In Too Deep

by Dani Collins

  But this could be very lucrative for Wikinger, Torsten had said to Trigg. If you brought this to the board, they would support it.

  Trigg had heard the invitation to stab his brother in the back and responded with, I don’t want stainless fucking steel. I want to play in the snow. And so does Rolf.

  “Torsten won’t take it to the board, will he?” Trigg asked his mom. “It would come out that he’s been screwing around on Winnie all these years.”

  “She knows.” His mother took a deep swallow of chardonnay. Tapped her finger against the rim of her glass. “She endured the embarrassment because she enjoys her horse shows and designer handbags, but she said something about the irony of attending a wedding as her own marriage dissolved. I didn’t get into it, but if they’re divorcing, it will cost him.”

  “Meaning he’s looking for a quicker ROI than the resort.” Trigg swore under his breath. “Still, he’s not going to stage a coup in the nine days Rolf is off-grid. Go back and call an emergency meeting?” Would he? Trigg swore again. “I told Rolf to book the wedding for after I turn thirty.” He and Rolf had been playing a waiting game, making concessions until the board would have to quit pretending they were ‘protecting’ Trigg’s interests along with the shareholders.

  “Things are in the air while Torsten is in the air,” his mother said in her controlled fashion. “Let’s discuss your options once he lands.”

  “There is only one option open to me. You know it as well as I do. And I don’t know if it would be enough.”

  “About that.” His mother drew a breath. “There are things you should know.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Marvin had been the proudest father Wren had ever seen at the wedding, but from the day she’d been hired, he’d shown equal excitement for the day he would present his other baby to the world, fussing about the grand opening celebration like a first-time mom headed to the kindergarten classroom.

  At eleven a.m., Friday the sixth of July, he cut the ribbon they’d hung across the front door and officially opened Blue Spruce Lodge.

  The lobby was decorated with balloons and leftover floral arrangements from the wedding. All the guests were offered commemorative gifts, cake and mimosas, but the ceremony was largely symbolic. Photos and press interviews had been going on all week. The lodge itself was only sixty percent booked, now that the wedding guests were checked out, but the dining room was reserved for two turn-overs of their special five-course menu this evening. A lot of people from town were coming out along with a band that would play a few sets in the lounge.

  For staff, it was business as usual. In fact, they were all burnt out on celebrating and ready to simply do their jobs. Wren let them go about it and conscripted Sky to help her hand out the cake. Sky was blue about Bruno having left first thing and needed the distraction.

  Maybe Marvin was equally let down by the departure of his colleagues and relatives since he seemed uncharacteristically subdued as he circulated with the guests in the lounge, thanking them for being part of his special day. Vivien hovered near the diorama of the ski hill, explaining the stages of development planned for the next few years, but her smile seemed even more rehearsed than usual.

  “You wish Glory was here,” Wren guessed, when Marvin followed her into the office to help bring out more of the Blue Spruce Lodge key chains and Whiskey Jack lip balms they were giving away.

  “That would have been nice,” Marvin acknowledged with a smile that faded as quickly as it appeared. “But it’s better that she’s not.”

  “Why do you say that?” Wren slowed in using the scissors to cut open the tape on the box.

  Marvin hesitated, then closed the door. “I wouldn’t bring this up with you, but you were the one to bring the situation with Torsten to Trigg’s attention. Vivien is quite worried. I’m worried. About my investment.” His thick brows steepled as he looked to the ceiling and the three floors above them that he’d spent over a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars restoring.

  Her hand dropped, letting the scissors hit the desktop with a thunk. “Should I be worried? About my job?”

  The way he tightened his mouth and silently pleaded for understanding made a terrible, slithery feeling drip through her.

  “I have every confidence you and Skylar will be well taken care of by Trigg,” Marvin said. “But if the board were to pull the rug from under the boys and demand Wikinger pursue mining rather than the resort, I would lose the lodge and everyone here would lose their jobs.”

