Lark Lake Lodge

Chapter Eleven

Support and Discovery

The dam burst.

I covered my face with my hands as I blubbered like a baby. I hadn’t realized how many tears I still had left to spill over my failure. Mistakenly, I’d thought my ugly cry in my truck had cleaned me out.

“Oh sweetheart. Don’t,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.

It was almost worth it for all my dreams to turn to shit if it meant he’d call me sweetheart and let me cry against his chest. In the entirety of my marriage, I couldn’t remember a single time that I cried when Rob wasn’t annoyed, or unsure what to do about it. Harlan lent me his strength and let me cry it out. He was downright amazing.

After a good round of sobs, I finally pulled it together well enough to hold my head up and talk.

“I’ m broke.”

“What?”

“I’m out of money.” His arms dropped and he took a step back, staring at me with surprise. I wiped the tears from my eyes and ran the back of my hand under my nose. “You were right. I should have come up here to assess what needed to be done before I decided to take this on. I thought I had enough to cover everything, but there were just so many surprises. When I crunched the numbers at the library today, I realized, it’s over. I have nothing left and this place is in no shape to open.” I dropped my head against his chest and he rubbed my back for a minute. I didn’t cry again, I just stood there, breathing. “The worst part of it all is that we were just getting to the good part. I really wanted to make this place beautiful. And now it’s like I ran a marathon and right before crossing the finish line, I broke my ankle. So, it’s over. I failed. I may as well get Simon on the phone and let him make me an offer.”

Harlan surprised me by stepping back and taking my shoulders firmly. “No way. You’re not selling to Simon.”

“What else can I do? I don’t have any other choice.”

He let go of me and paced a bit, taking in a deep breath and letting it out right before standing still to speak. “I’m going to go about this the wrong way.”

“What?”

“A couple of years ago, I was in a phase of reading self-help books and I read Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus . According to that book, when a man is trying to soothe a woman who is upset, he’s supposed to empathize and fight his instinct to fix the problem. But I can’t fight my instincts. I want to fix this. I have a solution for you, if you want to hear it.”

“I’m all ears.”

“You need an investor. Somebody who will give you an influx of cash so you can finish what you started. Once you’re open, you can buy them out or, if the partnership is good, you can keep them on and pay out profits. Simple as that.” He shrugged .

“Yeah. Super simple. It’s a great idea, but who am I supposed to get?”

“Me.”

“I’m sorry. What?”

“I know it may not look like it, but I have quite a bit of money socked away.”

My mouth fell open and he laughed. I swear, every time I peeled back another layer on him, I expected to find his deep dark secret and just kept finding more awesomeness.

“So, what are you, like a secret millionaire or something?”

“Not quite that, but definitely flush enough to invest.” He took my hand. “You know how they say that people either become their parents or live their lives in spite of them? I did the latter. My dad was horrible with money and I vowed never to be like that. So, I live simply and save it all. Maisie, I want to invest. I want to help.”

If he’d have left the help part off, I wouldn’t have felt so guilty. This poor guy had put up with my wildly unpredictable ass since I arrived and had bailed me out of countless catastrophes. Now he was willing to gamble his nest egg on me? We’d only been dating for the better part of a day and he was shoving all his chips into the kitty. It was daunting and so moving. But I felt awful about the sacrifice he so willingly made. I didn’t deserve it. I was a fuckup and he was too kind.

“It’s too much. I can’t ask this of you.”

“I’m not giving you the money,” he said with a grin. “I’m partnering with you. I really believe in what you’re doing here, Maisie. I like to think I’ve shown that.”

“Are you kidding? You’re indispensable. I would have never gotten one single thing done here if it weren’t for you. I’d still be on the porch, crying, with a broken key in my hand.” That got a laugh out of him. “I just don’t want you to do this because of…whatever it is that’s going on between us.”

A light went on behind his eyes, as though he realized why I was so reluctant. The fact that our romantic entanglement hadn’t occurred to him as a motivating factor was a good sign. He really was offering his help for the right reasons.

“Okay, yes. If I’m being honest, I’m drawn to the idea of having a business partner that is utterly adorable; someone I can’t help but stare at constantly and think very lewd thoughts about.” His voice dropped into the basement and he walked forward, leading me, until I felt the wall against my back. “But I’m most drawn to you as a partner because you’re smart, decisive, and driven. You wouldn’t believe how sexy it is to watch you make up your mind and move forward with something.” He placed his hands on the wall on either side of my head. “I think you can do this. And I want to be a part of it. I think we make a great team.”

