I pulled out my folder with the names and personnel reports I’d looked over two weeks ago. “Some sort of specialty concierge. Helps guests plan outdoor excursions and tours and stuff like that.”
There was a beat of silence, and I looked up to find Lars grinning. “You sure you want to fire that one?” he teased. “I feel like you might need his help.”
“I will handle everything for the families. Don’t worry,” I grumbled. “And I don’t think it’s a ‘he’ who holds the position.”
But the stack was pretty big, and I couldn’t remember.
There were over a hundred personnel files I’d reviewed in the last two weeks. I had a team to do it. Hell, I had my Decision Analysis Team provide me a list of who they thought should go. But at the end of the day, I knew I was taking away these peoples’ livelihood, and it was my duty to make sure I didn’t have to cut any more than necessary.
“Alright.” He sighed. “Well, I’ll probably call you tonight, unless you want to come over for dinner. Our place is pretty nice.”
Lars and Suzanne had rented a large house along the Nevada lakefront near Zephyr Cove to accommodate themselves and family and close friends. It was a gorgeous mansion set on the lake and perfect for the pre-wedding family vacation they sought to have. Normally, I would take up the invitation to have dinner with my brother and future sister-in-law.
But normally, I wasn’t searching for a woman I didn’t know. Normally, I wasn’t searching for my wife.
“I’m good. Thanks,” I told him. “Still getting settled.”
Meanwhile, I was renting a cabin on the California side of the lake just before Emerald Bay—one of the most beautiful places on the lake, or so I’d heard. It was about twenty minutes from South Lake Tahoe where the state line—and my new hotel was.
The cabin had been listed for sale, so I contacted the owners and asked if they’d be willing to let me rent it for the next several months while I got everything sorted with the hotel. By that point, I was sure I’d be up and off to wherever Arden Corporation needed me next.
“Alright, well, you have to come over tomorrow. We’re going to grill once the parents get in.”
I made no move to agree because I couldn’t. I needed to find Carrie.
“James…” he warned. “Lynn isn’t going to be there.”
She was the least of my concerns right now.
“I’ll do my best.”
He gave me the look I always got when he thought I was working too much. I might be the business-savvy and more successful Arden brother, but Lars had the whole work-life balance thing down to a T. Though I’d never admit it to him.
If I did, I’d never hear the end of it.
But there were too many things my little brother didn’t know about me. Too many things that would either disappoint him or hurt him—like what really happened with Lynn, or what I’d done to save the business.
I did what I had to do to keep the business and my family safe. I shouldered the weight and cleaned up the mess. It was my duty—and I loved them too much to share it.
Which was why I was going to handle this marriage mess on my own.
I was only ever this reckless when it came to saving someone I loved.
I didn’t love Carrie. Hell, I’d only just met her.
But I’d recklessly let my desire get the best of me… I’d recklessly married a woman who would’ve still been on my mind even if she wasn’t wearing my ring.
“I’ve got these meetings to handle now, Lars,” I told him, glancing at my office door to see my assistant peeking through the glass, wondering when we were going to get started.
He stared for a minute and then nodded. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Lars.”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob when I called his name.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.”
“Thank you for your time and commitment to this hotel and community, and I wish you the best of luck moving forward with your career,” I said for the eleventh time that hour.
Letting staff go required the perfect balance of composure and compassion. There had been a few tears and then, like the spectacle-wearing gentleman in front of me, a hard stare and a curt nod.
It was hard, but the way I choose to handle it, with a level of respect that was inarguable, meant I never really encountered anyone who left hating me or in any kind of rage. And for this task, that was the best I could hope for.
“One more, Mr. Arden, and then I’m going to pour you a nice stiff drink.”
I chuckled at Lucy, my personal assistant. She was a sassy, African-American woman in her mid-fifties who’d impressed me with her forthright and comical personality along with her attention to detail—and somehow knowing what I needed before I did.
She’d been with me since my father died.
And she, along with one of the board members, Jack Bernhart, were the only people who knew all the hard truths I carried like invisible weights sewn into the collar of my suit.
“Thanks, Lucy.” I gave her an appreciative smile. I was going to need a strong drink before I returned to the real task plaguing my mind.
She nodded, knowingly. “This last one is the recreation director.” She stepped toward my desk and set the personnel file down on top of all the others she’d placed before it.
I flattened my palm on top of the folder, not needing to really look at it at this point and tipped my head, indicating she should let the final employee in.
My gaze dropped to the manila folder, blurring as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
As much as I needed to find this woman, I couldn’t let my brother down—not after everything our family had been through over the last few years. Finding Suzanne was the best thing that had happened to Lars, and if making sure their wedding and pre-wedding celebrations were perfect came at the expense of setting aside the mess I’d made of my own personal life—what little there was of it—for a few weeks, then that was what I’d have to do.
I’d give this PI all the information I had and hope he had more contacts and more strings to pull than I did when it came to finding the woman who was half-mine and half-mystery.
Once I found her, then I’d figure out what to do with her.
Clearing my throat, I refocused and shifted in my seat.
This whole situation was unreal, there was no questioning that. But the strangest part of it all was when I thought about finding the woman who was my wife, my next thought wasn’t how to dissolve the marriage though that seemed the most logical next step.
The strangest part of it all was that I wanted to find her, to find her. Not to lose her once again.
“Mr. Arden.” I heard Lucy’s voice announce her return, my head dragging back up as she finished. “This is Carrie Bishop.”
I knew her name.
Just as surely as I knew those expressive eyes and that delicious mouth. Just as surely as I knew that perfect lush body and the way it had come alive underneath my touch.
I knew the woman standing in front of me.
The woman I’d saved and spent one night in Vegas with.
Carrie Bishop.
The woman I was about to fire was my new wife.