  “But I like this job. I like working for you.” Why was life so unfair? She still had the sweetness of icing on her lips, but the universe was threatening to take a giant dump on that little bit of happiness she was enjoying. Why?

  “I shouldn’t have upset you.” Marvin squeezed her arm. “I have every faith in Trigg. He won’t let that happen, not without a heck of a fight.”

  It was going to be a fight?

  She nodded dumbly, finished opening the boxes and they carried them out to the lobby. It seemed so futile now, giving away promotional items for places that might not exist by the time these people took them home to use them.

  Wren looked to Vivien who had a hand on Sky’s shoulder as she introduced her as her granddaughter. Sky had blossomed here, where she had connected with her father’s family and had begun to understand who she was. How had Blue Spruce Lodge begun to feel like home when they didn’t even use their kitchenette or sit on furniture that belonged to them? It was silly to suddenly be near tears when they’d both shown up here with such dread one short month ago.

  “Where’s Trigg?” Wren asked Vivien when the crowd began breaking up. She wanted to hear directly from him how bad things were.

  “Nate had a concern at the base. Trigg ran down for a quick meeting with Devon. He’ll be back as soon as he can. He wanted to toast Marvin’s success. If those two hadn’t met in a coffee shop in Seattle, none of us would be here today.” She kept her smile pinned, but up close, Wren could read the stress behind it.

  “Vivien, how—”

  “Motherfucker.”

  Trigg’s voice widened their eyes and caused the people still milling in the lounge to send edgy looks toward the lobby.

  Wren moved with Vivien to see Trigg standing inside the front doors, which had been thrown wide in welcome. The two halves of the ribbon Marvin had cut were still wafting in the breeze on either side of him.

  Trigg held his cell phone in a fist, looking like he wanted to throw it or snap it in half.

  “Is that language necessary?” Vivien asked, moving with calm authority into the lobby. “I’m sorry,” she murmured to the people staring. “My son has forgotten this is no longer a worksite.”

  “Shit. Sorry,” Trigg muttered, skimming his gaze across the startled faces then locking on to Wren. “Come with me.” He started for the stairs.

  “What? Why?” She was aware of Sky coming to stand beside her and had the strongest urge to take her niece’s hand. Maybe even hide behind her.

  He sounded so mad.

  He paused halfway up the first flight and scowled down at her. “Because I need to talk to you.”

  Vivien had her fingers on her pearls, her face raised to Trigg. Her expression didn’t look confused. If anything, she looked resolved. Even nodded slightly as if she knew what was coming and only hoped he could pull it off.

  “We’ll be fine down here, dear. You can run up for a few moments.” Vivien turned her head to send a meaningless smile toward Wren.

  “But what is it about?” She was scared. Genuinely scared. This felt too much like the times when her father had said, Put out your hand. A cold chill washed over her and her stomach was in knots.

  It was a dumb overreaction. Trigg would never hurt her. Ever. She was ninety-nine percent sure of it.

  “What’s wrong?” Sky was brave enough to move to the bottom of the stairs, which had Wren moving reflexively to shadow her. “Is it about me? Where’s Murphy?”

  “He�
�s at the base with Nate. He’s fine.” Trigg paused halfway up the second flight. “You’re not in trouble. I just have to talk to your aunt.”

  “What about?” Sky asked.

  “It’s private.” He scanned the listening crowd with irritation. “I didn’t mean to make a scene. Enjoy your stay.”

  “Dad.” Sky threw out the word with frustrated insistence.

  “Skylar. You’ll know when you need to know,” Trigg said, ordering, “Wren,” as he continued up the stairs.

  Vivien hurried across to Sky. “Will you help me in the office, please?”

  *

  Trigg looked back and saw Wren’s gaze dart after Sky as his mother hustled her away. She set reluctant feet on the stairs. Her lips were white and trembling. When she realized he was looking at her, she straightened her expression into the unreadable one he always found frustrating and moved with more purpose.

