The Hopeful Bride

Troy

When they arrived at the lodge his bride had bounced back from her earlier rambling and was now lit up with excitement as the view of the property came up before them.

"Holy shit," she said, throwing the door open and jumping out of the truck. She stumbled back a step surveying the place. "This is the lodge?"

Troy smiled as he shut the driver's side door and made a reach for her bag. "This is the lodge," he murmured as he came up to stand beside her. Surveying the land through her eyes. A majestic, clear blue lake glittered to the left of the property and there was a large dock with several fishing boats tied up. Along the shore, there was a rack of kayaks and a row of canoes. Adirondack chairs were scattered across the grassy banks. Around the lake was a well-marked trail winding through the trees and on the horizon was a range of snow-capped mountains that glistened when the sun hit them.

"This is insane. You live here?"

"We live here."

"Whoa." She turned towards him abruptly. "That's going to take serious getting used to. My last apartment looked out into a parking lot." She turned back towards the view. "And before that, my Grandfather lived across the street from a halfway home. I mean shit, on a good day I use to open the window and watch the pigeons eating someone's leftover Jimmy's "

Troy raised a brow. "Jimmy's?"

Gabriella clicked her tongue and shook her head, "It's an overrated hot dog."

Troy nodded, not too sure what to say about that. His eyes spotted Chad who was lugging a duffle bag out to the sheds around back. Before he could say anything Gabriella was already peppering him with questions.

"So what? you run the lodge and do the outdoor stuff on the side?"

He motioned down the path leading to the lodge entrance hoping she would follow. "I'm the fishing and hunting guide. But running the lodge isn't my thing. I'm not the right person to be the face of the family business." Before he could glance behind to see if she was following, she fired off another question.

"So who runs the day-to-day business?"

"My mom used to run the place, her and my dad together." Troy paused for a moment. "Before the accident."

Silence followed, but it was short -lived. Fuck, at this rate he may never know what a moment of silence ever was again.

"I knew a girl in college who lost her parents in a similar way and it wrecked her world. Drunk driver."

Troy let out a small murmur of interest. Not that he was interested, just didn't really know what to say. So he continued. "Mom and dad ran the lodge for thirty years. They made something special out here. We closed it down in February and are just getting ready to reopen in a few days."

He approached the entrance and held the door open for her.

Gabriella nodded in thanks and walked past him, her eyes seeming to dart everywhere at once. A few passing by staff members waved in their direction and she offered a small wave in return.

"Well, clearly this business is a profitable one, serving a special case of vacationers like this." she tossed her arms out as she surveyed the lobby. "Vacations with a view like this one don't run cheap. And I imagine all the outdoor stuff is the main attraction but here," she sighed as she looked at the photos on the wall. The photos that his mother had hung up of their family. "This is the family vacation of dreams. This all looks amazing."

"Glad to hear you like it." he continued. "The families that come here, come expecting something and that's why I ordered you."

That brought her to a stand still as she turned in the empty lobby to face him. "Me?" she shook her head, almost a little unsure.

"I never saw your photo, but I told Lisa what I wanted in a wife, and it seems like she delivered."

Gabriella glanced around the lobby again just as one of the older housekeepers, Betty Harbor, had entered the lobby to retrieve extra linens from the closet behind the service desk. Neither spoke as they waited for her to get what she needed and excuse herself.

Once she did, Gabriella, not surprisingly, broke the silence. "So let me get this straight. You ordered me so I could work here?"

"That's the plan. People come here expecting a pleasant woman, the wife of the owner, running this place. But I gotta say, I wasn't expecting someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

He shrugged, "You know..."

She smiled ruefully, "Clearly not."

Rolling his eyes he let out a breath. "You're not bad on the eyes."

She let out a laugh. "Are you saying I'm too pretty to be your wife?"

"Yes. Oh I mean No," he huffed in discomfort, "I'm saying I just expected someone who looked more, I don't know. Wholesome."

Her eyes narrowed into slits and maybe for the first time a bit of anger and annoyance flash through her. Shit.

"You don't know anything about me."

"That's true," he said with a smirk. "But you're definitely not hard to look at and you seem to be as sweet as peach pie."

"I'm more lemon meringue," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "a little tart."

"Touche." Troy ran a hand over his beard. "Look, I'm not trying to insult you. This is just why the business model works. Most hunting lodges in Alaska cater to men, and men alone. My mom thought some women wouldn't take kindly to their husbands traipsing around the wilderness without being close by. She was right. This lodge is booked straight for the entire summer season."

Her lips purged at that. "It sounds like you want an employee, not a bride. So why didn't you just put out a help wanted ad?"

"No. Fuck that. You can't have strangers in your business. Especially when it's a family business. I needed a woman, a wife. Like my dad had my mom. I just need someone here who can commit to the values of this business. Which is why when Lisa approached me, I agreed. A wife solves my problems. A stranger would just be too messy."

"So that's it? You just wanted to marry a carbon copy of your mother?"

"No," Troy shot back as he gawked at her. "I told Lisa my own specifications. I wanted a woman with real life experience because not just anyone can manage a lodge. It takes a special kind of woman to do that and I didn't want some ditsy girl who would be in over her head." He shifted her bag up his shoulder. "And Of course, being a looker wouldn't hurt."

"So you ordered me?"

"Assuming you fit that bill? Yes. I ordered you"

She was quiet for a moment. That wasn't comforting.

"Look, Troy," she shifted her weight, her eyes taking in the big service counter in the room. "I knew I was coming up here to be your wife." Her gaze flickered to him. "But I didn't realize I would just be handed this enormous amount of responsibility."

"Becoming someone's wife is an enormous amount of responsibility." This was weird. She wasn't really a shy or timid little thing. This, he already knew. He had told Lisa that he wanted a woman who could take care of business.

So why was Gabriella acting all surprised about this job? It's like Lisa never let her know what her life would be like here, which was a motherfucking problem. Gabriella should have known before she came what she was signing up for.

But it looks like she was thrown in the deep end. Just like him.

The last thing he wanted to do was convince a woman that this life was for her. He wanted a woman who already knew what she wanted.

"You gonna be okay with this?" he asked, not really sure what to do if she opted out.