Page 44 of Never and Always
“I don’t know if I can fix this.”
“It isn’t your job to fix it. Your brother needs to.”
“What if they hurt him?”
“I’m more concerned about stopping them from hurting you.”
I swallowed, the tears threatening again. Suddenly, all the fear and worry welled up inside me, and my chest hitched.
“There it is,” he said quietly. “Let it out.”
The first sob escaped, then a second. I pressed my face to his chest and cried. He rubbed a big, soothing hand against my back.
Everett held me, made me feel safe and warm, and didn’t say anything. He let me cry it out until I had nothing left.
“Feel better?”
“Not really. Maybe. My brother is still a screwup and in trouble.” Desperate for a change of topic, I looked around. The fireplace was awesome. There was a gas one in my suite at the hotel, but I’d had zero time to turn it on and enjoy it. Hell, I never relaxed because I was always working. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken a vacation, except for my annual trip with Mom and Gram. God, it had been three years.
I focused back on the fireplace and the pretty vase sitting on the rustic, wooden mantlepiece. The vase was a swirl of blues and greens.
“I like your place.” It suited him.
“Thanks.”
“Did you make that mantle?”
“I did.”
“The hotel’s lucky you didn’t go into business making furniture.”
He shrugged. “If I turned it into work, I think I’d lose the joy of doing it. I make the odd thing for a friend, on my own timetable. It works for me, and I enjoy working at the hotel.”
I shifted a little and he snuggled me deeper against him. He was all hard, warm muscle. It really was a comfortable couch. “I’ve seen your resume. I know you had a big engineering job in California. The hotel maintenance work can’t be as challenging.”
He was quiet a moment. “Not technically, but it’s challenging in different ways. More people and personalities to manage and deal with, and trust me, no day is the same at the Windward.”
“No day is the same at any hotel.”
“Once, a skunk ended up in the hotel lobby.”
I gasped. “No way.”
“Everyone was screaming. The receptionists were on the reception desk, including Coral, who was screeching like a hysterical girl.”
A laugh escaped me.
“Anyway, it was up to me and my team member, Dee, to rescue the poor thing without hurting it or having it spray everywhere.”
“How did you do it?”
“Slowly and carefully. We used ammonia-soaked rags. They hate the smell, it simulates predator urine.”
I pulled a face.
“Got the frightened critter out of there safely.” He smiled down at me. “There was the time I had to hack through handcuffs for a guest. He was handcuffed to a bed and lost the key.” Everett paused. “He was dressed as Superman, and his embarrassed girlfriend was a rather skimpily dressed Lois Lane.”
“No.” I burst out laughing.
