She closed her eyes and let the pain wash over her. Ethan touched her arm.
“You okay?”
She stared at him. Sometimes life was so hard, and she was so alone. Maybe, for once, she could forget about her worries and fears and go after what she wanted. She wanted Ethan so much…
Where does he go when he leaves you, Harper? Who does he go to?
“I’ll be fine.”
His expression softened. “I know you will. You ready to go?”
She swallowed her tears. “Yeah. Let’s take this truck to Willy’s place so we can get home.”
He nodded. “I’ll follow you.”
A few minutes later she pulled the truck into Willy’s driveway and stuck the key into the glove compartment the way she told him she would. Then, she made her way to Ethan’s truck and climbed inside the cab, grateful for the warmth.
“Are you okay?”
She buckled her seat belt, avoiding his eyes. “You keep asking me that. My answer hasn’t changed from the last time. I’m fine.”
Ethan put his truck into gear. They drove through town, and at the lights turned toward the lodge. Neither of them said anything until they were about a mile from home.
Ethan cleared his throat. “I know that wasn’t easy for you, but it was the right thing to do. For you and for Willy. I’m proud of you.”
She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. “What if the next time he drinks he doesn’t call me because he knows I’ll call the cops? What if he drives anyway, even if he’s drunk? What if he kills someone, or kills himself? How am I supposed to live with that?”
Ethan pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the truck. In a matter of seconds, he’d unfastened her seatbelt and she was in his arms. She clung to him as he gently kissed her hair.
“I don’t have any answers for you. All I know is that you did the right thing.”
“I hope you’re right.”
His arms tightened around her, but he said nothing. As she listened to the steady beat of his heart, her tears subsided. It would be so easy to take comfort in his arms, to lose herself in them. It would be easy to lean on him, use him, like an addict uses his drug of choice. But what happened to her when he walked away, when her drug was taken away? The fear of that happening, of knowing it was inevitable, sent shivers down her spine.
A memory played through her head, the sound of voices raised in anger making her want to cover her ears, even after all these years. Her parents’ argument had woken her and she’d crept out of her room to the banister that overlooked the first floor. Between the spindles she saw them, sensed the fury in the room. Suddenly, her mother raised her hand and slapped her father. Hard. They’d stared at each other in shock, neither of them saying or doing anything, until finally her mother spoke. Her words had burned themselves into Harper’s memory.
“I’ll never forget what you just said. I loved you once, but there’s nothing left.”
The next day, her father left. Would any relationship she had end up like theirs, with unhappiness and infidelity? With death?
Harper pushed herself out of Ethan’s arms and gave him what she hoped was a composed smile. “I’m okay now.”
He brushed away an errant tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You’re sure?”
No, I’m not sure about anything! “Yeah, I’m sure.”
He nodded, and while she moved back into her seat and buckled her belt, he put the truck into gear. In a short time, they were back at the lodge. Ethan took the road to their cottages. Driving past his cottage, he pulled into the driveway in front of hers, keeping the motor running.
She unbuckled her seatbelt slowly. “Are you coming inside? Do you want to finish your dinner?”
“No, I’m good. Unless you want me to stay with you for a while?”
As he quietly watched her, a war between fear and longing raged within. How she wished she could be the kind of person who embraced life and everything it had to offer, instead of being crippled by fear and ‘what-ifs’. “I think I’m going to have an early night. I have an appointment with one of my clients at seven in the morning.”
If he was disappointed, he didn’t let it show. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
She opened the door of the truck. “Yes, tomorrow. Thank you for everything. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Harper hopped out of the truck and walked up to her front porch. She watched Ethan’s truck until it disappeared behind a wall of trees. Longing for him assailed her, but she pushed it away.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Do you want the bad news first, or the very bad news?” Reese asked.
“Are those our only options?” Harper murmured.
Ethan wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what their general contractor had to say either, but they didn’t have much choice. “What’s going on?”
“Come with me,” Reese said. “I need you to see a couple of things.”
He led them around to the west side of the lodge, the side facing the lake. He stopped near some scaffolding and pointed to the crumbling chinking between the massive logs.
“On our first inspection, we thought we’d only need to replace the chinking on the north side of the lodge. But when we took a closer look, we discovered areas on all sides where the chinking has crumbled.”
“That might explain why the lodge has been so cold the last few years,” Harper said.
Reese nodded. “Probably. I’ve consulted with a log home specialist and, aside from the chinking, he says we need to do quite a bit of maintenance on the logs, especially on the exterior. Some areas need sanding and cleaning to get rid of mold and mildew, and the whole thing needs to be stained, inside and outside, to protect it from water damage, UV light, and insects. We’ve only partly budgeted to have this work done. The entire job will eat up the contingency we built into the budget.”
“It’s not a big surprise. Maintenance was deferred on the lodge for a lot longer than it should have.” Harper exhaled. “So is this the really bad news?”
“Not even close.”
