Operation Valentine (Hazel Oaks Resort Book 1)

by Kelsey McKnight

  While Hudson would never admit it, it was his favorite indoor area in the entire lodge. Often empty in the summer and spring months, he’d spent many hours after work and in his spare time working his way through the classic books section. He learned to appreciate the adventure in The Count of Monte Cristo and the dark sensation surrounding Dracula. For a split second when he slipped through the door and entered the cozy, yet imposing room he wondered what Nat would think if she spotted him reading an anthology of Jane Austen’s works. He recalled when he discovered his love of reading, sitting in a sparse dorm room in Colorado wishing he was anywhere else. His roommate had a stack of worn paperbacks, mostly classics for one of the higher English elective courses; Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Around the World in Eighty Days. He’d picked up the first on the pile, The Odyssey by Homer, and soon fell into the tale of Odysseus and a world just beyond his reach.

  He scanned the study, finally spying Mr. Kent sitting beside the fire with a book in his lap and four more on the low table beside him. He texted Nat a picture, captioning it proof of life, and then waited for her response.

  Natalie: Well, go talk to him.

  Hudson: Isn’t that your job? I do the outside and you do the inside?

  Nat: I’m in my gym clothes and just ran three miles.

  Nat: Besides, this seems like a guy thing. Go be a guy.

  Nat: Please.

  It was the please that got him. Nat didn’t usually ask for help, and she certainly never used that word when she was ordering him around. Though, he wasn’t exactly sure what to say, not being one of those men who was super in touch with feelings. But hey, he had to do something. Sticking his hands in his pockets, Hudson walked over to Mr. Kent, trying to be casual. Then he sat in the stuffed chair next to him.

  “Hello, Mr. Kent,” he said.

  Marvin looked up at him with a huge smile on his face and light in his eyes. It was about the same expression of excitement he had when he saw the sauces in his room. “Hudson, good to see you. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to find this library is so well stocked.” He held up the book, a contemporary paperback with a vibrant cover. “I haven’t sat down and just read in so long, but then I find out you have the entire David Baldacci spy series. I’m thinking I may even cancel our outing tomorrow to just sit by this fireplace and make my way through them. Do you serve dinner in here? Or maybe, can I bring the book with me to the restaurant? What about back to my room?”

  Hudson wished he showed as much enthusiasm about his wife as he did for some spy novels. “Um, Mr. Kent, what about your wife?”

  “What about her? I’m sure there’s some series in here she’d like, though, come to think of it, I’m not really sure what she reads now that she’s retired from medicine. Mostly it was medical journals. Do you have any of those?”

  “No, sir. I think it’s just pleasure reading. But, I mean, aren’t you here to spend a romantic two weeks with her?”

  Marvin laughed. “Would you have a romantic vacation if your daughter planned it, paid for it, then begged you to go?”

  “I see how that could be tricky, but I think Natalie and I have planned some pretty romantic events for you, starting with the dinner.”

  “Listen, son, I’m old. I’ve been with the same woman for thirty-two years. We don’t need these big romantic gestures or overhyped moments. That’s for the young guys.” He started flipping through pages of his book, but his eyes didn’t move. They stayed focused in front of him. “Besides,” he started a lot quieter than he’d been speaking previously, “I don’t think any of that stuff would help anyway.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what do you mean ‘help’?”

  Marvin closed the book and left it in his lap. “You don’t think I see through this, this whole charade my daughter set up? We’re here to give it the old college try and save our marriage. Louise is hopeful like that, trying to encourage us to keep trying. Then, out of the blue, she says she won this big contest at a raffle. A two-week stay here, coincidently enough, the very place where Mina and I had our first anniversary. It’s…it’s all so transparent.”

