Page 12 of Ms. Fortune
Risky shrugged. “Just what I said. People, problems, situations that went sideways, places where bad things happened more often than not—I fixed them all for a price.”
I started to sweat a little, my overactive imagination running wild at his words. “Did you fix all those things as in improve them, or …” I trailed off, unsure of how I should finish that sentence.
I felt like I’d gone from paddling happily in a kiddie pool to being shoved straight into the deep end without knowing how to swim. I was very out of my depth with the man as he revealed more of himself to me.
“It depends on whatever the person paying the bills wanted. I told you. It wasn’t up to me to judge if what I was doing was good or bad. I showed up, fixed whatever was broken, and never looked back.”
“It sounds like an interesting career.” Not one the average person could do.
I wondered about the mentor who had found him when he was young and trained him to do something that sounded so scary and scandalous. I was even more curious about how he’d ended up on my mountain.
“Truthfully, I find working for you more challenging and exciting. Which means I have a personal stake in making sure nothing happens to you.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to taunt him about mixing personal and professional interests, but I couldn’t get the words out.
What had once been a clear line between boss and employee seemed to be rapidly fading the more I started to rely on him.
The weeks following my ill-fated trip down the mountain and into town were so busy that I didn’t have time to dwell on the stupid sheriff or whatever had or hadn’t happened down by the river the night of the storm. Not only was the main lodge full of guests who needed full-time service, but I’d also set Risky to work on transforming part of the massive wraparound deck into an outdoor lounge area so it was ready for the rapidly approaching ski season. It was a gigantic project; one I knew good and well he couldn’t handle on his own. He had no issues putting together the outdoor furniture and heaters I’d bought. The task of building the bar structure and expanding the small outdoor kitchen space pushed even my DIY knowledge to the limits. There was no way I harbored high hopes for what Risky could accomplish. I knew it was going to be a group project. The amount of work bordered on being overwhelming.
Every time I thought about the endless list of things I needed to tackle, a dull ache throbbed in the center of my chest, and I missed my grandparents more than I’d thought possible.
They’d had each other and made running this place look easy. Now that I was basically a one-woman show, I understood just how much time and effort they had given to their dream. It made me even angrier that my parents were so eager to sell it off to the highest bidder. I blamed myself for being away thoseyears I’d ended up entangled with Baker. If I’d come home right away, as planned, I wouldn’t have to put as much effort into repairing things that had gotten dry rot or worn away from the harsh elements. I should’ve been here, keeping the place up and running, not trying to resurrect it, like I was now.
“We need to raise the railing higher and enclose everything, just in case families with little ones plan on spending time out here when they get back from the slopes.” I showed Risky my crude drawing of the deck, lined with a decorative lattice and wrought-iron framework. “I have a local ironworker scheduled for the metal part, and they’re handling all the welding. We need to have the carpentry finished by next weekend.” I tapped the plans with a fingernail and glanced over at a frowning Risky. “Do you think you can handle making a trip into town and getting the supplies we need ordered? I don’t mind paying extra for them to deliver the wood.”
“That’s adding a lot of weight to the deck. Don’t you need permits and structural engineers to make sure the building isn’t going to fall off the mountain if we add all this stuff to it? This seems to be a bit much for an amateur handyman.”
I pushed a few strands of hair out of my face that had fallen loose from the messy bun on the top of my head. I’d been running myself ragged, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d brushed and styled it. I knew I looked far from a put-together business owner at the moment. If Banner wasn’t dealing with her cheating husband and baby, I would’ve asked her to lend a hand. And my parents always hurt more than helped in any situation. It was frustrating, realizing that I’d isolated myself to the point of having no one I could rely on in a pinch other than a stranger I’d picked up alongside the road. If asked, I could honestly say I was never lonely, but it was startling to understand just howaloneI’d become. Once I got the lodge back to its former glory and didn’t have to worry about just how muchmoney was going out without enough coming in, maybe I’d need to be more sociable and attempt to make some friends.
“I started plans for this before I moved back to Blue River. It took forever for them to get approved and for the license to come through. Everything has to be done above board, or one of those developers will call the city on me. They’re looking for any reason to shut me down and force me to sell.”
Risky picked up the long list of lumber and other building supplies. It was the first time I saw him appear apprehensive about any of the projects I’d placed in front of him.
“If I call in a favor and get someone to help get this thing built, would you be opposed to having an extra set of hands?”
My eyebrows shot up, and a laugh burst out. “I can barely pay you minimum wage. I thought it was pretty obvious that I don’t have the money for more help.” I never made it a secret that I put every dime I earned back into the lodge, which meant I was barely scraping by.
“A favor means it’s free for whoever calls it in. I understand you think you can do everything yourself, Lucky. And most of the time, you’re right. But some situations require more than a can-do attitude.”
We stared at each other, the tension between us thick enough that it could be cut with a knife.
“There are a lot of people from my former line of work who owe me. I don’t have any reason to call those debts in for myself. When I quit my job and left, I knew I was going to leave most of the markers I’d collected on the table for the next guy. Let me put them to work instead of wasting them.”
I cocked my head to the side and stared at the enigmatic man across from me. The better he treated me and the more invaluable he became to my rebuilt life, the more I worried about the other shoe that was inevitably going to fall. There was no waymy luck would let me find a virtual guardian angel and not turn all he offered into a hellscape.
“Why did you leave your former job?”
It sounded like a sweet gig from the little he’d let slip about it.
A dark look crossed his golden eyes. The shift sent a shiver down my spine. For a brief second, Risky looked like a totally different person. The costume of being a low-key maintenance worker slipped away, and I glimpsed the real man beneath the denim and flannel. He was not someone I should take lightly.
“My mentor retired. She left the family business to her daughter. I didn’t see eye to eye with the new management. It was time to move on and find something new.”
“If you left all those favors behind, the new boss must’ve been sad to see you go.” I would feel the loss if he walked away, and he wasn’t even good at his current job.
Risky grunted as his expression turned cold. “She’s a handful of years older than me, but we basically grew up together. In her eyes, I will always be a random kid her mother brought home and forced upon the rest of the family. My mentor had a habit of bringing in strays and rehabilitating them. Her daughter was never my biggest fan. Until she decided she wanted to keep me as a pet.”
“One of these days, you’ll have to tell meexactlyhow you ended up on the side of the mountain that day. I feel like it’s gotta be one hell of a story.”
