Hunter's Fortune (River Jewel Resort Series Book 2) (5 page)

“I knew it! Although, I figured he’d be on some sandy beach sipping drinks, but I knew it was him. Who else would have the smarts to rob me blind!”

“Hunter, I’m afraid he didn’t do it alone.”

“What do you mean? Who helped him?”

“I’m not sure to what extent yet, but Jason was also apprehended when they located Giles. They were together.”

“Together? In Germany? Why would Jason be in Germany?”

“Um, they wer
e
togethe
r
.” Sam emphasized.

Hunter sat there with her mouth wide open, unable to believe her ears!

“Please tell me you’re joking, Sam.”

“I’m sorry, I really am. But, rest assured, we’ll recover every dime that we can and these men will be rotting in prison for a long time.”

They hung up after discussing a few more details and Hunter sat there visibly shaking as the betrayal washed over her. She wasn’t surprised about Giles. Of course her accountant was a weasel. But, Jason? Sure, they’d had their problems, but never would she have imagined her boyfriend was bi-sexual. Not that Hunter had a problem with anyone’s sexual preference, but to have been lied to and destroyed like this was the worst.

She dumped out her cold coffee and found herself tempted to open a bottle of wine.

“It’s way too early. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up just like my father. No, I’ve got to get out of here for a while.”

Hunter walked into another of the seven bedrooms and found a huge wardrobe stocked with brand new clothing. She chose to dress in a casual outfit of jeans, a flannel shirt and comfortable boots. On her way out of the room, she spotted a suede coat and threw it over her arm.

The elevator was empty when she boarded. However, half-way down, it stopped to pick up one of the most gorgeous women Hunter had ever seen.

“Good morning.” When the blonde bombshell spoke, her smoky voice reminded Hunter of a siren’s song.

“Morning.” Hunter felt like she was in a trance. The woman appeared ethereal. She freaking glowed!

“You’re beautiful!”

“Thank you.”

The elevator seemed to be the slowest she’d ever been on. And Hunter felt compelled to stare. She couldn’t turn her eyes away.

“Are you enjoying your stay, Hunter?”

“I am.”

“Is there anything else we can do for you?”

“I don’t believe so. Everything’s perfect.”

“I’m happy to hear that. I take it you’ve made peace with your accommodations?”

“Of course. Everything’s beautiful.”

“Happy to hear it. Where are you headed on this gorgeous morning?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

“Would you like to go with me? I have a few errands to run and I could use the company.”

“Sure. I’d love to spend some time with you.”

“Fabulous. Let’s go.”

The doors opened and they stepped out into a quaint little town.

“Where are we?”

“That’s not important. What matters i
s
wh
y
we are here.”

Hunter was incredibly confused, but she couldn’t make herself form more than a smidgen of coherent thought.

“Am I dreaming?”

“Not exactly. But you are experiencing something you’ve never felt before.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Scarlet and I own the River Jewel Resort. For now, that’s all you need to know about me. This trip is about you, my dear.”

Scarlet grabbed Hunter’s hand and they walked further into town. They passed little storefronts still decorated for Christmas and families milled about shopping, laughing and carrying packages. Hunter knew Christmas was over but she could feel the excitement in the air as they made their way to the town square.

There, was the largest Christmas tree, covered in decorations. Not a bare branch could be found!

“It’s incredible! With all of the money I have, I’ve never even thought to make ours that fancy.”

“Ah, yes, your money. Do you like having money, Hunter?”

“Well, I did. It’s gone. But hopefully, I’ll be able to recover most of it.”

“And will that make you happy again?”

“Of course. Who wants to be poor?”

“True. Follow me, will you? I need to stop at the bakery.”

“Sure, let’s go.”

When they arrived, Scarlet turned to Hunter. “Please stay right here. I have some business to discuss and it’s rather personal.”

“Alright.”

Luckily, there wasn’t even a bit of a nip in the air and Hunter still held her suede coat. She located a bench and sat, watching the passersby as they laughed and strolled about. She was so absorbed in the scene, she almost missed an interaction across the street in front of her.

“But, Daddy, please?”

“I’m sorry, we just can’t this year.” The man was crouched down at eye level with a little girl who appeared to be around the age of five or six. Hunter couldn’t see his face, but his daughter was angelic.

“Please, Daddy?” A tear slid down her face as she pleaded with her father. Her dark curls bounced as she held her father’s hands, pulling and begging.

The man was clearly upset and trying his best to soothe his daughter. Hunter was sure the little girl must be asking for something silly like an extra ice cream cone or another sugary snack.

“Morgan, we just can’t.” The dark haired man embraced the little girl and she rested her chin upon her father’s shoulder. The child had the bluest eyes Hunter had ever seen. Though they were a few feet away, she could literally feel the girl’s sadness and despair. Hunter realized this was about more than a treat and she found herself walking over to them.

As she approached, she overheard the man tell Morgan that they couldn’t afford the tree, his boss had shorted them and refused Christmas bonuses this year. With all of their bills, he just couldn’t get the pre-lit tree his daughter was begging for.

“If that woman could see how she’s hurting everyone, maybe she’d be less like her father.”

Hunter stopped dead in her tracks. What kind of woman would cause a family to miss out on having a Christmas tree? What a bitch!

“Morgan, please try to understand. Next year, I promise we’ll get whatever tree you want, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

He wiped her tears and scooped her up. When he turned around, Hunter was face-to-face with the mountain man who had fixed her tire!

“You!”

“You. What are you doing here? I thought you were off to your fancy cabin? And why are you crying again?”

