“It’s incredible! With all of the money I have, I’ve never even thought to make ours that fancy.”
“Ah, yes, your money. Do you like having money, Hunter?”
“Well, I did. It’s gone. But hopefully, I’ll be able to recover most of it.”
“And will that make you happy again?”
“Of course. Who wants to be poor?”
“True. Follow me, will you? I need to stop at the bakery.”
“Sure, let’s go.”
When they arrived, Scarlet turned to Hunter. “Please stay right here. I have some business to discuss and it’s rather personal.”
“Alright.”
Luckily, there wasn’t even a bit of a nip in the air and Hunter still held her suede coat. She located a bench and sat, watching the passersby as they laughed and strolled about. She was so absorbed in the scene, she almost missed an interaction across the street in front of her.
“But, Daddy, please?”
“I’m sorry, we just can’t this year.” The man was crouched down at eye level with a little girl who appeared to be around the age of five or six. Hunter couldn’t see his face, but his daughter was angelic.
“Please, Daddy?” A tear slid down her face as she pleaded with her father. Her dark curls bounced as she held her father’s hands, pulling and begging.
The man was clearly upset and trying his best to soothe his daughter. Hunter was sure the little girl must be asking for something silly like an extra ice cream cone or another sugary snack.
“Morgan, we just can’t.” The dark haired man embraced the little girl and she rested her chin upon her father’s shoulder. The child had the bluest eyes Hunter had ever seen. Though they were a few feet away, she could literally feel the girl’s sadness and despair. Hunter realized this was about more than a treat and she found herself walking over to them.
As she approached, she overheard the man tell Morgan that they couldn’t afford the tree, his boss had shorted them and refused Christmas bonuses this year. With all of their bills, he just couldn’t get the pre-lit tree his daughter was begging for.
“If that woman could see how she’s hurting everyone, maybe she’d be less like her father.”
Hunter stopped dead in her tracks. What kind of woman would cause a family to miss out on having a Christmas tree? What a bitch!
“Morgan, please try to understand. Next year, I promise we’ll get whatever tree you want, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
He wiped her tears and scooped her up. When he turned around, Hunter was face-to-face with the mountain man who had fixed her tire!
“You!”
“You. What are you doing here? I thought you were off to your fancy cabin? And why are you crying again?”
Hunter hadn’t even realized tears had fallen down her cheeks and she wiped them away.
“I found I was too tired to continue driving last night and checked into a hotel.”
She could see the man more clearly than she had yesterday. He held his daughter tightly, comfortingly, and Hunter couldn’t remember a time when her own father had ever done so. He seemed larger than life to Hunter, standing there consoling his little girl. Dressed in another flannel shirt, this one a different shade of blue and a well-worn pair of snug fitting jeans, he no longer seemed like the arrogant stranger who had tormented her the day before.
“Hotel, you say? Around here?”
Some things, however, hadn’t changed. The man still answered her with questions and it made Hunter giggle.
“Oh, a smile? Are we expecting a blizzard?” His daughter laughed and the man’s eyes glittered with amusement.
“Yes, I know how to smile. You simply caught me in a bad moment.”
“Well, I guess we have that in common, don’t we?” He nodded towards his daughter and feigned a smile.
“I suppose we do.”
“This is Morgan.”
“I know. I overheard you a little bit ago. But, I can’t call you Daddy, so…”
“Lee. My name’s Lee Michaels.” He extended his hand and Hunter shook it.
“Happy to meet you. I’m sorry about yesterday. My name’s Hunter, by the way. And Morgan, I’m very happy to meet you.”
The little girl smiled, though Hunter could tell she wasn’t accustomed to meeting strange women.
“So, what brings you to town? Family shopping?”
“Sort of. I brought Morgan into town so I could pick up a few groceries for the weekend.”
“That’s nice. It’s a perfect day for shopping. Is Morgan’s mother here, I’d love to meet her.”
