by Stratton, M.
“It’s no problem.”
He looked down into her eyes. “Is anyone ever there for you?”
Her heart clenched painfully. “That’s not what tonight is about.”
“Samantha, if there’s one thing I’ve learned is that eventually, everyone needs someone. You take on everyone else’s problems. Someone should be there for you.”
She shifted, uncomfortable under his watchful gaze. She was sure he didn’t miss much. What she never told anyone was the fact that she’d resigned herself to being alone for however long she was allowed to walk on this earth. Running the resort was all-consuming. It would be difficult to have a normal relationship with anyone. Besides, the last thing she ever wanted was to start relying on Ethan, no matter how attracted she was to him. “Some people are put here to help others. I do as much as I can.”
“You could do more if you’d let people in to help you once in a while.” He patted her shoulder and walked away, gently closing the door behind him.
Sam leaned up against the wall, her head tipping back to rest on it. Ethan didn’t realize she’d already let him in further than anyone else. Her stomach knotted, after all of these years someone meant more to her than a friend. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and hoped she was strong enough to find out what was happening between the two of them.
Ethan woke up with a pounding head and tried to remember what had happened the night before. Six months ago, he’d have to wonder if there was some woman next to him who he’d have to find some way to get rid of before she started seeing hearts and flowers whenever she looked at him. He was, however, sure he was alone. His thoughts turned to the pain from the night before, and Sam. She seemed to be the first thing on his mind every morning. He’d never met anyone as strong, or as stubborn as she was. She gave this place her all, but the longer he was around her, the more he realized she always held a little bit of herself back. He wondered if it was a defense mechanism or something else that kept everyone apart from her. He frowned considering her past, losing both of her parents to cancer, and now running Last Resort, surrounded by death. Knowing each and every person was going to die sooner rather than later, it made sense not to want to get too close to them. Then there was the staff. She’d need to keep separate from them as well, because at some point, they were all going to move on. Not everyone could spend every day for years watching people die.
Glancing over, he saw the clothes she let him borrow from the night before and he frowned. Whose clothes were they? He didn’t think she had a boyfriend; frankly, he didn’t know when she’d have the time to see anyone. She also didn’t seem like the type to screw around for fun. Maybe he’d have to do some more digging. Swinging his legs around to get up out of bed, he stopped himself. Why was he wondering about her? Sure, he came here to dig into her past, figure out how she was scamming people, but it was almost like he was starting to care what happened to her. He rubbed his hands across his face feeling the growth of stubble across the palms of his hands. This place must be getting to him, making him go all soft.
The alarm on his phone went off. Turning it off, he stalked out of the room. It was time to get back to business. Figure out what was going on and get out. He needed to get back to what he was used to, what he knew.
Day 17
Ethan–
I have to admit it is so bizarre here. Now, don’t get all worried thinking something evil is going on. It’s the fact that we’re all dying and yet I don’t know if I’ve ever been closer to anyone since we were living together, or when Mom and Dad were alive. There’s this bond that brings us all together and closer. It’s sad it has to take something like this to bring people together.
Evan
“Ethan! Ethan, wait up!” Dolores called from the garden.
He stopped and turned toward her. “What are you doing up? Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“Shit, I’m dying, not dead. Sam made me rest yesterday. I’m as good as I’m going to be and not about to miss this gorgeous morning.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Smell that? Everything always smells so clean after a good rainstorm. It’s like all the bad stuff is washed away, you know?”
“The rain can’t wash it all away.” He thought back to last night when he was standing outside of his old home in the rain, wishing for everything that went wrong to be washed away and go back to how things used to be.
Dolores moved closer and put her hand on his arm. “The rain is like tears, Ethan. It’s a cleansing, a release. Even if you don’t realize it, they both help.” Squeezing his arm, she gave him a small smile and walked away.
Shaking his head, he started walking toward the main house again. After everything that happened the previous day, he couldn’t remember what was on the schedule. Going into the meeting room, he stopped when he saw most of the employees around the table. “Am I late?” He looked down at his watch.
“No,” Sam said from the doorway. “You’re right on time.” Crossing over to the head of the table, she opened up a folder and tapped it. “Today is going to be our first rehearsal for Shakespeare in the park. We have a few guests who’ve always wanted to act and a few others who are willing to try. The performance is this Saturday, so we are going to be heading down every day from now until then. Since we never know how any guest is going to feel on any given day, we are also going so we can aide them in any way they may need and make sure they fulfill their dream.” She handed the sheets out to everyone. “I’ve assigned one staff member to each guest. We’ve already talked to the troupe who is performing and worked out parts.”
Ethan looked down at his paper. He was paired up with Bobby, a young kid, only about twenty, who had Tri-lateral Retinoblastoma, a rare terminal cancer which targeted the eyes. He tried to remember what he had read in his file, something about being diagnosed with cancer when he was eighteen months old and they hadn’t given him eight months to live. His mother, Elizabeth, or Sissy as her family had called her, had already passed away six years earlier from ovarian cancer. He couldn’t fathom what it would be like as a parent to fight for your child’s life from such an early age. Then to go through your own battle with it when he was still dealing with his. He did the math in his head. Bobby had only been fourteen when his mother died.
