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I’d suggested cards to take her mind off the cold, and it seems to be working.

Now, if I could just get her to find a way to do that on a bigger scale, she’d be set.

“Look, you just need to find a distraction. Something to focus on instead of what people are saying. Eventually, someone else will do something that gains everyone’s attention and this will pass.”

“Well, can someone mess up now? I’m ready to move on.”

I play my turn. “UNO.”

Her gaze narrows, and she draws a card.

Then I win.

“You suck,” she says, and I chuckle as I start to shuffle the cards for another round.

“So,” she begins, adjusting her position and tucking her feet under her butt as she turns to me. “Is that why you come to Lovers so much?”

“What?”

“Do you come here for a distraction? I’ve never really been able to figure out why you like to be here.”

“Why do you never plan to leave?” I ask instead of answering her question.

“Because this place is home. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

“Exactly.”

No matter what Grace thinks of me, this town and this lodge feel like home to me, too. I feel like most of the people in this town couldn’t care less about who I am.

“Then, why do you live in LA? Why not move here?”

“My job is in LA.”

“Yeah, but once you’re CEO, you can live anywhere, right?”

“Yeah, if I can convince the board I do in fact know how to commit.”

It’s all very annoying, and yes, I do wish I could do something to change their minds, but there is literally nothing I can do at this moment.

Grace takes another sip of her wine. We just opened bottle number three.

“It pisses me off how much both of our careers depend on the opinion of other people,” she says.

“Tell me about it.” I chuckle. “I thought a perk of owning your business was that you don’t have to do what other people want.”

I lean back on her couch and stare at the ceiling.

“Ignoring everything I just told you, sometimes I do dream of telling the board off,” I admit. I should probably stop drinking. I know we called a truce for the night, but if the fact that Grace is carrying on a conversation without being annoyed with me weren’t enough of a sign that we’ve had too much to drink, my confession is. “It would be so nice to put them in their place for once, you know.”

Grace sits on the opposite end of the couch.

“Oh, I know. I would get so much joy from putting the media in their place. Being the one who gets to control my narrative. The lodge’s story. The way it should be. I have so many ideas for this place, but all people care about it whether I’ll screw up.”

I nod with every word she speaks.

It’s crazy to live in a world where the opinion of other people matters so much.

“If you could do it, actually find a way to fix this, what would you do?” I ask her.