“He won’t. Papa wants me to be happy. He’ll help us get started if we need him.”
I hoped she was right. If she had read him wrong, then I didn’t know what I would do to convince him to take a chance on me. The truth was simple. I was a man with no fortune whatsoever asking for the hand of an heiress. These matches were not supposed to happen. I could only hope that the wild country where he lived was also in Lord Barnes’s blood.
As we set out toward home, I prayed silently. God, send me a miracle.
At the Cassidys’, the twins and I spent the morning mending a fence and replacing decaying wood in the stalls. The Olofsson brothers weren’t able to join us, and I’d picked up tension between the brothers. They usually joked and sparred during our work but today the twins were quiet.
When we broke for lunch, they didn’t seem as jubilant as I felt. We’d finished up the last of the work for a family who needed us. Given their big hearts, it surprised me they weren’t more excited to have completed what we set out to do.
Leaning against the side of the sleigh, we ate our sandwiches and drank hot tea from the canister Lizzie had sent. The bright midday light made the snow almost blinding, so we stood with our backs to the sun.
“I’ll go inside and let the ladies know we’re done for now,” Flynn said.
I expected Theo to tease him about Shannon, but he didn’t say anything or even nod in acknowledgment.
I waited until Flynn was inside before I turned to Theo. “Is anything wrong between you? You’ve hardly spoken a word all day.”
Theo sighed and set his empty cup back into the lunch basket. “We’ve had a fight. A terrible one.”
“I’m sorry to hear,” I said. “Is there anything I can do?”
“The only way you could help is to take over my part in the ski venture.”
“I’d hardly be qualified,” I said, lightly, knowing he was joking. Yet was he? “Do you not want to do it?”
“I want to go to university like I always planned. Flynn has this way of getting me caught up in his schemes. Now I’m trapped. He can’t run the ski business without someone more analytical and detail-focused. He’s to be the public part of the business, dealing with people, while I run the operations.” He rubbed both of his temples with his fingers, as if his head ached. “But I have to tell you, I hate every moment of it. The whole thing is dreadfully dull, and we fight over fundamental aspects of how to run the business. I’m not sure our relationship as brothers is worth the strife. We may end up completely estranged.”
“What would you rather do with your life?” I couldn’t imagine a better thing than to run a business with a brother.
“I want to be a surgeon.”
“A surgeon?”
“During the war, I learned some techniques from the medics. They taught me how to do simple sutures, set broken bones, clean wounds. I could be useful doing this kind of work. Skiing is fine for fun, but it’s not my life’s work. Flynn’s always wanted to be outside. The minute he saw the ski mountains in Europe, it was like a light went off inside him. He found his purpose over there. So did I. Unfortunately, they don’t match up. I’ve been doing some soul-searching. Wandering into the snow while sleepwalking isn’t right. It’s time for me to do what I want. Not doing so is going to kill me. I know it to be true. I told him this last night, and we fought. Going my own way feels like a betrayal to him.”
I’d already let my mind wander to dangerous places as I listened to him. I would be the perfect partner for Flynn. I had the math skills and detail orientation to run the business while Flynn charmed guests and created an atmosphere of leisure and fun. I yearned to say all this, but I knew better. They would think me ridiculous to offer up such an idea with no experience whatsoever.
Theo continued. “Flynn’s reasoning isn’t completely selfishly motivated. If it was, I might be able to argue against his ideas. He believes the only way Emerson Pass survives into the future is to have a business that creates work. We have to provide a place where wealthy people want to flock. A place for rich families who have income to spend on luxuries like ski vacations. Papa agrees with him. As it stands now, there aren’t many more opportunities for new businesses that haven’t already been taken. A town can’t thrive without a larger business to build around and create jobs. The mill isn’t enough. Not unless we want to sacrifice every tree on these mountains. This town is ripe for tourism. Not just the ski slopes but ice-skating as well.”
I’d never heard Theo say this many words at once.
He abruptly stopped, however, when Flynn reappeared. His expression remained dour.
“Everything all right inside?” I asked.
“Yes, the ladies said to thank you,” Flynn said. “I don’t want to go home yet. What should we do?”
“We could stop in town and see if yo
ur father needs anything done back at home,” I suggested.
As if he hadn’t heard me, Flynn turned toward the northern mountain. “I’d like to show you the lodge, Phillip. Would you like to go out and see what we’ve done before we head home?”
“Sure, if we have time.”
“I’ll hitch up the horses,” Theo said.
“What is it, brother?” Flynn asked Theo. “What’s wrong with you now?”