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My sister was barely five feet tall, but her threats were legit. She was strong. And she had a couple black belts that only made her that much more dangerous. Being an adult, a pregnant one at that, didn’t seem to curb her willingness to grapple around like an alligator wrestler, either.
“Whoa there,” Wiley said, striding coolly across the lobby to approach the desk. The only person on earth who could calm my sister was her longtime boyfriend, Wiley Blanchard, who was also the bar manager at our resort.
“You just don’t comment on a pregnant lady’s physique,” Aubrey sniffed, her back straightening and her chin going up in the air. To my horror, her bottom lip was beginning to wobble. I could handle my sister tough and attempting to beat the crap out of me, but I couldn’t take it when she cried. And since she’d gotten pregnant, her emotions were as unpredictable as her sneak attacks had been when we were little.
Wiley shot me a questioning look. “You didn’t insult my girlfriend, did you?”
“I didn’t, man. I don’t know much, but I do know better than to piss off my sister. Especially now. I just asked if she could move the bump off the desk for a second because I thought I left the Post-Its over there.” I pointed to the little neon pad on the registration desk where Aubrey’s baby bump had been resting a moment before. She was the exact right height to perch on the stool behind the counter and lean sideways to rest her increasingly big belly on the desk.
“Your slight was implied,” Aubrey sniffed, crossing her arms in front of her. “You have no idea how heavy this thing is. I can’t help it if I need to find unique ways to take the pressure off my back.”
“I’m sorry, sis. You know I’m excited about being an uncle. I really was just trying to find the Post-It notes.”
Aubrey stared at me for a moment, as if trying to decipher my true intentions, and then her face crumpled, and she wandered around the desk and practically fell into Wiley’s arms. “What’s wrong with me, you guys? This alien life form is taking over my entire personality.” This was a muffled moan uttered against Wiley’s chest.
I watched as Wiley’s face softened. He was like the sister-whisperer, and I knew the power he had over my sister was one hundred percent due to the love they had for one another. I wondered if I’d ever feel anything remotely close. Either way, Iwas glad it was Wiley who got to deal with my sister like this. I wouldn’t have the first clue.
“It’s okay honey,” Wiley said, wrapping her in his arms. “You’re busy building an actual human being. That’s gotta be exhausting.”
She nodded against him. “It’s awful.”
“I thought women loved being pregnant,” I said, exchanging a bewildered look with Wiley over my sister’s head. “All that glowing and blossoming?”
“Propaganda!” Aubrey moaned. “I can’t see my feet, and oh my god, the things that have been happening to my lady bits...”
A shiver of horror went through me, and I tried to will myself not to hear whatever was coming next. This was my sister, after all.
“And no one tells you about all the gooey stuff that comes out?—”
“How ‘bout a nap?” Wiley asked her, smoothing her hair from her face as he looked down at her.
I was ridiculously relieved that she hadn’t finished that particular thought. I owed Wiley a raise.
“A nap. Yes. But no funny business. You know that’s how this happened in the first place.”
My sister and Wiley had been together pretty much since we’d begun refurbishing the Kasper Ridge Resort, which my Uncle Marvin left to both of us in his will. It had taken literal years of work, but the place was humming along now, turning a profit, and making a real name for itself as some of the best skiing and accommodations south of Aspen and Vail. And now that the resort was thriving, it was beginning to feel like maybe it was time for me to move on. I just wasn’t sure to where, and I needed to finish up one thing first.
“No funny business, I promise. I’ll just tuck you in. I have to get back down and finish inventory for this writers’ conference.”Wiley shot a meaningful look at me as he said this last bit. We’d all been a little overworked, getting the place ready for a conference that had rented almost every single room and would span a week just before the ski season kicked off, but I was willing to take on extra duties if it meant not seeing my sister cry.
“I heard it was mostly romance writers,” Aubrey moaned. “Don’t they know what romance leads to?”
I held in a chuckle as Wiley led my sister off toward the elevator, and reached for the Post-It notes that had started the latest close call with Aubrey’s hair-trigger emotions.
Everything seemed in order, and we were expecting the first arrivals for the conference early the next morning. Unfortunately, we were anticipating some weather during the week as well, and I wasn’t sure how that might impact the travel plans of five hundred writers, but I hoped it would all work out. It was a boon for the resort, that much was certain. Several of the guests had rented rooms that extended well beyond the week of the conference, and I’d heard that a lot of the rentable properties outside the resort were booked as well.
We had a few guests checking out the following day, but the hotel was emptier than it had been in months as the staff braced for our first big convention.
“Kitchen’s stocked, gift shop and mountain shop inventory are tapped up. We’ve got a few extra bodies for housekeeping, and maintenance is on hand for that elevator. It’s been running fine though, no issues in the past few days.” Antonio gave me this report as evening fell outside, draping the snow-tipped peaks of the mountains in violet shadow.
Antonio had taken on the role of general manager, and we’d been spending a good deal of time together coordinating for this event.
“We’re as ready as we’re gonna be,” I told him as we made our way out the back doors of the building to the east patio,where the firepit was roaring and familiar faces dotted the circle of Adirondack chairs around the fire. “And good call giving Mickey a heads up about the elevator. I would hate someone to get stuck in it again.”
“We should be good,” Antonio said, claiming a chair and sinking into it as the light from the fire lit his face.
The air was cool and crisp. We’d had a warm fall so far, but it had been punctuated with a couple of snowstorms that brought in frigid temperatures, reminding us all that this was high-altitude Colorado and the weather was the one thing you never wanted to assume you understood up here.
“Hey guys,” I said, claiming an empty chair.