He leaned down and kissed me before I could answer. The soft fullness of his lips, the tickle of his beard, and the palpable intensity of his need as he gobbled up my mouth made me whimper. My sighing moan seemed to deepen his hunger. With a growl, he pressed against me and I slid my arms around his neck.

Although I wanted nothing more than to give in to my mounting arousal, worries about his offer of help invaded my sex-fogged brain. What if we partnered in business and then things didn’t work out between us? Or if the business didn’t take off? Where was I supposed to live now? Were we already cohabitating? My mind raced as he pressed delicious kisses on my neck. God bless him, he was on the side with all the bites.

And then it dawned on me. My heart swelled until my chest ached. He was willing to kiss my mangled neck. He accepted me and liked me, bites and all. He was supportive, tireless, and exceptionally ethical.

I’d be a fool to refuse.

“Okay. I’m in. ”

Popping up from nuzzling my neck, his blue eyes were nearly as wide as his smile. “Really? Oh wow. This is great.” His excitement was so contagious, I felt an ache in my cheeks from grinning along with him. “Normally I’d shake hands, but I think we can do better than that.”

His mouth crashed down on mine again. His kisses were frenzied, like a man who’d crossed a desert and finally found water. Big, rough hands cradled my face and then traveled down over my shoulders and even further down to cup my breasts. His long, strong fingers had no trouble finding my nipples. They were hard as granite and as he pinched and rubbed his palms over them, my brain went fuzzy and my legs turned to jelly.

I was so caught up in the feel of his mouth on mine and his skilled hands on my chest, I didn’t realize what he was working up to. When his hands traveled down over my hips and grasped the back of my thighs, it became very clear. He wanted to do it up against the wall like he and Miguel had talked about.

I wanted to laugh and tease him about what I’d overheard. But my body had come alive under his touch, and putting a stop to this soul-stirring make-out session for a little ribbing was preposterous. So, I swallowed the laughter as he lifted me up. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I reveled at the delicious friction of him grinding against my aching sex.

His head tilted to kiss my neck again—the good side this time—and his hands returned to my breasts. Heat trailed along my skin as he kissed his way up to just under my ear. The vibration of his deep moan against my jawline made me tighten my legs around him, pressing my aching core against the hard outline of his cock hidden behind the zipper of his jeans.

My breath grew ragged as his hand slid under my shirt and up over my bra. It didn’t take him long to figure out that it had a clasp in the front, and he deftly unfastened it. His warm palm pushed the cup out of the way and blessed skin met wanting skin .

“Fuck. You’re so soft. Like pure silk.” His voice was breathy and low. The needy sound of it had me drenched.

The juxtaposition of his hands softly worshipping my breasts as his hips were grinding and deliciously rough was not lost on me. His breathing began to get raw and quick, as did mine. The heavenly scent of his old-school aftershave tickled my nose as I kissed across his cheek to his ear. I gave his earlobe a nibble, eliciting another blessed moan, and then he whispered, “Kiss me.” I gladly complied.

Nothing could prepare me for the effervescent euphoria of sexy time with Harlan. Guys in high school and my short stint in college had all been fumbling and guessing. Rob was oblivious, only focused on taking what he needed. Harlan, for all his years of celibacy, was an unparalleled lover, overflowing with contagious desire and focused on giving more pleasure than he took. I wanted to spend a solid week feeling his hands and lips on me. Though it would be nice to do so with less clothes and in a slightly more comfortable setting that didn’t smell like kibble and dog hair.

As though he read my mind, he pulled back and stopped kissing me. He stared in his usual way with his brow knitted and his chest heaving.

“I can’t…this isn’t right.”

“Feels good to me,” I said with a wink, trying to keep things light.

“Oh, it feels amazing.” He gave me a quick kiss, but his furrowed brow remained. “I just don’t want our first time to be in a damn kennel, shoved up against a wall. It shouldn’t be a quickie just because you make me so hard that I can’t see straight. I want you to be comfortable. I want it to be special.”

Nobody says stuff like that. Nobody is that thoughtful and direct. Except for Harlan. My throat tightened and emotions I had no business feeling yet began to bloom in my chest .

“Plus,” he added with a blush that had me curious. “I gotta run an errand.”

“For what?”

“Well, it’s just been a while…”

“Why are you being so adorably dodgy?” I let my legs slide down over his hips and stood in front of him.

“I gotta go buy condoms, okay?” His voice was like an embarrassed teenager.

“Oh, right.”

Having been desperate to get pregnant for several years, I hadn’t used protection of any kind since before I was married. What a new landscape this was.

“Though I don’t know how I’ll be able to go into the store without humiliating myself. You’ve got me busting at the seams here.” He looked down at his tented jeans.