  He was scaring the hell out of her. Fuck. Exhaustion washed over him and he ran his hand down his face.

  “You’re not in trouble, either,” he muttered as she met him at the top. “I’ve barely slept and—” He dragged his heavy feet to his door and thumbed in his code, then held the door open for her.

  She still looked wary, but walked in ahead of him.

  Housekeeping only came in when he asked so the bed was unmade. His wet towel was on the floor and his breakfast dishes were next to his open, black-screened laptop.

  “Things have gone from bad to worse since yesterday,” he said, closing his door.

  “Marvin told me there was some concern about the board trying to shut down the resort in favor of mining.” She wove her fingers together and bit her lip.

  “It’s a full fucking revolt over Wikinger.” He sat on the armchair and pushed the heels of his hands into the gravel that seemed to inhabit his eye sockets. “It’s really bad, Wren. Torsten is trying to raise the support to unseat Rolf as president and install himself as interim, so he can push the board to approve the mine.”

  “Have you told Rolf?”

  “He’s on the fucking savanna! Which was my genius idea. I suggested it and Glory jumped on it. Couldn’t wait to go a week without electronics. I’ve sent a message by carrier pigeon, but this could all be over before he even hears about it.”

  “Okay.” She started to sit on the love seat, glanced at the paperwork on the coffee table and gasped.

  It was his copy of the document he’d signed, agreeing to wait at least six months before opening custody discussions. Even then, they had to go through lawyers.

  Fresh terror came into her expression. “What—” Her voice thinned to smoke. “What kind of options?”

  “I pointed out I’m a father and as such, I should be given full voting rights. But seeing as I don’t have custody…”

  “No,” she breathed. Her mouth was trembling and she covered it with her two hands as she sank onto the love seat. Tears rose to glass her eyes as she stared at him with betrayal. “You can’t ask me to do that, Trigg. You can’t.”

  His heart lurched. He hitched forward on the cushion, elbows braced on his thighs. “Listen—”

  “I know, I know.” She held up a hand, brows pulled into a knot of torture. “The company is Sky’s future, but she’s mine.” Her voice was quiet and fierce. Petrified. Then agonized. “But it’s not just her, is it? It’s everyone’s future. Marvin’s business. My job. Which way would the town vote, do you think?”

  “Straight down the middle, if history repeated itself. We’d be dead in a sea of debates for years. We have to contain this before it gets that far.”

  He could see the weight settling on her the way it was pressing on him. He let her absorb it. It was important she understand exactly how grave this was, but it hurt to see her struggling with it.

  “Wren—”

  She sniffed and scraped together her composure, using her fingertips to clear her eyes and leaving little smudges of charcoal across them.

  “Shared, though. Right?” Her voice cracked, but she held her chin steady. Bravely high. “Because I can’t—”

  He almost crumpled into a heap of gratitude. If only it were that simple.

  “Wren, there’s no time for that.”

  She frowned and he hitched forward again, so his ass was barely on the edge of the cushion. Distantly he was aware of his thighs burning, of other discomforts like an ache of tension in his shoulders and jaw. The wired weariness of a sleepless night and too much caffeine. His stomach had ulcerated hours ago and his skin felt as though it was coated in fever sweat.

  “The board is calling an emergency meeting tomorrow afternoon. That’s the email I got a few minutes ago. Rumors are circulating that Wikinger is going to stop payment for all the contractors currently working on the resort. That’s why I was down at the base this morning. Devon is ready to pull up stakes and leave us in the lurch.”

  “Torsten said that?”

  “Pretty sure Dirk is the source and it’s another level of fucking sabotage. He’s trying to make it impossible for us to open this season. If we fall that far behind, the board really will have grounds to unseat Rolf.”

  Don’t burn the place down. How about if he blew it up and took everyone with it?

  Wren’s curled fingers were white, one cupped hand cradled by the other on her lap. He could see the tremble in her bright white nail tips.

  “Okay,” she whispered in a little squeak. “What do you need me to do? This is Sky’s future. How do we proceed?”

