“I would have tried to help you,” Sadie says.
“I know.”
I turn my attention back to Grace.
“I guess my point is, this thing between your brother and me … it means something to me. And if he kept my secret, it means something to him, too. I can’t tell you anything, because it’s not my story to tell.”
“Shit,” she says and sucks in a breath. “Are you in love with my brother?”
I sit up straighter.
“I’m …” No words come to me as I sit here and smile. “I don’t know yet, but I really,reallylike him.”
“She loves him,” Ruby says, and the girls all nod in agreement.
I don’t even try to deny it.
Whatever I feel for Dutton is new to me, and I’ve never been in love. Could that be what I feel for him?
Grace reaches over and grabs my hand, squeezing it.
“I know you can’t tell me what’s going on, but, you guys, things at the lodge are weird right now. His Royal Dumbass is back again, and he still waits for me every time I get back to the lodge. Why is he here so much?” Grace shakes her head and closes her eyes.
His Royal Dumbass is how she refers to Preston King.
“I wish I knew. If I did, I would definitely tell you that.”
“Dutton says the lodge makes Preston feel like he's at home more than anywhere else, which is just crazy because there's nothing welcoming about the way I treat him. If anything, you would think he'd feel like an unwanted guest.”
I laugh, and so does Grace, and then she leans over the table to hug me. I promise that the next time I need help with something, I will come to her before I go to her brother.
Whom I may or may not be falling in love with.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
DUTTON
“Ah, there you are.”
I glance up from my office chair as Henry struts into my office. I’m here every single day, yet he says it as if he can never find me.
“Here I am,” I say.
His beady eyes dart to mine. “You’re never in here when I need you.”
“Then I’m probably around the lodge assisting guests.”
A huff of disapproval is his only reply.
“Do you have your ten-year plan ready for me?”
I move some paperwork around on my desk and grab the folder with everything he wants to see.
Was preparing this like pulling teeth without numbing them first? Yeah, it was. I based most of my goals on things the lodge is already doing, but also on what is going well, taking out things that aren’t.
One big change I would make: the head chef doesn’t need to be the main contact for the baking.
