“It is farther from the amenities,” Cora said. “Which, of course, you’re welcome to use, Cash.”
Silver Sage had a couple of swimming pools and a full gym on-site, as well as Cash’s beloved hot tub. It usually closed at nine p.m., but Cora had told him he’d be able to use it after hours, and she would give him his own code to get in. Because it was after hours, he’d be able to sit in it alone, and Lark knew that would make him happy.
“It’s this one,” Cora said, stopping at the first apartment on the fourth floor.
“So everyone will have to walk by my door to get to their place,” Cash said, peering down the walkway that led to five other apartments on this level.
“Yes.” Cora tapped in a code, and the lock disengaged. She stepped out of the way and held the door open, gesturing for Cash to go first. Lark caught the concerned look on her face as she exchanged a glance with Boston, and then Cash’s cousin entered second.
Lark took her place at Cora’s side. “Thank you so much for this,” she said. “I really hope it works out.”
“Me too,” Cora said, and she gave Lark an encouraging smile. “Now, how are things between the two of you?”
Lark glanced into the apartment, which held a full-size couch that faced the wall, where a TV hung just inside the door. Just beyond that sat the kitchen and a small dining room table for two in the corner. She could see the whole living area with that one look, all the way to where Cash stood in the kitchen, opening one of the cupboards.
“Things are a little tense,” she whispered. “I feel so guilty that I’m making him move out, and he won’t be happy at his daddy’s. And I don’t know—everything feels like it’s just frozen over, and neither one of us can take a full step or we’ll fall into frigid water.”
“I’m sorry, Lark,” Cora said.
“I’m just praying one of these places meets his requirements.”
“You don’t have to gossip about me out on the deck,” Cash called, and Lark ducked her head and entered the apartment. She could go behind the couch, too, but she saw no reason to do so, and she joined her boyfriend in the kitchen.
“We weren’t gossiping. I was thanking her for showing us these places.”
Cash opened the fridge, and Lark caught sight of a single box of baking soda before he closed it.
“Just one bedroom,” Boston said. “It’s a queen, and the bathroom is across the hall.”
With their long cowboy legs, they took two or three steps and went through the door on the left for the bathroom and the one on the right for the bedroom. After they’d come out, Lark peered in for herself and found it functional, if not really nice.
“So there’s this,” Cora said from where she’d taken a seat on the couch. “It’s a little quieter out here. There are no guests, but you are much farther away, and while most employees walk to work, we definitely don’t encourage it in the winter.”
“I thought you said there wasn’t enough room for us to park over there,” Cash said, and Lark wondered if he was making his voice purposely guarded, or if he was really irritated. She couldn’t tell from his expression either, as he’d boxed everything up tight.
“There’s not,” Cora said. “We have a shuttle.”
“It comes every fifteen minutes,” Boston added, as he lived over here in the employee quarters.
Cash nodded and looked around the place again. “Well, I definitely think this will do, but I’d love to see a room.”
“Sure,” Cora said. “Now, this would be free. You’d only have to pay your own utilities here. Over at the lodge, there’s obviously no utilities, but I can only get you the room for half off.”
“I want to see it first,” Cash said. “So I can decide.”
“Of course,” she said. “Our long-term rentals are suites with separate living and sleeping areas, and they have little kitchenettes. This is a full kitchen.”
Lark swallowed, watching Cash’s reaction, though Cora had already given them all of this information. She reached over and took Cash’s hand in hers. He looked at her, and she raised her eyebrows.
“Let’s go see it,” she said, and they made the walk down the steps to Boston’s truck, and he drove the four of them back over to the Silver Sage Lodge. They had a main building that housed most of their rooms, and they offered individual cabins on the outskirts, near the forest. And then they had a great big lodge that really was a lodge, made with real, rough-hewn logs, which housed a lot of their on-site amenities, like the restaurants, a little shop, and access to the swimming pools.
“We actually have a couple of options,” Cora said. “I can put you in a cabin, Cash. That’s going to be six or seven thousand dollars a month, and that’s with the fifty percent discount.”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “What’s the other option?”
“Here in the lodge,” Cora said. “It’s busy on the first three floors because our indoor pool and the gym are on level three. But I can put you up on the ninth floor, in what we call a Traveler Suite.” She led them inside. “Did you look at the link?”
“I have it memorized,” Cash said dryly.