  His hands went clammy. He rubbed them on his thighs.

  “My lawyer says that even if you and I agree to fast-track a shared custody arrangement, I would be thirty before all the dust settled. If I could wait until I’m thirty…” He snorted. So near and yet so far. “I do want custody, by the way. Not for the company, but because Sky is my daughter. I want a say in her life. But that’s something you and I can talk about later.”

  He looked at the floor between them, wondered if he was supposed to kneel, but stayed where he was as he lifted his gaze to meet her solemn one. His insides went into free fall.

  “After you and I get married.”

  *

  “What?”

  Wren felt as though wind was whipping past her ears, making hearing impossible. She was on a roller coaster, something she usually avoided because they made her so dizzy and weak.

  “You heard me.” He rolled his lips into a flat grimace, then set his elbows on his knees so he was leaning toward her. “Even if Rolf somehow flies to Berlin for that meeting, it doesn’t matter. They know his position. I know which members will side with him and which ones are profit-driven. Torsten will say it’s in the best interest of the shareholders to exploit the mine. Less risk, more money. But I can vote if I’m married.” He hesitated, then added, “So could you.”

  “What?” The roller coaster flew down another wild dip.

  “I didn’t know about the spouses either. Mom told me last night, when I floated the idea of marrying you. Rolf’s first wife didn’t have his kid. That’s why she didn’t have voting rights. Glory will get a say when she pumps one out. You, as Sky’s guardian, are the de facto mother of my child.”

  “I—You—” Her brain was going supernova while the rest of her wanted to scamper like a bunny into a bolt-hole. “How would we even—”

  “I looked it up last night. We go to the courthouse in Haven, buy a license, then ask a judge to marry us. Right now. Then we fly to Berlin and kick some ass.”

  “Now?”

  She wanted to jerk to her feet and pace off the adrenaline shooting through her veins, but her heart was slamming so hard, she was light-headed. If she stood up, she might fall down.

  “But—” She had to clear her throat again. “It would be like a green card marriage? We’d get a divorce as soon as possible?”

  He kind of jerked as she said that, as though she’d hit him. “I guess.”

  “What do you mean you guess?” She lurched to her feet and put as muc
h distance as the room allowed between them. “I always thought that if I got married…” She held on to her own elbows like they were a lifesaver that could keep her from drowning. “That it would be because I loved someone so much I couldn’t say ‘no.’”

  “You love Sky that much. I know you do.”

  His words neatly sidestepped admitting any feelings for her, which scored across her heart like a razor, thin and neat. “You know what I mean.”

  “Wren.” He came toward her, hands out like he was asking her to dance. Or inviting her into another kind of embrace.

  Illogically, she wished he would take her in his arms. The one time he had hugged her, she had felt safer than she ever had in her whole life. She longed for that right now, when she felt as though he was asking her to jump off the edge of a cliff with him.

  “We share a child. Her future is threatened. As parents, we’re supposed to unite to protect her.”

  “And that’s all this is?” She searched his face, not sure what answer she wanted from him. What if he said this went deeper for him? Did she want it to?

  “Do you have a better idea? Because dusting my hands is not an option. And we’re out of time.”

  A knock sounded on the door.

  “Busy,” he barked, but the lock was already beeping and humming as it released.

  Sky pushed in, chin set at a belligerent angle. “I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Note to self,” Trigg said with a dry look toward Wren. “Start using the Do Not Disturb feature.”

  Ha-ha. She hugged her ribs and looked at the floor. Was she really going to agree to this?

  “Your aunt and I are getting married,” Trigg said.

  Guess so.

  “What?!” Sky screeched. Her blue eyes went big as basketballs. Her arms hung at her sides. “Are you joking?”

  “So Trigg can vote against the board,” Wren said. “Instead of the resort, they want to open a mine, but we have to do it quickly.”

  “How quickly?” Sky frowned.

  “We have to drive into Haven right now, to the courthouse,” Trigg said.