“You got an email from Holcomb?” Patrick asked. “What’d it say?”
“He’s sending someone down to the valley. He wants us to meet with his flunky.”
“Hell no,” Patrick said without delay.
Tommy sat back and stared at the other man. Patrick Garrity had the maturity and passion of a man half his age. In his mid-forties, Patrick’s close-cut, dark-blond hair was peppered with streaks of gray. The local farmer resembled his conservative lawyer father in stature and not much else.
“The fact that he wants to meet means we’re making a dent,” Tommy said. “I don’t expect anything to come of it, but there’s no reason to say no. He’s a professional who wants something. We’re a group of professionals who want the opposite. Ignoring the invitation wouldn’t be very professional.”
“You meet with Holcomb, and folks around here will think you’re a turncoat.”
Tommy let out a breath through his teeth. “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a bit?”
“Do you want to take the chance I’m not?”
“He’s feeling the heat from STS. Maybe he’s willing to compromise. We’ve said all along that a smaller, more manageable development is something we’d consider.”
“I don’t trust him, Tommy. Holcomb’s tried to manipulate the Forest Service, county officials, and everyone associated with the environmental impact statement. What makes you think he won’t do the same to us?”
“We can’t be swayed by empty promises and threats. We aren’t faceless bureaucrats with nothing to lose; we represent the people of the valley who don’t want this development to go through.”
“I don’t know…”
“Patrick, he wouldn’t ask for a meeting if he didn’t consider us a stumbling block. This could be good news.”
Patrick scrubbed his chin. “It doesn’t feel like good news.”
“I’m going to sit on this for a day or so, but I’m inclined to say yes. I suggest you think about it, too. I’ll call your dad, get his take before I respond.”
“He’s not going to like it.”
“We’ll see.” Tommy sat back in his chair and it squeaked. “Is there a reason you came by?”
“The Hailey High ski club wants to do another ski-a-thon fundraiser. They were wondering if you’d throw in a few boards for prizes?”
“A few?”
Patrick pursed his lips. “Two, maybe three if you’re feeling generous.”
“I’m already providing breakfast at the Tap, and I’m a gold sponsor.” In Tommy’s book, that was pretty damn generous. “Can’t Pat Jr. hit up any other businesses?”
“He’s not real good at asking people he doesn’t know.”
But he didn’t mind asking Tommy for everything. “I’ll give two.”
“Good enough.” Patrick stood and stretched his back. “I’d better get going. You let me know what you decide about that meeting. I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“I’m going to think on it a while, but I’ll let you know.”
As Patrick stepped out and closed the door, Tommy wondered if the members of STS would have the same reaction as Patrick. As president of the group and the person who’d spent the most time and money promoting STS, Tommy thought his opinion weighed more than the others.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Holcomb’s interest in developing Bear Stream. As the ski area with Colorado’s most annual snowfall and one of the few undeveloped lifts in the state, Bear Stream was a target for anyone with money and resources. Holcomb had plenty of both. The fact that Holcomb had used his money and influence to try to skirt around the residents’ concerns was, as far as Tommy was concerned, business as usual. Most locals deemed it underhanded and manipulative. On any given day, Holcomb’s attempt to move the development forward flirted with unethical. Tommy’s dad had taught him a thing or two about dealing with ethics in business.
Unless he heard a compelling argument against it, he’d meet with Holcomb’s rep and decide if STS had a toehold in the fight to keep Bear Stream the quaint lift it had always been. His dad had taught him to never miss an opportunity to size up the competition. Tommy had a feeling Holcomb’s rep wanted to size him and STS up right back.
Chapter 7
Kevin drove Shiloh’s sedan down the drive to his mom’s house, pulling the visor down to block the afternoon sun. The pretty wood cabin stood along the banks of the river as it always had. His mom had her flowers planted in the pots flanking the garage, and they looked half eaten by deer. He’d felt excited about coming home before his big fight with Shiloh, but an ominous feeling settled over him and caused him to drive slower than normal. He’d put off his trip home long enough.
