“I’m not indecisive. I just want to find the perfect spot to build.”
Ford snorted. “You’ve bought over a dozen tracts of land over the last couple of years, only to turn around and sell them a few months later.”
“Perfection takes time,” I argued. And each piece of land I’d purchased was just that: the place where I would finally build my dream home. The house that had been coming together in my mind since I first started working construction in high school. But after purchasing the properties and living on them in my trailer for a couple of months, I inevitably started seeing all the flaws. So I’d sell and start all over again.
I’d tried beachfront, clifftop, forest, mountainside, and rolling farmland. Nothing was exactly right. And I refused to settle.
Bell shook her head and rolled her eyes heavenward. “Land and women. He can never make up his mind where either is concerned.”
I pointed the grill tongs at her. “Hey. I resent that—”
“Because it’s the truth?” Ford cut in.
I narrowed my eyes at my brother. “If I remember correctly, you lived quite the bachelor lifestyle in LA before settling down with sweet Bell here. I’m not sure you’re one to judge.”
Bell scoffed. “He really shouldn’t. I, on the other hand, can judge you both.”
“You’re gonna pay for that,” Ford murmured in my direction.
I couldn’t hold in my laughter. “Thank God, you two got your shit together. We’d all be miserable if you hadn’t.”
Bell slipped under Ford’s arm. “He really is lucky he snagged me.”
“I am.” Ford brushed his lips across hers.
I rubbed at the phantom pain in my chest and turned my focus back to the chicken, flipping it one more time. I’d always felt at ease with dating when it suited me, being single when that did the same, but as all the people in my life seemed to be settling down and starting families, I couldn’t help but feel as if I were missing out.
I’d always wanted that. Nothing about being a perpetual bachelor appealed to me. But I’d always been more than happy to wait until the right woman came along. I’d thought a few might be it, but ultimately, they hadn’t been right.
I wanted what my parents had. What my brother and friends had found. A person who seemed to balance them out perfectly. And I didn’t have the first idea of what that felt like.
“Earth to Hunter…”
I glanced up at Bell’s voice. “Sorry, what?”
“I said I met your new boss.”
I took the chicken off the grill and placed it on a platter. “Really? Did she scream ‘city?’” I’d talked to Piper Cosgrove a handful of times on the phone. She seemed nice enough, but I had a feeling that she didn’t have the first clue what she was getting herself into.
Bell shook her head. “I didn’t get that vibe. She did seem overwhelmed by all the work that needs to be done, though, so go easy on her.” Bell glanced at Ford, a mischievous smile stretching across her face. “She’s also gorgeous.”
Ford sighed. “Do not get some wild matchmaking hair, please.”
She shoved at his chest. “I’m a great matchmaker. Look at Kenna and Crosby.”
“Kenna almost killed Crosby at least a dozen times before they ended up together,” Ford argued.
“But they’re happy now, aren’t they?”
I shoved the chicken into Bell’s hands. “As adorable as this weird fighting foreplay you guys get into is, I’d really love to eat dinner in the next century, and I won’t be able to do that if you two have to go lock yourselves in a room.”
Bell blushed. “I’ll go get the salad.”
Ford smacked me upside the head. “I can’t wait until you meet someone. I’m gonna cheer when she knocks you on your ass.”
“Naw, I’m way too even-keeled for that.”
Ford glanced over his shoulder as he headed for the house. “We’ll just see about that.”
3
Piper
The little speaker I’d set on the table in the middle of the lodge’s main room blared out eighties’ pop songs. The synthesized refrains and copious amounts of Diet Coke I’d ingested were the only things keeping me going this morning—that and the slightly feral panic I felt at getting this place ready in time for guests.
Bruno gave me a forlorn look from his bed in the corner. Anytime I got close, he turned his head as if he couldn’t bear to look at me. I pretended that was because I was currently wearing both goggles and a face mask in an effort to block out the dust, but it was probably because he was still mad at me for taking him away from his comfy home.
I gave his head a little scratch. “You’ll have so much more space to roam here. I promise I’m going to get the lodge up to your standards.” He ducked his head out of my reach and stood. “That was not nice.” He walked out the back patio’s doors.
“Whatever.” I returned to my battle with the dust. Climbing onto a chair that looked as if it had seen better days, I used the extension duster to clean the rustic chandelier that provided most of the light for the room. It was gorgeous. The combination of metal and wood appeared to have been in the room for decades.
That was the thing about the Falls. Almost everything I came across had the potential to hold countless stories—over a century’s worth. Something about knowing that I would be a part of history lit up every part of me. And only made me more determined to make this place shine again.
The last two decades had been hard on the resort. The owner, Albert Crowley, had fallen on hard times and had slowly let the place go. It had been vacant for years before the bank foreclosed on the property. I hated that Mr. C. had been struggling so much, but I couldn’t find it in me to regret that the Falls was now mine.
I stretched up on my tiptoes, trying to reach the very top of the chandelier. I could see a pile of dust just out of my reach, taunting me. I let out a slew of mental curses at being so short.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The barked question startled me so much that I lost the little bit of balance I had. My arms windmilled, the duster went flying, and I was soon falling. I landed with a muffled “oomph” against a hard chest. The man muttered a curse as I struggled to get out of his hold.
Where had I put the pepper spray Nathan had given me? I was pretty sure it was tucked neatly in my purse—that was still in my bedroom. Blast it. “What are you thinking just walking in here and scaring the life out of me?”
The man’s jaw flexed, highlighting the sharp planes of his face and the glint in his dark green eyes. “What am I thinking? You were practically hanging from the chandelier. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“I was perfectly fine until you scared me. Do you know you’re on private property?”
“I was asked to come here. And maybe if you weren’t playing that ear-bleeding music so loud, you would’ve heard me knock.”
I straightened. “You’re Hunter?” Taking in the man from head to toe, I let out another stream of curses in my mind. He was tall with broad shoulders and a lean, muscled form. But the dark green eyes froze me to the spot. It was as if they could see right past my defenses.