by Stacy Finz
Deb searched through her closet for something presentable to wear in case Jillian had time to meet with her today. Considering what a good client Garner Adventure was, Jillian should make them a priority. Don’t I sound like a corporate type?
“This one or that one?” Deb held up a sweater dress in one hand and herringbone slacks and a blazer in the other.
TJ nudged his head at the sweater dress. “That one for sure.”
She smiled to herself because the little scenario felt domestic and she liked it. But something had been nagging at her. “TJ?” she asked, feeling a bit reluctant to broach the subject because this thing between them felt perfect right now and she didn’t want to screw it up. “Er . . . how are we supposed to handle us at work?” Or in public, for that matter?
He didn’t respond at first, which she saw as a red flag. Then he finally said, “Uh, I need to talk to Win, so I’d appreciate it if we could keep you and me on the down low for a while.”
The idea of being a secret couple rubbed her wrong, but she understood how it could be awkward, given her past with Win.
He lifted her hair and kissed the back of her neck, and any trepidations she had melted away. Someone’s cell rang, and it took Deb a second to determine that it was TJ’s. He reached for it on the nightstand, checked the caller ID, and put his finger to his lips before answering. From the sound of the conversation, it was one of his brothers. She finished getting dressed, and by the time she was done, TJ had signed off on his call.
“Josh.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m an hour late and everyone freaks out.” He grabbed his wallet and car keys. “I’ll see you in the office.”
She zipped up her boots. “If I get an appointment with Jillian, I’m going to Reno.”
“Okay.” He kissed her good-bye. “Drive carefully.”
It had snowed overnight. She chose a wool coat instead of her ski jacket, gave TJ a head start to his truck, and headed out. At GA, Darcy had brewed a fresh pot of coffee and Deb helped herself to a cup.
“Hey.” Win reached around her waist and pulled her in for a peck on the cheek. “What up?”
“Just working. How ’bout you?”
“I’m taking a few guys up for some freestyle skiing in the backcountry in about an hour.” Win glanced toward the hallway. “Have you seen TJ? He’s usually here by now, but it doesn’t look like his computer is even on.”
“Nope.” She felt yucky lying. “I’ve gotta get to work, make a few calls.”
“Sure, go do your thing.”
She went to her office and booted up her computer. There were only two orders from the online store. One for a sweatshirt, the other a hat. Oh boy, not exactly taking the world by storm. She looked up the number for Jillian’s company and reached her directly. Forty minutes later, she was on the road with a plan to turn sales around. And to prove—mostly to herself—that TJ had made the right decision hiring her.
* * *
By the time TJ got to the office, he was two hours late and he didn’t care. Let someone else worry about the day-to-day problems for a change.
Today, he wanted nothing more than to ride a wave of happiness. Because if they couldn’t save the store, it wouldn’t last for long.
“You have ten messages,” Darcy said as he passed through the lobby.
He stopped at her desk and scooped up the stack of call-back slips. “Anything important?”
She did a double take. “I thought you said everything’s important.”
He might’ve said it once upon a time.
“I got all the rescheduled tours on the calendar,” Darcy continued. “Everyone is onboard. Want me to give you a copy?”
“Nope,” he said. “I trust you.”
He started to walk away when she called, “Are you sick or something?”
“Never felt better.” He tried to sound casual when he asked, “Is Deb in yet?”
“She went to Reno to meet with our webmaster.”
That hadn’t taken long. He liked her initiative but was disappointed. He’d been looking forward to seeing her. After all, it had been a full hour since he’d seen her last.
In his office, he booted up his computer and sorted through the pink slips. Nothing that couldn’t wait. Most of them were vendors trying to sell GA something. He sneaked a look at their daily sales, and despite his good mood, his heart dropped.
“You’re here.” Colt came in without knocking. Typical.
“You off today?” He was in plain clothes instead of his uniform.
“Wedding stuff.” Colt pulled a face. “You sick or something?”
