worry.”
“But I do. You hung on to him way too long to begin with. He never was right for you. I’m just sorry that it ended with you getting hurt.”
“We had some good times,” Skylar defended, while knowing her sister spoke the truth. Now that the relationship was over, Skylar could look back and see that she and Lewis had never been really compatible. In the beginning, he had been attentive, charming, great in bed. But as the months passed, they had settled in to a routine that was satisfying and safe. She had known what to expect from him, and it had been easier to hold on to the man she was with than strike out to find someone new. Stick with what you know, her father had always told her, and now she guessed that was what she had done for most of the important decisions in her life.
“Skylar, you got dumped by a man you loved and trusted. While you were in the hospital, too! No way can he ever justify that.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” Skylar tossed back, imagining that Deena was leaning into the phone, eyes wide with anger as she lectured her baby sister.
Deena wasn’t finished. “Lewis has a way of charming people to get what he wants. He’s fine, he’s intelligent and he’s slick. I know how much you wanted the relationship to work out, but I’m glad you found out what kind of man he was before you said, ‘I do.’ So, don’t even talk to him. Don’t give him an opportunity to work your emotions.”
“All right, Deena! I hear you. Give me some credit, okay?” Skylar suddenly snapped, now irritated as hell that her big sister dared lecture her on men. What does Deena know about the dating scene in 2005 and how hard it is to find a good man? Skylar silently fumed. Deena had married her high school sweetheart at nineteen and moved with him to Colorado. She had no earthly idea of what a single, black, thirty-five-year-old female faces every day while trying to find love, Skylar thought.
“No need to get snippy,” Deena tossed back. “I worry about you, that’s all. With Mom now living in Brooklyn with Aunt Clara, you don’t have any family nearby.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Skylar wanted to know. It wasn’t as if she had ever consulted her mom about her love life when she lived across town in Tampa.
“Well, for starters, you’re a very rich woman now, and your settlement was publicized in the paper. Men prey on women like you, so it’s important to stay close to people you can trust.”
“I assure you, I have enough sense to stay away from financial predators, con artists and low-life types. Including Lewis Monroe.”
“I’m sure you do, Skylar. Sorry for the lecture,” Deena meekly offered. “Just feeling a bit overanxious.”
Skylar paused before saying anything else, struck by the timbre of worry that had crept into her sister’s usually perky voice. Something more than Skylar’s love life was on Deena’s mind.
Deena and her husband, Jerome Simpson, owned Scenic Ridge, a private lodge and ski school nestled in an unincorporated area of the Roaring Fork Valley, northwest of Aspen, Colorado. The nearest town was Woody Creek, and it was linked to Deena and Jerome’s property by a narrow winding road that ran high into the mountains, which no one traveled unless they were going to Scenic Ridge. With ski season in full swing, it was no surprise that Deena sounded as if she were under pressure. She had a staff of twenty to manage while dealing with demanding guests whom she treated like royalty. “Overanxious?” Skylar repeated. “What’s going on, Deena? Problems at the lodge?”
“Yeah, but more so with Jerome,” Deena slowly volunteered. “It’s his father.”
“Mr. Simpson is kind of up in years by now, isn’t he?”
“Eighty-two.”
“And he still lives in Oregon?” Skylar clarified, recalling having met her brother-in-law’s father only one time—at Deena and Jerome’s wedding twenty-one years ago.
“Right, and he’s set to undergo surgery for prostate cancer day after tomorrow. Jerome’s an only child and he has to be with his dad. I want him to go, but the timing is awful. While Jerome is away, everything he usually takes care of will fall on me for God only knows how long.”
“You’ll have to run the ski school in Jerome’s place?” Skylar asked, aware that Deena was only an average skier, but hell on the slopes when it came to snowboarding.
“Oh, no. We hired a guy last fall…Mark Jorgen, you ever heard of him?”
“No, should I recognize the name?”
“He’s a former Olympic gold medalist. He’s our new ski school director and head instructor. He’s great. Especially with the younger skiers and he’s really boosted our bookings, too. But the biggest problem is that Jean-Paul, our long-time, trustworthy guest relations manager…or concierge, as he preferred to call himself, quit yesterday. Lured away by a Hyatt Regency in Utah. I need a new concierge now.”
“That’s a bummer. Call an employment agency.”
“Not so easy. I’ve tried. No one I approve of is remotely interested. I’ve got to find someone I can absolutely trust. Not just some stranger to come in and play the role. You know?”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Well, I was thinking. Skylar…”
“What?” Skylar interrupted, suspicious of the ingratiating tone her sister was now using.
“I was hoping that you might consider coming up to Scenic Ridge to help me out. Just until I can hire someone else?”
“Me? A concierge? I don’t think so, Deena. I’m a paralegal, remember? Guest relations are not remotely related to my chosen field of work, and I know zilch about the Aspen area. Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Think about it, Skylar. Please. You’ve worked in hotels before.”
“Front desk duties while I was in college.”
“So? You can do it. I’ve got to have someone I can absolutely trust,” Deena pressed the issue. “Information on local entertainment, attractions, restaurants and transportation is prepackaged and ready to hand out to anyone who wants it. Not being from this area won’t be an issue. What I need is a personal link to the hotel. You know…a discreet person to take care of sticky issues and unusual requests.”
Skylar flinched. “Do you get a lot of those?”
“Well, you never know what can come up when people are on vacation and out of their usual element. My motto is ‘Give the guests whatever they want.’ It’ll be easy, trust me. You’ll be out of Tampa and away from Lewis. He may have been fine as hell, but he was also a dog. Trust me, Skylar, you can do better.”
“Girl, you know I hate cold weather and I don’t even ski,” Skylar said. “It’s January and it’s seventy-nine degrees here in Tampa today. I’m very happy right here, thank you very much. I’d rather spend my days at the beach than freeze my ass off in a lodge in the mountains…even though I know your place is as gorgeous as any five star hotel. However, I don’t think it’s where I ought to be.”
“Skylar. Help me out. We haven’t spent any real time together in years. When I was there after