She gave Ethan a worried look, and he tried to reassure her with a quick grin, but he was concerned, too. From Reese’s demeanor, he could tell something was very, very wrong.
They followed him to a corner of the building where the dirt and sand had been pulled away from the foundation. Ethan immediately saw the problem. “The foundation is crumbling.”
“Yes.” Reese climbed down a ladder into the hole the crew had dug next to the foundation and ran his hands over the stones. Bits of mortar fell to the ground. “It’s the same all around the lodge. There’s no point putting thousands of dollars into upgrading the lodge if you don’t take care of the foundation.”
“What needs to be done?” Ethan asked.
“We’ll need to jack up the house and lift it. While it’s raised, we’ll build a new, solid foundation. We could even put in a basement if you want. Once the concrete has cured, we lower the lodge back onto the new foundation. It’ll be solid as a rock.”
“So, you’ve done this before?” Ethan asked.
“Yes. The lodge is a little bigger than other structures I’ve lifted before, but I’m confident we can do the work without any issues.”
“This sounds very expensive,” Harper said. “What do you think it’s going to cost?”
When Reese named a figure, her face went white. “This could be the end of the lodge. Everything I’ve dreamed of, gone.”
Would she ever care about him as much as she cared for the lodge? He doubted that was possible. “We’ll get the additional money from Hainstock Investments. Mr. Hainstock knows we’re committed at this point. We can’t stop now. I’ll talk to him and explain the situation.”
She frowned. “I thought he was in Europe on vacation.”
Another lie coming back to haunt him. “This is an emergency. I’ll find a way to talk to him.”
Reese took off his ball cap and ran his
hand through his thick, dark hair. “You’d better talk fast. We can’t sit around waiting for a decision. We’ll need to fix the foundation before any other work on the lodge can be done. While the lodge is hoisted, it’s too dangerous to have people working inside. We’ll have to reschedule some of the trades.”
“How long will building the new foundation take?”
“This is a significant delay. It will take at least a couple of weeks to hoist the building and then pour the footers and foundation walls. Then, we have to let the concrete cure for a minimum of twenty-eight days before we lower the lodge back onto the foundation. Any sooner and the concrete might not be strong enough to handle the weight.”
Ethan made a quick decision. “Go ahead and make arrangements for the new foundation. And while we’re at it, let’s dig a new basement. We need storage and this seems like the best solution. I’ll make sure the money is made available.”
Harper touched his arm. “Do you have that authority, Ethan? Maybe he’ll think he’s already put in too much cash. What if he shuts down the whole project?”
She was scared. She’d made it clear the lodge meant more to her than anything.
Including him.
“He’s not going to do that. We’re too far in to turn back now.” He’d have to convince his sister and brother-in-law, who guarded his money like pit bulls, but in the end, it was his money. And he wanted this project to succeed.
“I’ll get everything in place to start the process,” Reese said. “One last thing. If we’re digging a basement now, we’ll need stairway access from the inside the lodge. When it was simply a crawl space, no stairway was required. We’ll have to talk to the architect and have him make adjustments to the plans.”
Harper shook her head. “More expense.”
Ethan squeezed her arm. “Think of this as making lemonade from lemons. A full concrete basement is going to provide valuable storage space for the lodge that we wouldn’t otherwise have. We’ll also have a better spot for all the mechanicals like the furnaces and water heaters.”
“I suppose,” she conceded. But she still looked worried.
“I’ll talk to the boss and we’ll figure this out. Don’t worry.” He wanted her to trust him, to have full confidence he could get her lodge built.
“And what if the boss says no?”
“Then, I’ll have to charm the money out of him.”
That made her smile. “You’re full of it.”
“Probably. But seriously, I don’t want you to worry. This is just a minor hiccup. I’ll take care of it.”
She took a deep breath, let it out. “Okay. I trust you to get this done.”
“Good.”
Though he was sure Harper didn’t realize he was THE Mr. Hainstock, he wondered what kind of relationship they’d have if he didn’t represent the accomplishment of her most cherished dreams. If he was still an ordinary working stiff, living from paycheck to paycheck, would she have the time of day for him? He couldn’t help feeling used, like he was nothing to her without the money.
Yet, her happiness meant everything to him. If rebuilding the lodge and turning it into a viable business again would make her happy, then that’s what he’d do.
More fool him.
He hated lying to her, but he was so deep into this lie he couldn’t find his way out. He couldn’t hide his true identity from her forever. Eventually, she’d figure it out. Or someone would tell her.
Cold fear twisted his gut. When she discovered the truth, would she be angry at him for lying and want him out of her life? Or would she throw herself at him, tossing aside her former concern about mixing business with a personal relationship?
Ethan didn’t know which scenario he feared most.
Ethan walked to his cottage and closed the door firmly behind him. He needed to talk to his sister about the extra money they needed, and he didn’t want anyone overhearing him. Least of all Harper.
Another pang of guilt jabbed him in the gut. He pushed it aside and dialed Lydia’s number in Minneapolis. She answered immediately.
