Page 65 of Pretty ’n Peak

“Login errors. People couldn’t get in.”

“Okay….” he strung out the word. That wasn’t even his department. He didn’t touch login and credentials. They worked with a secure third-party product, but it had to integrate on the back-end.

“Vijay found the error and tested the patch, but now we’re having more login issues. It’s thousands of people.”

Which meant that doctors and other medical professionals would probably be doing whatever it took to make things work—like logging data under other people’s credentials. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen, and potentially dangerous for patients if someone couldn’t look up their medical history in time. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. “When can you be in?”

“I’m up at Mount Hood. And I need to pack up. So two hours if I’m lucky. More if I can’t find someone to make the drive into Portland.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah,” he echoed. Privately, he was hoping they could figure it out before he caught a car. Did car services even come out this far? Ty, one of the employees at the lodge, had driven him out in the Meadowlark van along with two other passengers from the airport. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Keep me posted,” Ryan returned.

Austin opened the back door to the lodge and followed the sound of voices.

Internally, he was seething. Couldn’t the system have waited a few more days to break? Couldn’t he just have one day for himself?

Faintly, he heard the litany of Cam’s complaints about his long hours. The tendency to get pulled in at the last minute, ruining their plans.

It was definitely something he was guilty of. But when he’d been with Cam, sometimes the work emergencies felt almost like a relief. Something he was good at. A chance to save the day, when he couldn’t save his failing relationship.

Today, he was just pissed.

He poked his head into a door where he thought he’d heard Sebastian. The clinks, clangs, and sizzles of a kitchen in full motion rose around him, accompanied by the tempting scents of fresh-baked muffins.

Breakfast was just one of the things he’d be missing out on.

A woman’s voice greeted him first, friendly but firm. “Hey! No guests in the…”

“That’s Austin,” Sebastian interrupted. “He’s a good friend. Let him in.”

“Welcome, then, Austin. I’m Maria. Come on in, but stay out of the way.”

“Sorry to intrude. I just came to ask Sebastian about transportation.”

“Why?” Sebastian asked. He was standing in front of something large and shiny, probably the stove. Maria was on the other side of the room, and someone else appeared to be standing behind a table or counter near the back.

“Work emergency. I’ve got to get back to the city.”

“You're kidding.”

“I wish.”

“Your boy’s going to be disappointed.”

Austin scrunched his eyes together. “He’s not my boy.” But he’d called him Daddy last night. And he would probably be disappointed.

Or maybe he wouldn’t. Neither of them were looking for a relationship, after all.

Austin didn’t know which was worse.

“I can’t take you myself, but I can wake up Jamie or Ty. Either one of them will need half an hour to get ready.”

“I figured. I’ll pay them. Or I can take a cab if there’s a number to call.”