The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska #1)(33)
It just seemed wrong to have an L without some resemblance of happiness on her face. “You look like you need a double. Talk to me, goose.”
“If I do, you’re going to be mad at me.”
“You’re not actually buying the resort, are you?” Concern creased his brow deep enough he could feel the lines digging into his skull. “I’d love having you around more, but it’s a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Because the only positive thing about the place is the Shaws. Jax grew up with us. They raised their son here. They’re not local but they aren’t—”
Pursing his lips, Graham stopped himself from saying something hurtful, no matter how much he believed it.
“They aren’t the enemy,” Lana provided, her beautiful features hardening, even though her voice was soft.
“No. The Shaws are just the people who made it easier for the enemy to cross behind friendly lines.”
Awkward silence fell between them until Lana frowned, reaching for a fry. “I’m not buying the resort. Your deepest, darkest fears are yet to be realized. Speaking of…” Lana waggled her eyebrows comically. “I’ve been busy, but I’m not blind. Someone’s been consorting with the enemy.”
Leaning on the counter, Graham stole her second fry and shot that sucker without a chaser. “L, do I have a story for you.”
Chapter 6
The adventure excursions weren’t cheap. When she had booked them nearly six months prior, Zoey hadn’t cared.
There simply wasn’t any way she was traveling all the way to Alaska and not doing every single thing possible to make the most of her vacation. Digging deep into her daily living money, Zoey paid ahead of time for a “Deluxe Excursion Package” through Moose Springs Adventurers, the top excursion package the budget off-site travel company offered. And if she lived off ramen and peanut butter for months to compensate, it was worth every penny.
Moose Springs Resort provided their own arrangements for experiencing Alaska, but those catered to a clientele financially superior to herself, starting with a deluxe excursion package about four times pricier than the one Zoey reserved, with fewer activities on the list. Their “Luxury Package” and the “Too Stupidly Expensive for Any Mere Mortal Package” were heavily advertised in her and Lana’s room, but she doubted that was the limit to what the resort was willing to offer. With their own helicopter landing site on the grounds and a fleet of staff ready to jump when a guest so much as sneezed, they could have arranged any type of adventure Zoey could dream of, as long as the price was right. Which…well…it wasn’t.
Zoey was going deluxe with Moose Springs Adventurers, and that was that.
Now that she wasn’t drunk on a Growly Bear, incarcerated, or letting herself be stranded somewhere, Zoey was ready. She was pumped. She was driving down small, winding mountain roads, singing at the top of her lungs to the radio, and letting the wind whip through her hair and fill her nostrils with the scent of the Alaskan wild.
When a small sign poked out of the tree line, Zoey almost missed it. “So much for advertising,” she murmured, performing a careful three-point turn in the middle of the road. “Come on, tires. Stay out of the ditch.”
Ditch wasn’t the right word. Cliffside drop-off was more accurate.
Her first excursion was a guided horseback ride through the mountains, the brochure provided by Moose Springs Adventurers promising wildlife sightings of everything from deer to grizzly bears. Two and a half hours of tranquil hoofbeats, softly swishing manes and tails, and stunning terrain.
Zoey turned onto a rough, uneven lane with heavy, large-stone gravel difficult to drive over. The tires on her SUV slid, fighting for traction, so she slowed down to a crawl. At the end of a mile-long drive, Zoey turned a bend and inhaled a breath, eyes wide. The heavily forested road opened to a clearing, blanketed with rolling pastures, a small pond, and several barns dotting the landscape. There were even those big round bales of hay stacked along the side of the largest building where everyone was parking.
Only a few horses remained in the pastures, wandering around and nibbling on the short green grasses available to them. The rest were tied up beneath a long, open-sided barn, already saddled, their noses clipped to the gate and a row of round, beautiful horse butts swishing their tails to shoo away flies.
Zoey had made sure to leave early in case she had gotten lost, but she’d underestimated how long the line would be, how many liability release forms she would have to fill out, and how chaotic the group of riders would be as they raided a stack of protective riding helmets.
A harried employee took Zoey’s paperwork and marked down that she was indeed carrying a helmet beneath her arm, never once looking up to her face. “Caldwell, you’re stall sixteen. Go down to the end, far side.”
“Over there?” she asked, nervous and excited as she peered at the line of horses, the open barn now swarming with their soon-to-be riders.
“Huh?”
The helper was too busy, so Zoey edged aside to let the impatient group behind her—two adult women and a heavyset man—move up. “Never mind. I’ll find it.”
Stall sixteen wasn’t easy to find because the animal tied in that spot was trying his best to go unnoticed. Ears pinned and a sour, pinched expression on his velvety nose, he eyed her balefully as she approached. Zoey didn’t know a lot about riding, but as she stood next to the short, brightly patterned mount she’d been assigned, she could feel waves of resentment rolling off the animal.