  “Then why did you come?” Hudson asked, and then immediately regretted it. That was unbelievably rude. Nat would’ve chastised him, maybe made him sit in the corner with a dunce hat or something. “I apologize, sir. That was rude of me. I’ll leave you to your book.” Hudson started to get up, feeling like an utter failure. How was he supposed to talk to this guy without getting too personal? He wasn’t Dr. Phil. Heck, he wasn’t even in a relationship. How arrogant was he to think he could fix something that he’d never really experienced himself? But before he could walk away, Marvin reached out his hand and gently grabbed Hudson’s forearm, pulling him back down.

  “I guess you could say a part of me wished it would work. That Mina and I could fall back in love.”

  “Then get into the dining room with her!”

  “I’d be peachy if it were that simple. We just…with Mina retiring and me selling my consulting firm last year, it’s just us. For the first time since we got married. We don’t have anything to talk about over dinner besides, ‘pass the salt.’ Without the hustle and bustle of our lives it’s like, finally, we’re seeing all of these holes. For example, I apparently mumble when I read the paper. It distracts her. She vacuums the house four times a week. What is she vacuuming? We don’t have pets or grandchildren. Literally, there is no reason to vacuum that much, but she’s vacuuming. We sit across the table for meals and can go the whole time without saying a word. That spark, it’s just gone, son. That’s not going to come back because we change the dinner venue.”

  Hudson thought about this for a few moments. His father still worked, and his mother was still actively involved in her charity work. If they lost that, how would they feel? Would they still have that spark? His gut instinct said yes, but that might have been the wishful thinking of a boy. Still, just because they didn’t have work, didn’t mean they were doomed to a boring life. In fact, it was his dream to travel the world with someone one day. Since they’re both retired, maybe they’d have time for something like that. So maybe the issue wasn’t that the spark was dead, maybe instead it was that the spark needed a different venue.

  “Look, Mr. Kent, I’m not going to sit here and give you all of my sage wisdom about women and marriage because I’m single and that would be disrespectful to you. But what I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, what I think the problem here isn’t the spark, but it’s your activity level. If you have nothing to do, then you have nothing to talk about. Over the next two weeks, let’s give you something to talk about. Then, if at the end of this you still have nothing to say, you’re still not feeling the spark, then Louise can at least be satisfied knowing you tried.”

  Marvin nodded his head a few times and looked down at his hands. Finally, he looked back up at Hudson. “I guess we can give it a try. I’d hate to disappoint Louise.”

  “I’d hate for you to be disappointed, sir.”

  “Alright, well, I’m headed to dinner, maybe I’ll think of something to say.”

  “Find out what books she’d like to read,” Hudson suggested as Marvin stood with a final glance at the pile of books.

  “Seems like an alright place to start.” He straightened his sweater and gave Hudson a small smile. “Thanks, son.”

  “Anytime, Mr. Kent.”

  When he was gone, Hudson leaned back in his seat and groaned. This was going to be a lot harder than he’d thought.

  *

  Nat

  “So, what happened?” Nat asked Hudson as she met him outside the adventure coordinator office.

  “I assume he went to dinner.”

  “Don’t be coy. What did he say? What did you say?”

  Hudson brushed past her and went into the office, going straight to his desk. “Don’t worry about it. He’s there, right?”

  “Come on, I need to know.” Nat craved all the dirty details. She wanted a play-by-play, a co
mplete transcription of everything that passed between them.

  “Sorry, but it’s guy code.”

  “Guy code? What is this, middle school?”

  He laughed and sifted through the messy piles of papers on his desk. Just looking at the disarray made her uncomfortable. Would it kill him to put things away in the filing cabinet or tidy up the assortment of pens, one of which rolled off one desk and disappeared behind another? If he needed her to, she’d gladly sort through the mess that was apparently his life and get him on the right track.

  “Let’s just call it doctor-patient confidentiality,” he offered, plucking a set of car keys from the mayhem and stuffing them in his coat pocket.

  “You’re not a doctor.”

  “Yeah, but adventure coordinator-guest confidentiality doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.”

  “You’re really going to keep whatever happened a secret?”

