Ellie
“All I’m saying, Izzy-”
“Dad, you know I’m not going to listen to a word you say when you keep calling me by that nickname.” I shuffled some papers on my desk, throwing my annoyance into cleaning up my office. Dad had come in extra early this morning, catching me by surprise. He parked himself in my corner chair with the plants and spent the last half hour trying to convince me to give Zach another chance.
“Fine, Isabelle, Ellie, whatever you want me to call you. All I’m saying is, no one gets you more than Zach—you guys grew up together. There’s a lot of history there. You shouldn’t just throw it all away.”
“Dad, I’m not throwing it away. We’re not teenagers anymore, and we want different things. I like Zach as a friend, but I’m not interested in dating him anymore. Done. Final. Can we please move on?”
“I’m not done, Izz-abelle. I know you’re on a mission to take over Aspen Ridge, but this just isn’t a job you can do on your own. You need someone at your side-”
“Dad, I have all the VPs, the managers, the entire team you’ve built here. I don’t need to have a boyfriend in the wings to tell me how to do my job. Besides, Zach has his own resort to run. He has no interest in being a househusband.”
“All the better,” he insisted. “You and Zach would have each other to bounce ideas off of, compare notes, help each other. He’s an excellent match for you, Isabelle. He’s always been good for your temperament.”
My teeth ground together as I bit back what I was tempted to say. I didn’t want to, but I was dangerously close to telling my dad the truth about Zach, not to mention Brian. If he knew what they had planned, it would kill him; their friendship would never recover.
“It’s not going to happen, Dad. Can we please just let this drop?”
“I just don’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone, honey. This resort is important, but it can’t be your entire life.”
After all of his insisting that I had to focus and really be serious about taking over as CEO, this felt a bit rich. “It’s not, Dad. I have a life, and I kind of resent the implication that you think I don’t.”
“I didn’t say that, honey, but going out to brunch and drinking with Tessa is hardly a life. And you won’t meet someone if you never step foot off of property, either. At least not anyone that’ll make a suitable partner for you.”
At least there we agreed. Jake and I had everything to make a run of it, but I couldn’t be what he wanted. My priority was this resort. If that meant I would never find a man who wanted to be with me long term, then I’d accept that.
I still didn’t buy it yet, though. There had to be someone out there who wanted a partner, not just a wife.
“I’m sure I’ll find someone, Dad. It’s really not your business.”
“But it is my business, that’s what I’m saying. This business depends on you to have a sound foundation. Without that, everything could fall apart. And Zach-”
“Zach wants to take us over, completely,” I finally spit it out, and relief washed through my body as I unloaded. “He doesn’t want to be my partner, or my support, Dad. Zach told me his plans over a year ago; that’s why we broke up for the last time.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Zach had it all planned out; he wanted to absorb Aspen Ridge under a ‘portfolio’ of resorts, under the Snowshoe Ridge brand. He wanted me to let him take over, become his good little wife who’s at home baking pies while he’s out on the golf course, making deals with his board of investors, just like his dad. He doesn’t want me anywhere near the CEO office of Aspen Ridge, Dad. He wants to turn us into a subsidiary of them.”
My dad’s eyes grew wide with shock when I started speaking, then narrowed in anger. “You can’t be serious. He should know better than to think we’d just roll over and let him take over. His father-”
“His father helped him craft up this plan, Dad.” I sighed, suddenly bone-weary. Sharing the secret that had been weighing me down for a year should have been a relief, but now I just felt worn out. “They probably started planning it back when we were in high school, if you can believe Tessa. She thinks it’s what they’ve always been after.”
“I can’t believe it.” He whipped out his phone. “I’m going to call Brian right this instant. If he thinks-”
“Dad, it’s not a problem. I’ve already told him no a dozen times. But that’s why I’m never getting back together with him; do you understand now? We want different things, see things a different way. I’m never going to allow Aspen Ridge to fall under his conglomerate, and he’s never going to be satisfied with just allowing me to run it as I see fit. His ambition is as tall as the Rockies, and I can’t imagine being with someone who can’t be happy for one minute with what he has. There’s just no bringing us to the same table.”
