Charlie and Andre nodded in unison.
She pursed her lips. “Well, what it means is that you have to be careful. Because if you start questioning his existence, you’re already in trouble.”
Logan had a crush on Darcy. He admitted to himself that it felt good. It was a big crush, maybe the biggest he’d ever felt, one that bounced around inside him as he went through his day. One that made him keep glancing at the clock and wondering what she was doing and wishing he was doing it with her.
Was she snowboarding on the fresh powder that had fallen last night? Having lunch with his sisters at the Powder Room? Sitting in front of her laptop, telecommuting to her job?
At his office in town, he had a meeting with Mason Bellamy, Adam’s brother and the finance guy who had organized the investor group for the resort. Logan was supposed to be going over business matters with him, but he had trouble concentrating.
“It’s that girl,” said Mason, nudging him after about the third time he drifted off, staring out the window at the snowy afternoon. “The one you were telling me about.”
He nodded, reluctantly pulling his attention back to the spreadsheets on the desk in front of him. “I’m having a hard time thinking about anything else.”
“Girls will do that to you.”
“You know what’s weird is that my family likes her.”
“How is that weird?”
“All my exes were girls my family disapproved of.”
“Maybe that’s why they’re exes.”
“I don’t want my family’s opinion to matter that much.”
“Hey, it does. Get used to it.” Mason loosened his shirt collar and spread his arms with a laugh. “I’m a Bellamy. I’m used to family matters.” He was only visiting Avalon, having come to town to help his ailing mother. So far, he was not adjusting well to small-town life. But his mother’s affairs needed sorting, and Mason, the moneyman, was the one to do it. “So,” he said, “you’re interested in a girl they all like. What’s the problem?”
“I keep thinking there’s something wrong with this picture. When I was a kid, I used to actively seek out the wrong kind of girl, just as a kind of f-you to my parents.” Logan drummed a pencil on the surface of the desk.
“Yeah, we all did that.”
“And then I pulled the ultimate f-you and knocked some girl up.”
“And let me guess. They got over it and ended up being awesome grandparents to your boy Charlie.”
Logan nodded. “Okay, yeah. They drive me nuts. They always have. But they’re the only folks I’ve got.” He settled back and opened a new window on his laptop. “So we’ve got the year-end board meeting coming up for Saddle Mountain. Tell me something good.”
Mason shifted in his chair. Cleared his throat. “The resorts and recreation business is tricky.”
“In other words,” said Logan, “the finances are in the shitter.”
“It’s more nuanced than that. There are variables to weigh....” Mason sighed. “Okay. In the shitter, yeah. That about sums it up.”
Logan’s heart sank. He knew he wouldn’t get rich overnight running the mountain resort, but he didn’t want to be irresponsible. He had a son to raise.
“The situation is temporary,” Mason said. “The cash flow is in good shape, but your reserves are running low.”
“What will fix this?” Logan asked. “Besides a Christmas miracle.”
“You could use another infusion of cash.”
“More investors, you mean.”
“Yes. You can do another investor offering, or resolicit your current investors. Or some combination of both.”
“How much time do I have?”
“There’s a January fifteenth filing date you’ll want to keep your eye on.”
“Got it.” Logan stood and gathered up his papers. “I’ll figure something out.” And he would, because it was mandatory. He had no alternative. He was not going to let himself fail at this. Still, he couldn’t help hearing his father’s voice, which was embedded deep inside his head. His father would say he’d made a huge mistake. He had walked away from a stable, thriving insurance business for the sake of a risky enterprise that had equal potential to either make or lose a fortune for him. He’d gambled not just his own future, but that of his son, too. What kind of father was he?
“Want to get a beer?” Mason suggested. “Adam’s just winding up his stint as Santa.” The firefighters of Avalon took turns donning the red suit each afternoon. “He could meet us at Hilltop Tavern.”
“That’s okay. I’m meeting my sisters and their husbands and kids. They’ve just been to see Santa. Adam is under orders to tell us what the kids asked for.” He shook hands with Mason and headed out into the wintry afternoon.
“You look superpensive,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, approaching him on the frosty sidewalk. “Am I interrupting something?”
He was ridiculously glad to see her. “Just an age-old argument with my father.”
They fell in step together. “I assume it’s the father in your head,” she said.
“He’s one of my permanent residents.” Logan tapped his temple.
“You, too?” She grinned. “I sometimes have that dad. My mom, too. It’s funny how much influence our parents have on us.”
“True. I think about that a lot because of Charlie. I want to be the kind of father he actually likes having in his head.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“I’m working on it. I’m trying my best to do a good job. For Charlie and for...” He stopped talking. He’d nearly said Charlie and his future siblings. What a boneheaded thing to say. “So,” he said, changing the subject, “how was skiing and riding today?”
“Awesome, as I’m sure you knew it would be.”
“After the snow last night—yeah.” Just the mention of last night made him think about walking with her in the winter woods, kissing her in front of the fire... He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing her right then and there. “Where is everyone?”
“India and China are taking everyone to see Santa now, and then there’s apparently some kind of parade. We’re supposed to rendezvous in the church parking lot.”
He nodded. “There’s a parade every Friday evening in December leading up to Christmas. Charlie has never missed a single one. The town kind of goes overboard for Christmas.”
She looked around the lavishly decorated and lit village square. “I noticed. I really like it. Can you actually skate on the lake?”
“Can I skate? No. Can the ice hold me? Yeah, probably through February.”
“I could teach you to skate.”
“I’ll hold you to it. So, what does a big-city girl think of Avalon?”
“It’s lovely here. You’re lucky to live in such a beautiful place.” She looked around at the shop windows, the people strolling from place to place, her eyes shining. “I love all the lights and decorations this time of year.”
“No regrets about missing out on your family’s holiday?”
“No,” she said instantly. “Definitely not. If I were back in the city, my sisters and I would be fighting our way along Fifth Avenue, dealing with the crush of holiday shoppers. Then we’d stagger with our parcels to Penn Station for the LIRR and pray we get a seat. It’s fun in its own way, but this is definitely more mellow.” She watched a kid and his mother crossing the street with a little dog on a leash.
“So, are you a city girl or a small-town girl?” he asked.
“Both. Oh, and a wilderness girl, too. Does that make me hopelessly inconsistent?” She ducked her head
