“Thanks, no, I’m fine. But it’s been a long day. If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to take you up on that offer of a room now.”
“Of course. Do you have anything with you, any luggage?”
He shook his head. “No, nothing. Not even a toothbrush. I’d planned on a two-hour meeting, not an overnight excursion.”
“I think I can rustle up a few things, maybe even a toothbrush.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality.”
“You’re welcome. Mr. James—”
“Please, it’s Ethan.”
“Ethan,” she repeated with smile. “I want to thank you for coming here and considering the investment potential of the lodge. It means a lot to me.”
He nodded, but said nothing more. Ethan James was her last hope. None of the banks she’d contacted would lend her money. If he and Mr. Hainstock decided Solace Lake Lodge was too big a risk, it was all over.
Harper pushed down her fear and made herself smile. “If you follow me, I’ll show you to your room and find you a few things.”
She led him up the stairs to what had once been the best room in the lodge. It still had the best view of the lake, but everything else about the room screamed shabby, with none of the chic. The area rugs were worn and faded, and the wooden floors had long ago lost their shine. The bedspread and matching curtains hadn’t been replaced since her grandmother died some ten years previously. They’d been washed so many times that the once vibrant blues and greens were now faded and dull.
As she entered the room, she lifted her chin slightly, refusing to be embarrassed. The room was spacious, and she made sure it was always scrupulously clean. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
Except maybe…
“I’ll bring you an extra blanket and a space heater. With this wind, it’s going to get cold in here tonight.”
“Thanks.” Ethan opened the door of the closet and then closed it. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Down the hall, third door on the left.”
He looked surprised. “Oh.”
“There’s extra towels and soap in the bathroom.” Even to her own ears, the promise of soap and towels didn’t sound like much to get excited about.
But then that was why he was here – to help make the lodge something a lot of people could get excited about.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
She fled back down the stairs and hurried to her own quarters on the main floor. Lifting the heavy lid of the large, old-fashioned trunk in the corner of her bedroom, she rummaged through the clothes and other items stored there until she found a man’s robe and pajamas, a T-shirt, a couple of flannel shirts, and a pair of jeans. Though normally practical to a fault, she hadn’t been able to part with some of Grampa Bill’s old clothes. Somehow, giving them away meant he was really gone. Harper lifted a flannel shirt to her face and inhaled. Even though she’d washed the clothes before putting them away, she swore she could still detect the faint scent of her grandfather’s favorite pipe tobacco. The thought made her smile.
After finding a space heater, an extra quilt, and a new, still packaged toothbrush along with a mini tube of paste from her last visit to the dentist, she hauled everything back up the stairs to Ethan’s room. The door was open, but she stopped on the threshold, feeling uncomfortable about walking in unannounced.
“Ethan?”
He turned from the window where he’d been staring into the darkness and stepped toward her. “Here, let me take that from you.”
His fingers brushed hers as he reached for the space heater. A tingle of awareness made her shiver. She lifted her gaze to his, blinking rapidly. “Well, I should be going. Goodnight. I hope you sleep well.”
“You too. Thank you, for everything.”
She nodded before turning around and hurrying back down the stairs. A moment later, she retreated into her own room and closed the door. She stared at the lock, her hand hovering above it. After a moment’s hesitation, she turned it. Locking the door made her feel slightly ridiculous, as if she believed she was so irresistible Ethan wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off her. As if she had to worry about him ravishing her in the middle of the night.
What would it be like to make love to him?
Harper tossed the ridiculous notion from her mind, embarrassed by the direction her thoughts had taken. The only thing she wanted from Ethan James was his belief in her project.
And lots and lots of money.
CHAPTER TWO
Ethan threw the extra quilt on the bed before plugging in the space heater and turning it to high. Harper had been right about the cold; the room was freezing. He could feel the wind blowing in around the window frame. It was a wonder snow hadn’t drifted in.
This old log lodge was too far gone to be saved. He knew Harper Lindquist wanted money from his company to renovate the lodge, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Ethan ran a hand over one of the massive logs forming the outside wall of the bedroom. The place did have a certain north woods rustic charm. But he was only interested in the land the lodge sat on. If Harper accepted his proposal, the building would be torn down, putting it out of its misery. She’d likely be disappointed, but there was no helping it.
He sifted through the clothes Harper had left for him and wondered who they belonged to. Her husband? A lover? He dismissed the thought. The clothes looked slightly old-fashioned, something an older man would have worn. Her father perhaps.
Whoever the clothes belonged to, he was grateful for them. He slipped on the pajamas and robe, leaving his socks on for extra warmth. After finding hangers in the closet, he hung up his suit and dress shirt. He should have known he’d be overdressed for his meeting. Even from her emails, he could tell she was an informal sort of person. He smiled when he thought of her wholesome, fresh scrubbed beauty. Despite the blonde braided pigtails and the rest of the pixie-like exterior, he sensed that a strong, passionate woman lurked beneath the pink chenille robe.