Hunter hadn’t even realized tears had fallen down her cheeks and she wiped them away.

“I found I was too tired to continue driving last night and checked into a hotel.”

She could see the man more clearly than she had yesterday. He held his daughter tightly, comfortingly, and Hunter couldn’t remember a time when her own father had ever done so. He seemed larger than life to Hunter, standing there consoling his little girl. Dressed in another flannel shirt, this one a different shade of blue and a well-worn pair of snug fitting jeans, he no longer seemed like the arrogant stranger who had tormented her the day before.

“Hotel, you say? Around here?”

Some things, however, hadn’t changed. The man still answered her with questions and it made Hunter giggle.

“Oh, a smile? Are we expecting a blizzard?” His daughter laughed and the man’s eyes glittered with amusement.

“Yes, I know how to smile. You simply caught me in a bad moment.”

“Well, I guess we have that in common, don’t we?” He nodded towards his daughter and feigned a smile.

“I suppose we do.”

“This is Morgan.”

“I know. I overheard you a little bit ago. But, I can’t call you Daddy, so…”

“Lee. My name’s Lee Michaels.” He extended his hand and Hunter shook it.

“Happy to meet you. I’m sorry about yesterday. My name’s Hunter, by the way. And Morgan, I’m very happy to meet you.”

The little girl smiled, though Hunter could tell she wasn’t accustomed to meeting strange women.

“So, what brings you to town? Family shopping?”

“Sort of. I brought Morgan into town so I could pick up a few groceries for the weekend.”

“That’s nice. It’s a perfect day for shopping. Is Morgan’s mother here, I’d love to meet her.”

“No.” His demeanor changed immediately and Hunter suddenly felt as if she’d made another mistake.

“Oh. Alright. Well, I’ll let you be on your way then. It was great seeing you.”

“Yeah. Have a great Christmas.”

“Bye, Hunter.” The adorable little girl waved.

They began to part ways when Hunter turned around headed back to Lee and his daughter. “I was just about to get some hot chocolate, would you like to join me?”

“Can we, Daddy? Please? I love
mashmallows!”

Hunter laughed at the girl’s mistake. “Yes, there will be plenty of mashmallows! What do ya say, Lee? I’ll buy. It’s the least I can do after you had to deal with me yesterday. Let me make it up to you.”

“Yeah, Daddy, let her!”

“Okay, but we can’t stay long.”

“Yay!”

“Awesome! Now, let’s get that cocoa.”

Once they were seated in the tiny café and the waitress brought their order to them, Hunter watched as Morgan plucked marshmallow after marshmallow out of her mug. She remembered doing the same thing as a child. Though, her father hadn’t been there with her. No, she’d had a maid to spend her days with. Even on Christmas. After her mother had abandoned them, all Christmas festivities had ceased. In fact, Hunter had been Morgan’s age the last time she’d had a real Christmas.

“Daddy, can I go play?”

“Sure. Stay right there where I can see you, though.”

“I guess she only liked the mashmallows
.” Hunter laughed.

“Yeah, that’s what she does. She picks them out and leaves the cocoa.”

After an awkward silence, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what’s up with this boss of yours?”

Lee took a deep breath “It’s really none of your concern. How long were you eavesdropping?”

“I didn’t mean to, I couldn’t help it. Your daughter was crying and I was so entranced with your affection for her. To be honest, she was breaking my heart.”

“Well,” he lowered his voice. “My boss is a bitch. A bitch who had everything handed to her by her daddy and now she thinks she’s better than everyone else. I’m just one of the employees who breaks their balls every day to make sure things are delivered on time and that woman couldn’t even give the drivers a Christmas bonus. Instead, we were given calendars. Calendars! What the hell am I supposed to do with a calendar? I know when I have to work. I’ve been driving truck for nearly fifteen years. I got this job shortly before the old man passed away and I’ve watched the company and the livelihood of the employees dwindle ever since. I held on this long thinking we’d finally get a good bonus. I know the place has landed a ton of contracts this year. But, once again, the drivers got screwed. Golde Trucking is a damn joke. There is n
o
gold standar
d
. And the President is as fake as a three-dollar-bill.”

Hunter had mistakenly chosen to take a sip of her cocoa as the man announced his employer. She sprayed cocoa all over the table and Lee.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Mortified, she coughed and sputtered as she tried to clean up the mess.

“Really? What is wrong with you?”

“Must’ve gone down the wrong pipe. I’m really, really sorry.”

Once the cocoa was wiped away, Lee continued and Hunter felt lower and lower.

“So, this year I had enough to pay our electric bill and buy a few groceries. Ever since Morgan’s mom took off, it’s just been her and me.”

Morgan’s mother leaving struck a chord with Hunter. “That poor darling.”

“Yeah, well, her mom couldn’t handle being with a trucker. Or so she said. We haven’t heard from her in two years. Not even a damn birthday card for Morgan. The only blessing in all of it is that I never married her. So, I don’t have huge lawyer fees from a divorce.”

“That’s awful!”

“Well, we can’t all be made of money.” He snapped.

“What makes you think I’m made of money?”

“I saw you yesterday, remember? I know your car and I saw your fancy clothes, your purse. I may be a man, but I know expensive things when I see them.”

“I’ll have you know, I’m not rich. I was. But it’s gone. So, you can roll back your self-righteous indignation now.”

“Oh? So, you lost your money and now you’re slumming with the little people today? Nice.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? I offered to buy you and your daughter a hot chocolate and now you’re acting like an asshole! Maybe your boss has a reason to be a bitch if she has employees like you.”