She rolled up the paperwork carefully, treating the documents like they contained the secrets of the universe instead of the blueprint for her family’s destruction.
“I’ll talk to Dad about this later,” she said, tucking the documents under her arm. “Right now I need to help customers, but, Kent, this is incredible. This is going to save everything.”
The trust in her eyes and the pure joy on her face made me feel like the worst kind of bastard. But I couldn’t bring myself to correct her misconceptions. Not when she looked at me like I’d just handed her the moon.
“I’ll help,” I said, not wanting to miss a moment with her now that I was back.
“Are you staying?” she asked.
I nodded. “At least a day or two. I would like to talk to the rest of the family about the offer.”
“Lucky for you, there’s plenty of room at the inn,” she said with a wink.
Her nose was still pink from her earlier tears, but that smile? Damn. I would gladly harness the moon and give it to her to see her look at me like that.
I needed to enjoy it while it was around because once she read the paperwork and her family read it, they were going to run my ass out of town. She wouldn’t be smiling at me ever again.
“I’ll go check in and I’ll be back,” I said.
“Thank you, Kent. Truly. Thank you.”
I forced another smile. Guilt was making me nauseated, but I pushed it down.
I parked the SUV and grabbed my bag from the back seat, steeling myself for whatever reception I was about to get at the lodge. The guilt was already eating at me, and I hadn’t even made it through the front door yet.
The moment I stepped inside, I spotted Stacy behind the reception desk. She looked up from whatever paperwork she was reviewing, and her expression immediately shifted from neutral professionalism to something considerably less welcoming.
“Well, look who’s back,” she said, her voice carrying just enough edge to let me know I was on thin ice. “Are you planningon saying goodbye this time, or should we just expect you to vanish into thin air again?”
The direct hit landed exactly where she’d intended. I had said goodbye to Sylvie, but I guessed my chilly departure had been a topic of discussion while I was gone.
“I apologize for that,” I said, approaching the desk with what I hoped was appropriate contrition. “I had to leave in a hurry. Family emergency.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie. Hudson’s call had certainly felt like an emergency at the time, even if it was more about business than any actual crisis. But I couldn’t exactly explain that my brother had called to remind me I was supposed to be working instead of sleeping with their sister.
Stacy stared at me as if trying to determine whether my apology was genuine or just convenient bullshit. Whatever she saw there must have been enough to earn me a grudging acceptance because she reached under the counter and produced a key.
“Same room,” she said, sliding it across the wooden surface. “No one else has used it.”
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
I started to turn toward the stairs, but her voice stopped me. “Kent?”
I looked back at her, noting the protective big-sister expression that had settled over her features. It was the same look I’d seen from my own brothers when they thought someone might be messing with family.
“Sylvie’s been through enough disappointment lately,” she said quietly. “She doesn’t need any more.”
The message was crystal clear. Don’t hurt her again. I wasn’t sure if she told them exactly what happened between us. I doubted it. If she had, there would probably be a shotgun aimed at me.
“Understood,” I said.
I made my way upstairs to room twelve, the same space I’d occupied during my first stay. Nothing had changed. The same rustic furniture, the same view of the Christmas tree farm through the window, the same sense of warmth and history that permeated every corner of this place. The sheets had been washed, though.
I dropped my bag on the bed and stood at the window for a moment, looking out at the rows of evergreens. In a few weeks, if everything went according to my father’s plan, all of this would be gone. The trees, the lodge, the traditions that had been passed down through generations of Northwoods, all of it would be bulldozed to make way for drilling equipment and industrial infrastructure.
I shook my head, pushing away thoughts I couldn’t afford to entertain. I had a job to do, and the sooner I got it done, the sooner everyone could start their new lives.
I headed back out to the farm. Sylvie was trying to help a customer. When she saw me, she blessed me with another one of those brilliant smiles.
