by Lori Ryan
His mother reached up and patted his cheek. “I might not know your history with Elle, honey, but I do know this. You two have a connection that doesn’t just go away. No matter how much you think you want it to.”
Her tone said his thinking was wrong.
“Business, Ma. This meeting is going to be about business.”
Her face fell and her hand slid from his face. “Okay, sweetie. Whatever you say.”
She turned to leave but Emmett saw the glimpse of a smirk. Heaven help the Sumner boys.
Chapter Three
Elle Noble glanced out the large windows of her office and nudged the edge of the bookshelf with her foot to set her leather chair rocking. The skiers were light today, only a handful making their way down the mountain and a few dotting the chair lift. She tried to tell herself it was because it was a Tuesday, but she had to admit business had been slower lately.
Her agreeing to work with Valerie Sumner and the Lodge at Canyon Creek hadn’t just been an olive branch to the family or an excuse to see Emmett. Canyon Creek tourism had been dwindling in recent years. If the Sumner and Noble families worked together to bring more visitors to Canyon Creek Mountain, she thought both businesses had a chance to turn things around. It was something she needed to do for her family, especially since she would be leaving them soon. At least, she’d be going down to part time. Maybe less.
“What are you looking at, Brat?”
Elle turned to see her brother, Tanner. He was decked out in snow pants and a long sleeve shirt with the resort’s emblem emblazoned across his broad chest. He loved nothing more than playing the ski pro angle up to take advantage of the women who came to the resort looking for fun.
Elle and Tanner were opposites in many ways. Where Elle’s hair was inky black, Tanner’s was a dark gold that turned lighter in the summer months. Elle’s skin was peaches and cream, in stark contrast to his deep tan complexion. Even though they were both tall, Elle was leaner compared to Tanner’s broad, muscled body. The only thing they had in common were their bright blue eyes. It was usually what gave them away as siblings.
“Not much,” she said, “what’s up with you?”
Tanner nodded toward the window. “It’s a light crowd today.”
“I know,” Elle sighed.
“Don’t worry, it gives us time to catch up on maintenance stuff.” Tanner always focused on the bright side of things. He’d been the one to try to bring a smile to her face on days she just couldn’t manage it herself. And there had been a lot of those.
Her brothers were all a big part of her life. Brody was the serious one. There was a reason he ran ski patrol on the mountain. Brody was steady and loyal, the brother she could count on when she needed a rock.
Wyatt, Brody’s twin, was more fun-loving and adventurous, like Tanner, but he no longer lived in Canyon Creek. He’d met his wife, Vivien, when she and her family had visited the resort six years ago. They’d fallen head over heels in love and married within months. The two lived in Connecticut now with their four-year-old daughter, Charlotte, but Elle still talked to him almost every week.
Tanner was the one who always found something to laugh at, something to be happy about. It was one of the reasons she’d been thankful he’d flown to New York to care for her when she’d first been diagnosed with breast cancer. Through all the awful treatments, the days of feeling sick, of not being able to eat anything, he’d been there making her smile and laugh through it all. He’d almost made her forget that the one person she loved more than anything in the world, the one person she’d wanted to be with her through all the hard times, wasn’t. Because of her.
In the almost five years since her original diagnosis, Tanner had never strayed far from her side. Some days she hated it, but she understood his need to protect her, to assure himself she was all right.
Elle stared out at the mountain, bringing her thoughts back to Tanner’s comment. He was right about them needing to do maintenance. “Yeah, that’s true, I guess.”
“You guess?” he asked, flopping down in her chair, propping his booted feet onto her desk. “Come on, we needed to shut down the lift on the East face to replace the belts, and I’ve got Carson and Gary up on Breakneck Trail clearing trees and brush out of the bottom turn. That would have caused a major backup on the other slopes if things weren’t a little slow.”