  “I’m no snitch, Natalie.” Hudson’s tone was serious, but the corners of his mouth twitched.

  “At least tell me if there is anything I need to know. Did the hotel do something wrong? Is there anything I could do in the future?”

  Hudson zipped up his coat and then looked her in the eyes. All joking and lighthearted banter seemed to disappear as he gazed at her. For a moment, her breath caught in her throat as she watched him and waited for his next move. “Will you just trust that I have this handled? Don’t you think if there was something you needed to know, I’d tell you?”

  “Alright. I’m too exhausted to fight anymore with you anyway.”

  “Long workout?”

  Natalie wished once more she’d been dressed a little more professionally. She didn’t want Hudson to think her casual wear reflected her work ethic. “Terry and I go for runs after work on the nights we get off at the same time.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “How?”

  “Me and Terry? We’re like this.” He crossed two of his fingers and switched off the office lights, making Nat jump. “Come on, I wanna get out of here and get some sleep. Fixing a failing marriage really tires out a guy.”

  Nat followed him out, taking a left to follow the long hall down to the employee exit. When Hudson turned right, she stopped. “I thought you were going home?”

  “I am.”

  “The exit’s this way.”

  He snorted. “Yeah, if you want to take the long way. Me? I like a good shortcut. I always leave through the kitchens.”

  “But then you’ll have to go through the lobby and a guest corridor.”

  “And that’s a crime because?”

  “Well, I don’t know. I’ve just always gone out the employee door. Hence the name.”

  He nodded slowly. “That I believe. You know, life isn’t always about order and rules and structure. Or at least it doesn’t have to be.”

  Nat looked at him again, trying to decide how to interpret what he was saying. Was he making fun of her, or judging her, or maybe offering curt advice? She didn’t know, and right now, she couldn’t read him. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she managed to say before turning to go out the employee exit. His life may have been all about flying by the seat of his pants but she liked the structure and the order. It gave her a sense of peace. Right now, she wanted the peace. The dinner fiasco was stressing her out, and Hudson’s lack of candor wasn’t helping. Really, standing next to Hudson wasn’t helping but that was a whole other matter she refused to overanalyze right now despite Terry’s words floating around in her head.

  “Sure thing, Natalie. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

  Then she remembered the Kents had an appointment with him. Nat turned around and shouted back at him. “You’ll be here in time for their nature walk, right?”

  “Of course. I’ll even be here a little before my shift to make sure you see how much of a responsible adult I am.”

  “Oh, I know you’ll be one. I’m coming with you.” She didn’t even know why she’d said it. She’d never gone on any of the hikes with the other guides. She really didn’t micromanage this much. But with Hudson keeping Mr. Kent’s secret, she didn’t feel good about leaving him alone with them. Though, logically, she knew he’d probably have been fine on his own.

  “Yeah, no, I don’t think that’s necessary. I know how to do my job.” All signs of mirth had left him, his lips a firm line and his brows lowered.

  Nat knew she put her foot in her mouth. She hadn’t meant to offend him. “That’s not what I meant. I just think it would be smart of me to go as well. You know, offer a woman’s point of view.”

  “In case I mess things up? Do you really think I’m capable of ruining the marriage in an hour nature walk?”

  Crap, Nat’s mind started racing with ways to try and save this. Hudson was good at his job but his job wasn’t solely nature walks this time. She wanted to trust him, no, she needed to trust him but something, as it always seemed to, was preventing her. She wanted to be on that nature walk.

  “No, no, no. You keep saying we need to work together, so maybe both of us going on the nature walk will be a good thing. Maybe I’ll notice something you don’t since you’re leading the walk. My mind will be clear and focused on the couple.”

  He seemed to consider this for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure, if you think you’d like that kind of thing.”

  “It doesn’t really matter if I like it or not. We have a job to do and I’m going to see it through.”

  “Suit yourself. Night.”

  “Good night.”

