by J. H. Croix
Ginger nodded vehemently. “She’ll have to understand that. If she doesn’t, that tells you a lot right there.”
Delia left a while later, considering she’d thought she’d needed her friends’ help around how to deal with the call out of the blue from Terry, but in the end they’d merely validated what she already thought. She would have to wait to hear from Terry’s mother and go from there. As for Garrett, hearing that he might stay beyond a month only left her stirred up inside. Her foolish hopes danced inside—her mind was having a more and more difficult time keeping her heart quiet.
Chapter 9
The following afternoon, Delia was up to her elbows in dough when Nick came racing into the kitchen. He skidded past her and tossed his backpack on the couch in her office.
“Slow down, Nick!” she called.
Nick spent afternoons at the lodge once school was out, just as she had done when her mother ran the kitchen here so many years ago. Gage’s flexibility about scheduling and his easy attitude around allowing children to be at the lodge when needed made her job worlds easier. She and several other staff had children who were dropped off by the bus after school. They took turns keeping an eye on them.
Nick had started to run back out of her office and shifted to a walk in response to her admonition. He made his way to her side, hugging her waist before stepping away to glance up at her. “What’s for snacks today?”
“Apple slices and peanut butter.” She lifted a hand away from the dough she was kneading and gestured to a small platter in the corner of the kitchen.
Late morning and mid-afternoon were the slowest times in the restaurant, so she usually prepped a few snacks for Nick and the other children. He instantly left her side and helped himself. While Nick was busy chewing, Don came through the swinging door from the back hallway and ruffled Nick’s hair.
“Hey bud, how was school today?”
Nick launched into a summary of his day for his grandfather, chomping noisily on his apples in between words. Delia finished kneading the dough and transferred it to an oiled bowl. Wiping her hands on her apron, she was in mid-conversation with one of the line cooks when Garrett and Gage walked into the kitchen. Her belly fluttered and her pulse kicked into gear. Gage went straight for the massive refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of juice and tossed one over to Garrett who caught it easily. He leaned against the counter by Don and Nick and started casually chatting with them.
“Delia?” Lyle, the line cook she’d been talking with, asked.
She realized she’d stopped talking mid-sentence when she’d been discussing the specials with Lyle. Flustered, she glanced back to Lyle. He arched a brow, his eyes moving beyond her to Garrett and back again. “Think I’ve got it for tonight. We’ll do the maple-glazed salmon with asparagus in addition to the other specials. Will that work?”
She nodded and turned away, wishing like hell she wasn’t prone to blushing. It had been bad enough whenever Garrett was anywhere near before, but after he’d all but set her on fire the other night, heat surged through her at the mere sight of him. His eyes snagged on hers. It was as if he flicked a flame to life, the current between them sizzling from all the way across the room. Her breath hitched, and her mouth went dry. She forced herself to breathe slowly. They had an audience and she couldn’t show how weak-kneed and dreamy she felt.
Garrett’s eyes held hers for a hot moment before he glanced to Don, replying to something Don said. Delia busied herself wiping down the counter where she’d been preparing bread. Conversation flowed around her. She managed to get her breath back under control, but her pulse hummed. She jumped when her father called her name.
“Okay if Nick goes with Garrett and Gage to do some repair work up on the slopes?” Don asked.
Nick was bouncing on his heels. He loved any chance he could get to ride on the snowmobile up the slopes.
Gage caught her eyes. “He won’t be out of our sight. We’re doing some work on one of the ski huts and taking a look at the lift where it’s been getting hung up on the turn.”
“Of course he can go.” She walked over and knelt down in front of Nick. “Put your coat and gloves on before you head out and listen to them,” she said sternly. Nick nodded vigorously. She knew Gage and Garrett would keep eyes on him, but she didn’t want him to accidentally get in their way.
When she stood up, she found herself a hair too close to Garrett. Her blood heated at the feel of his presence. She couldn’t keep from looking his way and collided with his gaze. His eyes darkened. The air around them compressed. She had to force herself to remember they were in a room full of people.
Nick broke the moment when he raced into her office, coming out with his jacket swinging in the air. “When can we go?” he asked, skidding to a stop at Garrett’s side.
Garrett grinned and ruffled Nick’s hair. Delia didn’t realize how, but in the short time Garrett had been here, Nick already looked up to him the way he did Gage. Her heart clenched. He had a good male role model with her dad, but she knew he wanted more. He soaked up attention from Garrett and Gage like a sponge. Watching Garrett with Nick pulled all sorts of strings in her heart. He was easy-going and comfortable with Nick and with the other kids around the lodge. He’d make a great father. She’d trained herself never to hope for that for Nick, but it was hard not to with Garrett. On the heels of that thought, it was as if a knife twisted in her gut. A fresh wave of anger toward Terry rose inside. His damn call the other day brought long-buried feelings to the surface. She hadn’t realized how much she wished Nick had a father who was actually involved in his life. She shook her head sharply and knocked her mind off that loop. She watched as Nick followed Garrett and Gage out to the deck. Garrett helped Nick get situated on one of the snowmobiles before he climbed on in front of him. The snow kicked up in a swirl behind them when Garrett drove off behind Gage.
