Читать книгу Suite Embrace - Anita Bunkley - Страница 7

“Deena, it’s all so strange. Suddenly being rich,” Skylar confessed to her sister over the phone. At one time she and Deena had been content to talk to each other on the phone a few times a year and send e-mails back and forth now and then, but since Skylar’s hospitalization last year, the two had grown very close, chatting almost daily.

As soon as Deena learned about her sister’s accident she had flown in from Colorado and stayed with Skylar until she had been out of danger and able to manage on her own. Now, she was back in Colorado and back to managing the ski school that she and her husband ran.

“Yesterday, I met with Mr. Ray and settled everything with the bank,” Skylar went on. “My money is properly invested and my checking account is flush. And Mr. Ray was so nice. He really helped me figure out what I needed to do.”

“And what are you going to do with yourself now that you don’t have to worry about holding down a job?” Deena asked.

“I don’t know, but I do know it feels damn good not to have to jump out of bed and hit the freeway in the morning.”

“Nothing stopping you from going to law school then,” Deena prompted. “You put it off after college because you had to get a job and support yourself, but why not do it now? Seems like the perfect time to go for it.”

Skylar let the phone remain silent for a long pause. After graduating from the University of Tampa with a degree in business economics, she had wanted to go on to law school, but hadn’t had the funds. After she was hired as a paralegal with the county court system, she became comfortable with her position and accustomed to a regular pay check. Even though she had the money and the time to study law full-time now, did she really want to take on such a demanding academic challenge?

Finally, she told Deena, “I do want to study law, but something like that takes time and planning. Maybe down the road, I’ll go for it, but not right now. For the first time in my life I have no one to answer to, so I ought to be in heaven, but I’m feeling kind of at loose ends. Too…free?” She thought about her remark and then asked, “Does that sound strange?”

“No, I’m not surprised,” Deena replied. “Who wouldn’t feel lost after all you’ve been through? Weeks in the hospital. Then months at that rehab place. A crazy legal battle with Dorchester. And then all that mess with Lewis.” When Skylar didn’t say anything, Deena went on. “Please tell me it’s over with him, Skylar. You can’t even think about taking him back.”

“I know, I know,” Skylar murmured into the phone. “It’s over. Don’t worry.”

“But I do. You hung on to him way too long to begin with. He never was right for you. I’m just sorry that it ended with you getting hurt.”

“We had some good times,” Skylar defended, while knowing her sister spoke the truth. Now that the relationship was over, Skylar could look back and see that she and Lewis had never been really compatible. In the beginning, he had been attentive, charming, great in bed. But as the months passed, they had settled in to a routine that was satisfying and safe. She had known what to expect from him, and it had been easier to hold on to the man she was with than strike out to find someone new. Stick with what you know, her father had always told her, and now she guessed that was what she had done for most of the important decisions in her life.

“Skylar, you got dumped by a man you loved and trusted. While you were in the hospital, too! No way can he ever justify that.”

“You don’t have to remind me,” Skylar tossed back, imagining that Deena was leaning into the phone, eyes wide with anger as she lectured her baby sister.

Deena wasn’t finished. “Lewis has a way of charming people to get what he wants. He’s fine, he’s intelligent and he’s slick. I know how much you wanted the relationship to work out, but I’m glad you found out what kind of man he was before you said, ‘I do.’ So, don’t even talk to him. Don’t give him an opportunity to work your emotions.”

“All right, Deena! I hear you. Give me some credit, okay?” Skylar suddenly snapped, now irritated as hell that her big sister dared lecture her on men. What does Deena know about the dating scene in 2005 and how hard it is to find a good man? Skylar silently fumed. Deena had married her high school sweetheart at nineteen and moved with him to Colorado. She had no earthly idea of what a single, black, thirty-five-year-old female faces every day while trying to find love, Skylar thought.

“No need to get snippy,” Deena tossed back. “I worry about you, that’s all. With Mom now living in Brooklyn with Aunt Clara, you don’t have any family nearby.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Skylar wanted to know. It wasn’t as if she had ever consulted her mom about her love life when she lived across town in Tampa.

“Well, for starters, you’re a very rich woman now, and your settlement was publicized in the paper. Men prey on women like you, so it’s important to stay close to people you can trust.”

“I assure you, I have enough sense to stay away from financial predators, con artists and low-life types. Including Lewis Monroe.”

“I’m sure you do, Skylar. Sorry for the lecture,” Deena meekly offered. “Just feeling a bit overanxious.”

Skylar paused before saying anything else, struck by the timbre of worry that had crept into her sister’s usually perky voice. Something more than Skylar’s love life was on Deena’s mind.

Deena and her husband, Jerome Simpson, owned Scenic Ridge, a private lodge and ski school nestled in an unincorporated area of the Roaring Fork Valley, northwest of Aspen, Colorado. The nearest town was Woody Creek, and it was linked to Deena and Jerome’s property by a narrow winding road that ran high into the mountains, which no one traveled unless they were going to Scenic Ridge. With ski season in full swing, it was no surprise that Deena sounded as if she were under pressure. She had a staff of twenty to manage while dealing with demanding guests whom she treated like royalty. “Overanxious?” Skylar repeated. “What’s going on, Deena? Problems at the lodge?”

