It was good to fuck around with friends.
It was good to have friends.
“You are to be looking good tonight.” Alexei’s English had gotten better over the years, but he was still Alexei.
“So are you.” There had been a year where it had hurt to hear Alexei’s name because if they hadn’t taken the job, they wouldn’t have been there. Somewhere into his second year on the mountain he’d realized that Jessie simply would have found another way to get the money she’d wanted, and without Alexei she might have gotten away with it and hurt someone. Someone besides him.
Tonight was weird because looking at Alexei didn’t bring even a second of pain. Tonight he realized that without Alexei he wouldn’t have met Lucy. He would never have known Ty.
“This is lie on your lips. I am looking like new father.” Alexei chuckled and then yawned behind his hand. “I am looking like man who never sleeps. I fall asleep behind bar at Trio the other day in the middle of happy hour. I was leaning against bar and then I wake up and it is closing time and Zane has decorated me like I am Trio Christmas tree. How he gets those lights around me I will never know.”
That sounded like Zane. “Asshole.”
Alexei waved him off. “He lets me sleep. Amelia does not let me sleep. Baby girl prefers to be held while she sleeps. I tell Caleb that in Russia babies sleep out in the snow so they become strong, learn to fight off wolves.” His lips kicked up. “This is not true, of course. But Caleb is gooey puddle when it comes to our daughter. Anytime she cry he is wanting to put her into MRI and make sure she is not to be dying.”
Alexei had a baby girl. It was crazy when he thought about it. When he’d met the man in front of him, Alexei’s life had been precarious. He’d been alone and sad and brave. “You know when we started working together I would have never thought you would be the one to have a wife and kids before me. I felt sorry for you.”
Alexei snorted. “I feel sorry for me, too. I was named Howard and living in bad motels. If you ask younger me, he would also be surprised about wife and baby. He would be very surprised about Caleb.”
“Yeah, I’m sure mine would be shocked by Ty.”
“I think it would be good shock. I think perhaps our younger selves did not know how much better world is when we open our hearts and minds to possibilities,” Alexei said. “I meet with Jessie’s sister today.”
Michael’s gut tightened. He’d known she was here, but he’d never dreamed she would reach out to Alexei. “What?”
“She calls me. She did not know I was coming to lodge for party. So she asks if she can meet me. I let her know I can come a bit early if she would like to talk.”
“What the hell did she want to talk about?” He didn’t understand what Trina was doing. He got that she wanted money, but why talk to Alexei?
“She wants to talk about her sister,” Alexei explained.
“Her sister who tried to kill you.”
Alexei sighed. “There is always something more to story, Michael. Trina and I are strangers, connected by one person. We are both impacted by choices her sister made. I think she is trying to feel not so alone.”
He couldn’t believe she’d bothered Alexei. “She’s being selfish. Jessie caused the problem. She should leave well enough alone.”
“I don’t think she can. I think she needs to find some peace. She asks my forgiveness. She asks it of me and Holly and Caleb.”
It was worse than he’d imagined. “She forced all three of you to talk?”
Alexei’s head shook. “She doesn’t force. We were willing to meet her, to help her. Tragedy doesn’t define us if we don’t let it. Tragedy is a storm we live through or choose not to live through. I’m sure I would feel different had Holly or Caleb died, but I would have gone on. I wouldn’t have allowed hate to be my fuel. I did that for years, and it is fuel that burns everything around it. Tears everything apart. I didn’t forgive Trina because she did something wrong. She did not. I forgive her because she needs to hear words from me. I forgive her because I forgave her sister long ago. I can hate what Jessie did and not hate the woman herself. You see difference?”
“I don’t need a therapy session from you, Alexei.” He didn’t like the antsy feeling threatening to overtake him. He wasn’t here to mix and mingle. He was here to make sure no one did something stupid. “I’m working, so I should get back to that.”
Alexei frowned. “I think you should talk to Trina. Her heart aches as much as yours does.”
He doubted that. Trina hadn’t had a choice. She’d been born Jessie’s sister. He had. He’d chosen her, and he’d been a moron to believe she’d loved him for a single second. He’d always been her chump, the lap dog she sent to do her bidding. He’d given up everything for her, and she’d fucked him over and ruined his life.
And Lucy and Ty didn’t understand. They couldn’t understand because they hadn’t made those kind of poor choices in their lives. They’d skipped dinner the night before and ordered in and sat up for a while talking about how to handle Trina. They wanted him to be nice to her.
He didn’t owe anyone anything. Not her. Not them.
Michael, people who care about each other, they don’t withhold time and affection to get what they want.
Didn’t he owe something to a woman who knew how to love? Didn’t he owe a friend who watched his back some consideration? If dealing with Trina would make Lucy and Ty feel better, didn’t he owe them? Couldn’t he trust them since neither would lie to him the way Jessie had?
“I’ll talk to her.” It would be uncomfortable, but he would do it.
“She’s here.” Alexei gestured to the buffet. “Her flight was canceled, and she will be staying here until storm is passed.”
He glanced over and sure enough, there Trina stood, filling her plate. Ty was standing not ten feet away, laughing at something River was saying. She and Jax had come up for the party on a snowmobile, the way many of the Bliss citizens had. With as much snow on the ground, it could be a more convenient method of travel.
He couldn’t talk to her. Not tonight. “I’ll have breakfast with her.”
That seemed civilized. He didn’t have to work until tomorrow afternoon, and neither did Ty and Lucy.
“Good. This is good,” Alexei replied. “It is good for both of you.”
“But I want Lucy and Ty there.”
Alexei smiled, a gentle expression. “This is good, too. They are good for you. You could be good for them, too.”
He didn’t like the could be, but Alexei’s English wasn’t always precise. He was good for them. He could be assertive where their natural personalities tended toward the passive. They were already starting to fall into roles that suited them, and he was beginning to get comfortable.
It was good to feel comfortable.
Lucy chose that moment to walk up to him, a tray in her hand. She gave him the sweetest smile and a wink. “Hey, Alexei. Different place, same old job, huh? I’m supposed to be the boss, but here I am serving drinks.”
“Sometimes boss must be playing for team,” Alexei said with a slight bow.