His mom would be furious. Sarah Woodward-Dodge believed in the sanctity of marriage above all else. Her mantra of no bailing, no cheating, and giving nothing short of the best was ingrained in his head. He hadn’t bailed or cheated, but he knew he hadn’t given Shiloh his best lately. Maybe longer if he cared to think that far back. For the sake of self-preservation, he didn’t.
Dodge came out of the barn as he drove past, forcing Kevin to stop. He put the car in park and slowly got out. Dodge came around the bumper with his hands and jeans covered in grease.
“Well, look who finally showed up,” Dodge said, wiping his hands on a rag he’d pulled from his back pocket. “I hope you aren’t expecting leftovers.”
Kevin let out a half-hearted chuckle. The Thanksgiving meal was one of his favorites, and the fact that he hadn’t even considered what he’d missed confirmed the dire state of his affairs. “I know you and Lyle wouldn’t leave me a crumb.”
“We thought about it…for about two seconds. Where’s the little woman?”
“At her mom’s.” It wasn’t a lie. Even though he hadn’t talked to her, there wasn’t any place else she’d be. If Dodge didn’t know Shiloh had been in town for days, she’d surely been hiding out with her parents. Good. He didn’t need his family to find out about their problems through the grapevine.
“You staying a while, or do you have to get back for work?”
“Ahhh, I think we’ll be here longer than expected.”
Dodge gave a funny quirk of his lips that Kevin didn’t know how to read. “Your mom’s got Lyle’s old bedroom all fixed up and ready. We’re glad to have you as long as you don’t move in like your brother. I just got him out.”
Kevin stifled a flare of jealous irritation. His mom and Dodge seemed to weather every storm—and there’d been quite a few through the years—without even a crack in their armor. That was half Kevin’s problem: They’d set a seemingly impossible standard. “You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Not likely, kid, but I’m glad you made it. It’s good to see your ugly mug. Besides, I can always use a hand around here.”
“Slave labor’s not free anymore,” Kevin joked.
“For room and board, you’re damn right it is.” He tucked the cloth back in his pocket. It hadn’t made a dent. “Go on up and say hi to Sarah. She’s been missing you, boy. We both have.”
The muttered endearment was the equivalent of a love song coming from Dodge. Kevin thought Dodge might feel differently when he heard the news. Kevin climbed back into his car.
“Tell your mom I’ll be a while yet. If you get a hankering for using your brain on something other than an airplane, we could use some help with the tractor.”
“What brain?” Kevin tossed through the car window.
“Good point,” Dodge said before ambling back toward the barn.
He hadn’t lied, he told himself as he continued to the house. He’d merely neglected to give Dodge the details. He needed to tell his mom first. Dodge would have known something was up the minute he arrived home, anyway.
Sarah sat at the kitchen counter with a cup of tea and an open book. The smile that broke out on her face when Kevin came up the stairs could have lit the Denver skyline during a blackout. She jumped up and threw her arms open wide. “Kev! You did
n’t tell me you were coming today.”
Her cinnamon scent and firm grip made Kevin feel like a little boy in his mother’s embrace. He closed his eyes as an unexpected lump rose in his throat. He was going to disappoint her again. He’d done too much of that in the past.
She pulled back and cupped his face. “Something’s wrong.”
He nodded and pushed down the emotion that had sprung so suddenly to the surface. He needed to keep his cool so his mom would believe he had things under control. “Something is.”
“Tell me.” Her face drained of color, and she clutched a fist to her shirtfront.
“Can I sit?”
She stepped back and then followed him into the den. He eased onto the worn leather couch. He wanted to pull the throw from the back and huddle into a ball, but instead he gripped his knees and looked his mom in the eye. “Shiloh’s left me.”
“What?” She sank next to him on the couch, clutching his hands. “What do you mean she left you?”
