We filtered out of her office, and my mom stopped beside me in the hallway, curling her hand around my elbow. “I really think it’s a great idea to hire Adele. I hope you’re okay with it.”
“Of course I’m okay with it, Mom.”
“Well, I know you like her.”
“Oh my fucking God, Mom.”
“Language!” she chided.
“Seriously?” It’s a wonder my eyes didn’t roll out of my head with that.
She chuckled and shrugged lightly. “Well, we’re trying not to constantly swear around Tommy.”
“Tommy’s not here.” I glanced around. My brothers had already headed into the kitchen. It was just the two of us left in the hallway.
“I know, but you know how it is. We’ve got to keep it to a minimum to train ourselves. He got in trouble at school again for swearing in class the other day.”
I snorted. “Really?”
“Yes! I understand you boys talk the way you talk. I do too. I’m not above it.” She shrugged. “I’m just trying to get us to be a little more mindful about it and work on it.”
“I’m working on it, Mom.” I bit back a sigh.
For a beat, I wanted to say something else. I wanted to point out that I wasn’t exactly a candidate for any kind of relationship. And yeah, maybe I did think Adele was cute—because she was. But I also knew if I said one word about that, Mom would launch into a whole thing about how she wanted me to find a partner. We all confided in Mom about plenty of things, but I tried to avoid the topic of relationships. She got way too hopeful.
“All right,” I said. “Well, speaking of hikes and how many we’ve got, I need to head out and get ready for one.”
I didn’t wait and made a beeline for the back door, skipping the kitchen altogether. If there was one thing about working at the family resort, it was that there was always something to do. Honestly, we could’ve worked twenty-four seven and still not get caught up. We’d busted our asses to get this place running again, and now that it was, we were scrambling to keep up with the demand.
I snorted to myself as I led a small group on a punishing hike up a steep trail later that afternoon. We were headed for a good area for rock climbing, which meant a whole lot of belaying for me. We’d been worried for a long time about what would happen after the fire. At first, we were all just shell-shocked. My mom had already been scrambling after our dad passed away the year before. Then came the fire. In the aftermath of that, we lost Bree and we were trying to take care of Tommy. Money was tight with nothing coming in.
We were crammed into the barn apartment—me, Lincoln, Jude, Haven, Asher, Grady, Tommy, and Mom—somehow making it work. We were all in a muddle, just trying to get through the days with most of us still in school at the time.
Needless to say, it took time to even start thinking about rebuilding the business. We did day trips here and there, but our resort had always been built around overnight guests. No guests meant no real income. Haven became a hotshot firefighter to bring in money, and the rest of us followed his lead.
Now here we were, drowning in work, up to our necks in hikes and guests. Not that we were complaining. Alaska had become more popular for tourists in recent years. Everyone wanted adventure, eco-tours, wilderness treks, and so on. We were custom-made for the trend.
I glanced around the group once we reached the climbing area, watching them gear up. They were buzzing with excitement. I might’ve been trying to distract myself with work, but honestly, it wasn’t a bad distraction. Because the alternative was thinking about Adele.
Thatkiss, and what the hell it meant. All things considered, I was kidding myself if work distracted me much from Adele.
Chapter Nine
COLE
Nobody’s crush
“All right, here’s the deal.” I gestured up the rock face. “Fairly steep, but short. There are options for skill level. One of us will belay from the top.”
“I’ve got the top,” one of my younger brothers, Asher, called out.
“Works for me,” Lincoln commented as he stopped beside us. “Just think,” he added with a brow waggle, “once Adele starts working with us, you can do these climbs with her.”
“Lincoln,” I warned, feeling my jaw start to clench.
Asher chuckled, nudging me with his shoulder as he faced Lincoln. “Hey, you could always teach Chloe.”
“Oh, yeah, great plan,” I replied. “She could start helping us with these trips too.”