  Nat watched him turn on his heel and begin striding down the hallway before heading toward the official employee exit. He could be terribly casual with guests, and she was worried he’d slip into his joking ways. Knowing him, he might let a crude jest slip and undo whatever magic he’d worked at dinner. Or worse, what if he and Mr. Kent were now all buddy-buddy and Mrs. Kent was left out? No, it’s better that she went. Of course, there had never been any complaints about Hudson’s conduct with any guest in his time at Hazel Oaks, but Nat wasn’t about to take a chance when the stakes were so high. One wrong move, and the Kents could take a nosedive right to divorce court. Though, now that she thought about it, maybe she could start writing up some attributes Hudson had. Like a recommendation. She could give it to him for when he applied to California. It would definitely help him get the job. She’d tell him about it tomorrow, and he’d be thrilled she was going on the hike. Though, part of her wished he’d be thrilled just because she was there. It made her rethink what Terry had said. If he actually liked her, wouldn’t he want to spend more time with her? Wouldn’t he want her on the hike?

  He’d balked at the very idea that she go with him. Maybe that was because she’d framed it like he was incapable of doing his job? Whatever it was, she pushed Terry’s words to the back of her mind and tried to find the Zen she’d felt after the run. With that idea in mind, her body started to relax as she headed to her car.

  The dark night air was cold, tasting of snow and greenery. While she enjoyed summer and fall at the lodge the most, the particular blend of scents that only came with winter was one of her personal favorites. Beneath the black, starry sky with the promise of flurries and vibrant spruce trees, it was easy to imagine a couple falling back in love. It almost made her long for someone to share in the small slices of peace she’d grown to enjoy.

  But there was no time to think of her own lack of romance. She had a marriage to save and a nature walk to prepare for.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Hudson

  Hudson was already waiting in the lobby when the Kents were due to arrive. He had a casual route for them, a stroll that would take them beside the lake and through a patch of wood where he often saw deer and other animals along the pine needle floor. Although a light layer of snow had fallen during the night, which could mean the animals would be bunkered down again. Still, the snow would be all picturesque and romantic.

  The addition of Nat joining them was unexpected to say the least. He’d seen
her running sometimes when leaving work or coming back from an evening hike, but she still didn’t strike him as someone very nature-y. He could see her maybe hanging out by the lake, but not exactly traipsing through the trees and dodging rocks in the trails. And there was no way she did it in her pressed suit and heels.

  But it wasn’t just the suit that didn’t exactly fit into his idea of a nice nature walk. In his opinion, Mina and Marvin needed to be in a calm, relaxing environment, and Nat’s wound-up personality didn’t seem to inspire leisure, even if it was a little fun to watch her unravel every once in a while. He wondered if she’d show up with a schedule for the walk. He could hear her now: “At this time, we’ll be viewing the birds. Exactly three minutes after that, we’ll look into the clearing for deer.” He laughed a little to himself at the thought.

  “Something funny?” asked a voice at his shoulder.

  Nat was beside him, looking ready for a spin in the forest in sneakers, green leggings, a blue jacket, and a tan knit scarf that she had wound around her neck. Her hair was even in the same high ponytail it had been in the night before, only much neater. He’d thought seeing her so dressed down was a fluke, but there she was in the daylight, looking like someone who actually belonged on the side of a mountain. He liked seeing her like this. She was one of those women who’d be beautiful in a paper bag, but this more relaxed Nat seemed like someone he could have fun with. Maybe today wouldn’t be as intense as he thought.

  “Hey,” he greeted. “No, just thinking of some things to do with the Kents.”

  She dug into her coat pocket and took out a miniature red notebook with a little pen. “Oh? What are they?”

  “Do you seriously carry one of those with you everywhere?”

  “I like being able to keep track of things. It’s very efficient.”

  “Have you been this efficient from birth?”

  “Being a military brat will do that to you,” she said lightly, checking the thin gold watch she had on her left wrist.