“Is that what you think I’m trying to accomplish here? Seducing you for Machiavellian gains?” His voice was dry as he adjusted their course.
“Aren’t you?” There. She’d said it. Put it out there. Her heart picked up speed as she wondered what he would say.
And wondered even more what she wanted him to say.
His eyebrows shot up. “Well, in the past couple of days I’ve realized you’re more plainspoken than I remembered. I’ll answer as plainly as I can. I’m attracted to you and that has nothing to do with business. I always have been. Is that so difficult for you to believe? You’re the one who walked out on our relationship. Not me.”
Relationship. The word hit her hard. In fact, she never would have anticipated he’d characterize their time together that way. “It was a weekend.”
He didn’t back down. “It was a friendship that led to a weekend.”
“A friendship? Are you sure? We barely knew each other. We thought we were Romeo and Juliet, rebelling against our parents.”
“You were using me to get back at your parents?”
She stared hard out the window as they descended toward a lakeside cabin. Where they would be together. The flight had passed all too quickly.
Kota whined from the back, and Glenna’s eyes flicked to baby Fleur. Still sleeping.
Broderick’s question still hung in the air.
Looking intently at the cabin, noting the large fenced-in area and kidney-shaped hot tub, she spoke. “Isn’t that what it was about for you?”
“Not at the time. No.”
His words stole the air from her lungs and her stomach lurched as if the plane had just taken a significant plunge. “Then I’m sorry.”
“But knowing that wouldn’t have changed your leaving.”
Would it have? She wasn’t sure. It had been so long ago. And in the intervening years, she had met and loved her husband. His betrayal had shredded her heart. His death had nearly finished the job.
And now all the changes to their lives that had come so quickly? She couldn’t afford the emotional stakes of another relationship.
“Our parents may have found a way to be a couple, but I can’t envision that sort of strange, statistical improbability happening again in our family.”
“Then it sounds like we have a challenge in front of us. Take care of the baby, who loves to sleep. Work on financials, which we can’t start until tomorrow, when the latest reports come in. And work on becoming friends again, because, lady, we’re stuck with each other.”
* * *
After securing the plane, Broderick fixed his eyes on the mountainside cabin where Glenna and Fleur waited. That A-frame building held a lot of memories of family retreats for him.
The place had been one of his father’s earlier acquisitions, when the stresses of work had started to take a toll on family time. Jack Steele had always told them family came first or the rest would fall apart. They’d been tight-knit, no question, and that had made it all the tougher after his mother’s and sister’s deaths.
He pulled gear out of the plane, one bag at a time, remembering so many other trips. Each kid had been responsible for packing his or her own duffel bag, and if they forgot a crucial piece of snow gear, that meant limited activities for that person. Jack made them learn their lessons the old-school way.
But they sure didn’t forget a second time. Or in other cases, they learned to share and work together. Corporate team building, even back then.
Broderick’s cell phone rang and he fished deep in his parka pocket. Reception up this way used to be tricky until his dad added a booster tower. Money sure did have its perks.
Broderick read the screen, but didn’t recognize the number. Still, given the unknown situation with Fleur and the merger mess, he figured he’d better take the call.
“Yes, Broderick Steele speaking. And this is?” He hitched a carry-on bag and a large duffel with a portable crib over his shoulder, tucked the phone under his chin and then grabbed two more suitcases. Damn, babies came with a lot of stuff.
“Steele, this is Trystan Mikkelson,” a gruff voice barked.
Glenna’s brother, the one who worked their family ranch. The voice sounded familiar now that he’d identified himself. What did the guy want? “Is there a problem?”
“I’m checking on my sister.”
Oh-kay. Broderick started his hike up the dock toward the cabin. “We arrived at the retreat on schedule. We’re unpacking now and setting things up for the baby. Any news?”
“Nothing to report.”
He frowned at the oddness of this call coming out of the blue from a man he barely knew. “Then please pass along the message to the rest of the family that we’re fine. I’ll send out periodic texts and emails with our progress on the business front. We would appreciate you sharing any news you receive.”