3
Jackson walked through the front door of the resort and nodded at the front desk staff before slipping through the door behind it. A small office was set up in the room, making his mom, Karen, easily accessible if the front desk needed help with something.
Karen sat at a desk in front of the computer, typing away, but she looked up when he entered.
“Hello, honey.”
“Hey, Ma.” Jackson dropped a kiss on the top of her head before sitting in a chair at the small table in the room.
“How was your night? Did you get home at a decent time?”
He had been pulling long hours since they were short-staffed, but he was convinced he could do it all. He enjoyed the work he did, so he didn’t mind the extra hours.
He nodded. “Mia and I had dinner at her place last night.”
“How is she?”
“She’s doing well. You know, same old stuff.”
Karen smiled. “You should bring her to family dinner on Sunday.”
“I’ll mention it to her.” Jackson slapped his hands on his knees and stood. “All right. Time to plant some flowers.”
He walked out of the office, through the back door, and over the expansive lawn, making his way to the shed hidden at the far end of the grounds. He unlocked it and gathered the items he needed for planting, setting them into a wheelbarrow. Wheeling it around the building, he stopped in front of the main entrance. Jackson wanted to see flowers at the entrance instead of the unruly bushes he hated trimming, but had put it off before since it was a huge task.
But now, he couldn’t stand thinking about the bushes any longer and decided he needed to take care of it.
He got to work unloading supplies while he waited for help. It didn’t take long before his brothers walked out the front of the building. Noah, his older brother and head of the ski patrol for the resort, came out appropriately dressed in jeans and a Wintervale Resort polo. His younger brother, Ethan, who was the adventure guide, was similarly dressed. But Miles, his youngest brother, still wore his chef’s coat, clearly having come from the kitchen where he spent most of his time as the resort chef.
“You’re going to get that filthy,” Jackson said.
Miles rolled his eyes. “I’m a chef. What do you expect me to wear?”
“Work clothes. We’re pulling bushes out.”
Miles planted his hands on his hips. “Do you actually need me for this? I have an entire resort to cook for.”
“I mean, that’s a bit of an exaggeration considering you have a staff,” Noah muttered.
Miles shot him a dirty look.
Ethan laughed and slapped Miles on the shoulder. “Go back to work, bro. We’ve got this.”
Miles wordlessly walked back inside, and Jackson raised an eyebrow.
“What crawled up his ass?”
Noah shrugged his shoulders. “He seems the same to me.”
Ethan clapped his hands together. “All right. Let’s do this. I have a hike this afternoon.”
Jackson handed each guy a shovel before spearing his into the ground underneath the roots of a bush.
“Noah, how’s Jessa doing?”
Jessa moved to Wintervale only a few months back. She was just visiting while working remotely, but they fell in love quickly, and Jessa never left.
“She’s doing well. She has to go out of town soon for work, but she’s enjoying being in one spot.”
