Page 31 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

Axel and Connor joined them, and it took several minutes for everyone to greet one another.

By the time they were done chatting, another car pulled in and they all turned to see Milo and Slater park and get out.

There were lots of hugs and handshakes, along with comments about how it all felt like they were stepping back in time.

Then everyone started sharing their favorite memories.

“Remember the s’mores contests?”

“Remember the canoe races?”

“Oh man, remember the time we nearly took down that tree by the boat ramp?”

“Is my record for the highest number of jump shots still on display?”

Walker knew this sort of thing was going to go on for a while, so he quickly interrupted with a piercing whistle to get everyone’s attention.

“We’ve got lunch stuff up at the lodge! Why don’t we go and eat and then you can unload your cars and we’ll go to the cabins afterwards. How does that sound?”

Fortunately, they all agreed and he led the way up the path and the steps to the lodge.

“Holy shit!” Slater said as soon as they walked in. “What the hell happened in here? I didn’t think you were demo-ing yet.”

Axel smirked at him, and Walker knew he needed to come clean.

“I was supposed to take down one wall behind the reception desk and I got a little carried away and just…kept going.”

“How…?”

“He was distracted because of a woman,” Axel announced with amusement. “I had to ban him from doing any more demo until he went and got his love life settled.”

There were tons of hoots and hollers and a few whistles, so now he was going to have to explain that as well.

Fucking Axel.

He was able to keep everyone distracted as they walked around looking at everything. He let Axel show them around while he busied himself with getting all the food and drinks set up. It took almost thirty minutes to corral his friends and get them seated, but he loved their enthusiasm.

Sandwiches were made, salads and chips were served, and drinks were poured.

“It looks so weird,” Kelsey said. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but seeing all the rooms empty is a little spooky. Did your grandparents save anything?”

Shaking his head, he said, “Not really. They donated almost everything. There’s a storage room downstairs that had a ton of towels, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and a few small appliances.

Axel and I went through them and placed most of it throughout your cabins.

I wasn’t sure what everyone was bringing with them, but we figured it couldn’t hurt. ”

“I brought an entire moving truck with me,” Axel explained.

“But it also had all my tools and a ton of lumber and building supplies that I had left over from other jobs. I put most of it in the storage building that’s fairly close to my cabin.

I think we’re going to need to consider building another one because the one that’s standing isn’t in great shape.

We need something sturdier for the property maintenance stuff. ”

“Which we should also consider replacing sooner rather than later,” Walker added.

There was a collective groan and he knew he needed to put people’s minds at ease.

“Looking back, we probably should have toured the property ourselves before we signed the deal. Hindsight and all. All I can say is that we may have to re-evaluate a few things so we can make sure the basics—the foundations of the property—are addressed first. That means some enhancements may have to wait.”

“Or we don’t do the enhancements and we stick to what’s here and just make them right,” Axel said evenly, his expression almost smug.

It took everything he had not to react, but clearly everyone noticed the tone and were now intently staring at the two of them.

“Why don’t we let everyone settle in and relax and we can deal with all of that later?” Walker suggested pleasantly, refusing to be baited.

With a shrug, Axel murmured, “Fine by me.”

“I have a feeling there’s a story here,” Milo said slowly.

“And I’m guessing this has something to do with the upgrades?” Jayce asked. “And you don’t think we should do them, Axel?”

Then, they were all talking at once and it was borderline chaos. There were loud voices, accusations, and plenty of questions until a loud whistle screamed through the air.

Kelsey was standing on her chair staring down at all of them sternly.

“We have been here less than an hour and you’re already acting like a bunch of brats!

Obviously there are things that need to be discussed and decided on, but civilly!

Jeez!” Slowly, she climbed down—with Jayce’s help—but stood with her hands on her hips and looked at them all.

“Now, let’s have a pleasant lunch, unpack, and tour the property.

Then we can talk about upgrades, ideas, and what’s necessary and what’s not. Deal?” she snapped.

“Deal,” they all murmured, afraid to disagree with her.

Jayce snickered. “That’s my girl.”

Harlow smiled as she drove through the resort gates.

