Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“You’re human, Mal, and I don’t think less of you for any of this. Just the opposite. You let your vulnerability show, and you accepted help when it was offered. Way too many men can’t do that.”
“You’re being nice and trying to find positive things to say. I know none of that was flattering.”
“It wasn’t as bad as you’re making it out to be.” He gently brushed my hair back and asked, “Are you ready to try eating something? Maybe an English muffin? I’m worried about you.”
My stomach didn’t immediately tie itself in knots at the thought of it, so I started to get up as I said, “I’ll give it a try.”
He immediately leapt to his feet. “I’ll bring it. You should rest.”
As I watched him hurry to the kitchen, I realized things felt different between us now. This felt real, and solid, and not at all like a fling.
Several times over the last two days, I’d tried to move him to the lodge, where he could have relaxed and enjoyed himself. It must have been miserable for him—tiptoeing around and trying to be quiet while looking after me around the clock. But he stuck around and took care of me, and in doing that he’d shown me exactly who he was—a kind, considerate, compassionate man, someone I could count on.
Someone I could easily fall in love with.
14
Daniel
On Wednesday morning, after losing half a week to a killer migraine, Malcolm finally started to seem like his old self. That was a relief, since I’d really been worried about him. He’d been too stubborn to let me call a doctor, but he told me he’d been living with migraines for several years, so he knew the only thing to do was wait it out. I had to respect his wishes.
Right after we finished breakfast, both of us were startled when the land line started to ring. Malcolm answered, and his brow creased into a frown. He listened for a minute or two before saying, “Send a golf cart. I’ll be ready to go in five minutes.”
He rushed to the bedroom after ending the call, and I hurried after him and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Apparently there’s a problem with the room for the wedding reception, so I need to go see what’s happening. It’d better be something that can be fixed before my sister arrives tomorrow, or she’s going to lose it.”
“Can I come along?’
“Of course.”
As I swapped out my sweatpants for jeans, I asked, “What did they say happened?”
“Just that the rain had caused an issue, and I should come take a look.”
It had been raining on and off for days, and it had been particularly heavy last night. “Maybe part of the lodge flooded,” I guessed. “If so, they should be able to dry it out by Saturday, right?”
“Let’s hope so.”
The lodge’s general manager was driving the cart that pulled up in front of the cabin a few minutes later. Alfred Rose was a distinguished gentleman of about sixty, and the fact that he was in a near panic didn’t bode well. “I’ve worked at the lodge for eleven years, and we’ve never had anything like this happen,” he told us. “But I promise we’ll do everything in our power to come up with a solution. My entire staff and I fully understand the importance of your sister’s wedding, and we’re all at your service.”
Malcolm asked, “Can you tell me what happened?”
“The ground became oversaturated from all this rain, and the hillside directly behind our grand hall gave way. It all…well, you’ll see.”
Minutes later, we found ourselves standing in a huge room with twenty-foot ceilings, glass walls on three sides, and tons of mud covering eighty percent of the floor. How it had gotten there was no mystery. The hillside directly behind the lodge looked like it had split in half lengthwise, causing a mudslide that pushed right through the lower panes of the glass wall. It reminded me of footage I’d seen of a lava flow in Hawaii, only this was made up of sopping wet soil.
“This is a disaster,” Malcolm muttered.
I turned to Mr. Rose and said, “You must have other banquet rooms, right? His sister rented out the entire lodge, so can’t we move to one of those?”
He shook his head. “One holds up to sixty people, and the other holds ninety. This is the only space big enough to accommodate two hundred guests. I’d suggest trying to set up a tent outside on the lawn, but it’s too muddy out there. It won’t dry out by Saturday, even if the rain stops.” Even now, it was still coming down in a steady drizzle.
I asked Malcolm, “What about moving to a new venue? It’s short notice, but maybe there’s a hotel on the mainland that could accommodate a large party.”