Up to Snow Good - Kelly Collins Page 0,52
and decency.”
“What’s not fair about it? The man made a deal, the terms of it are legitimate.”
“You planted Sam in the Matthews employ, or bought him out afterward, and used him to cook their books so they couldn’t pay that debt.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Max said, wrapping his right arm around Lauren’s waist to pull her close. “We’re fighting you anyway, and we will win.”
“You won’t, Max, you will lose. That’s not what I want, it’s what I came here to avoid.” He glanced at Lauren, then back at Max before going on, “Come back, Max, come home. This place isn’t your home, and this woman is not your family.”
“Watch your words,” Max warned him.
“Consider your actions,” his father answered. “You go on with this, there’s no going back. You can still reconsider, and I’ll chalk it up to the obvious, and we’ll go on as before. You’re my son and my heir. This isn’t natural.”
Max took a single step forward to protect Lauren and repel his father. “I’ve heard enough. You can do what you want, you always have, but I love this woman, and I will marry her if she’ll have me. We’ll save this place for our own, for our children, and our future. Do your damnedest, but I won’t stand anywhere other than by her side.”
The men stood in a silent, blistering tension. Pops looked her over with obvious contempt. “I’d congratulate you,” he said with grainy disgust, “but you’ve only sealed your family’s fate.”
He climbed into his SUV and drove away with a screech of his tires, leaving Max and Lauren behind.
“I’m sorry, Max.”
He stood there, knowing who was leaving him, and what he was leaving behind. All he could think to say was, “I’m not.”
They walked back into the empty lodge, but it was hardly still or silent.
Patrick yelled, “I can’t believe you’re telling me this now!”
“I’m sorry, but there wasn’t going to be a good time, Patrick!”
Lauren glanced at Max, who didn’t need an explanation.
“Great. Just when things couldn’t get any worse,” he said.
“No, Patrick,” Lauren said, “don’t put it that way, don’t think about it like that.”
Patrick looked at her as if in shock, and Max knew he was about to forget that he was in her employ and lucky to be there. “We’re so screwed. Don’t you see that? This stupid Santa thing won’t help anyone.”
“There’s the vote,” Lauren said, “the meeting.”
Patrick’s face snapped out with new anger as if it had been building up for years.
Max could sympathize, though he was careful to measure how far he’d let the younger man go. “These people don’t care about this place. They don’t care about you or me or anyone. They won’t turn up and vote for you like this. It’s crazy.”
“It’s possible,” Lauren said, “it’s a chance. It’s our only chance.”
“And then what? It’s a landmark, so what? Nobody will come here for that. Why would they? It’s a winter lodge, and there’s no snow. The whole town’s drying up. This place is dead, all of it, from the top down, this whole thing is rotten!”
Max cautioned him, “Take it easy, Patrick.”
Patrick snapped, “Mind your own business. You just showed up here. You’re not my boss, and you’re not my father.”
“No, but I’m a man in love with the owner, and I’ll remind you of your place if I have to.”
“Threatening me now,” Patrick said, shaking his head.
Max had not prepared for the welling up of anger about his father, and his ability to channel it was failing him.
It was Lauren who said, “We’re not, Patrick, you’ve got a lot to take in just now. Why not take a breather, let it all sink in?”
“She’s right,” Cindy said with her brows hopefully bent upward toward the center of her forehead. “Let’s just take it easy. We’ll work it out. She was right, I had to tell you.”
Patrick turned to Lauren as if with new and stunned disgust. “You knew about this?”
“I needed advice,” Cindy said.
“And I had to keep her confidence,” Lauren replied.
Patrick nodded as if thinking things through and agreeing with himself. “Oh, all right, so you’re all just making my life choices for me, is that it? Is this some kind of conspiracy or something?”
“You gotta calm down,” Max said, “you’re spiraling out of control here.”
“Yeah,” Patrick added, “you’re right. It’s time I took control. You all might be doomed here, but I’m not. I’ve still got options, and I don’t have to go down