Always allow a gentleman to have the upper hand.
PEARL CHAMBERS, The Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship
You look exhausted, honey.” Lia sank into the stuffed chair beside Molly and blew on her fresh cup of coffee. She had a cobweb hanging from her auburn hair, and dust streaked her V-neck T-shirt.
Molly knew she should check on Noah, but she couldn’t seem to get up. He’d been asleep since she’d returned from book club and had somehow slept through their treasure hunt. “I’m fine. Just disappointed.”
Abby flopped onto the tweed recliner. “We searched every inch.”
“Except Noah’s room. I’ll do that tomorrow.” She looked around the living room. She should get up and turn off all the lights. The place looked like the train depot at noon, and she had her electric bill to think of.
“It has to be here somewhere,” Lia said. “There were house metaphors all the way through Love and Courtship. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Heather brushed the dust from her dark hair, setting her hands on her hips. “Well, we’ve done everything we can for tonight. Don’t worry, Mol, we won’t give up.”
“There’s still the barn and outbuildings,” Lia said.
“And the well,” Abby said. “People used to hide things in wells, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, dead bodies,” Molly said. The night had left her feeling hopeless. No treasure. No tour guide. No customers. Things were really looking up.
“How are things going at the store?” Abby asked.
Molly nodded. “Fine. Good.” Maybe if she kept saying it, it would be true.
“Liar.” Heather softened the word with a smile, then perched on the arm of Molly’s chair. “She hasn’t found a replacement for Dwight yet.”
“Oh dear,” Lia said. “How’s that going?”
Molly gave an indelicate laugh. “Don’t ask.”
“She got an offer from Gage Turner.”
“Wait. What did I miss?” Abby shoved aside the worn copy of Love and Courtship and raised her brows at Molly. “What kind of offer?”
“An offer of help,” Molly said, then muttered under her breath, “If that’s what you call it.”
“Isn’t he a competitor?” Lia asked.
“Exactly.” Molly gave a sharp nod to punctuate the sentiment. “He owns that big tour place on Main Street.”
Lia pushed her hair over her shoulder. “It does sound a little fishy.”
“Hello . . .” Abby’s eyes toggled between them. “Have you seen Gage Turner?”
Heather waved her away. “Molly needs help, like, yesterday. Seriously, Molly, you have to consider his offer. Especially after the rafting incident.”
“There was an incident?” Lia asked.
Molly groaned. “Don’t want to talk about it.”
“You should accept his help,” Abby said. “Definitely.”
Molly looked between Heather and Abby. “Haven’t you seen You’ve Got Mail? I’m barely hanging on by a thread. I don’t need some Joe Fox putting the final nail in my business coffin.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “What is it with you and that movie?”
“Honey.” Heather set a hand on Molly’s arm. “It can’t get much worse.”
The words made her chest ache. Curtis had worked so hard to get the business up and running. The whole community had pitched in after his death. It shouldn’t be this hard. I’m floundering here, God. Can’t you see that? Guilt stabbed her at the selfish thought. God had helped her through the most difficult year of her life. Who was she to ask for more?
“Has anyone applied for the position?” Lia asked.
“Not a one.”
“But things are okay, right?” Lia tilted her head and gave Molly that look that always melted her resolve. “Financially?”
Molly traded a look with Heather. So she hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with the other girls. She was so tired of charity. When would she stand on her own two feet? It was so humiliating.
Not as humiliating as losing everything, though.
Abby frowned. “Tell us what?”
Molly took a deep breath and pried her tongue from the roof of her mouth. “I may lose the business.”
“What?” Lia leaned forward. “I thought things were going okay.”
“And spring is here,” Abby said. “Your busy season.”
Heather rubbed Molly’s shoulder. “Winter was a little hard on her.”
Molly sighed. Might as well get it all out. “Things were worse than Curtis let on.”
“Worse as in . . .”
“The business was in the red when he passed. He took a loan against our house to do all that refurbishing at the store. I guess he thought it would draw more tourists. Only it didn’t.”
Lia gasped.
“And he never told you?” Abby said.
Molly felt the anger building inside again. Her husband had forged her name on the loan documents and swept it all under the rug. Was it any wonder she was lacking in the trust department these days?
“With everyone’s help, things started turning around last year,” Molly said. “We broke even, which was a miracle.”
“But winter took its toll,” Heather said. “And now her only guide is gone. So, see, she needs help ASAP. It’s not just the business but the house that’s on the line.”
“Oh no,” Lia said. “It’s been in the family so long.”
“We have got to find that gold,” Abby said.
“We will,” Heather said. “I just know it.”
Lia nudged her shoulder. “Maybe you should accept Gage’s help.”
Molly shot her a look. So much for having Lia in her corner.
“Well, he is kind of cute.”
“All I’m saying,” Abby said.
“What if he has nefarious intentions?” Molly said. “What then? How can I trust him?”
“Honey,” Heather said, “he has lots of guides working for him. Maybe he’ll lend you one until you find a replacement. Or have one of them teach you the ropes. You’re kind of in a corner here. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“With my luck? I’ll drown in the Green River.”
“And . . . problem solved,” Abby said.
Three sets of eyes darted her way.
“Kidding!” Abby set her tea down. “Listen, I think you should take him up on it. You can learn this stuff. Think how much money you’d save if you could do the tours yourself. Office help is cheap.”
She was right. Dwight was good, but he hadn’t come cheap. Molly had paid for his benefits too. If she could learn all the guide stuff, maybe that would solve her deeper financial problem. Still . . .
“Can you really see me taking on the great outdoors?” Molly asked.
Heather wrapped an arm around Molly’s shoulders. “Girl, I can see you doing anything you put your mind to.”