“No.” Why was everyone asking that?
“Win said you haven’t been here all morning.”
“All morning. It’s only ten thirty. I slept in. What’s the big deal?”
Colt sank into the couch. “You never sleep in and you’re always here at seven, like clockwork. Everything okay?”
TJ got up, shut the door, and sat back down. “I was with Deb last night.”
“Yeah?” Colt sat straight up and smiled. “How’s that going?”
“Good.” That was an understatement, but he wasn’t sharing the details with his brother. “I need to talk to Win about it.”
“Probably a good idea just to prevent any weirdness. I’m betting he’ll give you his blessing.”
TJ let out a breath. “You talk to him about Britney?”
Colt nodded. “He’s determined to marry her and we need to support him in his decision.”
Perhaps Win knew what he was doing. He typically steered clear of the hard stuff. Hell, he’d had the chance to be an Olympic star and quit just because the strict regimen wasn’t his jam.
And then there was the fact that if Win married Britney, he’d leave the road wide open for TJ and Deb. The self-serving thought sort of horrified him. But it was there nonetheless.
“Is Mom still having that dinner?”
“Saturday night. Didn’t you get the memo?” Colt grinned because their sweet little mother became a drill sergeant when she threw one of her supper parties. All Garner men were expected to drop their plans and show up.
“Guess I know where I’ll be.” He could bring Deb to his parents’ house, make them official there. “How do you think I should tell Win?” This wasn’t email material. Hey, I’m with the woman everyone thought you’d marry.
“Win’s got bigger fish to fry right now, so just be straight with him. Take him for a beer or something.” Colt glanced at his watch. “I’ve gotta roll. Delaney and I are meeting with Foster about flowers.” He made a gun with his finger and put it to his head.
TJ chuckled. “I still don’t know why you don’t go to Vegas and get it done before she changes her mind. You aren’t exactly a prize.”
Colt gave him the finger and took off, leaving TJ to wonder what to do with the rest of his day. He had a pile of work on his desk, calls to return, and a retail venture to revive. But there was fresh snow on the ground.
Screw it.
He went in search of his skis and on his way out called to Darcy, “You’re in charge while I’m gone. Don’t take crap from anyone.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Come on, Teddy. Can’t you help a girl out?” If Deb could finagle this, she’d be golden.
“You know what you’re asking? TJ Garner hasn’t competed in more than ten years. I love the guy, but, Deb, this is the big time.”
She got up and shut her office door. “Give me a break, Teddy. It’s not the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup or even the X Games.”
“We draw some of the most famous freeskiers in the world. Even though I want to help you out, it’s a by-invitation-only event. Just twenty-three people made the cut this year.”
“Get us an invitation, Teddy.” She wasn’t backing down. The White Crush Invitational was the perfect contest to promote Garner Adventure. Hosted at Sierra Resort, just twenty miles down the road, the event included everything from big-mountain skiing to backcountry slopestyle.
Camera crews from as far away as Switzerland trekked in to film the competition. “You owe me.”
She’d set him up with his wife, one of her best friends from high school, while volunteering at a World Cup event at Squaw many moons ago. Teddy had been one of the organizers, and Bonnie, a competitor. Now he ran White Crush and wielded enough power to get anyone an invite to compete in the all-day event. But Ted was right; White Crush wasn’t your basic slalom race. It was extreme skiing at its finest. The kind with so much razzle-dazzle that it made people want to buy stuff, at least to Deb’s thinking.
“You’re planning to wear me down, aren’t you?” Ted laughed.
“I don’t think it’s much of a stretch, Teddy. It’s not like TJ can’t hold his own. He was winning all the major junior freestyle competitions in high school and was on the World Cup circuit by the time he was nineteen.”
“He’s been out of the game a long time.” Teddy let out an audible sigh.
“What would be the harm? Worse comes to worst, he wipes out. End of story.”
