Resolved to figure out his system once and for all, she walked right up next to him and leaned her elbow on the workbench, waiting for him to enlighten her on his process. It looked like each color was a boat, and that each symbol meant something different, though she couldn’t figure out what.
“Yes, hello, I’m with Cloud Nine Boat Rentals. My secretary said you were interested in renting a boat over July Fourth weekend. We only have two openings left, both for our houseboat rentals.” He paused. “No, sir. We rent by the week during our peak season.”
She counted the number of colors blocking out the dates. Sure enough, there were six. He answered a few questions about the process, then told the person on the phone that as soon as their check arrived and was processed at the bank, their reservation would be confirmed. He didn’t write anything down. By the time he ended the call, Allison couldn’t decide which question of the multitude swirling around in her head she should ask first.
“We don’t take credit cards?”
“No.”
What an archaic way of doing business. That, she’d be changing as soon as possible. “On this calendar, which boats are which color? Would you at least tell me that?”
He rattled off the boat names and colors, but there was no way she could remember them all by simply hearing them once.
“Would you write that down for me, or is that asking too much?”
He tossed the phone on top of the calendar. “This is my system. Deal with it.”
“Deal with it? How about I change it to something that actually makes sense, like joining the twenty-first century by putting a calendar on the computer or—just a wild idea—adding notes about the customers. You added a pink line to the Fourth of July week, but you didn’t take down any of that customer’s information. When his check arrives, how will we know what it’s for? And what if he calls back? How will we know which boat he rented or whether he paid?”
He pointed to a star stamp in one of the calendar squares. “Paid. And when the check arrives, I take it to the bank.” He tossed the highlighter on top of the calendar. “I don’t have time for this.”
“When will you have time to go over all this?”
He had the audacity to smile. “Right after I give you a tour of the boats.”
Her face heated, and not just because her temper was boiling. Her fear of water had been a constant source of embarrassment throughout her life, but there wasn’t much she could do about it, even to prove a bull-headed, arrogant jerk that he was wrong about her.
Affecting an air of tranquility, or at least a reasonable facsimile, she gathered the calendar and the phone in her free arm and walked away before she said something she’d regret.
Back in the office, she studied the mess she’d created with that fire. The downside of Duke and his team working on the landing was that they’d had a regular job to complete that week, remodeling a room in a residential home. They promised to return on Friday and work through the weekend, but for now, the flooring had been stripped, as had the drywall on the walls and ceiling near the fireplace. Two huge fans had been brought in, drying everything off.
After working all day on Saturday and part of Sunday, Duke had explained that there wasn’t anything more they could do until the water damage dried, but he promised she could turn the fans off after a couple days, then his crew would be back the following Saturday. That corresponded with Allison’s moving day, but she didn’t mention it. She, Janie, and Grant would just have to work around Duke’s crew, because getting Cloud Nine put back together before the start of the tourist season was her top priority—even more important than reuniting with her coffeemaker.
Later, while Katie was fast asleep, thanks to the loud whir of the fans, Allison sat at the desk and sifted through paperwork, looking for any kind of clues about the business. The only thing of interest she found was a scrap of paper in the top middle drawer with the name of an email account and a password. Curious, she pulled it up and found months’ worth of unanswered email queries from prospective customers. She had to hope that Theo had contacted them in some other way, by phone or another email address that she wasn’t privy to, but there wasn’t much she could do about it at the moment. She couldn’t even figure out which boats were available for rental and when.
Just thinking about the term profit and loss statement gave her a sinking feeling, so she navigated the Internet to the closest community college’s continuing education page with the idea that she should probably take a business class. The indoor pool at the college was offering “Baby and Me” water acclimation classes, year round. With Theo’s acerbic judgments of her fresh in her mind, she clicked on the link for the water class and stared at the photograph of the gleaming, blue pool and the happy babies and mothers.
More than Katie, Allison was the one who needed a water acclimation class. She didn’t want Katie to be afraid of water. Her parents had never made learning to swim a priority, despite how close they lived to lakes and pools, and the near drowning she’d suffered at age seven when her dad had taken their family out on one of his tour boats had gripped her with a crippling fear of the stuff. She’d been the kid unable to attend pool parties, unwilling to set foot in the water at the beach or lake. She’d missed out on a lot.
The trouble with her fear was about far more than missing out on fun. Her fear, along with the panic that came with it, only increased her risk of drowning again, as it had the other night when Theo pushed her in.
She didn’t want that for Katie, but she was the only parent Katie had, so how could Katie learn to think about water in a healthy way when Allison couldn’t? It wasn’t like Lowell could or would take her swimming. She had no idea how she was going to keep from passing along her fear; she only knew that she had to find a way.
Maybe one of her sisters could take Katie to a water acclimation class. She wished it could be otherwise, but just the thought of getting into a pool, even if it was shallow enough to stand in all the way across, made her light-headed.
According to the community college website, classes were midway through the spring semester. Maybe she could afford the money and time to take a summer Intro to Business class. On a whim, she navigated to the informational page on associate degrees. That might be one too many things to put on her plate right now, but by the fall, maybe she’d be ready.