“No.” His demeanor changed immediately and Hunter suddenly felt as if she’d made another mistake.
“Oh. Alright. Well, I’ll let you be on your way then. It was great seeing you.”
“Yeah. Have a great Christmas.”
“Bye, Hunter.” The adorable little girl waved.
They began to part ways when Hunter turned around headed back to Lee and his daughter. “I was just about to get some hot chocolate, would you like to join me?”
“Can we, Daddy? Please? I love mashmallows!”
Hunter laughed at the girl’s mistake. “Yes, there will be plenty of mashmallows! What do ya say, Lee? I’ll buy. It’s the least I can do after you had to deal with me yesterday. Let me make it up to you.”
“Yeah, Daddy, let her!”
“Okay, but we can’t stay long.”
“Yay!”
“Awesome! Now, let’s get that cocoa.”
Once they were seated in the tiny café and the waitress brought their order to them, Hunter watched as Morgan plucked marshmallow after marshmallow out of her mug. She remembered doing the same thing as a child. Though, her father hadn’t been there with her. No, she’d had a maid to spend her days with. Even on Christmas. After her mother had abandoned them, all Christmas festivities had ceased. In fact, Hunter had been Morgan’s age the last time she’d had a real Christmas.
“Daddy, can I go play?”
“Sure. Stay right there where I can see you, though.”
“I guess she only liked the mashmallows.” Hunter laughed.
“Yeah, that’s what she does. She picks them out and leaves the cocoa.”
After an awkward silence, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what’s up with this boss of yours?”
Lee took a deep breath “It’s really none of your concern. How long were you eavesdropping?”
“I didn’t mean to, I couldn’t help it. Your daughter was crying and I was so entranced with your affection for her. To be honest, she was breaking my heart.”
“Well,” he lowered his voice. “My boss is a bitch. A bitch who had everything handed to her by her daddy and now she thinks she’s better than everyone else. I’m just one of the employees who breaks their balls every day to make sure things are delivered on time and that woman couldn’t even give the drivers a Christmas bonus. Instead, we were given calendars. Calendars! What the hell am I supposed to do with a calendar? I know when I have to work. I’ve been driving truck for nearly fifteen years. I got this job shortly before the old man passed away and I’ve watched the company and the livelihood of the employees dwindle ever since. I held on this long thinking we’d finally get a good bonus. I know the place has landed a ton of contracts this year. But, once again, the drivers got screwed. Golde Trucking is a damn joke. There is no gold standard. And the President is as fake as a three-dollar-bill.”
Hunter had mistakenly chosen to take a sip of her cocoa as the man announced his employer. She sprayed cocoa all over the table and Lee.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Mortified, she coughed and sputtered as she tried to clean up the mess.
“Really? What is wrong with you?”
“Must’ve gone down the wrong pipe. I’m really, really sorry.”
Once the cocoa was wiped away, Lee continued and Hunter felt lower and lower.
“So, this year I had enough to pay our electric bill an
d buy a few groceries. Ever since Morgan’s mom took off, it’s just been her and me.”
Morgan’s mother leaving struck a chord with Hunter. “That poor darling.”
“Yeah, well, her mom couldn’t handle being with a trucker. Or so she said. We haven’t heard from her in two years. Not even a damn birthday card for Morgan. The only blessing in all of it is that I never married her. So, I don’t have huge lawyer fees from a divorce.”
“That’s awful!”
“Well, we can’t all be made of money.” He snapped.
“What makes you think I’m made of money?”
“I saw you yesterday, remember? I know your car and I saw your fancy clothes, your purse. I may be a man, but I know expensive things when I see them.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m not rich. I was. But it’s gone. So, you can roll back your self-righteous indignation now.”
“Oh? So, you lost your money and now you’re slumming with the little people today? Nice.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? I offered to buy you and your daughter a hot chocolate and now you’re acting like an asshole! Maybe your boss has a reason to be a bitch if she has employees like you.”
