“Well, not yet anyway. We do have the decency to wait until tomorrow. Silas and I are headed your way.”
Hmm. That was interesting.
“Is this for the pleasure of my company,” she asked, “or should I reserve the conference room?”
“Aunt Jessica wanted additional eyes on the town. She told Silas to come, but I thought you might appreciate a little backup. Or someone to cheer you on as you give him a wedgie and poke his eyes out. I’m not sure who will be torturing whom.”
Killian might be her favorite cousin and one of the family members she trusted the most to be vulnerable in front of, but Lana knew better than to verbalize how nervous it made her that Silas was coming to town.
Silas and she had butted heads for a long time, and it wasn’t safe to have Moose Springs caught between them. Instead, Lana looked down at her hand, mentally willing her fingers to stay calm on her bedspread.
“I haven’t given anyone a wedgie in a very long time, and my nails are far too nice in this particular shade of mulberry. If anyone is being tortured, it certainly won’t be by my own hands.”
“Yes, because I’m supposed to believe that you always let everyone else get their hands dirty.” Killian chuckled. “I grew up with you, Cousin, remember? I know all your secrets.”
“This is why I like polo Killian more. He was much too busy being awesome to care about what I was up to.” Lana sighed. “Fine, I will see you when you arrive. Anything else I should be warned about?”
Silence, then Killian’s voice took a rare turn for the serious. “Be careful on this one. Silas wants to see you fail for his own reasons.”
Of course he did. Silas was a snake in the grass, waiting to strike whenever the opportunity arose. The instant he sensed weakness, he would be all over her in an attempt to discredit her in front of the board of directors. Of course he was coming to Moose Springs. He’d probably suggested it to Jessica in the first place.
“Thank you for the warning, Killian. I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Lana ended her call, then lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Knowing her mother’s love of multitasking, this probably wasn’t just about the financial investment in Moose Springs. Mentioning Rick had been a mistake. Lana couldn’t just date whomever she wanted or hide away in Moose Springs whenever she felt like it without bringing attention to herself or the other person.
When one was a Montgomery, one’s position in the company was tied directly to the fortune behind it. There was a reason she had to work so hard and go where the company needed her. A hundred and fifteen billion reasons. A hundred and fifteen billion ways to make a mistake.
And Lana was positioned to inherit it all.
Chapter 5
Nothing was better than caffeine in the morning.
Since Lana hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, she was more than happy to sit at Dirty Joe’s and get as much of the stuff in her system as she could. Killian’s warning phone call had left her too wired to rest, so she’d already had a busy morning, making the most of her insomnia. Driving around town in the earliest morning hours and stalking the brightest of the Christmas displays hadn’t yielded a chance to catch the Santa Moose, but it had given Lana a firsthand view of the moose’s destruction.
This was the first time she’d gotten to see what it was capable of. The moose had hit the west side of town in the middle of the night, and nothing had been spared. Strands of lights had been ripped from the bushes in front of businesses. Inflatable decorations had been maimed. One poor six-foot-tall plastic candy cane had been dragged into the street and stomped to smithereens. Whoever this moose was, it wasn’t afraid to let its feelings known. As she drank her coffee, Lana had to admit that she felt a little envious. Considering Silas was coming to town, she was facing a day of biting her tongue…at least in public.
Thankfully, Lana had asked for backup, in the form of canine moral support. That support was currently heading her way, waiting for a break in the traffic before hurrying across the street.
“Sorry we’re late.” Zoey hustled over to meet Lana in front of the coffee shop. “Someone was being a total diva about hats this morning.”
Okay, Lana was wrong. Caffeine was great, but puppies in sock hats were even better.
The leash in Zoey’s hand was clipped to the collar of the most adorable creature in existence. Jake, Graham’s floppy-eared border collie, had been blind since birth. The diner owner had found him abandoned as a puppy beside the Tourist Trap dumpster years ago, and an incensed Graham had spent the time in between then and now compensating for that act of human indifference by being the best fur father a guy could be. Never would a day pass where Jake was denied food, attention, designer sweaters in the winter, or sunblock for his wet nose in the summer.
Except for his favorite pajamas, Lana had never seen Jake wearing the same outfit twice.
“He didn’t like a hat on his ears? I thought he’d be used to them by now.” Lana leaned over, letting Jake sniff her fingers before running them through his silky coat. He wriggled his entire body with happiness, pressing against her legs as his tail thumped the side of her kneecap.
“Oh, Jake’s fine no matter what we put on him. It’s Graham who’s a nightmare. He’s convinced that you’re going to judge Jake’s clothing, and he would not shut up about cummerbunds. Seriously, who has a cummerbund for their dog? Who has multiple cummerbunds for their dog?”
Jake wasn’t wearing a cummerbund, but he was wearing a festive green-and-red-plaid sweater with a coordinating knit sock cap.
“A man with discerning taste, love.” Lana straightened, giving Zoey an impulsive hug. “Or a serial killer. We’re still not sure about him.”
“You never should have let him take me home the night we met,” Zoey sighed.
“Maybe, but it all worked out for the positive.” Lana hooked her arm companionably through Zoey’s as they headed into the coffee shop. “Besides, Rick dresses up his hedgehog. A fondness for accessorizing their fur babies might be one of the more adorable local quirks.”
“You’re in a good mood today.”
“I wasn’t aware I was ever in a mood other than good,” Lana countered. “Perhaps I need to work on being my better self.”
“No, they see only good mood Lana. I see real mood Lana, and real mood Lana is in a good mood. Is it a guy?” Lana didn’t reply, so Zoey elbowed her ribs. “It’s totally a guy.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yep, it’s a guy.”
They’d started having breakfast or coffee together a couple of times a week before Zoey’s shifts at the resort. Seating was never available at Dirty Joe’s, but there was a nice bench outside if one was willing to sit in the lightly falling snow.