Page 4 of Stepbrothered by the Mountain Man

He frowns. “Which is?”

“I don’t want to jinx it. But I’ll share as soon as everything is said and done.”

I can tell he wants to protest, but the darkness is creeping in on us. With a hand on the small of my back, he guides me toward the trail, his head on a swivel for more predators.

I never feel safer than when I’m with him.

Chapter Two

Levi

“The numbers look great. We’re in the green for the tenth month in a row,” I tell Grant and Beau, handing over a spreadsheet of this month’s expenses and profit. Grant still refuses to use a computer, preferring hard copies that are now piling up in his office. Copies Maya would sneak and shred later.

I wasn’t an accountant, but I’d always been good with numbers. So when we invested in the lodge, I took some bookkeeping courses. Grant took over chef duties, and Beau handled most of the maintenance.

“Thanks to Emmy’s coffee bar,” Grant says, scanning the columns with wide eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I knew it was a hit, but I didn’t imagine the margins were that good.”

“The coffee bar gets a lot of support from the local residents, too. They come in first thing smoking and last thing at night. It’s definitely a hell of a drug, that caffeine,” Beau says, taking a large slurp from a steaming mug of coffee Emmy had just made him. I’m pretty sure it was his third one this morning.

“I’m so proud of the way Emmy’s handling the morning rush. I try my best with Everly, but you know breastfeeding babies always want their mama. Don’t you, Ev?”

I can’t help the twinge of sadness that rises in my gut at Everly’s belly giggles as Grant tickles the bottom of her foot. Despite how much I enjoy being an uncle, all I want is a little one of my own.

Everly’s six months now and as cute as a cherub, with Emmy’s blonde hair and Grant’s big, blue-green eyes. She’s growing like a weed and beginning to get into everything. Somehow, that makes me even sadder. My brothers and I grew up with boatloads of cousins around the same age, and I know Grant and Emmy want the same for Everly. I can’t speak for Beau, but on my end, I don’t think it’s possible.

Not anymore, because the only woman I want to plant my seed in is off-limits.

Maya catches my eye outside of the office window now. Her curly hair is piled high in a bun as she skims the pool for fallen leaves. The pool is almost as beautiful as she is, with an infinity edge that looks like it’s running right off the cliffside. The fir trees, tipped yellow and orange, that surround the perimeter, enhance the beauty of the landscape even more. Behind them, the sun’s beginning to set, the warm yellow light complimenting the golden brown of Maya’s skin sinfully.

“I thought I told you I’d manage the pool from now on,” I say, clearing my throat before glancing back at Grant and Beau.

When we first started the business, Maya was getting overwhelmed with her workload. We all were until Emmy showed up. But I could see the stress was getting to Maya the most, and the last thing I wanted was for her to quit and return to her hometown near the lake. If Maya left..no, I didn’t want to think about it.

“Maya knows you were busy crunching the numbers during this last quarter. Plus, she asked me to do it for a little extra since her shift ended. She’s been finding ways to make more money,” Beau says.

I noticed. At the coffee bar, she began baking muffins on Wednesdays and Sundays now that Emmy was busier with Everly. Behind the receptionist’s desks, she’d stocked a shelf with travel-size toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, and condoms. Things guests always seemed to forget, plus it was a pain getting down the mountain to the nearest store. Since Maya bought all the supplies, including those for baking on her own, Grant nor Beau asked to cut into her proceeds.

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