“Whatever.”
Hunter was so shocked at the turn in conversation, she found herself on the verge of exploding at this man. Who did he think he was!
“Y’know, you rich folks are all the same. I’m not some charity case.”
“I never said you were.”
“You’re nosy. Eavesdropping on my conversation with my daughter and butting in where you have no business. What did you hope to get out of this meeting? Did you think being nice to some poor strangers would change your karma, get your money back for you?”
“No, actually. I thought it’d be nice to sit with someone and enjoy a friendly conversation. But you know what, forget it. I’m outta here. It’s no wonder Morgan’s mom left you. You, sir, are a jerk!”
Hunter tossed payment for the cocoa on the table and rose to her feet. As she reached the door, she spun around and marched back to the table.
“You know, I wasn’t going to say anything and risk you hating me more, but I believe we are beyond that now. So, Mr. Michaels, I’m sorry you didn’t like your calendar. I thought it would be a way to remind the employees who cannot seem to keep themselves on schedule, that we have deadlines. And I did sign authorization for every employee to get a check for five-thousand dollars this year for Christmas. I was under the assumption that each and every family had been given their bonuses. In fact, I believed I was the only one who wouldn’t be having a great Christmas because my company was robbed, every dime stolen except for what I believed I’d paid the drivers and office staff.”
Lee sat there, mouth wide open and Hunter rambled on.
“Furthermore, I am not a bitch. I may have had to take over this company, but I didn’t want it. Like you stated, I was handed the job. I try every day to run things like my father did and being a woman in this position isn’t easy. Not everyone is like Morgan’s mom. Maybe if you weren’t so bitter and angry, you’d give people a chance. Maybe you wouldn’t jump to conclusions and assume the worst in people.”
“Well, maybe you should look at how you treat your employees and you’d see that you indeed are a bitch. Y’know, if I had known who you were, I’d have left you stranded like you’ve left your drivers stranded.”
“Are you serious? I just told you I didn’t do any such thing. I signed the checks! I also told you that I’m the one who’s losing everything and still you have the nerve to say these things to me? Well, Mr. Michaels, I wish I could say it was a pleasure meeting one of my employees, but clearly it wasn’t. If there’s still a company after the first of the year, you can hand in your resignation. I won’t have anyone working for me who treats me like you have. Good day and good luck!”
Hunter marched out the door and didn’t look back. She made it to the corner before she realized she’d once again been crying.
“God, what an asshole!”
Chapter Five
“Are you okay, my dear?” Scarlet appeared out of nowhere and placed a hand on Hunter’s shoulder.
“No, and don’t touch me. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but, I’d like to leave. This crazy town is just as weird as your crazy resort! In fact, I think I’ll be checking out once we arrive back.”
“I’m sorry you’ve had such a horrible experience. We try to make sure our guests get everything they need.”
As they strolled through town, Scarlet continued. “Hunter, do you know why you’re here?”
“Honestly? No. Other than a string of horrible luck, being broke, getting screwed over by my boyfriend and basically being hated by my employees and stockholders, I can’t think of anything else.”
“Did it ever occur to you that all of that was supposed to happen?”
“How? Are you saying I was destined to have a shitty excuse for a father and an absent mother? If that’s the case, I sure got the shaft!”
“Sometimes we can’t control what happens to us. But we can control how we react to those circumstances.”
“Why must you speak in riddles? This whole place is a big damn puzzle. Nothing makes any sense! How could I be destined to arrive at this resort where everything up is actually down and how could being berated and hated actually be part of my so-called destiny? Why do you stand there so superior when you’re the reason I just sat through the most horrible cup of hot chocolate I’ve ever had in my life!”
“Can you hear yourself? It’s all about you, isn’t it? You’re broke, you’re abandoned, and you’re screwed over. Stop! Just for one moment, stop! It isn’t always about you, Hunter. It’s time you realized that. Until you do, your life will continue to be one big shitty shafting.”