Sudden motion brought my gaze from my father’s angry face to the doorway, where Jake appeared. Not in the polo or a button-down, but the full suit like his first week at Aspen Ridge that made my jaw drop. His face was cleanly shaved, not a hair out of place on his head, but his cheeks were flushed, his eyes determined. As soon as they met my gaze, they locked in place, and he stepped right up to my desk. My heart started racing before a single word left his lips.
“Ellie, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was fucking stupid of me to say that you couldn’t be the CEO of Aspen Ridge and have us too.”
“Jake-” I tried to interrupt him, since he clearly didn’t see my dad in the corner with the shrubbery.
However, he was determined to get it off his chest. “I know. It was more than stupid. It was misogynist and wrong and idiotic, and I’m really sorry. I knew I owed my kids a father who would be there for them, the way I hadn’t been for their entire lives. I was worried I’d never develop the relationship I wanted with them.
“So I moved them here, thinking a new place, a new job, would help. I wanted to be close to family, really attempt to be the dad who was home for every dinner, who took them to festivals in town, did stuff they were interested in on the weekends.”
My dad was sitting stock still in the corner chair, listening intently to every word. Even though my eyes darted over to him several times, Jake never looked away from my face. I felt torn between wanting to lose myself in this epic apology and end it quickly so I could get my dad out of here before Jake went too far.
“And I need this job—there’s nothing else for me here, and without it we’ll have to move again. So I was determined to keep my hands to myself and do whatever was needed to make this work. Including staying as far as I could from you, despite how I felt after that first night. Despite how I’ve felt every time I’ve kissed you, or how often I think about you in my bed.”
I could see the color creeping up my dad’s neck despite the potted palms, and my entire face had grown painfully hot. Even so, Jake wasn’t ready to stop.
“But it just didn’t work; everything about you is so right for me. And my kids—my god, they love you. You are the single-best thing that has ever happened to me, as far as they’re concerned. I didn’t even tell them what happened yesterday. I was too embarrassed to face their disappointment. I know Olivia would have laid into me and demanded I apologize,” he chuckled, “and then I realized she would have been right.
“Because I do owe you an apology. Because… I love you, Ellie.”
My heart lurched in surprise, moisture prickling at my eyes.
“I know it’s terrible timing. I know there’s a thousand reasons this is a terrible idea. I know your father won’t approve, and I know I don’t fit into your world of golf tournaments and fancy charity dinners. But I love you all the same.
“I love how you live your life fully, how you’re genuinely, unapologetically you. I love how you haven’t ever met a stranger, just a friend you don’t know yet. I love how your head tips back when you laugh at my terrible attempts at humor, like you actually think I’m funny. I love how my kids are practically ready to tattoo your name on their arms; they really think the world of you.
“But most of all, I love how you make me feel. I made my entire life about the military. I didn’t know who I was without duty and sacrifice. I lost myself completely in it. It was my entire identity. But you brought out a side of me that had been asleep for a long time. Because underneath the stuffed shirt was a guy who just wanted to be loved for the dork that he was, and you made me feel like you could love me, ironed polos and all.
“I know I fucked up. I know I’m an idiot who pushed you away right when you were ready to open up to me, who judged you for wanting different things than I thought you should.
“But if you give me the chance, I promise I want to be the partner you need. You may have to teach me—I’m not above admitting I don’t know how to be the supporting spouse—but for you, I’d happily give it a try. I don’t care how many times I get it wrong, as long as you let me try again. Because you’re perfect, just the way you are, and you’re worth it.”
The tears were already running down my cheeks, and I was too entranced to do anything about it. I hadn’t glanced again at my father since Jake said he loved me. I was lost in his gaze completely, in the way sincerity burned in his eyes with every word he spoke, striking me in the heart over and over again.
It was so much to take in, but my heart was full to bursting with the need to respond. I stood on shaky legs. “Jake, I-”
My dad cleared his throat in the corner, and I saw the horror slide down Jake’s face as his jaw went slack. Like a slow motion scene in a movie, he turned to look over his shoulder and finally saw my dad, sitting in the corner chair, his neck and face an alarming shade of crimson.
