Ruthless by Lisa Jackson

Author:Lisa Jackson [Jackson, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-01-11T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The next three weeks went by in a blur. Indian summer waned, and the air turned brisk and chilly. Gray clouds lingered over the Cascades, promising early snow.

Melanie barely had time to notice the change in the weather, let alone eat or sleep. When she wasn’t at the newspaper office, she was working in her studio or at the lodge, where she tried to keep her distance from Gavin. She wasn’t always successful.

Fortunately, he, too, was working day and night. They spoke to each other only when absolutely necessary. She dealt primarily with Rich Johanson, unless he was out of town, and somehow managed to keep her relationship with Gavin strictly professional.

She was friendly, businesslike and cheerful, hiding her innermost feelings. Gavin was cordial but reserved, and glared at her suspiciously whenever she seemed in a particularly good mood.

The tension hovered between them, gnawing at her insides while all the time she plastered a smile on her face.

She was lucky on one count. Gavin and Rich had no trouble agreeing on pictures for the brochure. When she showed them her favorite shots, they weeded out the ones that didn’t fit their image of the resort.

Rich slipped the good shots he needed into an envelope and said he’d take them, along with the copy he’d written for the brochure, to a printer in Portland.

Gavin handed Melanie a sealed envelope with a check inside and said, “Good job.”

The words sounded hollow, and Melanie, despite her fake smile, was miserable. She couldn’t wait to get through the charade and regretted taking the job.

As for the resort, the renovation of Ridge Lodge was on schedule, and the parking lot, lodge and lifts teemed with construction workers. A handful of employees had already been hired for the operation of the lodge and lifts, and a chef, a doctor, building supervisor and an equipment manager were already on staff.

Jim Doel, who had recently returned to Taylor’s Crossing, had been hired as a handyman, and Melanie had kept her distance from him as well as from his son. Though Jim was never openly hostile, Melanie sensed his animosity whenever she dealt with him. And she, too, hadn’t resolved all her feelings toward him. As much as she wanted to rise above it, the simple fact was that he’d killed her mother and robbed her of a normal childhood. Maybe that was Adam Walker’s fault. Her father had spent years bad-mouthing the man.

“So, how’re things going up at the lodge?” Jan asked late one Friday afternoon as Melanie handed her some pictures of people gathered at a city council meeting in city hall.

“I think everything’s on schedule.”

“Good. I’ve got another interview with our friend Mr. Doel next week and I wanted to be prepared. If there’s any trouble at the lodge, I’d like to know about it. But everything’s okay, right?” Jan asked, perching on the corner of Melanie’s desk.

“No trouble,” Melanie replied, carrying the pictures to the layout editor’s desk. “In fact, when you go up to the lodge, I think you’ll be surprised how smoothly everything’s running.

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