Handwritten reservations led to double-booking. It had happened the summer she had worked at the front desk, thankfully on a slower week when someone’s reservation could be upgraded.
“Tell me they are not still using that old board,” she muttered to herself as she opened the laptop. Montressa should’ve modernized once Nate took the helm, but scanning the computer revealed they used it for emailing guests and internet browsing. She wondered if Nate ever considered purchasing scheduling software to keep track of reservations.
It was easiest to focus on the issues she could fix, such as answering general inquiry emails and clearing Nate’s calendar. No appointments today, but Tuesday,fix stepsshowed up on his schedule, shared withWes DuCharme, Maintenance Director, Montressa Lodge.Wes had been a cabin steward ten years ago. He must have stayed on. She dialed his cell, and after they’d caught up on the last ten years and she’d congratulated him on his new job title, Wes confirmed he’d rebuild the rotted steps to the lake tomorrow.
The next item on the calendar wasPaulson Carter, no information listed. A Google search revealed Paulson Carter’s job title as Chief of Emerging Markets at Carter Hotels in New York. He had graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale the same year as Miles. She could ask Miles about Paulson, but tracking down an email address and sending a message took less time and avoided another lecture on Dante’sInferno.
Late afternoon, with nothing left to resolve on the calendar, Avery finally got up from the desk and walked to the window. Her gaze traveled to the waterfront, where Miles and the maintenance crew were attaching the floating ski dock to the fixed dock. Avery put her hand to her necklace and ran the charm back and forth along the chain. Mileshad on a baseball cap, jeans, and despite the chill, a faded Yale Track T-shirt. Every arm muscle tightened as he pulled the rope to bring the floating dock into place. He lifted the cement anchors as if they were foam and carefully dropped them in the water, avoiding any splash.
One thing hadn’t changed. He still took her breath away.
She wondered what his life was like now. For ten years, she had avoided all things Miles, never searching for his name or asking Lily about him. Once Lily and Nate had started seeing each other a couple of years ago, Lily had dropped hints and small bits of news, but Avery never took the bait. Until he’d called herPepper. Her curiosity had soared ever since. There was no sign of it stopping until she answered her questions and moved on.
Ignoring the ping of an incoming message on her phone, she walked back to the desk and typedMiles Magrumin the search bar of the open browser tab. Two and a half million results. Gulp. The top of his Wikipedia page mentioned him being the founder of CashCache, America’s most downloaded personal debt reduction app. He’d sold it three years ago to a financial institution for “an undisclosed sum.” The page also had sections for his cameos in Hayes Preston films and mentioned his upcoming thesis, “Die Hardas a Contemporary Romance.” The only thing the page lacked was apersonal lifesection.
Back at the search screen, the images tab presented a Miles Magrum multiverse. On red carpets, at sporting events, and reading on the subway. Miles at the Met Gala, in a navy tuxedo so tailored, someone must’ve had to peel it off him later that night. In the VIP tent at a Hazel Matheson concert. Avery felt a sour pang of jealousy creep into her throat and promptly swallowed it.
She landed on a photo of him throwing a football in the surf on Montauk. Fading sunlight bathed every ripple of his abdomen in a golden shimmer. And what was at the top of his hipbone? She zoomed in and gasped. A blurry tattoo that resembled a bug in the exact spot where afirefly had landed the day he’d asked her out. They’d been sunbathing on the floating dock, their pinkies so close, it felt like they were touching. The sensation had set her insides abuzz. She’d told him a firefly in daylight was good luck, so he’d tried his luck with her. He’d asked for her favorite date activities becausethatMiles only wanted to make her happy.
Until he didn’t.
She zoomed back out, reminding herself that her Miles disappeared that day in the parking lot. They didn’t know each other anymore. In fact, the more she thought about it, Miles doing anythingsweet for her now was irritating. Nothing could make up for his callous behavior. The less she talked to him, the better.
Avery found herself unable to stop staring at the photo of Miles—all sinew and sin. She tried to convince herself it was anger blooming in her stomach, but anger didn’t tingle in her thighs. Her cheeks flushed at how quickly her search had spiraled. She knew better than to explore this rabbit hole.
Beside the front desk, the lakeside door opened. Miles stepped inside and rotated his baseball cap backward. Feeling caught, she quickly closed the laptop and spun the office chair to another part of the desk, hoping to appear like she’d been doing something else. After he left, she’d exit the page and clear the search history.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” She smiled at him, doing her best not to appear guilty.
“Lily here yet? I got a text she wants to meet with us.”
Avery lifted her phone and saw the text as a second message popped up.
Lily:Running late. Be there soon.
“She’s late.” Avery rolled her eyes, annoyed Lily might be giving them more time together on purpose. Lily had sent a text earlier asking Avery to “be nice” next time she saw Miles. Avery hadn’t replied. She wondered if Miles got the same text. He damn well should have.
Miles drummed his fingers on the desk and surveyed the open lobby.
“This place never changes, does it?” His scan of the room landed on the reservation board. He pointed at it. “Please tell me that’s here for nostalgia.”
Avery swiveled her chair toward the board.
“Nope. They appear to be using it.” She kept her gaze on the board to avoid the inevitable swoon of seeing Miles in a backward baseball cap. “There’s no online reservation platform on their computer.”
He reached across the desk and picked up the laptop.
“No,” she yelped. “I already checked.”
“I trust you.” He leveled her with a soft stare. “But maybe it’s in a hidden folder. The Coopers aren’t exactly tech savvy. I am.”
“I am too, and I already checked.” She reached for the laptop a second too late. He had opened it.
She didn’t have to see the screen to know he’d discovered a very alluring photo of himself in the surf. Miles lifted his head slowly, a self-important grin lighting up his face.
Avery’s body temperature rose to near fever level with embarrassment. Even her fingers blushed red. She shielded her eyes and shook her head. This was a nightmare. She wished she could make him go away. Forever.
