Honeymoon Mountain Bride

“Well, it’s been taking longer than I expected. I’ve done one and a half.”

“Bill, Benjamin Hunter recommended you. He said you would be a good worker. He said you would do good, fair work.” She forced herself to stop. She’d heard that remaining silent was an important tool in negotiations. Vivian chewed the inside of her lip and narrowed her eyes. She hoped she looked vicious and intimidating and Bill didn’t notice the nervous twitch in her left eye.

“You wouldn’t be trying to take advantage of me, would you?” she challenged.

Bill sighed. “No. I wouldn’t want to do that.” He rubbed his hand across his face. “I don’t gotta fish today. I’ll work on that next cabin.” He paused. “You’re not gonna mention this to Ben, are you?”

“Not at the moment,” she said, her ire rising at the realization that he might not have responded to her confrontation unless she’d mentioned Benjamin’s name. “You do know who is signing your paycheck, writing your future recommendations and allowing you to live rent-free? My name is Vivian Monterey Jackson...”

Bill took a step back and nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he said and headed back to his room, supposedly to get his toolbox so he could get to work on the cabins.

Vivian tried not to grind her teeth, but she couldn’t help it. She heard a sound behind her and turned to spot her sister Jilly, who stared at her with a wide-eyed glance.

“You’ve got balls,” Jilly said in wonder.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Vivian said, although she wouldn’t trust Bill’s performance until he’d made more progress. She was her father’s daughter.

That day, she and her sisters worked their butts off painting and completing work on the first cabin. They’d painted the walls a calming spa green and replaced the ratty scatter rugs. A small sitting area with two chairs and a table along with a new microwave, coffeepot and minifridge occupied the side of the room opposite the bed. New shades on the windows would provide a bit of privacy, and new mattresses were on the way for five of the cabins. The other three cabins could wait until they booked some new guests and started making some income again.

“It looks nice. I wouldn’t mind staying here, except for the lack of television,” Vivian said as the afternoon sun faded from the open blinds.

“You could probably watch some on your iPad by ripping the Wi-Fi from the lodge,” Jilly said as if she had experience ripping.

Vivian exchanged a glance with Temple, then brushed her hands together the same way she would have liked to brush aside her concerns about Jilly. After all, her sister was an adult. She’d appeared to survive whatever she’d been doing for the last several years well enough.

“How about we eat an easy dinner, then roast marshmallows and drink wine by the fire pit?” Vivian suggested.

“Can you start a fire from scratch?” Temple asked, her eyes full of doubt.

“I can!” Jilly said with a huge smile on her face. “Didn’t you pay attention when Dad showed us?”

“I must confess I haven’t had much practice lately,” Temple said.

“I can do it. We could roast hot dogs, too.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Temple asked.

Jilly’s face fell. “Graduate from college,” she said. “Finish just about anything.”

Vivian’s heart squeezed tight at the lost expression on her youngest sister’s face. Silence stretched between the three of them.

“As we’re learning, you don’t learn everything at college,” Temple admitted, even though Vivian and Jilly knew Temple held two advanced degrees. “You can light a fire, and I wouldn’t dream of twisting my stiff body into some of those yoga poses you can do. So let’s grab those hot dogs, buns and marshmallows.” She glanced at Vivian. “A better version of lunch with the ladies?”

Vivian smiled and nodded.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them sat around the fire pit as the sun set over the lake. Vivian doused her burned hot dog with mustard and took a bite of it. “Most delicious thing I’ve eaten in a long time,” she said and took another bite.

“Shows how hungry you are,” Jilly said. “The more hungry you are, the better anything tastes.”

Vivian nodded. “You’re probably right. I’ve eaten some pretty stale sandwiches that tasted good because I skipped lunch.” She took a long draw of wine from her red plastic cup. “You know, I was thinking about the last time the three of us were together, and I had a hard time coming up with it.”

“Besides your wedding, four and a half years ago at Christmas,” Jilly said without batting an eye. She wiped her face with a napkin.

“Too long,” Vivian said. “I know Temple has been buried under accounting spreadsheets, and I’ve been planning events and failing at romance. What have you been doing, Jilly girl?”

“I’ve been here and there,” Jilly said with a shrug. “I went to school to be a massage therapist but skipped the exam. I took a lot of yoga classes, but I had to move before I could finish the teaching preparation. I’ve tended bar, painted and almost got a cosmetician’s license.”

Vivian frowned. “You’re obviously smart and have super skills. Why didn’t you take the exams?”

Jilly shrugged again. “Just didn’t ever work out. Anybody want another hot dog? Or are you ready for marshmallows?”

“Marshmallows,” Temple said. “And I happened to find an old chocolate bar and some stale graham crackers,” she said with a rare jubilant smile as she held up her finds like trophies.