“To confront your soon to be ex-partner?”
“At least to get the process started. I know it’ll take some time and a majority of the first steps we discussed can be done on the phone. I want to make the calls where I have immediate access to any requested information.”
“That makes sense.” She yawns. “Will you be gone long?”
“Not sure. That’s why I’d like you to come with me. You can recuperate in my suite as well as you can here. Maybe better. One of the massage therapists also has training in physical therapy. I’d like to have her take a look at your ankle.”
“Well, aren’t you sweet? No, really, I appreciate how much you care, dear heart. One of the best reasons to go to the lodge…”
“Is?”
“I can get my clothes and wear something that actually fits. Not that I don’t love wearing your clothes, but my style’s quite a bit different.”
“And if you need anything, we can have it brought in from town. I would appreciate your help organizing the documentation. I don’t want to task any of my employees with that. I’m not sure if Carson has an accomplice or not.”
“I’m happy to help. I need to sleep though if I’m going to be up to any of that.”
“Good night, babe, Sleep well.” I so want to add those three words I’ve never said to a woman before. It’s not time yet.
“Night, dear heart. Thank you for everything. I… sleep well.”
The next morning dawns with the sun shining brightly, sparkling on the snow. I promise Deca breakfast at the lodge so she’s up and ready to go before I have my papers and laptop gathered.
“So how are we getting to the lodge?” she asks while she tries on a couple of my old coats. The damn fur of her cloak still isn’t dry.
I glance out the window at the long, narrow drive leading to the main road. There’s a good number of tall drifts that make me think all the excess snow in the area has been piled up here just to irritate me. I’m not sure even my four wheel drive will plow through that.
“We’ll take the ATV.”
A broad smile brightens her face. “That sounds like fun. Are we ready? No, wait.” She hobbles across the room and gathers her precious stones into the bag and pulls the drawstring tight. “I don’t want to leave these behind.”
My heart dips. She won’t admit it, but she doesn’t think she’ll come back here. Somehow I need to convince her otherwise. Maybe today I’ll discover some clue of how to do that.
“I don’t have a safe way to carry these,” she says when she returns to my side. “Can you put them in one of your buttoned pockets?”
At least she’s trusting me this much. I unbutton one of the many pockets on my jacket, the one over my heart, then hold out my hand. The bag barely fits into the pocket. “Safe and sound.”
I insist she wears the single helmet then with her arms wrapped tightly around my waist, we follow the same path I created yesterday to the clearing. After that we travel next to the paved and shoveled path to the lodge. My crew’s done a great job providing safe access for any guests who want to do a little winter hiking.
When we reach the parking lot I slow the ATV to a crawl to protect the snowtracks from damage. At her snow covered vehicle she reaches into the rear wheel well and pulls out a tiny metal box that contains her car keys.
“You know that’s not a safe way to protect your car.”
“I know. But I didn’t have any pockets.” She opens the rear door and grabs a small bag. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Before leaving her car, I make a quick phone call so the bell captain is waiting at the lodge entrance with the wheelchair we keep on hand for emergencies. Deca takes one look at it and shakes her head. “I’m not using a wheelchair. I can walk.”
“I know you can, but this will be quicker and easier. It’s a long walk to the elevators. Do this for me, please.”
She sighs and plops onto the chair and crosses her arms. I crouch to lower the foot rests and lift her feet into place. I glance up at the bell captain and nod. He signals and one of the bellhops comes running to take the ATV to the private garage.
Deca is still fuming about the stupid wheelchair when I push her into the lobby. I’m immediately called away to deal with an emergency so I ask one of the staff to take Deca to my suite. The emergency? Carson James has disappeared. Thanks to Deca’s discovery, it didn’t take long for me to track a huge deposit of lodge funds into an offshore account. However talking to the authorities keeps me busy much longer.
By the time I’m finally free to make my way to my suite three hours have passed. How upset is Deca going to be with me? I stop at the gift shop but nothing jumps out at me as an apology gift. Doubting I’m the only one who might make use of the option, I make a mental note to look into the possibility of adding a small cooler of flowers.
Empty handed, I pause outside my door, unsure if I should knock. Hell, it’s my home. I punch in the code and enter. A voice calls from the bathroom. “Is that you, Dane?”
“It’s me. Sorry I took so long.”