Molly stepped into the store, her hands shaking. Somehow this had seemed so much easier the other night after the unfruitful treasure hunt. The girls had left her feeling all Annie Oakley. But now, looking around the huge interior of Explorations, she wondered if she wasn’t in way over her head.
It was impossible not to compare Gage’s shop with her own. Excitement sizzled in the air. Customers bustled around readying for trips, choosing equipment, signing paperwork.
Upbeat music flowed from invisible speakers somewhere up in the rafters. Employees in khakis and logoed polos greeted customers. The place smelled like adventure and money.
I am so out of my league.
Maybe Gage Turner was underhanded. Maybe he was sneaky and dishonest. But the man obviously knew how to run a business. Or maybe he ran it in a way that she never would.
“Can I help you?” A young blonde beamed a smile, baring a dimple.
“Is Gage Turner in? I mean, if he’s busy, that’s fine, I don’t have—”
“In his office.” Suzy Q gestured toward a hallway at the back. “First door on the left.”
“I don’t want to bother—”
“Go on back. He won’t mind.” With a parting smile, she peeled off to assist a customer with hiking shoes.
Molly regarded the hallway with a frown. Now or never, Molly. Just get this over with.
She skirted customers and racks of expensive outerwear. When she came to the open doorway, she paused. The office ceiling vaulted over a rugged oak desk. Matching cabinets lined the ecru walls, and a masculine rug hugged the plank floor. His window overlooked the scenic river. Of course it did.
Gage was hunched over his desk, pen in hand. He punched numbers on a calculator, wearing a frown surely caused by concentration, not distress.
He was good-looking, she couldn’t deny that. His dark, tousled hair looked as if he’d just woken, and his lids covered a pair of blue eyes that probably made women melt into a puddle at his feet. The perpetual five o’clock shadow didn’t hurt either, nor did the cleft in his chin. He was rugged, smart, handsome, and probably pretty darn rich too.
She mentally added the list of adjectives Curtis had supplied, none of them good. She’d have to stay on her toes where this one was concerned.
Drawing a deep breath, she tapped her knuckles on the oak doorframe.
His head came up, his brows rising expectantly. Upon seeing her, they fell. His lips slackened before tipping up in a cautious smile.
“Am I interrupting?”
He set his pen down and straightened in his chair. “No. Come on in.”
She stepped into the office, leaving the door open. Something masculine with a touch of pine filled her nostrils.
“Have a seat.”
Molly perched on the edge of the cushy chair opposite his desk, clutching her bag to her stomach. “Nice place you have here.”
“Thanks. It’s a work in progress.”
If there were any progress required, she had yet to spot it.
“What can I do for you?” His chair creaked as he settled back into it. Waiting.
Suck it up, Molly. She bit the inside of her lip. “So, when you came by last week . . . I wasn’t very friendly. I’m sorry about that.”
He lifted one shoulder and the same corner of his lip. “You were fine.”
He had a really nice voice. Deep and gravelly. It kind of made her chest flutter.
Ulterior motive, Molly. He probably has one, remember?
“Um, that’s very gracious.” She took a deep breath and met his eyes. They were warm, the color of faded denim.
She had to focus. She needed his help, but she needed to know something else first. He probably wouldn’t tell her the truth, but she had to ask. “I was, um, wondering why you, you know, offered to help me.”
His brows rose a millimeter. He opened his arms on the desk, his hands palms up. “We’re neighbors.”
Neighbors. Of course. They were competitors too, but he failed to mention that. Of course, with the state of things, she was hardly even that.
Which brought her back to this little visit. “I’m afraid I may have rejected your offer prematurely.” Heat climbed into her cheeks. Was no doubt blooming into a blotchy shade of red. Nice.
“What can I do for you, Molly?”
Her name on his tongue made something warm unfurl in her stomach, a sensation she hadn’t felt in years and didn’t welcome now. Not good. Not good at all.
“Um, I’m sure you’ve heard I lost my guide.”
“I haven’t been able to find a replacement, and I’m thinking about taking over that portion of the business myself.”
“Makes sense.”
Only because he didn’t know her. She had trouble imagining herself doing all those outdoor things. But she thought of Noah’s bright brown trusting eyes and their cozy farmhouse, the only bit of normalcy they’d had since his father passed, and knew she’d scale Everest if she had to.
“Do you have any training?” he asked.
“I was actually wondering if you might know someone who could teach me. I know it’s asking a lot. If you can’t help, I understand. It’s the busy season. Your guides are probably booked.”
He tipped his head back, studying her. Probably noting her slight frame and glossy pink fingernails. Visualizing the lame little fly-fishing demo she’d given in her office the week before.
“I’m a quick learner.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“I could tag along on tours or something? I could . . . I could even pay.” Really, Molly? With what?
He shook his head. “Leading a group isn’t the same as being a participant. You have to learn the skills, yes, but you also need to learn to teach them. Having rock climbing experience would be helpful, for instance, but you need to learn how to belay.”
“Oh.” What was he saying? Was this a no? Please, God. A little help here.
“I’d be happy to give you some lessons, though.”
He tweaked a brow, making him look ornery. “I do possess the necessary skills.”
What was his game? Was this part of his heinous plot to take her down?
“I’m AMGA certified,” he added.
Her heart dropped. “I thought we didn’t need certification in Vermont.” At least, that’s what Curtis always said.
“Not necessary, but very helpful—something to work toward. So what do you say?”
“I’m sure you’re busy.”
“I have some downtime in my schedule. I can have you trained for the basics in a couple weeks, tops.”
“Oh.” What now? Like she had a choice. It was this or foreclosure. Mother and child out on the streets, business bankrupt, no job. She straightened in her chair. “Great. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
They set a time for the next afternoon, and Molly shuffled from his office a few minutes later. Ready or not, she was going to learn to run this business of hers from the bottom up.