River Cove wasn’t a place Mason would have gone voluntarily—too expensive, too far away from civilization, and he didn’t ski, so what the hell would he do at a winter resort? How could a resort, even an expensive one, survive in a town named Snowmelt? Snowmelt. Mason shuddered. This far north, the snow probably didn’t melt before midsummer
“No, silly. They hate it as much as my boss does.” She grinned, a dimple appearing in her right cheek. She was cute in that way Ryan liked. Thinking of his younger brother, he groaned. Ryan had never liked Joel, and, in a week, he’d have to go to the New Year’s party on his own. There would be no end to the comments. He’d have to come up with a reason why Joel couldn’t be there—flu? Ski accident? A group of assassins?
“Are you here on a conference? You don’t look like a doctor.” She tapped a finger to her lips. “What else do we have this week? Computers, right? Wait, we have the affiliate summit or whatever.” She frowned. “Funny, you don’t strike me as a marketing guy.”
“Eh…no, I’m here for the food.” Mason rubbed his forehead and, when she looked at him funny, he added, “I’m a transcriber, business-related most often.”
She kept on staring. “You’re a what?”
“I listen and type.”
She made a face. “I’m so sorry.”
Mason stared at her. What had he said? Damn, he was getting dizzy. His phone vibrated in his pocket again. Perhaps he’d talked about Joel without realizing. “Yeah…” He tipped back the whiskey. It burned on the way down. “I think I’ll go for a walk.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
The bar spun as he got to his feet. “Yeah.” He nodded but stopped when a wave of dizziness hit him.
“Which room is yours?”
Oh no, had he given her the wrong idea? She might be pretty in a cartoony way but…“I’m queer.”
“Good for you, now where do you belong?”
He pursed his lips. Belong?He didn’t belong anywhere. He had nothing left.
She made a sound of frustration and searched for where she’d noted his room number earlier. Silently, or as silently as he could, he slipped away.
* * * *
Otho Newcomer started the lathe and reached for the spindle gouge. The air was nippy. More than nippy, it was freezing. Not the best day to do outdoors work, but the snow was glistening, and he had the entire day off. He might not build his porch in the middle of the winter, but he would have the poles ready for when the snow melted.
Moving up here had been the best decision he’d ever made. Not that it had been his idea. He and Joslyn had been friends since kindergarten, and a little while after she’d moved here for a bartender job, the resort advertised for a maintenance man. It might not be the kind of future he’d seen for himself, but Joslyn had begged him to apply, and he didn’t regret his decision.
Living next door to his workplace had its pros and cons, but he loved his little cabin and once spring arrived, he’d build himself a cozy little porch.
He adjusted the safety glasses and brought the tool up to the spinning wood. Wood chips rained over his arms and he did nothing to stop the grin forming on his lips. Wood, he loved wood. The texture, the smell, the—what the hell?
Looking up from his work, he saw something move—a man walking out on the ice on the river. Was he insane? The currents were too strong there; the ice wasn’t thick enough to walk on. It had closed over yesterday when the temperature had dropped, but it broke open now and then, a constant struggle between the current and the ice.
Before Otho’s brain caught up with what he was doing, he’d dropped the gouge on the ground and ran out from under the carport.
“Hey!” He waved his arms, but the man didn’t look in his direction. “Hey! You, hello!” He ran, his heavy boots sinking into the snow. He jumped over the snowdrift on the other side of the narrow gravel road passing by his cabin. The reeds buried underneath the snow tangled around his ankles, but he kept going.
“Hey, you!” He waved more, but the man didn’t so much as glance in his direction. Shit. When Otho stepped onto the ice, he slowed down. This close to the land it shouldn’t be any danger, but Otho feared he weighed more than the man. It was a grown man, though, not some teen who didn’t know better.
“Come on, man! Come back here!” Otho took one slow step after the other, and in that moment, the man turned around to face him. Otho blew out a breath and waved.