Page 18 of Ms. Fortune
I bumped her back, but I put more force into the action, which sent her tripping to the side and out of my way. Having her underfoot for a few weeks was going to be pure torture if she kept trying to psychoanalyze me.
“The last time I let someone get close, they ruined my life.” I wasn’t even exaggerating. “I’d rather not go through that again.”
She hooked our elbows together as I led her out of the kitchen and toward the massive laundry area, where I needed help washing and prepping all the new bedding and towels I’d ordered for the start of the season. I had a feeling Banner was going to get sick of helping with all the drudgery sooner rather than later. It would be better to station her at the front and let her handle the phones and answer emails instead of the tasks that required heavy lifting. Who wanted to spend hours folding laundry that wasn’t theirs?
“You can talk to me about what happened in Denver, Lucky. You don’t need to keep everything bottled up inside. I spilled my guts to you about Grant and my marriage. I want to support you the same way you’ve supported me.”
I pushed a laundry bin in her direction and silently showed her how to fold the sheets and fit the duvet covers. “There’s nothing to talk about. It was a relationship that went very wrong.I should’ve known better than to get involved with someone who showedthatmuch interest in me. I don’t have it in me to be the center of someone’s world. I struggle to keep my own planet spinning.”
Banner sighed as she started stacking folded towels and washcloths into neat piles to distribute to the various rooms.
Once I was done with this monotonous task, it was time to clean out the individual cabins and get them ready for occupancy. I’d asked Risky to tackle a few minor repairs before I started, which meant I needed to go behind him and make sure he didn’t screw anything up. I figured I would have to redo at least a quarter of the work, so I needed to give myself ample time to get everything done.
“Most women would kill to have someone love them to the point of obsession. I understand your relationship wasn’t healthy and not what you’d thought you were walking into. I’m just saying, not every deep infatuation has to be a horrible experience. I wish Grant cared about me and Rosie above and beyond everything.” She squinted her eyes at me and muttered under her breath, “One of these days,you’regoing to be the one who ends up head over heels in love with somebody. I’m excited to watch you not have any idea what to do with yourself.”
When I glared at her, she just laughed.
I grunted in annoyance and snapped, “Never.”
The only thing I’d ever been infatuated with was this lodge and the idea of keeping my grandparents’ legacy alive. No man—or woman—got me as excited as my long-held dream of following in my family’s footsteps. I purposely ignored the little voice in the back of my mind, trying to remind me that the brief, almost kiss I’d planted on Risky the other day came pretty damn close.
Banner apparently couldn’t come up with a rebuttal. We finished the rest of the work in the laundry room in an easy silence.
She left before everything was done because an employee at the family restaurant had called in sick, so her mother needed to go in and lend a hand until the evening shift came in. Before she’d gone, I’d dragged her to the computer to check the schedule with the one at her parents’ restaurant so I could find a few days to set up interviews when she was free.
I’d assured her I was fine handling the physical prep for the season on my own, but she insisted on spending time at the lodge to get her head on straight while dealing with her marriage. Belatedly, I realized I never asked her if she had started divorce proceedings yet. I didn’t care about her loser husband and all his lies because it was obvious he was a scumbag, even though I’d never met the guy. Ididcare about Banner and her emotional well-being.
I told myself to make more of an effort and be a better friend to her. Just because I wasn’t interested in rehashing my failed relationships didn’t mean she wasn’t looking for an outlet to do that very thing. I was out of practice when it came to relating to almost everyone.
After checking on the progress with the ironwork on the deck, I hiked across the property to where the cabins were lined up in a perfectly straight row. They were cute little A-frame structures, each with their own firepit and utility kitchen. They were the first rooms reserved and never vacant back when the lodge had been in its heyday.
When I was a child, I loved spending the night in one of the buildings and pretending I lived on my own, like an adult. My grandmother would bring me treats, and my grandfather would sit outside and watch the stars with me until I was ready forbed. It was a safe place where I knew I would never have to be bothered by my parents or anyone else.
The cabins had taken the brunt of abuse from my absence. Several of them needed completely new roofing and insulation. It had taken a huge chunk of the money I’d inherited to get the cabins back to a livable condition, but I didn’t regret investing so much in the project. And I was secretly envious that Risky was the first person who got to stay in the first cabin I’d renovated when I returned home. It was a project I had thrown my heart and soul into. The small space felt a bit more like my own than the entire private living space I had at my disposal.
When the cabins came into view, I didn’t see Risky anywhere, but I saw a ladder leaning against the slanted roof. I couldn’t help my brow furrowing with concern and the sudden kick in my heart rate. Images of Risky tumbling off the ladder or falling off of the roof flooded into my brain. I knew he was a mess when it came to simple repairs, but he wasn’t clumsy or accident-prone. Unfortunately, logic couldn’t fight through the sudden panic that filled my body.
“Risky!” I called his name and picked up my pace. Anxiety tightened around my throat when he didn’t immediately answer me. “Hey. Are you okay?”
There was still no reply. I started to jog, telling myself that I was this worried only because I couldn’t afford to pay out a workers’ comp case if he was injured on the job.
“Risky!” I could hear the rising panic in my voice.
Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to let a man with no experience run wild with power tools all over my property. I started breathing hard and felt dizzy. The only other time I’d been this close to having a full-blown panic attack, I had been trapped in a room with a man intent on taking his life, making sure I knew I was responsible for both of us being in such a dire situation.
“Lucky?” A confused voice floated out from behind the first cabin.
Risky walked toward me, and I noticed he was wearing safety glasses and ear protection that was now sagging around his neck. It made sense if he was using the nail gun or one of the various saws needed to complete his to-do list.
I wondered why I hadn’t stopped to think about what I’d asked him to take care of before jumping to a nightmare scenario that had him bleeding on the ground with a cracked head.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’re about to lose your lunch. Did something else happen? Are you okay?” The questions came fast and furious as he rushed to meet me. The evident concern in his eyes made my racing heart skip a beat.
Risky grabbed me by the shoulders and gave my entire body a shake as I tried to form words and function through the choking panic.
“I saw the ladder … and you didn’t answer me when I called you.” I caught my breath and put a hand to my chest. My fingers twitched nervously. “I was worried you’d had an accident. Be careful. There’s no telling what can go wrong since you’re spending so much time around me. My awful luck tends to affect others in close proximity.”
Everything suddenly stilled, minus my fluttering heart, when his rough hands grasped either side of my face. His thumbs rubbed along my cheekbones, and the light breath he let out drifted across my skin.