While still daydreaming about college, she hauled onto the desk a stack of paperwork that Lowell’s accountant had handed her, along with a flash drive and a letter of resignation after Lowell’s verdict had been read. He was washing his hands of the Whitleys because it had been far too long since he’d been paid. She’d skimmed through the papers before, but she was hoping that on one of her readings, she’d come across something of interest. Today, she did. She found a tax addendum inventory page listing Cloud Nine’s boats and names. Lanette was on the list, which meant that as of last year, Theo didn’t own her.
She looked up, shocked. That couldn’t be right. Lanette was his home. Before she did anything else, or thought more deeply on how she could use Lanette as leverage to get him to stay on at the company, she needed more proof.
She was on a mission now. A half hour later, she was sitting on the floor behind the reception desk elbow deep in a lower file cabinet looking for Lanette’s deed of ownership when she heard the back door open. She popped her head up, expected to see Theo, but it was Harper who came into view, holding a reusable grocery bag. Whatever was inside the bag smelled delicious.
“Hi. I hope you’re hungry because I brought lunch. I would’ve been here earlier in the week, but I figured you were too busy to sit and chat.”
Allison stood and brushed off her legs. “You thought right, but now’s a perfect time. I’m starving.”
In the kitchen, Allison poured them both iced tea while Harper took out three to-go boxes and set one in front of Allison. She opened it to find a buffalo chicken
salad.
“I hope you don’t mind a little spice on your chicken.”
“Not at all. One of my resolutions in coming to Destiny Falls was to add some spice to my life.” She gestured to the third container with her fork. “What’s in there?”
She was hoping Harper answered, “Dessert,” but instead she said, “Hot wings. I thought you might want to offer those to Theo as a peace offering after I leave.”
“I guess it’s been pretty obvious that he and I haven’t been getting along.”
“Yes, I’ve seen the two of you talking outside.”
She could tell Harper was choosing her words carefully, tiptoeing around the obvious. “You mean shouting bloody murder at each other?”
Harper’s eyes twinkled. “Well, now that you mention it. I’ve heard a bit of shouting, and, um, I saw him carrying you down the dock stairs the other day while you were shouting at each other.”
“Oh, that.” Her cheeks heated. “That was Theo’s attempt to prove that I’m not fit to run this company because I’m too afraid of water to get on the boats.”
“He has a point, but that seems excessively rude, even for Theo.”
Allison sipped her tea. “I must bring it out in him.”
“He’s not the easiest person to get along with, so don’t feel like it’s only you. He keeps just about everyone at arm’s length. How’s everything else going here?”
“Honestly? I’m off to a rocky start, and it’s not all because of Theo. I have no idea how to run a business, and while it’s infuriating that my sole employee keeps pointing out my flaws, it doesn’t change the truth. And the truth is that until Lowell was arrested, I’d never so much as paid a bill or balanced a checkbook.”
“Ouch.”
“I know. I honestly never thought I’d need to. So stupid, I know.” It had been a shamefully immature way to think, but she was determined to be the kind of person who owned up to her shortcomings.
Harper patted her hand. “Not stupid. Naive. But you’re in luck because you happen to be one grassy commons away from a business expert—who also delivers lunch.”
“You would help me?”
“We women business owners have to stick together.”
“Thank you. I’ve decided to take some college level business classes in the fall, but life is too chaotic right now for me to add to it by piling more work onto myself. I still need to find a bookkeeper because Lowell’s accountant quit when he was convicted.”
Harper speared her fork in the air toward Allison. “I have a terrific bookkeeper. My friend, Presley.” She scrolled through her phone, then wrote a phone number on a scrap paper from her purse. “Presley would do a great job. I hope you really do call her.”
“Thank you. I will.” She hesitated, then plunged ahead with the question that had been nagging her since Harper’s arrival. “Why are you being so nice to me? Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for it because I could use a friend, but Theo thinks I’m here to ruin his life, and I figured his friends would side with him.”
Harper smiled broadly and looked at Allison as though studying her.
“What?” Allison asked.
“It’s good that you’re here. I mean, I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical. I care about Theo. All his friends do. We’re frustrated that he was denied the chance to buy Cloud Nine because he wanted it so badly, and he’d been working toward that goal for a long time, but if he can’t have the business, then I’m glad ownership of Cloud Nine went to someone who’s going to care about it as much as he does. And I can tell that you will.”
Guilt twisted her stomach into knots. She didn’t care about Cloud Nine, specifically, not yet. At this point, her motivation was purely mercenary—she needed to make a living and this was her best bet. It had nothing to do with a love of Cloud Nine or Destiny Falls, necessarily, as evidenced in that she was still cursing the fact that her livelihood was going to depend on boats and water, of all the goddamn things.
It hurt that her having financial security meant denying a man his dream, even if he was an ass. It bothered her a lot because she couldn’t see a way around it that didn’t compromise her financial future. But, despite the fact that her motives weren’t as pure as Theo’s, the result was the same because she had so much more at stake than he did.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure Cloud Nine stays running smoothly. I want it to thrive.”
