Page 2 of Fall for You
Dallas ran a hand over his short beard and took a moment to swallow down his anger. Not at Clara, but at the woman who’d clearly spoken so harshly to his young assistant that the poor girl looked on the verge of tears. There was never a call to be rude to his staff, no matter how much money they had.
Clara shifted in her shiny black pumps, bouncing on her toes and clutching her notepad in a death grip as she awaited his response.
“Call Martha at Bridger. Tell her to reach out to the Kinkaids. She’s the general manager, she’s the one who should be dealing with them.”
She started jotting down notes.
“Tell Martha to tell the bride’s family the hotel will immediately find and hire a replacement photographer of equal or better quality at the original price point, absorbing any difference in cost.”
Clara scribbled furiously, her brows drawn together in that earnest expression of hers. Like she was Moses taking down the Ten Commandments rather than an assistant taking the obvious steps to avoid disaster.
She lifted her head with wide, prompting eyes.And then?
“Then call Marnie Dawson. She’s a photographer out of Livingston. She’ll likely tell you she’s booked for the season, but she owes me a favor.” He waited until Clara looked up again. “Feel free to remind her of that.”
“And if she still says no?’
“She won’t.”
He saw his phone light up on his desk with an incoming text. From where he stood, he could make out his twin sister’s pet name but not the message.
“That’ll be all,” he said, already reaching for the phone as Clara slipped out.
He hadn’t even realized his chest had swelled with hope…until he read Bailey’s text to the siblings’ group chat and he slumped with disappointment.
Captain Bossy:Don’t forget, it’s Grandma’s bday.
What had he expected? That Bailey would send him some SOS telling him they were short-staffed at the inn and needed him to step in again?
He sank into his desk chair.
Yeah. Okay. Maybe that was exactly what he’d been hoping to see.
Two weeks ago, he’d come back to his real life in Bozeman after taking off to help out at his sister’s inn up in the mountain town of Paradise Springs.
It’d killed Bailey to admit that his assistance had been necessary, and even then, it’d been made clear to him that his help had only been acceptable because it was temporary.
Their younger brother Brandon had needed to take time off to be there for his now-fiancée and their infant son, and Dallas had stepped in.
But Brandon was back at work, managing the front of house, so Dallas was… not needed.
Notwantedeither, if he knew his twin.
He watched the rapid-fire text responses in the sibling text thread.
Tinkerbell:On it! Already sent her a batch of her favorite cookies.
Big B:Card’s in the mail. Might be late… I’ll FaceTime her now!
Antman:Crap. That’s today?
Dallas shook his head. Typical. Everyone in their family knew their roles and played them to perfection.
Like Willow—their little Tinkerbell.
Of course she’d sent cookies.
A smile tugged at his lips as he thought of his youngest sibling hard at work in The King’s Inn kitchen.