“Hey, little brother. I haven’t heard from you in a while. How’s it going?”
“It’s going great. The place is really starting to take shape. We’ve run into a bit of a problem though.” He told her about the crumbling foundation and how much fixing it was going to cost. He heard her groan.
“Seriously? This is getting out of hand. Maybe it would be cheaper to tear the place down and start over.”
“There’s no way we’re doing that. You can’t get logs that size anymore and even if we could, this lodge has a lot of history that we want to preserve. It means a lot to Harper.”
“You’re getting in very deep here, Ethan. You’ve got a lot of money on the line. What if the eco-lodge concept doesn’t catch on with the public? What if you’ve got a spectacular flop on your hands?”
“That’s not going to happen. I believe in this project more than ever.”
“Cam thinks you’re only doing this because of Harper Lindquist. He says she has some kind of hold on you.”
“That’s ridiculous.” He’d never admit to his sister he had the same concerns.
“Is it? Are you sleeping with her? Is that why you’re so willing to give her all this money?”
He clutched his phone to keep from throwing it against the wall “First of all, I’ve done my research. I’ve talked to a lot of people whose opinions I respect, and they all tell me this project is viable. And secondly, whether or not I’m sleeping with Harper isn’t any of your damn business. Harper is the most loyal, hardworking, honest person I’ve ever known. She doesn’t play games. You and Cam need to stay the hell out of my personal business and stop treating me like your doofus little brother. If you can’t do that, maybe I should start looking for someone else to look after my finances.”
Lydia was silent for several beats, giving Ethan’s heartbeat a chance to slow down.
She cleared her throat. “I’ve never heard you talk about a woman that way before. She must be something really special.”
“Yeah, she is.”
She is. He realized in that moment that he wanted her in his life. Forever. But that couldn’t happen as long as there were lies between them.
“I think I’d like to meet this girl. When are you going to let me come up there and check out the lodge?”
Not anytime soon. “I’ll let you know.”
“We don’t have a lot of cash readily available since most of it is tied up in investments. But I can liquidate a couple of accounts, move some money around. It might mean getting hit with penalties for pulling out of an investment early.”
“Do what you have to.”
“I should be able to have the money available in about a week. I’ll let you know.”
Relief flooded him. “Okay, thanks.”
“And for the record,” Lydia said, a laugh in her voice, “you’ll always be my doofus little brother.”
Ethan chuckled and shook his head. “Good to know.”
When Harper arrived home late that afternoon, she found a sticky note pasted to the door of her cottage.
My turn to cook. Come over to my cottage when you get home. E.
It was sweet of him to want to make a meal for her. She didn’t know he could cook.
There were a lot of things she didn’t know about him.
Pushing the thought aside, she walked the hundred feet or so down the road to Ethan’s cottage. She climbed the front steps to the porch and knocked on the door.
“Come in!” Ethan called from inside.
When Harper opened the door, the pleasant aroma of garlic and chili and an assortment of spices greeted her. “Mmmm. Something smells good.”
Ethan chuckled. “You sound surprised.”
She took off her jacket and tossed it on the sofa. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. You never mentioned your cooking skills.”
“I’m no expert, but I have a few dishes in my repertoire that I don’t s
crew up too badly. I hope you like chili.”
“Love it.”
He turned back to the stove. “Good. I think I made enough to last a week.”
“Maybe I don’t love it that much.”
He laughed. “I’ll freeze whatever we don’t eat tonight. Would you like a glass of wine?”
“I’d love one.”
“How was your day?” he asked.
She slid onto a stool at the island and watched as he took two wine glasses from the cupboard and poured red wine. “Busy. I visited four different clients and reconciled their month end accounts. I had to get everything done today because I’m leaving first thing in the morning for Minneapolis. Maggie and I are going to order kitchen equipment.”
“Oh, right. You mentioned you were doing that with her.”
He handed one of the glasses to her and she accepted it with a smile. “I think I could get used to being waited on. It’s been a long day.”
“You deserve a bit of pampering.” He touched his glass to hers in a toast. “To good food, I hope, good wine, and very good company. And to good news. The extra money we need for the foundation will be available in about a week.”
“Oh, Ethan! I will definitely drink to that. What a relief!”
“Did you seriously doubt I wasn’t going to come through for you?”
His choice of words hit her. Not ‘for the project’. For you. Warmth filled her soul. “I have to admit I was worried. I guess I should have more faith in you.”
Their gazes met, held. The air between them was charged with electricity and emotion. “I guess you should.”
Ethan had come through for her every step of the way. And not only on the lodge project. He’d helped her with Willy, too. Without his support, she wouldn’t have been able to do the right thing for Willy – make him take responsibility for his drinking. The jury was still out on that one, but she knew letting him lean on her was killing him.
As she stared into his dark eyes she realized how much she trusted him, and relied on him. That was something rare for her. The only people she trusted as much were her sisters.
Lies and Solace Page 19