’t in the picture.”
I shook my head slowly. Suddenly, Ian’s motives for trying to drive me away from Adam made a lot more sense. “Even if Adam and I don’t work out long term, I’m pretty happy in Park City,” I explained. “I mean, you’ve seen what it’s like doing business there. It so much calmer than working here. It’s less fake. I don’t have to deal with all the stupid glitz and glam. The stuff that I hate.”
Ian laughed. “Come on, you’re great at schmoozing people,” he said.
“Honestly, yeah,” I said, shrugging. “And I’m sure I’ll find ways to use that with the resort. But it just feels a lot more genuine, you know? Plus, it’s a challenge. Here, I guess I kind of know exactly what I’m doing. Dad practically raised me into my job with the casino business. I feel like I could do it in my sleep. There’s nothing exciting about it. But with the resort, it’s different.”
“That makes a lot of sense,” Ian said reluctantly. He shook his head. “I mean, like I said before, I can tell that you were happier there.” He paused. “And Adam is part of the picture, I guess.”
“He is,” I said, nodding. I shrugged. “To be honest, we haven’t talked as much as I wish we would since I’ve been here. He’s so damned hard to get to open up, and I don’t know if it’s just that he hates talking on the phone or what, but he really only wants to talk about the business stuff. And that’s just making me miss him more.”
“Have you tried telling him that?” Ian asked.
“I don’t know how,” I sighed. “If he’s having second thoughts about us, I don’t want to push him away even more.”
“If he’s having second thoughts, then he’s an idiot,” Ian said succinctly, and I had to grin at him.
“Yeah, I hope it’s nothing like that,” I said. “I’m sure he’s just busy. I’ve put a lot on his plate since Mike had his accident. But I can’t wait to get back there and talk to him in person again. I miss him.”
Ian was quiet for a moment, considering me. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you care about someone this much before,” he finally said. Then, he grinned teasingly. “You know, other than yours truly.”
I laughed. “You’re my brother; I’ll always care about you more than anyone else,” I said. Then I frowned. “But yeah. Ian, I really like him. And Ethan. I want to be with them. Or at least, I want to see where things could go. I don’t know how things will work out long term, but I want to explore this relationship. And I know that you’re not exactly thrilled with that, but for right now, that’s just the way things are.”
Ian nodded at me. “Then I won’t get in the way of that,” he said. “Except, you know, with the fact that you’re stuck here for another month because of my stupidity.” He smile, and I laughed again.
CHAPTER 51
ADAM
I was talking to some customers at the resort on Friday when I looked up and blinked in shock. Ian? What the hell was he doing here?
I tried to focus on the rest of what the customers were telling me about some flickering lights in one of the condos. They were both being a bit over-dramatic about it, telling me that it had felt like the start of a horror movie the night before when they had first noticed the issue. I had to fight not to roll my eyes. But I was the maintenance man and current acting-head of the resort, which meant that it was my job to listen to their complaints with a straight face and assure them that we would do everything we could to fix anything that went wrong.
Yet another thing on my list of tasks for the day. I had been hoping that I could take the next day off to spend some time with Ethan, but I was starting to wonder if that would be possible at all. There were too many things to do.
And now Ian was here.
I finally managed to satisfy the couple with assurances that I would get things fixed and throw in some free spa time as well. It still galled me that I had to give out freebies like that, but Bailey had told me not to be stingy about that kind of stuff, so I was trying to be better about offering it. If it meant our customers walked away satisfied, then that was a good thing. And right now, if it meant that they left me well alone, even better.
I turned towards Ian. I didn’t really want to talk to him, but I knew that I couldn’t just ignore him. Bailey hadn’t told me that her brother would be dropping by, so I had to assume that she didn’t know he was here. It made me wonder just what he was doing here. Had he come to kick my ass for some imagined slight to his sister? Or because I refused to take his calls?
Whatever it was, I didn’t need this right now. But there was no escaping it.
“How’s it going?” Ian asked as he walked over to me.
I shrugged one shoulder. “Well, it’s going,” I said, not sure what exactly to say to him. I felt totally on edge. Ian had tried to tamper with things even when Bailey had been there. Now that she wasn’t there and he was, who knew what kinds of things he might try to pull. And it would be my responsibility to stop it since I was the one in charge right now.