“Yeah, but more so with Jerome,” Deena slowly volunteered. “It’s his father.”

“Mr. Simpson is kind of up in years by now, isn’t he?”

“Eighty-two.”

“And he still lives in Oregon?” Skylar clarified, recalling having met her brother-in-law’s father only one time—at Deena and Jerome’s wedding twenty-one years ago.

“Right, and he’s set to undergo surgery for prostate cancer day after tomorrow. Jerome’s an only child and he has to be with his dad. I want him to go, but the timing is awful. While Jerome is away, everything he usually takes care of will fall on me for God only knows how long.”

“You’ll have to run the ski school in Jerome’s place?” Skylar asked, aware that Deena was only an average skier, but hell on the slopes when it came to snowboarding.

“Oh, no. We hired a guy last fall…Mark Jorgen, you ever heard of him?”

“No, should I recognize the name?”

“He’s a former Olympic gold medalist. He’s our new ski school director and head instructor. He’s great. Especially with the younger skiers and he’s really boosted our bookings, too. But the biggest problem is that Jean-Paul, our long-time, trustworthy guest relations manager…or concierge, as he preferred to call himself, quit yesterday. Lured away by a Hyatt Regency in Utah. I need a new concierge now.”

“That’s a bummer. Call an employment agency.”

“Not so easy. I’ve tried. No one I approve of is remotely interested. I’ve got to find someone I can absolutely trust. Not just some stranger to come in and play the role. You know?”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, I was thinking. Skylar…”

“What?” Skylar interrupted, suspicious of the ingratiating tone her sister was now using.

“I was hoping that you might consider coming up to Scenic Ridge to help me out. Just until I can hire someone else?”

“Me? A concierge? I don’t think so, Deena. I’m a paralegal, remember? Guest relations are not remotely related to my chosen field of work, and I know zilch about the Aspen area. Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Think about it, Skylar. Please. You’ve worked in hotels before.”

“Front desk duties while I was in college.”

“So? You can do it. I’ve got to have someone I can absolutely trust,” Deena pressed the issue. “Information on local entertainment, attractions, restaurants and transportation is prepackaged and ready to hand out to anyone who wants it. Not being from this area won’t be an issue. What I need is a personal link to the hotel. You know…a discreet person to take care of sticky issues and unusual requests.”

Skylar flinched. “Do you get a lot of those?”

“Well, you never know what can come up when people are on vacation and out of their usual element. My motto is ‘Give the guests whatever they want.’ It’ll be easy, trust me. You’ll be out of Tampa and away from Lewis. He may have been fine as hell, but he was also a dog. Trust me, Skylar, you can do better.”

“Girl, you know I hate cold weather and I don’t even ski,” Skylar said. “It’s January and it’s seventy-nine degrees here in Tampa today. I’m very happy right here, thank you very much. I’d rather spend my days at the beach than freeze my ass off in a lodge in the mountains…even though I know your place is as gorgeous as any five star hotel. However, I don’t think it’s where I ought to be.”

“Skylar. Help me out. We haven’t spent any real time together in years. When I was there after your accident, you were too sick for us to do anything together. I’d like to have you here with me for a nice long visit.”

“Visit? Sounds like work to me!”

“Okay, but you know what I mean,” Deena pressed her case. “You always said you enjoyed working front desk duties while you were in college.”

“It was a motel near the campus and I got to meet a lot of guys who came there to party.”

“Well, for your information, Aspen is going to be the site for this year’s Black Winter Sports Reunion. Starts at the end of the month. There’ll be brothers…and sisters from ski clubs all over the country here for the fun—ice skaters, snowboarders and skiers. I’m already booked solid for the entire ten days.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Skylar’s arched brows slowly began to settle lower above her smoky black eyes as she mulled Deena’s comment. The Black Winter Sports Reunion was going to be in Aspen? While confined to her bed, she’d been flipping through cable channels one day and had come across last year’s reunion, filmed at Steamboat Springs, on Black Entertainment Showcase. She had been impressed with the crowd and knew what kind of people were about to descend on the area. Fine, well-toned brothers who were about something. Fashion conscious sisters who looked good on and off the slopes. Solid professionals who enjoyed the finer things of life. The change might be exactly what she needed in order to move on.

I’ve played it safe for so long. Why not take a risk on this? Might be just what I need to take my mind off my troubles and get Lewis out of my system. Plus, I can help Deena out and maybe have a little fun, too, she told herself, looking forward to being around people who knew nothing about her past or her wealth. “Okay, Deena. Only for you and Jerome. I’ll do it. On one condition.”

“Just name it.”

“Absolutely no one knows that I’m newly rich,” Skylar requested.

“You know, I think that’s a very good idea,” Deena agreed. “Attractive, single women with money can be magnets for shady men looking for meal tickets and scam artists on the hunt. They’ve been known to hang around places like Aspen. And you’ll fit in better with the staff if they think you’re simply my sister, in need of a job. Your secret will be safe with me,” Deena promised. “Now go pack your bags and get on a plane.”

“Pack what? I don’t exactly have the kind of clothes I’m gonna need up there.”

“No problem. You can go shopping when you get here. The salespeople in town are friendly and will be very happy to help you pick out everything you need.”

And I’m gonna need all the help I can get, Skylar thought, hoping this unexpected adventure would not turn into an absolute disaster.