by Jill Sanders
“You could always block out some rooms for employees.”
“I had already planned on it. My dad always did. I’ll have to see when it gets closer to the season to how many out-of-town employees we’ll need.”
He parked in the empty parking lot, but when he moved to get out and open her door, she stopped him.
“I can make it from here.” She held his arm. “Thank you for dinner.”
He relaxed back. “Sorry about…” She arched her brown and gave him a look, and he remembered what she’d said about apologizing for Julia. “Right.” He nodded. “At least the burgers were good.”
“They were.”
“We could always try this again. Have dinner at a place that doesn’t employee a crazy ex of mine.”
She smiled. “We’d probably have to head to Redding for that.”
He chuckled “I don’t have that many exes.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Something tells me that isn’t true.”
“Maybe from when I was in college,” he added with a low chuckle.
She turned slightly to run her eyes over him. “What about Heather Craft? Did you ever date her?”
He quickly shook his head. “No. Where Julia hid her crazy on the inside, Heather wears it proudly right out front.”
She nodded. “Yeah, she was hired on as a bartender.”
“I’d heard.” The tone of voice hinted of his concern.
“Rachelle hired her. I only found out this morning. At this point we need all the locals we can get. I can’t afford to be too picky.”
“A few of the volunteers have been looking for jobs. I can send them your way,” he suggested.
“Send them to either Rachelle or Eddie if they want to work the lifts or rentals for the season.” She leaned back and ran her eyes over the trio of massive buildings in front of them. The cluster wouldn’t look so out of place in the city, but tucked at the base of the mountains, in the middle of the wilderness, the wood, metal, and glass structures stuck out. Especially at night. Large lights shined on the grounds and lit up the first three floors of each building.
The rest of the floors remained dark for now. During the season, he knew they would switch on or off, depending on the guests. There would be lights shining on the multiple ski runs in the distance as well.
“It feels weird being back,” she said after a moment. “I haven’t really had a moment to appreciate just being back yet.”
“Something tells me you’d better take that time now. Come season, you’re going to be busy.”
“I hope so.” She closed her eyes then shook her head and opened them again. “I’d better head in. Joe and his new assistant are going to be here early.”
“Are you sure I can’t walk you up?” he offered.
She smiled. “No, thanks. I want to walk around and take a look at what the construction crew got done before leaving today. It’s amazing how quickly they’re working. Thanks again for tonight.” She started to reach for the doorhandle, but he stopped her by gently laying a hand on her arm. Then he pulled her closer until they were a breath away.
“The date’s not officially over just yet,” he said, and when she smiled, he leaned in and brushed his lips over hers.
Since he’d returned to Cannon Falls, he’d handled his fair share of fires, but the moment his lips touched Raven’s, he realized he’d never handled anything this… explosive before.
He felt her move slightly, which brought her body directly up against his. His arms tightened around her, pulling her even closer as he slanted his mouth over hers and took what he wanted. What he hadn’t known he’d been needing.
When her fingers tangled in his hair, a low rumble vibrated from his chest, which caused her to release a soft moan.
God, he wanted to take her. Here. Now.
Then headlights washed over them, and she jerked out of his hold and glanced around.
“I’d better…” She was out of the car before he could respond.
Damn. He sat there for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts before starting the car and heading home. Alone.
Blue was eagerly waiting for him at the door. He let him out to run around the yard to pee on every bush and tree, and then they headed up to bed.
It was strange. Over the past ten years, he’d never felt like the house was lonely. Until tonight. Lying in the massive bed with the mutt snoring next to him, he realized how empty it felt.
The next morning, he stopped by the firehouse to check on his appointments for the day. The majority of his job consisted of dealing with fire regulations around town. The next big chunk was slotted for training and, occasionally, he delt with an actual fire.
Since he was officially the only full-time paid position, there was a crew under him that constantly needed his guidance and training.
Today, he was taking a few of his trainees out on a new construction site on the outskirts of town, a much-needed storage unit going up next to the old one. It wasn’t a big job, but walking both Kevin and Tony through the site and showing them what troubling items to look out for still filled up most of his morning.
The three of them grabbed lunch at the diner, and he sat back and watched Tony flirt with Darby the entire time.
“Why don’t you ask her out?” Kevin asked Tony.
Kevin was fresh out of high school while Tony was a few years older. Still, Tony had to be two or three years younger than Darby. But the way Darby was smiling at the man made it clear to everyone around that she was into him.
“Naw, we’re just friends,” Tony responded as he finished off his milkshake.
“Darby is totally into you.” Kevin bumped Tony’s shoulder. “I’d hit that if I was a few years older.”
“Older women rock,” Tony responded.
He held in a chuckle, but apparently not well enough.
“What?” they both said, looking at him.
“What is she? Two years older than the both of you?” he asked with a shrug.
“Are you kidding? I just graduated last year and Tony here was the year before me,” Kevin said.
“Try seven years,” Tony added with a shrug.
“So?” Cade asked. “Age doesn’t matter once you pass a point.”