“We had a fight, a big one, and she took off. I’m guessing she’s at her mom’s.”
“You’re not sure? Kevin, she’s your wife.”
“I know that, Mom. I was giving her time to cool off.”
He’d seen that look on her face many times—all through high school and college when he and Shiloh would break up and get back together. It bordered between disappointment and irritation. “You two can’t start these games again. We talked about this, Kevin. You’re married. You don’t walk out on a marriage.”
He took a breath before he shattered her impression of him. “She had good reason. It wasn’t her fault.”
“It never was.”
“No, Mom, this time it wasn’t. I screwed up.”
She walked to the kitchen, picked up her tea, and joined him on the couch. “In that case, you’d better start from the beginning.”
Chapter 8
Gretchen stared at her cell phone on the nightstand in her hotel room. She needed to call Ryan, but she had to work herself up to the task. She hated communicating with her ex-husband, especially when discussing their son. Of course, the only reason she ever talked to him was Alex. If not for her son, she would never talk to the bastard again.
One of the few certainties in life was that she couldn’t change the past. Gretchen knew that better than anyone. On a huff, she dialed his number and waited. The sound of his voice sent fingers of fear down her spine. She hated that he still wielded so much influence over her.
“Ryan, it’s me. We need to talk about the holidays. Your secretary left word you’re going out of town?”
“What’s to talk about? We each get Alex for a week. I’m taking him skiing in Vermont since I’m covering the New England game.”
Vermont? Since when did Ryan take Alex anywhere or even care to spend time with him, especially when he was working? “He doesn’t know how to ski.”
“He’ll learn. He’s my son, for God’s sake. He can learn to ski.”
Yes, he’s your son when it’s convenient. Since Ryan had never exercised his right to visitation over the holidays, she couldn’t figure out what was convenient about taking Alex skiing. “I know he can learn, but he’s afraid of heights.”
“So was I until my dad pushed me down a mountain. He’ll learn like his old man did, trust me.”
Trusting Ryan was like trusting the devil. “You grew up in the mountains. He hasn’t. I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“You have no say in what we do when he’s with me. He’ll be fine. If you didn’t treat him with kid gloves all the time, he’d have broken a few bones by now like a normal kid. When I was ten, I’d had half a dozen casts already.”
“Ryan, if you push him down a mountain, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” He let out a cackle when Gretchen remained silent. “Exactly. You’ll do nothing. Now, where are you? I’ve tried to reach you several times.”
“I’m away on business.”
“Let me guess, you left instructions at work to keep me in the dark?”
“My life doesn’t revolve around you anymore.” Thank God. If only she could say the same for Alex. “I didn’t leave any instructions about you.”
“I’m sure my lawyer would appreciate knowing my ex-wife left the state without letting me know. I think that might violate our custody agreement.”
He didn’t want custody of Alex. He didn’t want anything to do with Alex, but that had never stopped him from using the agreement as a threat. “You don’t let me know whenever you leave Illinois,” she said.
“All you have to do is watch TV to know where I am, Gretch. Oh, but I forgot. You don’t like to watch football.”
Of course she didn’t like to watch football. If it wasn’t for football, Ryan Lowry would be in jail where he belonged. “Why would I watch a barbaric sport? Or a bunch of has-beens in suits relive the ‘glory days’?”
In the pause that followed her rare display of anger, she wondered how much she and Alex would pay for her sharp tongue. “You didn’t feel that way when Tommy was on the field.” From his quietly controlled tone, she knew they’d pay dearly.
“Tommy knew football was just a game. It wasn’t his life’s ambition.”
“Seems to me he didn’t have much ambition considering he quit the team and dropped out of college. But I won’t waste my time discussing your former crush. Where are you?”
Crush? He knew just how deep to stick the knife. “Out of town. You can reach me on my cell.”
“I tried. Why do you think I called your home and office? How long will you be gone?”
“Until my business has concluded.” She’d learned over the years not to give him too much ammunition.