There was a long silence. “I suppose I could get him in as an honorary local.” A lot of invitational-only events let in a few community contestants as a goodwill gesture. “Just know, he’s the first to get cut if we go over time or the weather turns bad.”
“I can live with that.” She wanted to jump up and down with excitement. While it wasn’t the Olympics, it was a significant contest, with plenty of publicity behind it. It was grander in scheme than what Karen had suggested. But Deb’s philosophy was, go big or go home. This kind of event would put Garner Adventure and its gear on a world stage. Especially because Deb planned to dress TJ from head to toe in the exclusive skiwear GA sold. “Thank you, Ted.”
“Remember,” Ted said, “he’s mostly there as a ceremonial nod to the Sierra Nevada. A native son, so to speak. I’m emailing you the entrance form now. Make sure you get it back to me by the end of the day.”
“I will.” She knew how last minute this was. But the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
After Ted, she called Jillian to see how the changes for the online store were coming. The last few days had been a whirlwind. Sales were practically nonexistent and TJ was growing more frustrated. Sometimes she wondered if he kept her on because of their newfound relationship, which was going a hell of a lot better than their retail endeavor. Still, she could see the toll their lousy sales were taking on him. TJ took everything personally when it came to the business, and she could tell he felt like he’d let his family down.
She wanted so much to fix it for him—and to be good at something meaningful. Something she could be proud to call a career.
“What’s going on?” TJ knocked and poked his head inside.
“Something big.” She pumped her fist in the air. “You need to call a meeting. We need all hands on deck for this one.”
“What is it?” He sat in the big upholstered chair and stretched his legs out in front of him, and her girl parts lurched.
For a second, she considered crawling into his lap, but they were trying to maintain professionalism at work. Plus, he still hadn’t told Win, who’d been making himself scarce these days. He had Britney and a baby to deal with.
“I want to tell everyone at the same time. But I think this might make the difference in sales.”
“Does it have to do with the website?” He leaned forward, and Deb could tell she’d piqued his curiosity.
“Nope. Sponsorship.”
He tilted his head. “You found someone big?”
“I sure did,” she said. “When can we have a meeting?”
He tugged his phone out of his pocket and checked his calendar. “If we can get everyone here, I can schedule it for this afternoon. That work?”
“Yep.” She bobbed her head at his phone. “See if everyone can make it.”
He crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”
She crossed the floor and he pulled her down on his lap and kissed her. His hands shimmied under her blouse, turning her insides to liquid heat.
“The door’s open, you know,” she said. If they kept this up, no telling what Darcy or one of the others might walk into.
He let out a frustrated grunt. “Let’s run up to your place for a quickie.”
In the last couple of days, they’d been doing a lot of that. TJ Garner had become downright irresponsible. They’d been together every night and had even managed to sneak in an hour here and there of skiing. Sometimes she’d wake up with TJ lying next to her and reach out to touch his skin or his hair just to make sure he was real. She’d always been of the theory that if it seemed too good to be true, it probably was. But everything with TJ kept getting better.
“Text everyone to see if they can come to the meeting first.”
He grinned and scooted her off his lap. “You sure you don’t want to tell me first?”
“I’m positive.” She wanted to surprise him. And she wanted everyone to know that she’d finagled a spot in White Crush on her own, with no help from TJ. And that she could do the job and wasn’t just a Bennett living off the kindness of a Garner.
He studied her face. “Deb, I’m really impressed with how invested you are. But there’s a chance that no matter how much we try, we won’t be able to save it. It’ll kill me to concede defeat, but at some point, you have to cut your losses. It’s good, sound business.”
The subtext was, he’d have to cut her. She got it. GA couldn’t continue to keep her on the payroll if her division bled money faster than a knife wound. But she worried that it would change the dynamic of their relationship. How do you fire your girlfriend—she was pretty sure she was his girlfriend—without causing a deep rift in the balance of things? That was why she had to turn sales around.
