Running a hand over his hair, he nodded. “Dee and I inherited this property, the lodge, the cabins, the snowmachines, all of it, about four years ago. After Mom and Dad died. Once she and I finished estate matters and processed our grief, we decided to keep it in the family and carry on our parents’ dream to turn the place into a guest lodge.”
“Which you’ve done,” she said, holding her two palms up.
He draped the arm closest to her over the back of the couch, blunt fingertips tapping the supple leather upholstery. “It’s been challenging working as EMS director and getting the business off the ground. There’s always something that needs to be fixed, and even though we’ve made booking cabins or a room easy with the online portal through the website, availability is limited due to my EMS schedule.”
“What about Dee?”
“She helps where she can, but with her role at the hospital, most of her time is spent there. Also, she’s still working through her other grief, which was the loss of her husband five years ago.”
“Oh boy. It’s been tough for both of you.”
“We have each other, which helps.” He absently rubbed her leg. “We’ve gotten behind on the mortgage. My folks purchased this main lodge about ten years ago, with the smaller cabins and the guest wing added shortly before they died. The mortgage for this much land, a large house, added to the construction loans for those three cabins? Even in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, it’s considerable. Mom and Dad had been pouring every spare dime into the place.” His facial features appeared carved from stone.
“Guessing that you and Dee contribute what you can.”
“Yes, but it’s not enough. I mean, we do okay, but she needs to save for her retirement. Me, too, I guess. We have good rural jobs, but they don’t pay like city jobs.” With defensive heat, he said, “Yes, that’s a choice we made, staying out here.” He heaved a lungful of air in and slowly exhaled. “Sorry. I know that you understand.”
Lee knew all about having nothing in savings, a nonexistent retirement account, and a staggering amount of loans. She also had a good understanding of the economic realities of living in a rural area. Although in her situation, the hospital paid a premium to bring her in to urgently cover the full scope of services here. Still. She laced fingers with his on the back of the couch. “Sometimes it’s good to talk about it.”
He gave her a tight smile. “So, to answer your original question, every guest visit is important, not only for the lodge’s online reviews and publicity but also for the income.”
“Makes sense.”
“What’s adding pressure, besides the looming bank default”—his Adam’s apple bobbed—“there have been offers from a potential buyer lately.”
She squeezed his hand. “Guessing you’ve told them no.”
“It’s a big decision either way, and Dee’s wavering. I’m not ready to let it go. But if we go into foreclosure, then the bank can make the decision to sell it to them. Right out from under us.”
“That’s a terrible feeling.”
“You have no idea.”
Actually, Lee had a pretty good idea. At least she no longer had to cover the monthly lake cabin payments.How’s that working out for you, Preston? Creditors calling yet?
She mentally shook her head and focused on what Maverick was saying.
“Even though these guests are rough around the edges, I need for them to have a great time, tell their friends, put it on social media, and come back soon. That’s my whole business plan in a nutshell, with the dream that we might get someone famous to stay here and a review goes viral one day. When we don’t have a ton of customers, each encounter is that much more important. It’s stressful.” Maverick’s blue gaze locked on to her, stealing her breath for a split second. “Now I’d like to forget about that junk and move on to other topics.”
Lee leaned forward and pulled his hand resting on the back of the couch toward her, rubbing her cheek against his rough palm. For some reason, she needed to maintain physical contact with him in this quiet space. How much of that desire was due to feeling raw after she revealed her history with Preston and hinted at her financial issues out in the meadow? Or due to wanting to support Maverick? Or was it because of a need to explore the growing connection between them?
She dropped her hand, allowing him the choice to move his away.
He cupped her jaw in the palm of his hand.
Her heart stumbled.
“If you need time and space, I understand. I can leave you to your work.” She said the words because she felt they were necessary to say, not because she wanted to say them.
Maverick scooted closer and slid his hand over her cheek, sinking his fingers into her hair and sending tingles over her scalp. “You leaving is precisely what Idon’tneed.” He went still. “Unless it’s you who would like to go, and I wouldn’t blame you.” His chuckle came from a few inches away. “Look at our rock-solid confidence, giving each other mutual outs.”
Smiling, she said, “What if we’re not confident enough to take those outs?”
“I’m happy right here with you.Confidentthat I’m happy.” He massaged her scalp with his warm fingers, and she sighed, leaning into his touch.
“I’ll be very happy, too, especially if you keep that up.”
The first full laugh she’d heard in a while came from deep in his chest. “I’ll get a good Yelp review, then?” he said.