“I noticed,” I said, grazing my fingers over his package.

He let out a moan and grabbed my hand. “Don’t do that. I’ll forget all of my good intentions and end up doing you on the floor surrounded by confused puppies.” I laughed as he released my hand. “When I get back, I’ll make us some dinner. I’m starving and I have a feeling I’m going to need a little strength for the night ahead.”

“Sounds good.”

We walked hand in hand to the gravel drive in front of his house where both of our trucks were parked. Watching him climb into his dark blue F-150, I reveled in the beauty of my new business partner. I wondered what we’d name our LLC. Carver Hospitality no longer did the job. I’d have to contact my lawyer and— Wait. Oh my God. Really?

I ran up to his door and motioned for him to roll down the window.

“I just realized something,” I said, plopping my hands on my hips. “I don’t even know your last name. ”

He laughed and leaned his elbow over the truck door. “It’s Stahl.”

“That’s perfect, considering how long you take before responding,” I said, taking a jab at his staring thing.

“S-t-a-h-l. It’s German. Like, steel.”

“Ah, I see. Harlan Stahl. Sounds weird,” I said. “But I guess anything would sound weird since I never knew your name to begin with.”

“I won’t be long, okay? Come here real quick.” He motioned me over to him. I stepped up on the side bar and held onto the door. He caressed my cheek and gave me a soft kiss. His contented smile nearly made my heart explode as I jumped down and waved at him as he drove away.

I headed toward the front porch, stopping at my truck to pick up my laptop and the manila envelope from Mr. Symanski. Digging into the lodge’s history would be a great way to pass the time while Harlan was on his sexy errand. After grabbing my stuff from the front seat, I headed inside.

Roger and Ralph were there to greet me as always. The tick-tack of their nails on the hardwood trailed behind me as I headed to the kitchen. I pulled a bottle of white wine from the fridge and poured myself a glass, then plopped down at the kitchen table and placed Mr. Symanski’s envelope in front of me. Sipping my wine, I paused before unwinding the string that held it closed. This seemed like a big moment—like I was reaching across time and shaking hands with the lodge’s original owners.

Unwinding the red string from its figure-eight twists, I opened the envelope and slid a packet of papers out. A photo fell to the side, but I ignored it as I was focused on a letter at the top of the stack. Mr. Symanski had included an introductory note about his findings in neat cursive writing.

Dear Miss Carver,

I was thrilled to get your request for documents regarding Stahl’s Lodge .

Stahl’s Lodge ?

My hands held onto the table just in case the shock made me faint. My head went woozy and my heart fell like a lead weight into my stomach. I picked up the picture that had fallen from the packet. It was an old black and white photo with faded ink scrawled across the bottom. Gerald Stahl and son at Lodge Opening 1924. The men in the picture, dressed in clothing of the time were surely long dead, and were nearly exact replicas of Harlan. Tall, with dark hair and piercing light eyes, they grinned joyfully. The elder of the two, who had his arm wrapped around his son, even had gray at his temples just like Harlan.

This was why Harlan was so supportive of seeing the place restored, why he chipped in and helped so much. And this was why he was so adamant that I didn’t sell to Simon. He didn’t want the place so far out of his reach.

Oh God.

Was everything between us some attempt for him to regain his birthright? Beyond their savings, the lodge was what his father really lost, and I was the catalyst for him to get it back! Harlan must’ve known I’d run out of money. His offer to help me wasn’t supportive—it was opportunistic.

Every sweet gesture, every moment of attraction, every ounce of anticipation and hope I had about our budding relationship evaporated into nothing. He’d lied to me. He’d lied all along, pursuing his own interests and using me to get what he wanted. It was a crushing déjà vu. Once again, I was the world’s biggest chump. Tears instantly welled in my eyes as I concentrated on not throwing up.

When would I ever stop trusting men who lied to me? Rob’s lies had destroyed me; and now this? I couldn’t take it. I had to get out of there. Just get in my truck and just keep driving until I ran out of gas. But intentionally getting stranded in the middle of nowhere wasn’t exactly the best idea. I needed a place to run to .

My gift certificate to The Firebrand! What better place to hide away from cruel reality than the quaintest inn on God’s green earth? Michael had offered me a lifeline for when it was all too much. And this was definitely too much.

Numbly, I grabbed my keys and jacket and headed to my truck, leaving the documents and photos out on the table. My exodus would be pretty clear once he saw that shit.

Bye bye dinner and amazing sex. Woulda been nice to have you.

Bye-bye, Harlan. Wish you weren’t a liar.