Logically, I know I can trust the two of them to handle things. For years while we were in the military together, they were the ones I depended on to keep me safe, and vice versa. I just have a hard time letting go of control, and now more than ever, I need to make sure we keep turning a profit, especially since I’m the one paying for my dad’s cancer treatments after his insurance refused to cover any of the cost.
As I head for the office, I hear the sound of a woman laughing, and I frown, not recognizing it. There are only three women who are constants around the lodge—my mother, my sister, Margret, and Cybil, Tanner’s wife—and none of them are here today.
When I get to the office at the end of the hall, I walk inside and stop dead in my tracks. Sitting around the only desk in the room are Tanner, Maverick . . . and Everly. Everly, the pretty brunette I met yesterday at Gene’s office—the really fucking pretty brunette, who is totally off-limits, since she’s got a man and a kid.
“What’s going on here?” I ask, and all eyes in the room come to me, two sets filled with guilt, one set with a hell of a lot of surprise.
“Everly just accepted the office-manager job, so we’re going over the schedule for the week,” Mav says as he leans back in his chair.
“We figured it would be good to get her on board before our next group shows up,” Tanner adds, and my spine stiffens.
“I need to talk to you two outside.” I watch Mav and Tanner share a look before they both stand.
“We’ll be right back,” I hear Mav tell Everly softly as I walk out of the room with Tanner right behind me.
Trying to breathe through the irrational anger and frustration I’m feeling, I head through the lodge and out the front door. I know we need to hire someone, but again, it’s difficult for me to give up control, so I want to make sure we pick the right person.
When I get down the steps of the front porch, I turn on two of the men I love like family and bite out, “What the fuck?”
“We told you we needed to hire someone.” Mav shrugs casually, which is his way. The guy has always acted cool as a cucumber. Even if he’s pissed, you’d never know. “We interviewed over forty people, and you—”
“Not one of those candidates was cut out to work here, and you know it,” I say, cutting him off before he can finish speaking.
“Some of those people were overqualified to work here, and you know it,” Tanner replies, crossing his arms over his chest, and I drag in a deep breath. He’s right; some of the people we interviewed were overqualified, but none of them were the right fit.
“I know it’s difficult for you to trust people and to let go of control, but we need to hire someone, and Everly is perfect for the job,” Mav says, his expression softening on her name, and irrational jealousy curls up in the pit of my stomach.
“She’s got a man and a kid. You know that, right?” I say with a clenched jaw, and he raises a brow.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nothing.” And it doesn’t have anything to do with her being able to work here, but there is no denying that the idea of one of my best friends possibly having feelings for her bothers the fuck out of me, when it shouldn’t.
“Do you know her?” Tanner asks, and I rip my fingers through my hair.
“No. Yes, I met her yesterday at Gene’s. She’s his daughter, and my grandmother mentioned she has a kid and a man.”
“Hmm.” He smirks, and I narrow my eyes on him.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He lets his arms fall to his sides and shakes his head. “We can’t continue to put this off, is all I’m going to say. Cybil is gonna need me after she has the baby, and I want to be home with my wife and kid for at least a few weeks, if not longer.”
“I know that,” I say quietly, wanting that for him, too, knowing how important it is that I support his decision after the way I reacted to his relationship in the past. When he and Cybil first hooked up last summer, I was pissed and let it show. Cybil had come to Montana for one of our couples retreats alone after her fiancé ended their engagement. During that time, with Tanner as her partner, they had gotten close. So close that she decided to extend her visit and stay with him, and then he followed her home to Oregon when the woman who helped raise her had a heart attack. I wish I could go back and change how I reacted to them falling in love, but the truth is, I was afraid I was going to lose one of my best friends right after my father confided in me about having cancer, which he didn’t want anyone to know about.