She stared at her hands, nervously rubbing her thumb over her palm. An annoying tick that was her tell when anything was bugging her. Her nervous habit irritated her even more right now that her brother knew the sign.
“Hey.”
Elle raised her head, not surprised to see the worried expression marring his face.
“What’s going on?”
Elle drew in a deep breath and exhaled, sinking back into her chair. “I’m supposed to meet with Emmett today.”
Tanner’s feet fell to the floor with a thud. “Emmett Sumner?”
“Yep.” Elle nodded.
“What’s that douche coming here for?”
“Tanner,” Elle admonished, “he’s not a douche. I told you it was a misunderstanding back in high school.”
“Well, it’s a good thing neither one of us have seen him since then. He hurt you, Elle.”
Not any more than she’d hurt him, she thought, but Tanner didn’t have the whole story. “It wasn’t like that,” Elle said.
Elle had never had the courage to tell her brother she’d seen Emmett in New York City just a day before her mastectomy. It had been a godsend, running into Emmett. The one night they’d spent together had been magical, just as she’d always envisioned it would be. She’d needed to feel like a woman one last time before the surgery that would change her forever. Emmett had made her feel beautiful, desired, loved.
And then she’d left. With only a note of goodbye.
She had left without ever telling him about her diagnosis and the treatment she was about to undertake. She knew Emmett. He would want to stay and help her through her surgery and recovery. He was just getting started in his writing career, about to make it big. Even though they hadn’t spoken since high school, Elle had followed Emmett’s career and she knew how long he’d fought to get that publishing contract.
They’d talked in his hotel room that night in New York City, just before her mastectomy. They’d settled the misunderstanding of their youth. She’d told him why she walked away from him so many years ago, and he’d understood. He’d been willing to forgive her.
The following morning, she’d walked away without a word. Emmett had a generous soul but not even he could forgive her for walking away, again. And she understood.
“I still don’t see how you can misunderstand something enough to break your heart,” Tanner grumbled, not willing to give up the grudge he held against Emmett.
Elle sighed. She would probably need to tell her brother everything that had happened with Emmett. Someday. Today wasn’t going to be that day.
She didn’t want to talk about the past anymore. “We need to come up with some solid ideas to draw people to Canyon Creek.”
Tanner leaned forward, his forearms braced on his long legs. “And?”
“And,” she continued, “the Sumners need the influx of business, too. What’s good for them is good for us.”
Tanner raised a quizzical brow. “And vice versa.”
“Yes,” Elle nodded. “Bringing tourists to Canyon Creek will benefit all of us. Valerie and I have mentioned the idea to each other a few times, and now we’re going to act on it. Emmett is heading up their marketing efforts over there.”
“Does Pops know about your meeting with Emmett?”
Elle shrugged. She hoped her grandfather didn’t know about a Sumner setting foot on his property. For reasons she still didn’t understand, her grandfather had never warmed to any of the Sumners, even though most of the younger people in town had forgotten the Sumners-Noble feud decades before. Her grandfather had often warned her off Emmett when they were teenagers.
“Hey, sweetie.”
Elle glanced up at her father’s voice. His tall frame leaned against her door jamb. She smiled and he returned the expression, the creases around his blue eyes deepening.
Even at fifty-three, Warner Noble broke many hearts in Canyon Creek. Since he was a widower, any number of single women in their small town had approached him. But twenty-eight years after her mother’s death, he still hadn’t shown any interest in ever marrying again.
Her mother had died giving birth to Elle, and her dad had his hands full raising four kids on his own. She assumed that’s why he turned women away. But now that all his kids were grown, she wasn’t sure why her father was comfortable with bachelorhood. Secretly she’d always hoped he would find love again, but he seemed content to make his kids the center of his world. Especially her. Since her breast cancer diagnosis, Elle’s family acted as if she were a porcelain doll, even more cautious of her than they’d previously been as the youngest and only girl in a household of men.
“Getting ready for your meeting?” her father asked, drawing her abruptly back from her thoughts.
