Grand Lake Colorado Series - Alexis Winter Page 0,3
say, trying to sound casual.
“Yes, he’s taking over the business now, so he’ll be your boss.” I swallow down a lump in my throat. Great. The Big Bad Wolf is my boss. “Oh, and before I forget, Trevor is coming back to town this weekend.”
“Really?” This time I can’t hide the excitement.
“Yeah, unfortunately. He broke up with his fiancée, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
Two
Blake
I’m not too excited about the idea of taking over my parents’ failing cabin rental business, and now I have to babysit my brother’s nerdy best friend in the process?
I climb into my truck and run my hands over my face, letting it sink for a moment. I’ve never been the golden child in my family. Even when I was the star quarterback and prom king, my parents were too focused on Trevor’s science fair projects and his accelerated classes. I’m not bitter or angry at Trevor, we always got along just fine, but I felt more like a second father to him rather than an older brother. The nine-year age gap and the fact that I always felt I had to protect him from bullies in school contributed to that. Growing up in a small town, our entire kindergarten through high school was all in one building.
The shrill ringing of my cell phone brings me back to reality. I answer it without even looking at the name. “Hello?”
“Hey, big brother. How’s it going? You sound like I caught you sleeping.”
“Hey, man. When you getting your ass back to town?” I jump back out of my truck and kick at the dirt on the ground.
“I’m actually in an Uber heading to the airport now. My flight gets in around eleven. I was hoping you could set up a cabin for me if there are any available?”
“Ha, yeah, you can have your pick of the litter. We currently have only two occupied, one by me.”
“The business is doing that bad, huh? Man, Mom didn’t let on it was that serious of a situation.” I could hear the worry in his voice.
“Yeah, she’s in denial. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it under control. You just get your ass home and buy me a beer.” I don’t let on that I’m just as worried. After Dad passed, Mom tried her best, but she couldn’t keep up. I was around to fix things here and there, but my contracting business kept me away and on the road most of the time. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to put my business on hold and take over the cabins. I told my mom this was it. This was a last-ditch effort. If it failed, she needed to consider selling the business.
I hang up the phone with Trevor and get back in my truck. I need to get over to the cabins and get one set up for him. My phone pings again with a text, and I look down to see a message from my mom.
Pearl accepted the position and she’s real excited about it! I told her you’d be back around five to show her around.
I toss the phone on the seat next to me. “Great. Just what I need. A peppy girl hanging around getting in my damn way.”
An hour later, I’m pulling back into the cabin parking lot. I had to run to town to pick up a few things I didn’t already have to get the renovations started. I see Pearl leaning against a baby blue Volkswagen Beetle. Why the hell would you drive that car living in the Rocky Mountains is beyond me. She stands up and offers a hesitant wave as I back my truck in next to her.
I don’t have anything against the girl. Hell, she was always a cute kid, and she grew up to be a beautiful woman. You can tell she doesn’t realize it, though. She isn’t that obvious beauty that knows it and flaunts it. She’s demure. Her strawberry blonde hair is usually always swept back in some haphazard way with pieces falling out around her face. She has the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I remember her dad calling her birdy as a kid because of those eyes. I just don’t need the distraction of a million questions and some young smart-ass college grad who thinks they know how to run this business better than me.
“Pearl,” I say, giving her a curt nod before walking behind my truck to let the tailgate down.