“It has that potential. I’ve seen success in boat rental companies like it in other towns along the canal, but Theo’s hands have been tied as far as how much he could do to take it to the next level as a business. Cloud Nine has only been limping along. No offense intended on your ex-husband.”
“No offense taken. In fact, if you ask me, the words ‘limp’ and ‘Lowell’ belong together permanently.”
They shared a chuckle, then Harper stood.
“I have to get back to Locks, but let’s carve out some time later this week to get together and talk business strategy. For now, here’s my first piece of advice. Get to know the town and what makes it tick. Immerse yourself in the community in a genuine way and you’ll be surprised at the results.”
“Any tips on where to start with that?”
Harper considered it for a minute, then her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. “Got it. If you want to see the heart and soul of this town, and ingratiate yourself to Duke and his construction crew, then come to Thursday night’s hockey game with me. Duke’s their coach and all the guys who work for him play on the team.”
Allison knew more about ice hockey than most other sports. Besides the frequent Sabres tickets bestowed to Lowell on the down low by his friend Leonard Karevko, a local lobbyist who was one of his poker buddies—or strip club buddies, as it turned out—Lowell had played men’s league for a few years after they first got together. Silly, lovesick girl that she’d been, she’d thought Lowell looked cute in the uniform, buff, even, with all that padding on.
She tried to picture Will, with his prosthetic hand, holding a hockey stick, and Liam, with the storm cloud he walked around in, working with others as a team. “The men working with Duke on Cloud Nine play hockey?”
“Yep. Men’s league.”
“In Buffalo, we call that the Beer League.”
Harper nodded. “We take our hockey more seriously than that, though game nights usually end with copious amounts of beer. Come with me on Thursday and you’ll get a sense of what I mean. Plus, I think it’d be good for you to see Theo in his natural environment.”
She nearly choked on her tea. “Theo plays, too?”
Of course he did. He was Canadian.
A sly smile spread on Harper’s lips, like she was aware of the reason the idea of Theo playing ice hockey rattled Allison. “He’s our number one scorer and number two for assists.”
In the beer league Lowell had played in, nobody bothered to keep stats like that. They were lucky if anyone had the wherewithal to keep track of the clock.
She tried to picture Theo in a hockey uniform like Lowell had worn, tried to imagine what all those actual muscles would look like swathed in padding and a jersey. She bet he was aggressive on the ice. Aggressive and graceful, like the pros were. A wicked, delicious, low burn flamed to life inside her at the image. Not cool.
Going to the game would be a perfect way to help the townspeople of Destiny Falls see Allison as one of them and let her start making business connections. But the free pass to openly stare at Theo Lacroix for a two-plus-hours display of masculine prowess was a recipe for disaster. Like she needed it to be any harder to ignore her totally inappropriate, unwelcomed attraction to him.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea. Not yet, anyway. I still haven’t finished unpacking and the list of things to do for the business keeps on growing.” A harmless white lie. All her possessions that needed unpacking
weren’t arriving till Saturday, and she didn’t have a list of things to do for the business because she had no idea what she was doing and couldn’t find any paperwork.
“Oh, come on. You can save your unpacking for the first big blizzard. This’ll be fun. I’m the scorekeeper and you can sit with me in the official’s box, which is the best view in the rink. And you’ll want a good view because our men all look pretty damn fine in their hockey gear.”
Terrific.
“I’ll think about it.”
Harper embraced her. “You know where to find me when you make up your mind. And if you don’t feel like cooking tonight, I serve a mean beef stew that chases away the cold weather.”
Life would definitely be easier if she made use of having a tavern near enough that she didn’t have to worry about cooking her own meals. Allison did a quick mental review of her bank account. Canned tomato soup and grilled cheese it was.
“Thank you. For everything.”
Harper paused at the back door, her eyes going toward the canal. Allison followed her line of sight to Theo, who was bent over on the bow of a boat, tinkering with something. There was a distinct moment of silence in the office as both women admired the view of his backside.
He must have sensed their eyes on him because he looked over his shoulder and scowled at them. Allison averted her eyes, her cheeks heating at being caught in the act. Harper, on the other hand, waved merrily.
“Don’t let him get to you,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.
“He hates me.” Damn it. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out. At least she hadn’t sounded upset or frustrated, but even keeled, like she was simply stating a fact.
“He hates everybody. Or at least he wants us all to believe he does. I’ll tell you the trick to dealing with him.”
Allison arched a brow, all ears for the advice.
“Just imagine that Theo’s every scowl or growl is his way of showing you he cares. Like in the movie The Princess Bride.”
That was the looniest thing Allison had heard in a while. She tried not to let her skepticism show on her face, but it must have because Harper was quick to add, “No, really, it’s actually true because if he didn’t care—like he wants us all to believe—then he wouldn’t bother being so insistent about not caring about us all or Cloud Nine. He’d walk away.”
Risky Business Page 7
