Love Fast

I can’t get Rosey out of my head. I don’t even know her last name and I’m playing through all our interactions from last night—not that there’s much to replay. Just the way she looked in my jacket. The way her hand felt when I gave her the key to the cabin next door. That goddamn smile.

The Colorado Club needs to recruit thirty members of staff by the end of the week or we won’t be able to complete training before the grand opening. I’m sitting opposite the glass windows that look out onto the Colorado Rockies, but I barely see the looming mountains. All I can think about is the woman in the ripped wedding dress, who rolled into town without a bed for the night.

When I left this morning, all the lights were off in her cabin. She was either still asleep or she’d already left. Maybe she went back to wherever she came from, and decided to give her fiancé another chance.

Or maybe not.

“We’ve had a couple more applications today but I’m hoping that’s going to increase,” Hart says. “We’ve got four people in town handing out flyers, and as of thirty minutes ago, the shuttle bus between the Club and the town will run every thirty minutes.”

“People need to know that the place is easy to get to if their car breaks down or they don’t have access to transportation,” Janet, the head of my HR department, says. “And it’s good for our sustainability charter too.” I brought Janet in from New York, and it’s clear that’s where she’d rather be. She doesn’t get the culture here in Star Falls. It’s understandable. If last night at Grizzly’s taught me anything, it’s that I’d forgotten how much this town is a law unto itself. I’ve sunk a lot of money into the Colorado Club, but that doesn’t make me the king around here.

“Thanks for the update. Janet, you and I need five minutes,” I say, effectively dismissing Hart.

We’re in one of the lounges, but because the Club isn’t open yet, we’re the only ones here. I could have these meetings in my office, but it’s good to be visible to what staff we’ve managed to secure. Besides, it’s good for me to see what’s going on around here—things I might miss if I were stuck in my office.

“Are you sitting in on interviews?” I ask Janet, once Hart has left.

“Absolutely. For the more junior positions, I’m not leading the interviews, but I’m there.”

“I think you need to take a step back,” I say. Janet is a seasoned New Yorker. I can be blunt with her.

“Okay,” she says. I hear the edge of a question in her tone.

“I went into town last night. There’s clearly a local issue—wariness around the changes the Club will bring. I think we need to make things less formal.”

“More folksy?” she says, raising a cynical eyebrow.

God, I miss New York sometimes. Not as much as I thought I would, but enough.

“People need to be interviewed by their direct managers. We have the first tier of management in place—that couldn’t have happened without you. But a lot of the recruitment decisions we’re making now are around more junior staff. They have a different perspective. Maybe it’s folksy they need. Or maybe they don’t trust New Yorkers.”

Janet pulls her shoulders back. “You’re right. And I guess you can take me out of NYC, but you can’t take NYC out of me.”

“Right,” I say. “We both know this isn’t a permanent position for you.”

“For you either, right? You’ll be back in New York as soon as this place is up and running?”

“Exactly,” I say. I have no intention of leaving New York permanently. But for the next six months, I need my focus to be here. There’s too much at stake for me to be on the other side of the country. I miss my friends and the anonymity of the city. I miss the energy, the constant hum of traffic and people. I’m not leaving for good. But in the meantime, the mountains aren’t such a bad backdrop. Mountains that have been here seventy-five million years and will tower over this valley for millions more. No matter how long I stay in New York, I know this view will be back here, waiting for me.

“How long until the VP of HR arrives?”

“Thursday,” she says. “But she’s coming from Switzerland. And before that, Paris. She’s not going to be folksy.”

“No, but she’s in the hotel business. She’ll do okay.”

“So I’m fired?” Janet looks hopeful.

I chuckle. “Not yet. But almost. I’ll get you back to New York as soon as I can.”

“And I’ll be going back to Miller Investments, right? Or am I fired from that too? You’re looking kinda comfortable here.”