“What meeting?” Pops’ voice echoed from the hallway.
“Oh, no,” Elle sighed. Her grandfather. He technically no longer worked at the resort, but that didn’t keep him away.
“With a Sumner,” Tanner growled as he stood from the chair across from her desk. “And you knew about this?” Tanner’s eyes narrowed on his father.
Elle bit back the sigh that wanted to escape this time. A woman could only sigh so many times in a day. But, really, Tanner didn’t hold the same grudge against the Sumners that Pops did. He was just being obstinate because she and Emmett had a past.
Elle’s dad stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I suggested it.”
Tanner’s head shot back, and Elle couldn’t help but think he was overreacting. “Why?” Tanner asked their dad.
“Yeah, why?” Her grandfather pushed past her dad, his large personality filling her small office. The man had to weigh all of a hundred pounds nowadays, but he could fill a room, just the same. “Are we now cavorting with the enemy?”
“They’re not the enemy, Dad,” her father spoke to Pops gently but firmly. He’d never been one quick to anger like Pops or her uncles had.
“The hell they’re not,” Pops spewed. “First, that John Sumner steals your spot on the football team, by cheating I might add.”
“Oh, God, not this story again,” Tanner and Elle grumbled in unison.
“What do you mean, again?” Pops asked, as if somehow unaware of how many times he brought up the family feud.
“Dad, it’s been over thirty years. He didn’t steal my spot. He was a senior, I was a sophomore. Can we please let this go?” Her dad raised one hand to Pops as though pleading, and Elle found herself nodding in agreement.
Her grandfather shook his head and sat in the chair Tanner had just vacated. “No, we can’t. He was a thug and a cheat.”
“He was not,” her father argued. “He was a hard worker and a better quarterback. He won the position fair and square.”
Her grandfather huffed. “Says you.”
“Says everyone.” Her dad shook his head in exasperation. “Including the coach. And wouldn’t you think me and the coach would be better judges than you on that count?”
“Well what about the time he—”
“Stop, Dad,” her father said with force.
Elle was taken aback by his tone.
All three stared at him.
“The man just died,” her father said more quietly now, “the least you can do is let his soul rest in peace. Stop bad-mouthing John Sumner and his kids.”
Elle smiled at her father in silent thanks. The Sumners had always been nice to her and she’d often wondered what was so terrible between them that her Pops couldn’t forgive and forget.
“Well,” Tanner started in, “you can bad mouth Emmett all you want. He’s alive. That asshole cheated on Elle.”
“He didn’t cheat,” Elle bit out. She was tired of this whole damned thing. “We weren’t a couple in high school.”
All three men scoffed at her in disbelief.
“What?” she asked, her hands raised.
“I think you might quite possibly be the only person who didn’t realize the guy was hopelessly in love with you back then,” her father answered gently.
“Well, I love him, too.”
Three sets of eyes narrowed.
Oh no. “Loved,” she amended quickly once her brain caught up to what her mouth had said. “I loved him. And it wasn’t that kind of love. We were best friends, we meant a lot to each other.”
“Um hm,” Tanner murmured, shaking his head.
“Whatever,” Elle swatted at the air. “Don’t you all have some place to be?”
Her dad didn’t move. “I wanted to talk to you before you meet with Emmett. I have some ideas. I ran them by Valerie but she suggested we talk them through with Emmett.”
“You’ve talked to Valerie Sumner?” Pops cut in, and Elle understood where the saying about dogs and their bones came from. The man couldn’t let it go.
“Many times.” Her dad’s tone was nonchalant, but she could see he was nearing the end of his patience as well.
“What is it with you people? First my granddaughter, now my son.” Pops gritted his teeth. “You do realize they financed the lodge with a loan from our bank. If they default, we can foreclose, and the resort can buy the property. We have a chance to own the whole mountain, and you two are trying to help them?”