But he wasn’t there to speculate on her personality. In the morning, after a good night’s sleep, he’d tell her that Hainstock Investments was only interested in her land and had no use for the lodge. End of story.
He turned down the blankets on the bed. He should have made his intention clear in his emails, or maybe he should have talked to her on the phone. But he believed he needed to make his case in person. Now, he wondered if he’d unintentionally misled her into believing Hainstock Investments might be interested in loaning her the money to renovate this old heap. Judging by what she’d said earlier about convincing him of the possibilities of the lodge, he was afraid he had.
He took the toothbrush and paste to the ancient bathroom and brushed his teeth. The bathroom was even colder than his bedroom, his socks no protection against the icy floor tiles. When he was done, he marched back to his room and climbed under the covers. It was freezing. Several minutes passed before he stopped shivering and warmed up sufficiently to relax under the crisp, white sheets.
As he drifted off, a jab of guilt assailed him. Not only had he misled her about why he was there, he hadn’t told Harper who he really was. He didn’t like deceiving her, but he’d learned from bitter experience that when people knew his true identity, they treated him differently.
He wanted his relationship with her to be completely untainted by the truth.
The next morning, after a quick shower in the frigid bathroom, he dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans and went downstairs in search of coffee. He found Harper in the kitchen flipping pancakes. She looked very different this morning. Her long blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders and cascaded down her back in tumbling curls. She turned to him with a smile. The cobalt color of her sweater brought out the vivid blue of her eyes.
“Good morning. I hope you slept well. Were you warm enough?”
“I slept very well. The extra quilt and the heater did the trick.”
Despite his guilt, he’d slept like the dead. The quiet
of the lodge reminded him of the inn his family once owned in Wisconsin. So did the cold.
She appeared relieved. “I’m glad. Breakfast’s almost ready. I hope you like pancakes.”
“Love them.”
“Good.” She put two pancakes on one plate and four on the other, then added a generous portion of bacon to both. She handed him the plates. “Here, you take these and I’ll bring the coffee. I thought we’d eat in the dining room this morning.”
She placed the coffeepot, a couple of mugs and a pitcher of maple syrup on a tray and headed for a side door. Ethan followed. He was unprepared for the sight that greeted them when they entered the dining room.
A wall of windows overlooked what appeared to be a snow-covered lake. Through the blizzard, he caught glimpses of majestic evergreens on the opposite shore. The storm obscured much of the view, even as it added a wild beauty to the scene. The swirling snow made frothy peaks that changed minute by minute in the howling wind.
He set their plates on one of the tables of the lodge’s dining room and stared out the window. “Wow.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Harper said.
He glanced back at her. “Yes.”
Her lips turned up in a satisfied smile. “That’s why I brought you here. Why don’t we eat before our food gets cold? Coffee?”
“Please.”
She filled their mugs, then sat in the chair across from him. “You should see it in the summer. The lake is a hundred and twenty acres of sky blue perfection, and so clear you can see to the bottom. It’s a great fishing lake, full of walleye and largemouth bass. Birds of every description sing in the trees, and butterflies and insects fly from wildflower to wildflower. It’s a little piece of heaven and I plan to keep it that way. It’s eco-friendly all the way.”
“So you said in your emails.” She’d written that she wanted to use sustainable practices in renovating and maintaining the lodge. Ethan swallowed a delectable piece of pancake and put down his fork. Time to come clean.
“Ms. Lindquist—”
“Please. Call me Harper.”
“Harper, before any more time goes by, I have to tell you that my company will not be investing money into your lodge for renovations.”
A gamut of emotions – disappointment, confusion, desperation – flitted across her face. She carefully set down her coffee cup. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I have a proposition. I wanted to talk to you about it in person.”
She turned her head to stare out the window, her mouth pinched, and her eyebrows drawn together. For an uncomfortable moment, he thought she was going to cry. Damn it. He’d been stupid not to tell her the truth upfront. But when she looked at him again, her eyes were dry, her face composed.
“What’s your proposition?”
“My company recently purchased Miller’s Golf Resort. You said you worked there.”
“Yes. I work part-time in the dining room, and I help with the accounting. I know the Millers have been trying to sell the resort for a while. They want to retire.”
“Yes. Hainstock Investments made them a good offer and they accepted.”
“When did this happen?”
“A few days ago. The final papers haven’t been signed yet, so they probably want to wait until that’s done before they tell the staff.” Ethan paused and sipped his coffee to quench his suddenly dry mouth. “When we saw your ad at the same time we were negotiating with the Millers, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
One of Harper’s eyebrows rose delicately. “The perfect opportunity for what?”
“To expand the resort. Your land is adjacent to Miller’s, and you’ve got a much bigger lake. We’d like to purchase your property so we can build a second golf course and construct vacation condos on the lake. We’d be very careful to use eco-friendly products in all phases of construction.” He named a figure for the land he knew was well above the market price.
Harper looked unmoved by the generosity of his offer. “And what about the lodge? What are your plans for it?”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have any plans for the lodge. We’d have to tear it down.”