He needs me.

Walker had called her last night in a near panic because his friends were all arguing over the plans for the resort. She had done her best to calm him down and told him today would probably be better.

It wasn’t.

So when he texted her two hours ago, begging her to come and join them for dinner and help him stay sane, there was no way she was going to tell him no.

But honestly, she was torn.

Part of her wanted to run in and high-five everyone for seeing the flaws in Walker’s plans. If they were arguing, it meant that not everyone agreed with his proposal. But the other part of her—the girlfriend—hated how tense and upset he was and wanted to comfort him.

“That means no high-fiving,” she mumbled as she parked the car. “I have to be completely neutral and just listen and not speak.”

That totally wasn’t her strong suit, but she was going to try.

Really, really , try.

No sooner was she opening her car door than Walker was jogging over to her. “Hey! How are…?”

She never got to finish. She was in his arms, and he was kissing her like his life depended on it. Wrapping herself around him, she gave as good as she was getting and was wildly disappointed when he pulled back.

“Wow. That was some greeting,” she told him, caressing his jaw.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here,” he admitted, resting his forehead against hers.

“Walker, it can’t be that bad. These are your friends. You’ve been working on the plans for the resort for months. Why is everyone suddenly freaking out?”

“Come on,” he said quietly, taking her hand and leading her down a path that led away from the cabins he and his friends were staying in.

They walked around a bend and ended up in a small area that was probably once just a pristinely manicured seating area. Right now, it was overgrown and the benches looked sketchy. Still, she sat beside him and waited for him to explain what was going on.

“Okay, I realize the irony in all of this, but…almost everyone agrees with you,” he murmured. “Axel confronted me about it a few days ago and I thought it was just him, but…other than me and Connor, everyone else is in favor of returning the resort to its former glory.”

Damn. Harlow really wanted to stand up and cheer, but seeing how miserable he was kept her firmly in her seat.

Sighing, she squeezed his hand. “I know how disappointed you are, and I’m sorry for that.”

He looked at her with a mirthless laugh. “Come on, Harlow. I know you’re a little happy about this.”

“That’s not the point,” she countered. “You had a vision for this project and it’s not going the way you planned, and for that, I’m sorry. Has everything been decided? I mean, is there no chance of you getting your way in any of it?”

“The truth is, there’s a lot more work here than any of us—especially me—realized. We don’t have the money to do all the things that I want to do, but we do have enough to bring the resort back with maybe a few extras.”

For a moment, she didn’t say anything. “So what are you losing, then?”

“My couples’ retreat cabins are a no-go.”

“Forever or for now?”

He shrugged.

“Walker, come on. Talk to me.”

“If we’re going to rehab the cabins, then they’ll be like they are now—floor plans will stay the same, but everything will get a refresh. We won’t be upgrading them into luxury suites, and it doesn’t make sense to rehab them down the road.”

“What else?”

“It all falls in line with that. We lose the market I was aiming for and we keep things a little more on the generic side. It’s not what I wanted.” He was practically pouting. “And maybe I’m being unreasonable…”

He was.

“But I had a vision that I was excited about and now? Now I’m not.”

Now that she could totally understand. It was hard to get excited about a project that has zero of your ideas incorporated into it anymore.

For a few minutes, neither said a word and she wished she had something wise to say to make him feel better, but she didn’t. All she could do was sit here and listen to him talk without passing judgment.

“Where’s everyone now?” she asked.

“Up in the lodge getting things ready for dinner. Connor’s a chef and he went shopping today and planned some big meal to celebrate.” Another shrug. “Last night we grilled burgers and hot dogs and I thought it was a fun, nostalgic meal to kick things off. Tonight, we’re apparently doing steaks.”

He sounded positively miserable.

Squeezing his hand again, she forced him to look at her. “You love steaks. You told me that the night we went to The Artisan Grill. I would think you’d be happy about it.”

And still another shrug. “I went and picked the wine, so I’m happy about that. I’m just kind of dreading sitting down with everyone and dealing with the fact that they’re all going to vote against me. It’s like being on one of those reality shows where you’re voted off the island.”

“Okay, but…”