***
“Hand me that wrench,” Garrett said.
Garrett felt the cool metal of the wrench in his outstretched palm. He glanced up at Nick whose bright blue eyes, so similar to Delia’s, were watching avidly. They were seated against the wall on opposite sides of the propane heater they were installing. Garrett handed the wrench Gage had just put in his hand to Nick. “Okay, now we need to tighten the fittings.” He pointed to the two fittings. “Hold the wrench like this,” he paused and put it in place in Nick’s hands. “Let it do the work for you.” He watched while Nick started to turn the wrench. He lost his grip for a moment, but tightened his hand and gradually circled the wrench.
When the wrench stopped turning, Nick looked up, a question in his eyes. Garrett reached over and gave the wrench a firm push. “Perfect. Now do the same thing on the next one.”
While Nick carefully finished, Garrett thought back to what Marley had shared about Nick’s absent father—namely that he’d never been involved in Nick’s life in any way. Cold anger knotted in his chest whenever he thought about what that meant for Delia and Nick. She’d gotten by on her own. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if she didn’t have the support of her father. Delia stood out in so many ways for him, but the fact she was a parent was yet another factor that should have given him pause. But it didn’t. The only answer to the puzzle of why was because it was Delia. In the usual course of events, he kept his life emotionally uncluttered. But then, he’d yet to encounter a woman who pulled so strong and hard on his emotions that he could hardly think straight.
He found his heart softening in every interaction with Nick and his mind envisioning how he could provide the support to Delia that she’d never had. He’d like to tell himself it was just money, but that was the least of it. For crying out loud, he pictured himself teaching Nick everything from how to install a heater to practicing his pitches with him. Dude, you don’t even know if he plays baseball. So what? I’m sure he plays some sport. Did you forget you don’t even live here? You have a whole life in another state.
Garrett caught himself about to
shake his head at his internal dialogue and sighed. He knew he had to deal with his life soon, but he was finding it harder and harder to think about being too far away from Delia. Without an ounce of guile, she’d slipped through the cracks in his defenses when he hadn’t even known he had them. He forced his attention to the moment when Nick said his name.
“Yup, looks good. Let me check it.” Garrett reached over and gave the wrench a good turn and handed it back to Nick. “Usually Gage does the honors, but why don’t you turn it on and give it a test run?”
Gage caught Garrett’s eyes and grinned. He’d busied himself replacing the caulk around the two small windows in the hut. By the end of the month, all of these warming huts would have brand new highly efficient propane heaters and would be snug and comfy for skiers who got too cold or injured and needed to wait for the emergency team.
Nick scrambled out from behind the heater. Garrett pushed himself up and stepped over to the bench to sit down. Nick stood stock still in front of the heater, his eyes darting back and forth. He finally looked over at Garrett. “Which button do I push?”
“The big green one.”
Nick turned back to the heater and slowly pushed his finger against the green button. “It works!” he exclaimed as the heater started to hum. He held his hands in front of the vent. “It’s warm!”
Gage chuckled and stepped away from the window to kneel beside Nick. “You helped make it work. Good job.” He held his hand up for a high five. Nick slapped Gage’s hand enthusiastically and raced to Garrett. At the sound of the slap when Nick’s small palm collided with his, Garrett’s throat knotted with a wash of emotion. Hell, he was in deep.
A while later after they’d returned to the lodge, his phone rang. He walked into the small efficiency kitchen in his suite, snagging his phone off the counter.
“Garrett here.”
“Elaine here,” Garrett’s assistance parroted. “Sorry to call you ahead of schedule, but I figured I’d better call you before Tom Carlton does.”
Tom Carlton was a regular client. He ran Carlton Industries, a corporate conglomerate that included ownership of the insurance company Garrett had represented in multiple lawsuits. He’d succeeded in getting every single one thrown out. Garrett charged his highest rate to Carlton Industries, in part because Carlton was notoriously difficult to deal with. He had trouble keeping attorneys as a result of his pushy, demanding nature. A part of Garrett’s personality thrived on managing clients like Carlton. He had little patience for bad behavior and often ignored demands if there wasn’t an active case. He made no apologies.
He sighed. “What’s he in a snit about now? We don’t have an active case with them right now.”
“Since when did that stop him from being a pain in the ass?” Elaine asked wryly.
Garrett chuckled. “Never. Anyway, what’s he want now?”
“He has a new case for us. Another insurance one.”
“Give it to Olivia. She can handle all of those going forward.”
He’d never enjoyed working insurance cases and was happy to let Olivia hone her skills on them. Problem was, he knew damn well Carlton wouldn’t like it. Carlton had an inflated sense of importance and tended to think it was beneath him to work with associate lawyers.
“I’ll call him myself.”
“Thanks for volunteering,” Elaine replied. “You know if he doesn’t hear it from you, he’ll raise a stink.”
“You think Olivia can handle him?”
“She’ll be fine. He’s all bark and no bite. I’ll give her the rundown. How about you let me know once you’ve talked to him?”
“Of course.” He glanced at the clock above the stove. “I’ll call first thing tomorrow morning. He gets crankier towards the end of the day.”
