The Last Bride (DiCarlo Brides #6) (7 page)

Gage had known they would pull through for him, but hated having to ask. “I doubt I’d be able to get the bank to front the money in enough time to beat the deadline, so I’d appreciate it.” But he felt like crap taking Vince’s money, like he was a failure. “And if it means selling you more of the business, I’m okay with that, on the same terms as before.”

“Oh, hey, you’re not leaving me out of it,” Jeremy said. “If I can’t scrounge up my portion on my own, I’ll hit up Delphi and see if she wants in too. I’m sure she’s got enough set aside.”

“This is getting to be a real family affair,” Gage said, not sure how he felt about it. Cami and Delphi’s dad had tried to buy the ski resort when he built the hotel but Gage had not been interested in selling. Now two of his daughters would have an interest in it anyway.

He’d known Vince and Jeremy would come through for him. They always did. He wanted to seem unaffected by his friends’ generosity, but was struggling to talk around the lump in his throat. “Well, let’s not get all misty-eyed about it. Check with your women and we can get together later this week to pound out a deal with them.”

“All right.” Jeremy bit into his pizza again.

“Have you done anything with that Camero since we saw it last? I’m dying to see it all shiny and new again.” Vince stood from the sofa.

“Some. You have to check it out. It’s a thing of beauty.” Gage smiled. Later the house would be quiet and empty again but for the next half an hour, he would enjoy some time with his buds.

Delphi’s a go.

Gage looked at the text message from Jeremy and sighed in relief. He’d already gotten confirmation from Vince so he would have what he needed to get the lifts repaired. Even if it did kill him by inches to have to sign over more of his business to anyone—friends or not. He picked up the phone and called the company that made the haul ropes to arrange the purchase.

His mother and sister didn’t understand why he had bought the ski resort to begin with. Their father had been a well-known architect and they expected Gage to do something similar. He had gone to college, even looked at getting his master’s degree, but it wasn’t what he wanted, and he hadn’t been able imagine spending another two years in classes for something he didn’t love. He had worked the lifts on and off through high school and college for pocket money and loved it there. He had become a certified ski instructor and learned more about the business.

Then his father had died and Gage had to settle affairs for his mother and sister. His grandmother had left trust funds for both him and his sister, and his father had left specific bequests to them. Gage had taken that and arranged to empty his trust fund to buy the business. The bank had been willing to pony up the difference. The mortgage payments made him wince, but he had still been turning a profit, so he hadn’t worried about it. For the most part.

The ski season was a lot shorter than twelve months, which is why he’d added the hot air ballooning and the mountain bike trails and events. They didn’t even begin to match his winter income, but they helped balance out the expenses a little. And his friends had always come through in a pinch.

He loved the business, loved seeing people’s happy faces as they came to have fun on his mountain. He loved teaching an occasional ski class when one of the instructors had an emergency and seeing the excitement on people’s faces as they discovered the joy he’d always felt on skis.

Managing was hard work and long hours, but he enjoyed that too—most of the time—and he had a great staff. It made him happy. And the hot air balloon business and mountain bike events were just as great.

He contacted one of the suppliers and put together an email for the guys with anticipated costs and deadlines. Just as he was hitting send, his phone rang.

“It’s me,” his office manager, Sandy, said. “You have a visitor. Says he needs to talk to you about the lifts.”

Gage wondered if the inspector was back, but why wouldn’t she have said so? He stood and moved to the door, opening it to find a man in his forties, lean with dark hair that was graying at the temples. He stood, watching Gage’s doorway. “Can I help you?” Gage asked. He didn’t recognize the man at all.

“Yes, I’m James Scott.” He offered Gage his hand. “I wanted to speak with you about the resort if you have a few minutes.”

Gage felt a nagging feeling at the back of his mind as he tried to figure out why he knew the name. “Come on back.”

The door had barely shut on the older man, blocking Gage’s office manager out when James began to speak. “I’ve been doing some research, trying to figure out who to contact about my interest in the ski resort. Oddly, my digging led me back to you.”

Gage slid his hands into his pocket and feigned surprise. “Really? That’s probably because I’m the manager.”

“No, it’s because you’re the real owner. Very cleverly hidden. It took a lot of work to figure out, and gives you more credibility if someone hired you, considering you’re so young.”

“That’s an interesting theory. What can I do for you?” Gage knew it wasn’t going to stay a secret forever. He wasn’t even sure if he cared all that much anymore. He was still fairly young to own a ski resort, but he’d gained most people’s respect now, so it wasn’t as big of a deal if they found out he owned the place. Still, he already didn’t like this man, so Gage wasn’t in a hurry to admit to anything.

“I have an offer for you, a good one, too, considering the work ahead of you on the lifts.”

Gage allowed his brows to rise, but hoped he looked only mildly surprised, and even less interested when he asked, “How do you know about the lifts?”

“I have contacts in the inspector’s office. It’s not going to be cheap, is it? You’d be better off selling out and moving on.”

Now Gage remembered where he had heard the name. One of his competitors had sold out to this man a few years back, and while the ski resort still ran well, the employees had been unhappy with the changes he’d made, dropping hours, refusing raises and worse working conditions. That was not how Gage did business.

