The big man with dark skin handed off the squirrel and stepped forward to meet her with a striking smile. He had a full beard that she thought functioned well as a frame to hail others to take notice of his perfect smile and teeth. “Welcome to Mountaintop Adventures. What can I do for you, ma’am?”
His voice was robust and complex. It filled the space his body didn’t and reminded Raven of the aural bliss of a sound bath meditation.
“I’m looking for Silas Reynolds,” she said, pushing all other thoughts aside for business.
“That’s me,” the man before her said.
“Great,” she replied. “I’m Raven. The new owner.”
* * *
Silas Reynolds had loved blueberries ever since he was a child. But he’d found that blueberry-flavored snacks never accurately captured the essence of the fruit. So his brain always needed a moment to accept the gap between what he knew blueberries tasted like and the medicinal extract food companies used.
That was the type of experience he was currently having looking at the woman in front of him.
Raven.
The new owner?
He’d been expecting the beneficiary of Mountaintop today, yes, but he assumed it was someone around Chuck’s age, maybe a buddy from his time in the army.
This woman was none of that. She looked like she’d run through a Party City store with all the colors and sparkle that made up her outfit.
There had to be some mistake.
“Sorry, you’re Ray Coleman?” he asked.
She laughed lightly like he’d told a joke. “Yes, I’m Ray—Raven Coleman.”
“And Chuck left this place to you?” Halo, the bluntest among the Mountaintop team, asked.
“He did,” Raven said as she pulled a document from her purse and presented it to Silas.
It was Chuck’s will. The group crowded around him to look at the papers that had become almost mythical to them. For months, Silas had been in contact with Chuck’s lawyer, Mr. McGowan, trying to understand the succession of the business. This mysterious will had been cited as the reason he could not own Mountaintop Adventures.
But it still begged the question, why did his former boss leave the business to someone no one had ever heard of?
“How did you know Chuck?” Silas asked the woman.
“He and my mom dated when I was young,” she replied. “But he must’ve forgotten to take me off his will when their relationship ended.”
Silas nodded. It was an understandable oversight, and since they’d be sorting it out momentarily, there was no harm.
“Let’s get this paperwork over and done with then, shall we?” he said, and as he led her out of the central area of the cabin, he received encouraging thumbs-up from the others.
In the break room, Silas retrieved a file from the top shelf in the kitchen cabinet before turning to face Raven. She was assessing the space, and he took a moment to do the same with her.
He noted details he’d easily missed when taking her in all at once. Everything about her popped, not just her clothes. It was also the shiny lipstick on her lips, her long red nails, and the dark hue of her skin.
She was also tall. Very tall. She didn’t need to so much as tilt her head upward to meet his eye. The heels she wore definitely helped, but it was still a feat not many people in this town could manage.
“Thanks for coming all this way,” he said.
“Of course,” she replied. “Also, this place has a really cool aura.”
Silas took a sweeping look around the worn kitchen they used as a break room, office, and occasional first aid station. “The bad lighting is doing a lot of work.”
“No, I mean, there’s good energy in here.”