He hung up to the sound of Elaine laughing. He walked to the windows and pushed the curtains back. The suite was situated on the corner of the lodge and offered a view of the slopes with the bay in the distance. The sun was setting behind the mountains. Even though Alaska’s days were short in the winter, he didn’t find it bothersome. He was so accustomed to the gray days of Seattle that early sunsets offered more color. Rays of faded gold reached into the sky from behind the mountains. Lavender and pink wove through the gold and shimmered on the water below. He leaned his shoulder against the window frame and let the quiet soak through him. He watched the sunset almost every evening here. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember when he last took time to watch the sunset before he came to Alaska.
Calling Carlton was an annoyance. It should have motivated Garrett to make some sense of what he was doing. He’d put his life on pause and didn’t know precisely why. He shoved away from the window and snatched his phone up, calling the only person he could think to call. After two rings, his twin sister answered.
“Hey Garrett, I was wondering when you’d call. Are you in withdrawal yet?” Becca asked.
Garrett could see her sly grin. Becca was two minutes older than him. She’d only stopped lording that detail over him a few years ago. He and Becca had always been close, and she knew him like no other. After a childhood of pushing and pulling at each other, they’d gone to law school together. Becca followed her passion to advocate for those who didn’t have a voice and was currently a prosecutor who specialized in cases involving victims of abuse. Garrett had followed the money and was damn good at arguing just about any case handed to him.
“Hey Becca, how’s life in Seattle and what the hell do you mean by withdrawal?”
“Busy, busy. You haven’t rubbed elbows with enough money since you took off, so I figured you’d be stressing out about that. I know you can afford not to work with what you charge, but a month off? That’s strange for you.”
Garrett plunked down on the couch. “No withdrawal. That’s kinda why I called.”
Becca’s tone softened. “You okay?”
He took a breath and gathered himself. “I’m fine. I’m just confused. I figured it was time to call you since I can’t seem to think my way out of this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“All I know is the day I left, I couldn’t get out of the courtroom fast enough. I figured I just needed a vacation, but now that I’m here, every time I think about going back to work, I couldn’t give a shit.” He paused. When Becca didn’t say anything, he continued. “You remember much about my accident?”
“Of course. I probably remember it better than you. I begged mom to let me stay at the hospital. She finally worked it out so I could stay a few nights there. You had your legs in stationary casts. When you finally got home, I helped you learn how to walk with your brace. Don’t you remember practicing in the hallway?”
He had vague memories of walking painfully back and forth in the hallway, but he didn’t specifically recall he’d been practicing with his leg brace. “Kinda. Gage thinks I got freaked out about my last case because mom and dad had to fight with the insurance company after my accident. Know anything about that?”
“Back up a sec. What do you mean you got freaked out about your last case?”
“It was a lawsuit against a health insurance company. I won the case and when I was on my way out of the courtroom, I couldn’t even look at the woman who lost. Usually, I go over and make nice, but I couldn’t.” He shifted uncomfortably. It was a small thing really. Yet, it bothered him nonetheless.
“Oh.” Becca’s tone was soft, but it spoke volumes. She’d railed at him after law school when he set up his practice and went after corporate clients. She’d told him he was wasting his talents. Over the years since, she’d kept quiet, but he knew she was disappointed in him. Becca loved a cause and corporations weren’t a cause to her. She thought they abused their influence and clogged up the legal system.
After a quiet moment, she continued. “Gage was right. Mom and dad had to fight like crazy to get your surgeries covered. I don’t remember all the details, but it had something to do with the
fact that the driver who caused the accident was uninsured. Their insurance company didn’t want to pony up. I’m pretty sure they got most of it covered in the end, but it wasn’t easy. Maybe that had something to do with how you felt. I said it way back when you started the whole corporate law gig, it’s not your personality. You actually have a heart, Garrett. The money’s nice and all, but I figured you’d reach a point when it wasn’t enough. I think you managed to stay with it as long as you have because you were so driven to be the best. Now that you’re sitting pretty with your pick of clients, there’s nothing to drive you anymore. You can’t tell me you care about what happens to your clients. Every time I hear about one of your cases in the news, it’s because you beat back some lawsuit. I didn’t ride you about that before because I wanted to give you a hard time, but because I didn’t see how you could stay interested over the long run.”
He listened to Becca’s words and leaned his head against the back of the couch. “Maybe you were right.”
“I didn’t say it because I wanted to be right. It’s because I know you. I can’t see you doing what I do because that’s too gritty for you, but maybe you should branch out, take some non-profit cases, do some pro bono work, and see how that feels.”
Simply considering something other than facing off in court when the point of his argument was merely to win felt good. He took a breath. “What would you say if I told you I’m thinking about staying up here for a bit?”
“I’d say a change of pace might be the best thing that’s happened to you in years.”
Becca could be blunt to the point of harsh, but she was also one of the kindest people Garrett knew. While she would be the first to share her opinion about his career choices, she wouldn’t bother to gloat when he changed gears.
“Well, I’ll keep you posted. No final decisions right now, but I’m not confirming a timetable when I’ll return to work. Tell me what’s up with you?”