Looking up, he saw Sam staring at him. He wondered if his poker face was still as good at it used to be. Seeing her brow furrow as their eyes locked, he knew she couldn’t see past what he wanted her to—at least for the time being. Unfortunately, she’d seen him weak twice now. He didn’t want to make it a third.
“Good,” Sam said. “It’s almost time to go. Ethan and I will each be driving a van. Let’s collect our partners and get this show on the road.” She smiled at her joke and walked over to him. “Here.” She waved a set of keys in front of him. “Since I know where we are going, why don’t you let me lead the way?”
“Sure.”
They stood looking at each other, not knowing what to say for a minute before Sam turned and walked away. There was something about her, something healing and beautiful. He found himself being drawn to her like a moth to flame, which didn’t sit well. When she didn’t look back at him, he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. In the past, women were always falling at his feet, chasing him, but Sam, she walked in the other direction. He began to wonder if the real reason he was still here was because of her. So far, his research hadn’t pulled up anything wrong with the resort, and no one would push themselves as hard as she did if she were only in it for the money. Sighing, he followed her out the door and walked to the second van, which was waiting for him.
“Hey there, Bucky!” Patty said and slapped him on the back. “Decided that doing some theater in the park is a little more fun than jumping out of a plane?”
Raising an eyebrow, he nodded. “So much more fun,” he said dryly. “Are you going to relax your daredevil ways and come with us?”
“Damn, Skippy, I am. They’re even giving me a couple of lines.” Her vo
ice shook with excitement and she waved a script in front of his face. “I’ve been studying the play. I don’t want to miss my mark.”
“Which play are they doing?”
“Romeo and Juliet.” She patted the rose she had tucked behind her ear. “See, I’m all ready for it!”
Ethan gave her a small smile. “Looks like we’re getting ready to leave. You’d better get a seat.” He walked around the van, inspecting the tires before doing the same on the other vehicle. Needing something to keep him occupied and not having to interact with anyone was what he needed. He didn’t know all of Shakespeare’s work, but that one, full of hope and romance, death, poison, knives and suicide . . . the last thing he wanted was more death added on top of everything else he was dealing with. He shook his head at himself. What was he thinking? He was working at Last Resort, where people went to die. There was no escaping it.
He made sure Bobby was settled in—although, he’d been raised in such a way he could get around just as well as anyone else—and then Ethan finally climbed into his seat and started the van. Putting it in gear, he started the trip down into the city listening to the cheerful chatter going on behind him.
Sam sat on the ground in the park with her back resting against a tree, her tablet on her lap and cell phone in one hand, while she tried to keep an eye on everyone and run her business. The developers were trying to get her land again. It seemed like every couple of years, they’d try to pull something, or offer some outrageous amount to get her to sell. Last time, she’d ended up having to get the police involved since they’d been sabotaging her vehicles and buildings, trying to put her out of business and needing to sell. She didn’t want that to happen again. But with the mystery of the abandoned gold mine somewhere on her property, she knew it was never going to go away. She shook her head. Didn’t they realize as the owner, she already spent a lot of time and money looking for it? If there was a gold mine, a lot of her worries would be gone. She’d never have to stress about paying bills and the resort could run for as long as it needed without emptying her bank accounts. She sighed, thinking it would be wonderful if they could find a cure for all cancer so her resort would never be needed again. But that was wishful thinking, and not going to happen any time soon, so she had to get back to work.
The weather looked like it was going to be pleasant for the next few days, which was good. They had the rehearsals, and then the show, not to mention a campfire cookout planned for the following night. Quickly taking care of a couple of emails, she noticed how Ethan stayed in the background, never actively involved in anything. Sam also noticed time and again, if anyone needed help, he was right there.
She was under the impression from what Evan had said that Ethan no longer cared about anyone else but himself, and money. He liked to make it, and invest it in developments. Cocking her head to the side, she narrowed her eyes at him, wondering once more why he had applied for the job in the first place. Her first instinct was always to believe what people told her. Most of the time it all worked out, but there were the times people were trying to scam her, and she ended up in shock someone would do that to her.
Tapping her finger on her bottom lip, she considered doing some digging on Mr. Ethan McGregor. Seeing Patty walk across the stage like a queen, she knew she had to. If he was here to find out if she was ripe for the picking and would try to get the land from her, by any means possible, she had to know.
Her eyes darted around. She felt guilty for doing it, but there were so many people who needed the resort and she wasn’t going to have it fall into the wrong hands. Pulling up the information Ethan had supplied her with when he’d signed his contract, she skimmed the documents for his general details, her eyes landing on the next of kin section, which was blank. Once she found his company information, she put that into a search engine and quickly looked to see what type of developments they typically dealt in. She was relieved when she didn’t recognize the properties he’d bought and sold, and that they were mostly in the city, in areas which were up and coming, not rural developments.