“And where is Alex?”
“He had school. He’s with a friend.” Gretchen had too much floating around her head. “Where will we do the switch if you’re going to Boston?”
“That’s weeks away. He’s old enough to fly on his own if I have to go out before he’s done with school.”
“You have to get special permission for something like that, and you’d need to be at the gate to meet him. He doesn’t know you, Ryan. Why don’t you just let me keep him until you get back? I know how busy your schedule is during the playoffs.”
“Not this time. He’s old enough to fly on his own, ski down some slopes, and hang out with his old man while he works. It’s about time he became a man.”
“He’s just a boy. He can’t be left unsupervised.”
“He won’t be. I got this. I’m his father.”
By God’s greatest trick, he’d fathered an innocent boy in an act of violence. She’d made it her life’s mission to raise her son to be nothing like his father. “I’ll need your itinerary down to the hour.”
“I’ll have someone from our travel department email you the flight details. The rest is unscheduled man time. I intend to undo the harm you’ve inflicted over the last ten years.”
I’ll kill you. The words echoed in her head. Touch one hair on his head, and I’ll kill you dead. “I’d appreciate whatever information you can provide.”
He hung up without saying good-bye. Gretchen clutched the phone to her chest when the urge to throw it against the wall had her arm shaking. He was up to something. Ryan had never passed up Gretchen’s offer to take Alex off his hands. And skiing? Ryan never did anything impulsive where Alex was concerned. He had an agenda, and Gretchen knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else until she knew what it was.
Chapter 9
Lyle whistled as he carried paint cans into the cabin from his car. Erica had helped him pick out a putty-colored paint for the walls. She said it would soften the harsh white without being too girly. He’d shrugged and promptly ordered the paint. She could have suggested purple, and he would have bought it. He laughed at himself and kicked at the door to close it.
“Hey,” Kevin said, stopping the door from closing. “Is that any way to greet your brother?”
Ly
le stood with paint cans dangling from both arms and narrowed his eyes. “You’re not hiding from Mom here.”
“I don’t need to hide. I just came from there.”
Lyle set the cans on the floor. “Did you tell her what’s going on?”
“Can’t you see the switch marks on my butt?” Kevin joked.
“You’re too old for a spanking. I should kick your ass for telling me not to tell her you’re in town because your wife left you.”
“I’d just have to kick yours right back. Should be easy enough since you can’t seem to wipe that stupid grin off your face.” He came inside, closed the door, and leaned against it. “You’ve got it bad.”
“You’d recognize the signs. You walked around all through high school like this.”
Kevin sighed. “I can hardly remember that feeling.”
“That’s probably why she left.” Lyle leaned down and poked the embers of the fire he’d started earlier to take the chill off the air.
“She left because I screwed up. I should let you kick my ass for that.”
Lyle straightened and looked Kevin in the eye. Kevin was an inch or two taller, but he’d become soft flying planes. “If you tell me you cheated on her, I will kick your ass.”
“I didn’t think you liked Shiloh.”
Lyle shrugged. “You used to like her enough for both of us.”
“I love her. I’m about to crawl out of my skin it’s been so long since I’ve seen her or talked to her.”
“Then what are you doing here? You know as well as I do she’s at her mama’s.”
“She needs some time. We both do.”
Lyle picked up a blanket and tossed it into the basket by the couch. “Don’t you have a job to get back to?”
“Not anymore.”
Lyle’s brows jerked up in surprise. He grabbed two beers from the fridge and handed one to Kevin. “Looks like you’ve got a story to tell.”
Kevin took a hardy sip and sat on the couch. “Didn’t this used to be in Mom’s office?”
Lyle nodded. “You going to keep stalling?”
Kevin rubbed a muscle in the back of his neck. “I got laid off. Last one hired and all. When I was getting the news, Shi blew a tire. I’d turned my phone off and didn’t call her back even though she’d called three times. I was trying to figure out how to tell her I’d been fired.”
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