“I’m flattered that you think I have the power to sell to you.”

“Don’t play games with me. I know it’s you. You only did a superficial job of hiding the truth,” Scott said.

“Okay,” Gage looked the man in the eye, “I’m not interested in selling. We’re handling the repairs. Summer season is well on its way and we look forward to another great ski season.”

“Come on, you haven’t even heard my offer.”

“I don’t have to hear it to know I’m not interested. Have a good day.” Gage opened the office door and gestured for the man to leave.

“The offer is open, if you change your mind.”

“Thanks.” Gage watched him saunter out of the building before returning to his desk.

It seemed only seconds later when there was a knock at Gage’s office door. Wanting to snarl, he looked up to see Angela standing in the open doorway. He set down the phone he had just picked up, managed a smile and waved her in. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“I thought I’d stop by to see how you’re doing.” She sashayed into the room, bright, beautiful and grinning.

“I’m doing pretty well. Are you bored of our little town already?” He leaned back in his chair and settled to talk. He didn’t think she would be walking out anytime soon. Besides, he could use the break.

“No. I can hardly be bored when I have so much to keep me busy. Just exploring Jonquil’s resort took me most of the morning, and the shops downtown—some of them are to
die
for. It makes me wish I weren’t a poor little college student.” She slid into a chair across from him, touching her chin with her fingertips, which were perfectly painted.

He recognized the move as one intended to draw attention to her mouth—which it did. But he wasn’t interested. “When does your show open?”

“In a week and a half. It’s crazy; there’s so much to learn still. We’re working on the lines and timing, fittings and sets and then there’s the choreography—which has my head spinning. I’m glad I don’t have a major role. Have you seen
How to Succeed in Business
before? It’s a terrific show. I have such a fun part, you should totally come.”

Gage had never heard of it, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone to a play. He wasn’t anti-theater, but it hadn’t exactly been a big part of his life. He’d take NFL or baseball over it any day. “I’ll see what I can do. I bet you’re great.”

She laughed one of those light, flirty laughs that came across as insincere most of the time. “I’m even better than you think and my costumes are tres chic—or what passed for chic in those times. Downright sexy.”

He let that pass and asked her about some of the other roles she had played, though he hadn’t heard of most of the shows, never mind knowing what they were about. When she finished, she glanced at her watch. “It’s lunchtime. You want to run to Wendel’s? I hear it’s all the rage around here.”

“I can hardly say no to Wendel’s,” he agreed, standing. The local mom and pop burger joint had the best shakes and fries on the planet, and the rest of their food was pretty good too. “You mind if I drive? Last time I had to fold my legs into that little bucket of a car your sister owns I thought I might never stretch out again.”

“Oh, I didn’t bring her car. I walked over,” Angela said, sliding her hand into his elbow and up to caress his bicep. “The car is really ridiculous, isn’t it? When did you ride in it?”

He was uncomfortable with her snuggling up to him like that, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. Then again, considering some of the signals she’d been shooting out, he probably shouldn’t have agreed to eat lunch with her. Too late now. “A few weeks back. It was an emergency situation and she had my GTO.”

“I didn’t think you two were close enough to swap vehicles.” Angela looked a little wary.

“We’re not. Like I said, it was an emergency. It’s never happening again.” He remembered how she had stepped up when Jeremy and Delphi had needed her, calm, determined and prepared. She had surprised him.

“Sounds interesting.”

He spent the drive telling her about it. They arrived and ordered their lunches. Predictably for her type, she got a salad—an item he had never even noticed was on the menu—and a small shake. Then she spent half of the meal rhapsodizing over the ice cream, and the other half telling funny stories from rehearsals. Not knowing anything about theater, he only understood half of the references, but he smiled and nodded anyway.

“You seem to work odd hours.” His food was gone and he needed to get back to the office.

“Oh, yeah, but that’s because we rehearse in smaller groups during the day and early afternoon and then the whole cast later on. Some group of the cast is there most of the day, but my part isn’t very big so I get odd hours off. I thought I had my lines down pretty well, but then last night I stumbled all over the place.” She frowned a little at her empty cup.

“Well, as you said, you still have a week, and you had a lot of lines and music to memorize in a short time, right?” He checked his watch for the third time. He really ought to be getting back to work. “What time do your rehearsals start? Would you like me to drop you by the theater on my way back to the office?” He definitely didn’t want to take her back to work with him. She made for an interesting companion for an hour or so, but she seemed to be getting more and more into him, and he just didn’t want to go there.

“One-thirty.” She checked her cell phone. “Wow, it’s getting close to that. I guess you better drop me off. I appreciate it. And thanks for buying me lunch. You didn’t have to.”

But she expected it all along, he knew, so he brushed it off and stood to dump their garbage. It was time to get back to real life. Thank goodness.

Jonquil had needed a day away from everything. Of course, she had to start her day off with four hours of work at the resort before she could get out into the beautiful early June weather, so it was more like half a day, but she wouldn’t quibble. Things with Angela were going better, she supposed. At least they hadn’t needed to have another unpleasant chat about respecting their house and space, but Jonquil hadn’t really seen much of her sister, either. The show opened soon, and then rehearsals would calm down, but Jonquil was going to be thankful for the quiet now while she could.