“I’m not going to be back in New York for at least six months. I need to be on the ground here. But you’re not getting away that easily. I need you back here every month at least. Senior management coaching, one-on-ones…”

“I can cope with once a month. You never know, I might even start to look forward to a little mountain air.”

We stand and something catches Janet’s attention out the window. “The first shuttle from town just arrived.”

I glance down and see Rosey step off the bus. She’s no longer wearing a wedding gown. She looks like she could have been born in Star Falls, complete with hiking boots and a beanie.

“Looks like we have our first local candidate of the day. Don’t worry. I’ll get someone else to interview her so we don’t scare her off.”

“You think she’s here for a job?” I ask. This morning I convinced myself she was just passing through. She definitely said she only needed the cabin for a night or two.

“She doesn’t work here at the moment, and the bus isn’t for day-trippers,” Janet says, making a valiant effort at keeping the duh out of her voice.

If she’s looking for a job, she’ll need a place to stay.

“Is the staff housing finished?”

“Enough for staff starting this week. There’s another block due to finish construction this week. Furnishing will be complete at the end of next week.”

If she gets a job here, Rosey will need the cabin for a couple of more days. I can’t shake off the feeling of conflict in me. I like the idea of Rosey being next door for a few more days. But if she works here? That will make me her boss.

“We’re on track,” Janet assures me, bringing me back to the moment. Right—staff housing, the grand opening, our readiness to receive guests. That’s what I should be focusing on, rather than what it might mean to Rosey if I’m her boss.

Because it doesn’t mean anything. She’s just gotten out of a serious relationship, if her wedding dress is anything to go by. She’s running from god-knows-what. And I’m focused on making the Colorado Club a success. Failure isn’t an option. Everything I’ve worked for since I was seventeen years old is on the line. If this place doesn’t work⁠—

I can’t even finish the thought. Failure isn’t even a possibility I can contemplate. And not just because my fortune’s at stake. There’s something less tangible I could lose, too.

Despite the fact that I’ve been gone fifteen years, this town has a long memory. The Colorado Club is the key to Star Falls seeing me as a native son making good, not as the kid whose dad lost all the family money gambling and got killed in a bar fight.noveldrama

The bus starts to maneuver around some crates that have been stacked in front of the main entrance of the Club. Presumably, now it’s dropped Rosey, it’s going back down the mountain to trawl for more candidates. I make a mental note to tell the project manager, Kathleen, to start clearing the entrance. We’re having a photographer come up in a week or so for publicity shots, and we can’t have it looking like a construction site.

As the bus pulls away, it reveals Rosey standing alone out front, looking up at the Club. She doesn’t see me, though she’s practically staring right through me. Maybe it’s the reflection or where I’m standing. I have to stop myself from waving.

“Should someone go down and check what she needs?” I ask Janet.

“If she can’t figure her way through the front door, I’m pretty sure I don’t want her working here.”

“Right.” I nod, pulling my gaze away from Rosey. “Will you interview her right away?” I ask. Maybe I should join the interview. It might help Rosey feel at ease.

Jesus, what is my obsession with making her feel better? I need to get a grip and focus.

“She may have to wait a little. I have to get Sally to conduct the interview, as you don’t want me doing it. But I’ll get her situated.” Janet eyes me suspiciously.

“It’s just… I want to encourage local applicants,” I say, trying to justify my interest. “Maybe I should go down.” The moment the words leave my mouth, I wish I could take them back. What am I going to say to her? Howdy, neighbor, looking for a job? Rosey knows me as the guy next door. Not the boss. Not the rich guy from New York City. And that’s exactly how I want it to stay.

Maybe that’s why I feel drawn to her—because in this town where everyone knows who I am and who I was last time I lived here, Rosey only knows me as the nice guy from the bar who gave her a place to stay when she needed it most.

I check my watch. “I have a call, excuse me.” I need to get out of here or Janet’s going to accuse me of having a crush on the woman who just arrived for an interview. And she wouldn’t be wrong.