“I know. But I think I’ve come up with a plan that’ll at least give us a fighting chance.”
“I can’t wait to hear it.” He got up. “Let me call in the troops.”
Three hours later, she sat at the head of the table in GA’s conference room. Everyone, except Win, had come. She cleared her throat and made her big announcement to a round of loud applause and cheers.
Gray squeezed her arm affectionately. “Way to go, kiddo. That’ll be tremendous PR for Garner Adventure.”
“I can’t believe Ted Jordan went for it,” Colt said. “It’s BIO. I think Win got an invitation to compete five or six years ago, but it’s mostly for guys on the circuit.”
“I guess it helps that they’re holding it here this year,” Josh chimed in. “Dad’s right; you can’t buy better marketing.”
Deb beamed. “I’ve got big plans to promote the brand the day of the competition, right down to what TJ’s going to wear.” Listen to me; I sound like I actually know what I’m doing. “Then we’ll prominently display everything TJ wears in the contest on the website.”
“I love it!” Mary clapped.
“I wish I had my snowboard ready.”
“Because it’s all about you, Josh.” Colt smacked his brother upside the head.
“Boys.” Mary glared at them sternly.
“Delaney’s looking for a designer who can do a prototype of the tent jacket,” she said. “Who knows, it might be ready in time to promote on the website, too.”
“I’ll help with whatever you need,” Darcy volunteered.
“I’ll take you up on it, Darce. And by the way, the competition comes this year with a thirty-six-thousand-dollar purse. I mean, if we win it.” The contest would be tough, with some of the top extreme skiers in the country, but even after all these years Deb thought TJ was a force to be reckoned with. He was the most consistent freeskier she’d ever seen. Even though he didn’t compete anymore, TJ could still huck a ninety-foot backflip and shred the backcountry like a snow god.
Everyone looked across the table at TJ, who’d been conspicuously quiet. Caught up in everyone’s excitement, Deb hadn’t noticed until now. But he was glowering and looking angrier than Deb had ever seen him.
&nbs
p; “TJ?” She forgot herself and reached for his hand.
He jerked it away. “It probably would’ve been a good idea to check with me first, don’t you think? I don’t compete anymore,” he said and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
* * *
TJ took his bike to Misty Summit and spent a couple of hours careening down the mountainside in the snow. It was his answer to therapy. Speed and nature. And it was better than biting Deb’s head off, which he supposed he’d already done. He knew she was just trying to help, but she shouldn’t have made the commitment for him without asking first.
The last thing he wanted to do was relive one of the worst experiences of his life. It might’ve been more than a decade ago, but on that day, he’d not only lost a slot on the U.S. Olympic team but he’d lost a dream. One missed jump had ruined his chance to qualify. His overall score was one point shy of making the team. And Win got the spot that otherwise would’ve been TJ’s.
He was done competing.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. More than likely one of his buttinsky brothers, but when he checked caller ID it was Deb. He didn’t have anything to say to her, so he let it go to voice mail. How could she know him so little as to think he’d want to make a fool of himself in front of his family, friends, and the best freeskiers in the world? When he was fortunate to have time to ski, it was purely recreational. These competitors had been training for years.
He rode for another hour and went home. Let someone else worry about Garner Adventure for a change. Around eight, there was a knock on his door, and when he peered through the peephole it was Colt, holding a six-pack of beer.
Great.
He opened the door and swung his arm across the threshold, ushering Colt in. In the kitchen, he got down two pilsner glasses and pulled out one of the beers. “You here to lecture me?”
“I’m here to see what the hell that was at GA. Deb’s trying to do something to help the business and you were an ungrateful child.”
“She should’ve talked to me about it before submitting my name.”
“What’s the big deal?” Colt grabbed one of the beers, twisted off the top, and shunned the glass, drinking it straight out of the bottle. “You spend a day big-mountain skiing. I can think of a lot of worse things to do.”