A Little Too Late (Madigan Mountain #1)(65)

“What is your point?” I demand. “It sounds like you think I should drop everything and move home to Madigan Mountain. Is this because I haven’t put through that raise yet?”

Her voice is low and oddly serious. “I know you think it sounds outrageous to turn your whole life on a dime. But what if it’s outrageous not to?”

“Sheila. If I drop everything and move back to Colorado next weekend, are you going with me?”

“I might,” she says. And it doesn’t sound like a joke.

“Didn’t I just write you a recommendation for your application to Stanford business school?”

“Yes,” she says quietly. “But I might not decide to go. Even if I get in.”

“Really?” I yelp. “When did you make this decision?”

“Yesterday on the peak lift, I think.” She clears her throat.

“I have no idea if we’re joking or not right now,” I grumble. “But I seriously hope so.”

“It’s not a joke, Reed. I like working for you. You’re so smart, and we make it fun. But I don’t want to be you. I want a life somewhere different. I want to work normal hours and have more fun than you do.”

Well, ouch. “You think Ava works normal hours?”

“They’re more normal than yours, the odd raccoon notwithstanding. And she has a real community. They aren’t all secretly plotting to undermine each other, like the people in our office.”

I don’t even know what to say. “You’re too young for a midlife crisis. Are you really going to bail on business school? Don’t you want to wait to hear if you’ll get into Stanford?”

“Yes,” she says softly. “Of course.”

“And you’ll be here on Thursday, right?”

“You know it,” she says. “Even if I wish you weren’t there. I just don’t understand why you’re going to let your father sell the resort to Sharpe.”

“Maybe because I don’t have a choice?”

“He might come around if you put a little pressure on him. You’re good at that, Reed. Deevers just gave you another piece of his company, and all you had to bring were oatmeal cookies.”

“I don’t have fourteen years of bad blood with Deevers. And they’re really good cookies.”

She lets out a sniff. “What if you could buy time? Make it hard for the Sharpes to win.”

I know exactly where she’s going with this, because I am really good at what I do. “You think I should scuttle the deal.”

“It had occurred to me,” she says quietly. “You could leak—”

“—the Sharpes’ plans. I know I could. If I sent that photo to everyone on the town council, there would be an uproar. Block would look like an asshole. And my dad’s buyout price could drop.”

“Exactly,” Sheila says.

God, it’s tempting. The Sharpes might get cold feet. Or at least slow their roll.

I sit with that a minute, until a honk behind me lets me know that the light is green. Reluctantly, I move back into the traffic. “Look, Sheila. I know it’s an appealing idea. But don’t scuttle the deal. I mean it. Don’t tell the lifties or the evil bartender, even though it’s tempting.”

“You spoil all my fun. This place is so beautiful, Reed. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to it.”

“I know. Me neither. But that’s not the solution.” I’m angry at my father, but I’m not going to undermine him. “The blame could fall on Ava, and I don’t want that for her. She deserves her promotion.”

“Grrr. I hate it when you’re right. Do you miss her?”

My answer is immediate. “Like I miss oxygen when I’m underwater.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“Bye, Reed. I have to drink a ginger martini now.”

“Bye.”





CHAPTER 30




A FIFTEEN-MINUTE HEAD START





AVA “Was that Reed?” I hear myself ask as Sheila returns to her barstool after her call.

I still can’t believe he got on that plane. I shouldn’t be shocked. It’s exactly what he said he’d do, and I’m heartbroken anyway.

“Yep. That was him. He misses you.”

I make a face that betrays my thoughts about that. “Then where is he? Does he sound as brokenhearted as I feel?”

“He sounds…” Sheila’s face grows thoughtful. “Fine, I suppose. But Reed is always fine. He’s really good at faking it. That’s why he’s such a good negotiator in the board room. All that ice in his veins comes in handy.”

About a hundred emotions swim through me. Sadness. Anger. Love. I miss him so desperately. The Reed I know isn’t icy at all.

Then again, that guy boarded a flight to California. He’s gone. Possibly forever.

“If the Sharpes buy this place, he’ll never come back,” I say slowly. “Did you know his mother is buried on the property?”

Sheila shakes her head. “That’s rough.”

“It is,” I agree. “But I wanted him to fight harder.” It’s hard to say that out loud. Because I wanted him to fight harder for me, as well as the resort.