“Don’t make any plans for Columbus Day weekend,” Paige reminded her as she headed for the door. “I’m not planning on having bridesmaids, but you and Hailey have to be at my wedding.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Lauren said, and she meant it. But as the door swung closed behind Paige, her undersexed mind coughed up a tantalizing image.
Ryan in a suit. Her in a sexy dress. A few drinks. A slow dance or two...
She shoved a forkful of coleslaw in her mouth and told herself to get over it. There was enough on her plate as it was and she already knew they had almost nothing to say to each other. He was as good as a stranger now and, no matter how her hormones felt about the matter, it was best he stay that way.
It seemed like he’d been avoiding her for years. Now it was time for her to avoid him. Simple as that.
Chapter Two
Ryan wasn’t surprised at all that the first thing Rosie Davis did, after wrapping him in a suffocating hug, was try to feed Dill and Matt.
“They’re here to work, Rosie, not be adopted.” He knew any attempt to mark boundaries with the lodge’s housekeeper was an act of futility, but it was a good reminder for the boys. “Besides, we stopped at the diner on the way in.”
“Oh, did you see Paige?”
“Yup.” Along with Lauren Carpenter, and seeing her had thrown him so far off balance he was still sideways.
As he always did when he thought of her, he remembered back to the day he’d asked her to leave her husband. He’d promised her he’d love her in a way Dean didn’t seem capable of, and that he would raise Nick as if he was his own son. The memory of feeling like a humiliated, stupid ass as he’d driven out of Whitford alone was still almost as vivid as the reality.
Running into her so unexpectedly had brought out the stupid ass in him again, he thought as he grabbed his bag out of the backseat of the truck. He knew how to hold a conversation, for chrissake, but one look at Lauren and all he’d been able to say was “good.” Everything was good. Life was good. She probably thought he was a total idiot, and maybe that was good, too.
Josh stepped out onto the porch, his hair still wet from a shower. “You brought backup this time? Must be getting serious.”
“I had to bring somebody who’d work instead of taking bubble baths halfway through the afternoon.”
Josh grinned. “When you spend the day working on the insulation in the attic, you can take a bubble bath in the afternoon, too.”
It was damn good to see his little brother smile. Ryan had been blown away by Josh’s shitty attitude after being summoned home because Josh had busted his leg. His brother had been surly, drank enough to raise eyebrows and looked like hell.
It had taken a while, but Josh finally confessed he wanted out. Out of Whitford and away from the Northern Star. One by one, his brothers and sisters had left home until he was the only one left to help out. Then, after their dad passed away, he was stuck holding down the fort and it had never occurred to the others he didn’t want to be there. Suddenly he was thirty and he’d never done a damn thing.
Now they had a plan and the first step was working together to get the lodge back on its feet financially. Then they’d put it on the market or hire somebody to run it. Either way, the old place needed some structural work and a face-lift, and that’s why Ryan was there, along with Dill and Matt for the heavy lifting.
Rose gestured to the two carpenters. “I’ll show you boys where you’re sleeping and you can get settled.”
“They can bunk at the end of the hall. The room with the double bunk beds.” It was an overflow room, generally used for groups of guys who wanted to split the bill and keep costs down.
“We have plenty of rooms and you’ll all be gone before the snow flies.”
“They don’t need to be mucking up two rooms.”
She put her hands on her hips and gave him the look. “Did you come to pound nails or are you going to run the place now? I got some toilets that need scrubbing if you are.”
He could be stubborn, too. Especially in front of guys who worked for him. “They’re not paying guests.”
When she just kept giving him the look, one eyebrow raised, he felt the heat creeping up the back of his neck. He hated when she did that. Had since he was a little kid. He couldn’t remember how old he was when his parents had hired Rosie to help his mother around the lodge. But he was eleven when Sarah Kowalski died of an aneurism and, with help from his aunt Mary, who lived a state away, Rosie had stepped into the void she’d left. The housekeeper had done everything a mother would do for him as he’d grown up, including giving him that damn look.
“Fine. But they clean up after themselves.”
“We’re not kids, boss,” Dill said, but then his phone quacked and Matt snickered.
“Go.”
They followed Rose into the lodge, and Ryan dropped his bag onto the porch before sinking into one of the chairs. Josh took one beside him, stretching his legs out.
“How’s the leg?”