“So, you’d date an older woman?” The duo glanced around and smiled. “What about her?” They motioned towards the back of the diner.
He turned slightly to see Morgan Roche sitting in the back booth, having a heated discussion with a man with sandy-blonde hair, who was facing away from Cade.
“Morgan?” He shook his head. “Age would have nothing to do with why I wouldn’t date her,” he answered quickly.
“Rumors are that Morgan’s the reason the resort has been under all these years,” Tony added. “At least that’s what Darby says.”
He thought about Raven’s meeting with her CPA that morning and what the man had discovered and whether there were charges coming against Morgan and maybe even Raven’s uncle.
He figured a stop off at his own uncle’s office after lunch might offer him a few answers. What was the use of having an uncle as sheriff if you couldn’t exploit it once in a while?
After dropping Kevin and Tony off at the fire house, he drove the few blocks to the police station and walked past the front desk to his uncle’s office. He knocked quickly and entered when he heard Sean Stone call out to come in.
It still was strange seeing so much of himself in his uncle. It was no wonder that rumors had been flying around town ever since he’d been born.
Cade Stone was the spitting image of his uncle Sean. Even more so now that he was an adult. The only difference between the two of them was the streak of silver that ran just above his uncle’s ears. That and the uniforms they wore.
“Hey, buddy,” Sean said, glancing up from his laptop.
“Hey,” he said easily as he sat down in the chair across from his uncle. “I heard the Browns got in a fender bender this morning?”
His unc
le nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Just finishing up with the paperwork now.” His uncle’s eyes narrowed. “What’s on your mind?”
Cade shifted slightly. “I’m just curious to see if you’d heard anything about money laundering from the resort?”
His uncle’s eyebrows jumped up. “Brooks?”
“Colin and possibly Morgan Roche,” he answered with a slight nod.
“Roche?” His uncle leaned his elbows on the desk. “Legally? No. Nothing has come through my office. However, the gossip has been buzzing around town.”
Cade frowned. “What are your thoughts on Raven Brooks returning to town?” he asked after a moment.
His uncle was silent for a while, then he stood up and shut the office door. He waited until he was sitting behind his desk to respond.
“My personal opinion? I think it’s about time she came home. It can only be a good thing for the resort and for the town, if the rumors are true about her hiring locals again. My professional opinion…” He glanced towards the door and sighed. “She’s caused quite the stir. There are still a lot of people in this town that would like to see her pack up and leave again, never to return.”
Cade’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I’ve seen it for myself. She’s hiring locals. She mentioned last night—”
His uncle’s eyebrows shot up, and Cade winced slightly. He hadn’t meant to let anyone know about their date. At least not yet. “She’s going to hire as many locals as she can,” he finished.
“Last night?” his uncle asked.
“Yeah, last night,” he said dryly. “I stay out of your love life; you stay out of mine.”
His uncle smiled and nodded. “Fair deal.” Then his smile fell away. “I was the one who found Raven. That next morning.”
Cade sat forward. “You were?” He frowned slight. “Why didn’t I know this?”
Sean shrugged as his eyes grew darker. “I was out looking for your brother. I remembered the caves up on the old walking path. Some of the high school kids used to go up there and smoke weed.” He smirked. “Okay, to be honest, I used to go up there with your dad a lot.”
Cade sighed. “Yeah, Mom has told me some stories about you two.”
Sean’s eyes grew distant and sad again. “I thought that if Reggie remembered the cave, maybe he’d make his way there.”
“You found Raven instead?”
Sean nodded. “Most of her clothes had been burned or had fallen off her. She was barely breathing but, oddly, there wasn’t a scratch on her, except for her hands and knees. From what I saw, she’d crawled her way out of the fire.”
“She crawled into the caves?” Cade asked. He’d known that Raven had been found up near there and that she hadn’t been burned, but the rest of the details hadn’t spread around.
“The official report confirms that she was nowhere near where the fire started.” Sean nodded.
Again, this was the first he’d heard of this fact. For the past ten years, he’d tried to get as much information from his uncle and from the reports as he could. So far, none of them had given him as much as his uncle had just said.
“Then why are there rumors floating around that say otherwise?” Cade asked.
Sean shrugged. “People will spread rumors they want. There were even rumors that she was some sort of a witch since she’d been untouched. Rumors are just that, like the one about me and your mother.”
“Anyone who knows you two can tell that’s a lie,” he said quickly.
“When Henry was alive, I only thought of Fiona as a sister,” Sean agreed.
Yet, there was something in his uncle’s tone that had him asking, “And now?”
Sean sighed and shook his head. “You did say we’d stay out of each other’s love lives.”
Cade laughed. “Fine.”
Chapter Eleven
Fire is never a gentle master
The meeting with Joe and his assistant Ruth Downing went better than Raven had expected. With the exception of the part where they informed her that in the past ten years, more than three million dollars had been misplaced from the resort’s general funds account.
What could her uncle possibly do with that much money without anyone noticing? It wasn’t as if he had a line of luxury cars in the garage. Or even a mansion filled with expensive jewelry.
