Page 7 of Unforgettable

“That should be a sufficient amount of time for everyone to adjust, and I plan on staying out of the way as much as I possibly can,” I mutter.

“Well, I’ll do my best to make sure I’m there on that first day. And just let me know what I can do to…help.” He curses under his breath. “I’m sorry—I’ve gotta run and check on a bloated cow.”

“All right.” Normally I tease him about all the ailments he has to tend to, but I don’t have it in me today.

“Love you,” he says.

“Love you back.”

He ends the call and I turn on the music, now on the roads I’m more comfortable driving. I ignore Sutton’s call, then Wyatt’s, and after another twenty minutes go by, I ignore Callum’s call.

Their time is in demand, so it means a lot that they’re checking on me. Callum particularly despises the phone—I’m doing good to get a few one-word texts from him every other day—so the guilt stirs up again when I ignore his call.

But the tears started up within five minutes of hanging up with Theo, and they haven’t stopped yet. My brothers are as crazy about me as I am about them, but they’ve only seen me cry two times—once when I was seven and broke my leg, and the second time was eight months ago at Granddad’s funeral. The panic levels my brothers have gone to those two times I cried were enough to instill in me to never ever let that happen again. They doted and carried on like I was an invalid or so fragile that I might break, and I handle that about as well as a giraffe in an elevator.

When I pass theWelcome to Landmark, population 4,504sign, I can tell by the traffic near the quaint shops and then more accurately from the cars parked near the different sections of the lodge and the ski resort, that our town has somewhere between an additional 10-12,000 tourists today, which is up slightly from last year due to the snowfall we got last week, and down about 12,000 from our busiest season between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Spring break is just getting started and it will pick up even more around here over the next month.

The sprawling lodge is surrounded by snow-covered mountains, white peaks glistening in the late morning sun, and the beauty overwhelms me. I take it in the way I always do…with love and awe and pride that such a magnificent place has thrived in this tiny majestic mountain town named after family who came long before me.

I just don’t know if there will be room for me here once the new owners move in. Even though no one is requiring me to, I’ll move out of the condo in the back where I’ve lived since I graduated from high school, doing college classes online and working full-time at the lodge so I could know the pulse of the lodge better than I had living with Granddad and Grinny in the Alpine House. With the new owners taking over, it’ll be too close for comfort.

I have no idea where I’ll go.

My whole life has been wrapped up in the lodge, but it’s all about to change.

And I don’t know how to figure out where to land.

CHAPTERFOUR

NECESSARY INTRODUCTIONS

JAMISON

Two Weeks Later…

I take a deep breath and chug water from my Yeti, trying to combat any altitude weirdness. I didn’t notice it much when I was here before, so I should be fine.

I arrived late last night and fell into bed, not bothering to unpack any of the boxes that arrived before me. This morning, I was too excited to sleep, ready to meet everyone I’ll be working with. It’s been a long time since I’ve been the newcomer at work and it’s never been in this capacity…as the boss. I help manage people’s millions as their financial advisor and while that’s rewarding, I’m looking forward to a new challenge. I step in through the back entrance, going through the offices. It’s quiet and I’m glad to be the first here. I stop by the kitchen and am surprised to see a pot of coffee already brewing. I grab a mug from the cabinet above and pour a cup, taking a sip.

“Damn,” I say with regret. It’s barely coffee-flavored hot water.

I turn and a few drops of coffee spill onto my hand, but I barely notice.

Because holy fuck. It’sher.

“You,” she whispers.

“Scarlett,” I say, my voice hushed to match hers.

She looks even more beautiful than I’ve imagined her and I’ve imagined her every single day since I left her in that hotel room weeks ago. I set the coffee down on the table and walk toward her, unable to stop smiling.

“I can’t believe it.” My eyes can’t help themselves, they drink in every inch of her. “What are you doing here?”

Her lips part and she stares at me for a long moment in shock. I stop when I’m within a foot of her, wishing I could hug her but uncertain of what the protocol is for running into your one-night stand after thinking you’d never see them again.

“This is my—what areyoudoing here?” she asks, her eyes narrowing.

And it’s then that I realize she’s not looking as happy to see me as I am to see her. “Listen, I’m sorry for the way I left. I tried to wake you up…it did feel wrong to not say bye, but—”

---