She abruptly pushed back her chair and stood. “You could have saved yourself the trip. If you’re going to rip down the lodge and cut down most of the trees for a golf course, I will never sell this property to Hainstock Investments. I’d rather give it away to the nature conservancy I’ve been working with for the last few years.” She threw her napkin on the table. “And since your company is the new owner of Miller’s, you can tell them I quit.”
He stood as well, lifting his hands in surrender. “Harper, wait. Let’s talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Her hands fisted at her sides as she turned to stare out the window at the storm. She gave a sardonic laugh. “I can’t even tell you to get the hell off my property.”
He wasn’t surprised she wanted to get rid of him. “I’ve got four-wheel drive on my truck. I should be able to make it at least as far as Miller’s.”
She signed and shook her head. “You’ve already been stuck once. The storm’s worse now.”
That was true. It was lucky he’d only driven into a snow-filled ditch rather than a steep embankment, or perhaps into a tree. He didn’t relish going back on the road, but by the set of her shoulders, it was obvious she didn’t want him there. Damn, he should have checked the forecast before he left Minneapolis, but he’d been too excited about the possibilities.
“It’s best if I go. I don’t want to upset you any further.”
“No, that’s crazy. You don’t have to do that.”
Harper gripped the back of her chair with both hands and stared at the floor for what seemed like hours, but was probably no more than a minute. Ethan waited, not sure what he should say or do. Then she straightened and lifted her gaze to his, her blue eyes issuing a challenge. She gave him a half smile. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”
He blinked at her, confused at this sudden turn. “What do you mean?”
“Stay here until the storm is over and listen to my proposal to renovate the lodge. If I haven’t convinced you by the time the blizzard lets up that it’s a solid business idea with the potential to make money, then I promise I’ll consider your offer to buy my land.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very. Can you promise you’ll listen objectively to my proposal, without letting any preconceived ideas get in the way?”
What did he have to lose? “I promise to listen objectively and if I’m convinced your ideas have merit, I’ll take them back to Hainstock Investments.” He folded his arms across his chest. “And what about you? Will you listen objectively to our ideas for your property?”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I promise I’ll listen as long as your ideas take the environmental health of my property into account.”
It was certainly better than being thrown out into the snow. He extended his hand. “I believe you have a deal, Ms. Lindquist.”
She stretched out her hand to shake his. Her lovely mouth curled into a wide smile, transforming her from merely pretty to exquisite. “Please, call me Harper.”
Harper spent a couple of hours giving Ethan the grand tour of the lodge. He wanted to inspect every room, every closet, every little cubby-hole the lodge had to offer. Ethan James was nothing if not thorough.
Thoroughness was one of the attributes of the company he worked for, or so her research had told her. So was honesty. When Ethan had first contacted her, she’d gone to the library in Minnewasta to use the internet to find out all she could about Hainstock Investments. From everything she’d read, the company and its founder were straight shooters. Though they’d been around for less than five years, they were already well known for their ethical investment practices. Knowing that had calmed Harper’s fears.
When Ethan got down on his hands and knees, stuck his head under the kitchen sink, and rattled a few pipes, she laughed. “I alrea
dy told you the kitchen and all the plumbing in the place needs to be redone. I’ve shown you the estimates from the contractors. What do you think I’m trying to hide from you?”
He pushed himself to his feet. For a big man, he was grace in motion. “I don’t think you’re trying to hide anything. I just want to check things out for myself.” He grabbed a piece of paper towel from the roll on the counter and wiped his hands. “From what I can tell, everything you’re saying is pretty accurate. You’re not trying to sugarcoat the condition of the place. It’s about as bad as you say.”
Ouch. It was one thing to know things were bad, but quite another to have bad news confirmed. Harper closed the door of the cabinet beneath the sink. “I want to be upfront about everything. I believe it’s best to know the truth. It’s the way I like to do business.”
He winced, then quickly looked away and fiddled with the faucet. Odd.
“Once we start ripping things apart, we’ll probably find even more problems. That’s what usually happens during a renovation.”
A thrill of excitement skittered across her nerve endings. “So, you’re going to tell your employer to invest?”
He held up his hand. “I didn’t say that. I was speaking in general terms, hypothetically. Don’t read anything into it.”
Her elation took a nosedive. “Fine. Why don’t we take a break? How about some coffee and cookies?”
“Sure.”
As she measured coffee grounds into the basket, her cell phone rang. A quick check showed her supervisor was on the line. “Hi, Mary. How’s it going?”
“Oh, it’s great, if you like blizzards and empty restaurants. That’s why I’m calling. There’s no point in you coming to work. Even if you could make it through the snow drifts, there’s no customers here to serve anyway.”
Harper frowned. She was supposed to start work at Miller’s at three o’clock, and she counted on her paycheck as a waitress to supplement her income. “You sure? I could take the snowmobile. It’s not far.”
Lies and Solace Page 2