“Sounds cold.”
“Hah! Beyond cold. Beyond freezing. I’m wearing two sweaters inside.”
Chuckling, Mike asked, “What’s it like when you’re not bitching about how cold you are?”
Sean sighed then grudgingly admitted, “It’s pretty. Lots of trees. Lots of open land. And who knew the sky was so big when you get out of the city?”
Mike smiled. He’d discovered that for himself when he and Jenny were in Laughlin. Of course, allowing Jenny into his mind meant opening himself up to the memories that never really left him. Her smile. Her eyes. The feel of her skin against his. The soft sigh of her breath as she surrendered to him. Stopping in at her house after work, spending the evening watching movies, making love, talking about the work, the hotel. Talking about everything except for the fact that he couldn’t trust her.
Pushing those thoughts away, he asked, “What’s the hotel itself like, Sean?”
“Big. Cold. Empty.” Sean blew out a frustrated breath and pushed one hand through his hair. “But the bones are good. A lot of work to do to turn it into a ‘Forest Run’ fantasy.”
“And is Kate Wells up to the task?”
“To hear her tell it,” Sean muttered. “Anyway, there’s a hundred and fifty guest rooms and they all need work.”
“If we go with your idea to hold our own game con on the property, we’ll need more rooms. Are there other hotels close by?”
“No. We’re ten miles from the closest town and it’s got two B and Bs and one motel right off the highway.”
It was Mike’s turn to frown. “Sean, we can’t go with a big conference if there’s nowhere for people to stay.” He took a breath and spoke again before Sean could suggest camping. “And don’t say people can pitch tents.”
Sean laughed. “Just because I like camping doesn’t mean I want strangers staying all over the property. Anyway, there’s a bigger city about twenty-five miles from here, with more hotels and Kate—the contractor—had another idea on that, too.”
“What’s she thinking?” Mike picked up his coffee and took a long drink.
Sean’s frown deepened. “Is that a cappuccino? You bastard.”
“I’ll enjoy it for you.”
“Thanks.” Shaking his head, Sean said, “Kate thinks we should put in some small cabins, behind the main lodge, staggered back into the forest. Give people more privacy, a sense of being out in the open...”
Mike nodded, thinking about it. “It’s a good idea.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Yet you don’t look happy about it.”
“Because she was so damn sure she was right,” Sean told him. “It’s hard agreeing she was.”
“Sounds like you’re having a great time,” Mike said with another deliberate sip of his hot coffee.
Sean’s eyes narrowed into slits. “This woman is the most hardheaded person I’ve ever dealt with and that includes you.”
“As long as she does good work, that’s all you should care about.”
“Yeah, yeah. She wants to get her crew in here next week and start in on the rehab and I don’t see a problem with it.” He paused and ran one finger around the collar of his black sweater. “As long as I can oversee it from California.”
“Okay, but since you didn’t take any of the artists with you, what’ll she do about the painting we’ll need done?”
“Come on,” Sean said. “I couldn’t bring an artist out here when everyone’s doing the final run on ‘The Wild Hunt.’”
True. It was bad timing all the way around, really. Sean had had to get to the next hotel and every artist in the company was focused on the finishing touches of the game that would be released next.
“Anyway,” Sean continued, “how hard is it to leave walls blank? They can paint it white or something and then when we bring the artists in, they can change it to whatever.”
“That’ll work. You still coming home tomorrow?”
“That’s the plan, thank God,” Sean said. “Kate’s outside, bringing her truck around. Naturally, it’s still snowing.”
“If it makes you feel any better, it’s seventy-five here today.”
“Great. Thanks. That just caps it.” A door slammed somewhere. Sean looked to one side and shouted, “What?”
“What is it?” Mike asked.
“Karma probably,” Sean told him, his expression disgusted. “Kate just heard on the truck radio that the pass down the mountain is closed. I’m snowed in.”