Elle felt her jaw drop. Literally.
“It’s not our bank, Dad. Just because several Nobles sit on the board doesn’t make it our bank.” Her father, her grandfather, and two of her aunts held positions on the board of the local bank. Elle knew her Pops always relished the position, but she’d never heard him speak quite so bluntly about taking advantage of the post in a way that was…well, horrible, really.
“Pops, we have enough of the mountain as it is,” Elle said, shaking her head. “We don’t need to take anything from the Sumners.” For the first time, she honestly worried about the extent to which her grandfather would take this feud. It shouldn’t even be a feud anymore. Whatever had happened with the two families when the town was founded was ancient history. And it ought to stay that way.
Her grandfather made a dismissive sound and waved her off. “Whatever.” He pushed up from the chair. “I’ve got to get down to the bank. We have a meeting.”
“Dad, you can’t drive,” her father reminded him.
Elle’s grandfather had had a stroke almost six months ago, which limited his mobility. His gait was off and his vision slightly impaired. Enough to lose his driver’s license. An event that Elle was sure the department of motor vehicles would never forget, he’d raised such a fuss.
“Florence is picking me up,” Pops announced, striding toward her open door like a man on a mission.
“Flo the h—” Tanner fisted his hand and covered his mouth as he cleared his throat, “I mean, librarian?”
“That’s the one.” Her grandpa winked. He actually winked.
“Guess the stroke didn’t affect your junk, huh, Pops?” Tanner laughed, holding his hand up for a fist bump.
“Damn right,” her grandfather responded, pounding Tanner’s outstretched hand like it was a punching bag.
Tanner pulled his hand down and shook it. “Damn, old man, you still got it.”
“He just doesn’t know what to do with it,” her father muttered under his breath.
“I bet my trunk has more junk than yours, young man,” Pops rebutted. Apparently, the stroke hadn’t affected his hearing.
Elle tipped her head down and rubbed at her temples. �
��Seriously,” Elle groaned, “there’s a lady in the room.”
“Where?” Tanner’s gaze roamed around her office.
Elle grabbed a paperclip and flicked it at her brother, but he swatted it out of the way before it connected. “Will you guys get out of here? Emmett should be here any minute and I’ve still got stuff to put together.”
“Mark my words.” Her grandpa narrowed his gaze and pointed a finger. “No good will come from this union.”
“It’s not a marriage,” Tanner snorted. His blue eyes cut to hers. “You’re not marrying Emmett Sumner, are you?”
“Get out!” Elle shouted, walking around her desk and shooing them out of her office. Elle’s phone rang and all three men stopped short. Elle ran into Tanner’s back before she could stop her forward momentum.
“Good grief. Really?” She said as she stepped back and retrieved the phone from its cradle on her desk.
“Yes?” As she answered, she narrowed her eyes and waved a hand at the three men watching her. They didn’t seriously think they could stand there and gawk while she went about her day.
“Um, Elle, Emmett Sumner is here to see you.”
Elle murmured, “Thank you, I’ll be out soon,” and put down the phone, placing a hand to her stomach to quell her nerves. Just hearing Emmett was here set her pulse racing. What would seeing him do?
“Sis?” Tanner asked, drawing her attention.
She scowled. “Go!” This time, her barked command set the men in motion.
Elle smiled for a minute at their retreating backs, before her expression dropped. Now she had no excuse to delay seeing Emmett.
She knew from her visit to his mother in the hospital that he looked just as good as he always had. His dark brown hair and whiskey-colored eyes still made her heart race. Maybe even more so. With his quiet air of authority, Emmett Sumner was intensely arousing.
Elle had never been able to be in the same place with Emmett and not be immediately drawn to him. He was quiet. He never seemed to feel the need to speak if he didn’t have something worth saying. But his eyes always drew her in, and his smile could cut right through the worst of days and bring a matching smile to her face. It had always been that way between them.