Hunter stood there speechless. What the hell was wrong with all of these people?
“Screw you, Scarlet. You and your mumbo-jumbo, crazy talk can go to Hell. I’m done.”
Scarlet laughed. “I’m not surprised. That’s what you do. You run. Just like your mother. When things get tough, you run away. You ran here, didn’t you?”
“You bitch! You don’t know anything about me! How dare you stand there and speak to me like that.”
“Really?” Scarlet’s deep brown eyes narrowed as she continued. “My dear, I think this is exactly how you should be spoken to. You’ve obviously been spoiled your entire life. You treat people horribly. For example, let’s take a quick look at Javier and what happened when you arrived.”
The woman raised a hand and the scenery changed.
“What the...”
Before her eyes, Hunter watched a replay of her arrival at the River Jewel Resort. She saw the moment as Javier walked up to her. He hadn’t appeared out of thin air. Hunter had been distracted when she’d gotten out of the car. She’d been looking up at the massive resort. Javier had simply walked to her from the veranda and Hunter had snapped at him, treated him like he was a leper.
“How about this?”
Scarlet again waved her hand and Hunter was watching as Lee wandered out of the woods. There Hunter sat on the gravel road, kicking and screaming like a child.
“But I was alone. Anyone would act like that if they were stranded on a deserted road. You can’t be serious.”
“Just watch.”
Hunter saw the amusement on Lee’s face as he watched her. He wasn’t making fun of her. He wasn’t some deranged mountain man. And when Lee approached her, she’d grabbed a stick, ready to kill the man.
“How would you react? I thought he was some kind of killer!”
“Of course you did. Because you are that damned important, right? In the grand scheme of the universe, the focus is on you.”
‘Why are you being like this?”
“Just keep watching.”
The scenes played in front of her like a movie on a screen. She’d clearly treated Lee like garbage. Her heart broke as she watched the way she’d beha
ved. How could she be such a bitch? Why was she like that?
“How about this one?”
Now, the moments of her childhood and adolescence passed in front of her. The day her mother had walked out, when she was too young to speak up. Later, when her father was too busy to come to her school functions, birthday parties and of course, the many Christmas mornings she’d spent alone or with the maid.
Tears were steadily streaming down her cheeks and she let them flow. “Why did they leave me alone? How could they do that? I was just a little girl. I just wanted them to love me, to be proud of me.”
“Of course you did.”
“Is it any wonder I turned out the way I did?”
“Is it? Could you have been any other way?”
Hunter didn’t know. She’d spent years telling herself to be strong like her father. Who would want to be like a mother who’d abandoned them? Hunter had no choice. She had to be tough and she had to guard herself.
“I didn’t want to hurt anymore. So, I stopped allowing it to happen.”
“Yes, you did. How has that worked for you so far?”
She wiped her tears and smirked. “Obviously, not well. I’m alone. I’m hated and I’m miserable. The only happiness I’ve had in years happened a little while ago. Sitting with Lee and watching Morgan eat her marshmallows was amazing and I screwed it up.”
“No, my dear. You didn’t mess anything up. It was destined to happen. This moment is the one you were meant to arrive at.”
Hunter stood there, listening as Scarlet explained.
“Now that you know who stole your money, do you feel any better? Did it fix everything? Will you be happy to just go back to the company and continue on?”
No. Hunter had never really wanted the company. She’d loved the money and even the power, but she wasn’t happy. But what else did she have?
“I think you need to go back to your suite and figure some things out, don’t you?”
With a wave of her well-manicured hand, Hunter once again found herself standing in the elevator. Scarlet was gone.
“Seriously?” Hunter threw her hands up. “You show up out of nowhere, take me on some kind of time-travel trip, rip me a new one and then you disappear? Nice.”
River Jewel Resort Box Set Books 1-4 BOOK BUNDLE Page 8