Her finger hovered over the About section of their website, wondering what else it might tell her about Ethan. Before she could talk herself out of it, Sam tapped it and blinked a few times as his image filled the screen. Holy moly, he cleaned up nicely. Who would have thought this man could wear a suit like it was a second skin? A second, very sexy skin.
Closing her eyes, she let out the breath she had been holding. She really didn’t want him to be the bad guy. While he might not be the knight in shining armor, the fact that he seemed to tip the scales toward the good side made her feel better.
Ethan had stayed backstage, making sure the guests all knew where they had to go and had everything they needed. It also gave him an opportunity to watch Samantha while she didn’t know he was. He had to admit that, even here, in the park on a beautiful day, she was there working for the resort instead of just enjoying the day. He found it ironic that someone who based the resort on living life to the fullest actually was the one working the hardest and had the least amount of time for fun.
Watching as the gentle wind blew her hair around and she absently tucked it behind one ear, he was again amazed at the person she was. The scales were tipping in the direction of her being one of those rare people who’d do everything in her power to help someone else. Just like his parents, but it had been too long since he’d been around people like her, he still wasn’t 100 percent sold on her innocence.
After all of the weeks at the resort, he knew she was always up before the sun and went to bed long after it had set. The only time she ever left the resort was on business. This was her whole life. Something pulled at him to go to her, make her see that she needed to take her own advice. Maybe make her see him as more than just an employee.
“Don’t let the boss catch you napping. She’ll dock your pay.”
Sam jumped at the smooth voice of the man she’d been investigating as he stood above her. “Ha-ha. Luckily for me, I know she’ll give me a break.”
“Do you mind?” He pointed next to her without taking his eyes from hers.
“No, not at all.” Feeling her cheeks flame with color, she looked down and tried not to gasp as his picture stared back at her. Flipping the tablet over, she hoped he hadn’t seen it and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t seem smug, like he’d caught her checking him out, but she couldn’t be sure and knew her face was getting even redder.
“How’s everyone doing back stage?” she asked.
“Great. They’re all having a ball trying on costumes and running around with swords.”
She heard him chuckle at her gasp and narrowed her eyes at him.
“Not real swords of course. Don’t worry, they’re fine. Although, they are talking about staging a revolt and making us stop for ice cream before heading back to the resort.”
“Well,” she chuckled softly, “I think that can be arranged, without the swordplay of course.”
He smiled at her. “Of course.” Tilting his head to the side, he studied her. “I bet your favorite flavor is vanilla.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because it’s a staple, a traditional flavor. Think about it, everyone knows exactly what they are getting with vanilla. It’s like the comfort flavor of ice cream.” He smiled at her. “So am I wrong?”
The last thing she wanted to do was to let him know he was right. While she did love other flavors, she could always rely on vanilla, and most of the time picked that flavor. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I’m sure you won’t disappoint.” He moved to face her. “Can I ask you a question?”
Looking into his eyes, which changed colors based on the emotions he was feeling, she felt her heart hiccup. Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded.
“We’ve talked about why you do this, but I was wondering, what do you do for fun? I don’t think you’ve had a night off since I started, what, three weeks ago?”
“Sure, I understand that, completely, I do. But who’s to say you don’t need to recharge your batteries. You know, fill up your reserve tanks so you can bring something new to what you love.”
She raised her eyebrow at him, hoping to bait him. “Or you could look at it as I have everything I need at the resort, so why look elsewhere?”
Leaning in closer to her, he smiled with a gleam in his eye. “Because to fully enjoy life, you need new experiences; otherwise, you stagnate.”
She loved to banter, but she could practically feel the heat from his body as he kept getting closer to her and it was starting to distract her. “You don’t always have to be on the move for new experiences, after all, still waters run deep.” Slowly, she nodded.
“But the depth of one’s devotion should not be measured by the amount they sacrifice.” He reached over and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
Her stomach fluttered at his soft touch and she licked her lips and saw his eyes darken. She wasn’t going to back down. “To work at what you love is never a sacrifice.”
His face was no longer teasing, but serious. His brow furrowed and he frowned. “To love without the passion of living is no life.”
She thought her heart was going to pound out of her chest. “The passion we bring to our lives is what we make of it,” she whispered.
“There should always be room for more, more of everything, but especially passion.” His voice shook with emotion.
“I . . . I think I have enough passion in my life.” An image of the two of them, wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing passionately, flew through her brain.
“Do you?” He leaned in closer to where there was only a few inches separating them, his voice so soft she had to strain to hear it. “Samantha . . . I’ve watched you. You’re like an exotic flower that only blooms once every hundred years.” He traced her jaw with a fingertip. “You wait and wait for the petals to open, and when they do, you revel in her beauty, letting her sweet scent envelop you, and wait for the richness of her colors to blind you. You, Samantha, are on the verge of blooming. Are you going to hide away, or are you going to embrace it?”