That came down to over three hundred thousand dollars a year. More than her parents had made in combined salaries when they had worked there.
Ruth, a middle-aged woman who was dressed in the latest fashion and sporting a cropped haircut, explained how her uncle and aunt had also doubled their salaries each year. All while hiring fewer and fewer employees and maintenance crews. They’d even cancelled all of the services needed each year to run the massive resort.
“So, now we just need to find out who was responsible for the embezzlement,” Ruth had said. “If you want to file formal charges.”
Raven’s heart skipped at the thought of that. “How will we be able to find that out?” she asked, dreading the process already.
“We’ll have to file a police report, so that we can legally look at your aunt and uncle’s personal finances. We’ll need to file a report against Roche Accounting Firm as well,” Ruth added. “Her firm was reluctant to supply us with the resort’s financial records.”
“Morgan Roche and my uncle… Rumors are…” She couldn’t even bring herself to say it.
“Right, we heard the rumors all the way in Redding,” Joe added. “For now, I’m going to hand over everything so that Ruth can take care of you.” Joe stood up and held out his hand for her.
“You won’t be taking the lead?” she asked, standing up.
“I’m retired, remember?” Joe shook his head with a smile. “Ruth here runs my business for me. I only dabble in numbers every now and then when I’m bored.”
“I’ll take good care of you,” Ruth said. “When I leave here, I’ll get everything together for you for when you file the police reports.”
“I…” She paused. “I’m not sure about filing…”
Ruth stood up suddenly and turned towards her.
“Miss Brooks, I understand that it’s your uncle. I get why you might not want to turn him in. Remember this, it’s not just you they stole from. Think of all the people that went without jobs. All the employees and guests they stole from. This place.” She motioned around them. “Everything they took from here.”
Raven swallowed and knew that Ruth was right. It hadn’t been just her they’d stolen from. Even though her parents were gone, her uncle had stolen from them as well. They were the ones who had worked so hard to build this place, only to have him walk—no, slither—away with over three million dollars’ worth of profits. All while letting the place slowly rot around him.
“All right.” She nodded. “I’ll call the police once you have the information together.”
Ruth nodded. “I’ll email you later today. I just had a few things to finish up so our case is rock solid.”
“Thank you.” She shook the woman’s hand. “Both of you.” She hugged Joe.
“It’s good to have you back,” he said as he hugged her.
Shortly after they left, her cousin Cal found her still sitting in her office, staring at the blank screen of her laptop.
“Hey, girl.” Cal sat on the edge of her desk, looking at her with worry. “You okay?”
She had to blink a few times in order for her eyes to focus.
“Yeah.” She took a couple deep breaths. “You?”
“Fabulous,” he said easily. “I’m here with good news.”
“Oh?” She shifted. “I could use some right about now.”
Cal smiled. “I figured, which is why I came the moment I knew.”
“Knew?”
“It’s official. I’m moving in with Tim.” Cal’s smile grew.
“You…” She jumped up and hugged her cousin. “That’s wonderful.” She held onto him. “That is good news.”
Cal laug
hed. “We figured that after my father… That it was time.” He shook his head. “Besides, Tim thinks that he’ll be able to keep his job if you don’t see me as a burden like my father was.”
“You are no burden,” she countered. “And Tim will keep his job as long as he continues to be the outstanding employee that he is.”
“You know it. He loves his job. He wants to go to culinary school. He’s taking a bunch of online classes now.” Cal’s eyes ran over her. “You know, out of the three of us, you could have absolutely made it in the big leagues as a model.” He reached up and ran a finger down her braid. “Flawless skin, perfect hair, and those eyes.” He shook his head. “Liza’s always been jealous of those eyes.”
“Thank you,” she answered with a smile.
“Now, I’m off to pack.” He stepped away. “Oh, and officially come out of the closet with my mother.” He rolled his eyes.
“Good luck,” she called after him.
“Thanks.” He waved as he left.
Cal’s visit put her in a better mood for the rest of the day. Paperwork didn’t seem so dauting and, after looking over the initial budgets that Ruth had given her, she was happily surprised to find that she was underbudget with the repairs.
Which meant she could afford a few more items on her list of things that she wanted to get done before the season—new carpet in the elevators, new paintings in the lobby, and new computer systems in the guest computer lab. She’d had to use them the other day when she’d forgotten her laptop upstairs, and they were at least ten years outdated.
Not to mention they were still using dial-up. She’d already scheduled the internet services to be updated in the entire resort and planned on offering free Wi-Fi in all the guest rooms, something that should have been done a long time ago.
She worked through lunch and only stopped in the afternoon when her stomach growled loudly, and she realized she was out of water as well.
Taking her refillable water bottle, she locked her computer and her office door and headed downstairs, hopefully to get some leftovers.
Seeing that everyone in the kitchen was busy, she logged into the nearest wait station and put in an order to be delivered up to her room. She filled up her water bottle and headed upstairs. She took the time to stop off in the lobby and once again check on the day’s progress.