Immediately, Jake’s posture stiffened, his entire body turning toward my dad with his hands folded over each other behind his back. “Sir, if you allow me to explain-” he began, but Dad cut him off, rising to his feet.
“Do you mean to tell me that this entire time, when you were supposed to be preparing her for leadership, you’ve been having an affair with my daughter?” His voice was dangerously low, threatening in the absolute calm manner with which he delivered his words.
“I wouldn’t call it an affair, sir, as neither of us was in a relationship,” Jake replied stiffly. “But we have been seeing each other.”
“It’s my fault, Dad,” I spoke up, and his piercing gaze whipped to me. “Jake and I met at the end of season party, and he didn’t know who I was. We sort of… hit it off, and he didn’t know I was your daughter until we both came in on Monday.”
Dad’s eyes grew round with surprise. “You mean to tell me you’ve been lying to me this entire time?”
“Not exactly,” I rushed to explain. “Once we found out, we kept it strictly professional. For a while. But then we started growing closer. I thought we could just hold off until he went to work for James, so you wouldn’t have to worry about us working together. But,” my voice softened, and my gaze strayed to Jake’s profile. He continued to stare stiffly forward, his entire body rigid. “We couldn’t help it, Dad. I met his kids, and they’re wonderful. But Jake is so good for me. He feels… right. We fell in love.”
Upon hearing that word, Jake lost all composure and turned to face me again, his eyes shining. “Really?” He whispered, as if afraid to ask the question out loud.
I nodded. “Really. I love you too, Jake. And I love Olivia and Ethan. They’re amazing kids. Probably because they have such an amazing father. And if you meant what you said, about being willing to support me and what I need to do here, I think we have the start of a great thing.”
“I meant every word,” he said the words with reverence, like a prayer spoken at an altar. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Ellie, to prove it to you. Whatever you need, I can be it.”
A fresh wave of tears trickled down my cheeks.
My dad cleared his throat again, and our attention snapped back to him. “This is… certainly a lot to wrap my head around,” he began. “I don’t know how to feel about all of this secrecy. But, if my baby girl is happy,” his gaze drifted to me, and that’s when I noticed the softening of his expression. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy and cared for, Izzy. I thought Zach was the one to do that, but clearly I was mistaken. And Jake is a good man. I’ve always liked him. Maybe I don’t like that he was running around behind my back with my daughter, but I understand the situation was… difficult.”
His gaze returned to Jake, his expression hardening. “So, if you meant everything you said, you two have my blessing. We’ll have to proceed with your transfer to Mountain Ops, since Ellie knows how I feel about people dating in-house. But I think you’ve done what I asked you here to do. So I see no reason to make things more difficult.”
“I meant every word, Sir,” Jake replied in a clear voice.
“Good,” Dad replied firmly, then cracked a smile. “And stop calling me Sir, for chrissakes. It’s JJ, son.” He pulled Jake in for a hug and gave him a firm pat on the back. “Now breathe before we have to call you an ambulance. They take ten minutes to get here. You’ll be dead before they arrive.”
That made Jake laugh, and a smile spread across my cheeks.
“Now, I’m going back to my office before I get hit with one more bombshell today. I don’t know if my heart can take it. Why don’t you two go take a long coffee break, sort your stuff out—somewhere off-property, if you don’t mind? Just come back before lunch. We’ve got a lot on the schedule today.”
“I thought you wanted me in the board meeting today, Dad?”
“Bah, don’t worry about it. You’ve got a lifetime of board meetings to attend, Ellie. I can handle one more on my own.”
I stepped around my desk and pulled him into a hug. “Thanks, Dad. I love you.”
I knew his emotions were getting the better of him, because he cleared his throat several times and his voice got rough while he patted me awkwardly on the back. “I love you too, Isabelle. Now go on, I’ll see you later.”
I gave him one last smile before I grabbed my purse, slipped my hand into Jake’s, and tugged him out of my office.
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