Page 31 of Keep On Loving You
Kat looked directly into Andy’s eyes. “I feel great.”
“Well, that’s good news because I just heard from Steven.”
Steven had been their father’s right-hand man, and along with William, the family lawyer, he had been responsible for administering Michael Carlson’s will. “Steven? Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no,” Charli said. “Apparently there’s been an emergency in William’s family, and he needs to leave town later today, so the family meeting has to happen today.”
“Today?” A thrill of excitement shot through her, followed quickly by a spark of fear.
“Are you feeling up to it? Because we can?—”
“Of course.” Even if her arm had been cut off, there was no way she was going to miss the meeting. “I feel great. But what about Craig? Is he feeling up to it?”
“Craig said he’s fine. I just wanted to make sure?—”
“I’m fine,” she said again. “What time do I need to be there?”
His quads burned and he could feel the sweat trickling down his back, but Andy wasn’t done yet. No, he wasn’t going to be done until he got Kat Carlson out of his mind once and for all.
Even in his fatigued state, he knew that was never going to happen.
It didn’t matter how many squats or lunges or burpees he did—he was never going to get Kat out of his head. The best he could hope for was pretending long enough that he might start to believe it. Even a little bit.
“Man, you are on a mission.”
Andy spun around to see Symon Scott, Charli’s husband, with their six-month-old baby strapped to his chest. “Hey.” He raised his arm in greeting and continued to squat. “You found me.”
With the rest of the Carlson clan meeting up at the big house, the family home, for the big meeting, Andy needed to find a way to keep himself busy for a few hours, so he’d reached out to Symon to meet him for a workout. After all, it looked like they’d be working together before too long.
“You started without me.”
“Sorry, man.” Andy finished his last set of reps and reached for his bottle of water. “I needed to get moving.” There was no way Andy was going to volunteer why he was feeling so restless. “This must be Poppy.” Andy smiled at the little girl, who responded with a smile. “I’ve heard a lot about this little cutie.”
“She’s pretty sweet.” Symon pressed a kiss to the top of his little girl’s head. “And she has the added benefit ofadding weight to my workouts. You think you can manage a baby-friendly training session?”
“No problem.” Andy chuckled. “I’ll even hold her while you do your burpees.”
Symon shook his head with a laugh and after a quick warm-up, joined in with Andy’s workout.
Poppy lasted twenty minutes before she demanded to be let out of her confinement. Symon spread out a blanket on the grass, and Andy joined him for some stretching while the baby kept herself busy with a stuffed toy.
“I heard a rumor that a contract was being sent your way later today,” Symon said while they stretched their quads. “I’m not going to lie, Andy. I really hope you’re going to sign it. I think you’ll be a great addition to the ski team. Your expertise, never mind your personal experience with the hill and the sport, will be a huge asset to us all. Besides, it would be good to have you around a bit more after so long.”
Andy laughed. When they were kids, Andy had been on the ski team with Symon for a few years, although it became clear pretty fast that Symon Scott had talent far beyond any of the rest of them. A talent that eventually won him multiple world titles and medals at the Olympics. He was still a force to be reckoned with in the ski world, but had recently retired from competition and had taken on the role of head coach, which worked out perfectly considering the national ski team had recently chosen Trickle Creek as their headquarters and main training facility.
“You’re just saying that because you want to kick my ass again on the slopes.”
“Obviously.” Symon winked. “But truly, it’ll be good to have you back in town.” He narrowed his eyes. “Assuming you accepted the job?”
“You would think that the head coach would be the first to know.”
“I gave the committee my professional opinion.” Symon shrugged. “And as amazing as that is, it only goes so far. But I did hear that they were offering you the job.”
It was true. The contract and official job offer had come through in his email earlier that morning. He was ninety-nine percent sure he was going to accept it. After all, being the head trainer for the national ski team was a massive career move. Never mind the fact that the job was in his hometown, which meant he would finally be able to get out of the big city and back to his roots, and the only family he’d ever really known.And Kat.
“They did offer,” he said after a moment. “And yes, I’m going to accept. Why wouldn’t I? It’s an amazing opportunity, and I can’t thank you enough for letting me know about it so I could throw my hat in the ring.”
“Like I said. It’ll be good to have you around again.” Right on cue, Poppy giggled and threw her toy. “See? And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
