Chapter 1

“Four years of school doesn’t give you the right to come in here and tell me how to do my job!” snapped Andrew as he stormed across the dining room of Le Bleu. The high-end French restaurant hadn’t yet opened for the day and the room was empty. Somehow, that only seemed to amplify Andrew’s anger.

“Actually, that’s exactly what it does,” retorted Timothy as he clenched his hands into white-knuckled fists. “You need to listen to what I’m telling you or you’re going to lose this place for good.” They had been at this for hours already and he was starting to feel like he was repeating himself.

“No one is going to take Le Bleu away from me.” Andrew stopped by one of the tables and began straightening out the place settings. He seemed absorbed in his work.

“Andrew…” Timothy sighed and tried to collect his thoughts. “You’ve got to realize that this place is one of the biggest drains on your budget. It’s the sole reason that you’re operating at a deficit every single month. With the way the accounts are right now, there’s no way Peter can justify keeping it for much longer.”

Andrew was silent as he continued rearranging things on the table in front of him. It only took Timothy a moment to realize that he was moving the same things over and over again as if he wasn’t really focused on what he was doing anymore.

“I’m not trying to take it away from you,” Timothy continued. “I know this place means a lot to you. All I want to do is help you make it profitable.”

“You’ll ruin it,” said Andrew, shrugging his shoulders simply. He looked up at Timothy with determination in his eyes. “I have everything about this place exactly the way it should be. Le Bleu is my pride and joy. I’m not going to let anyone change it. If Peter wants to shut it down then I will fight him tooth and nail.”

Timothy fought the urge to groan out loud. Every time he thought they were making progress Andrew pulled something like this. At this rate, they would never get anything done.

“Look, Andrew, I get it. I really, really do. But what’s worse, making a few changes or losing Le Bleu entirely?” Negotiation wasn’t really Timothy’s strong suit. He had spent the last four years studying restaurant management in order to help fix the problems in Andrew’s department. He hadn’t expected to be embroiled in an argument with his brother just to be allowed to do that.

Timothy and Andrew were only two members of the extensive Snow family that owned and operated the Snowed Inn Ski resort. They had been close at one time and had planned to run the restaurants and dining department together. Andrew would go to culinary school and Timothy would study management. The hope had been that they could combine their skills and run the department efficiently.

However, Andrew was two years older than Timothy. He had finished his schooling and taken over the department well ahead of his brother. While Timothy was away finishing up his education, Andrew had been building up Le Bleu and single-handedly driving the restaurant department into the ground.

“Tim, you don’t get it at all. This is my place at Snowed Inn.” Andrew frowned and met Timothy’s gaze for the first time since they’d started talking. “Peter’s Head of Operations, he’s got that swanky office, and an assistant and everyone knows that that’s who he is. Eli is running hospitality. He’s practically king of the main lodge. Everything there is his domain. Emily has the auditorium downstairs and everyone knows that she’s the one to talk to about entertainment. Even Tony has the vehicle barns. I’ve got nothing. Nothing but Le Bleu. I’m not going back to just being another Snow. I’m going to make this place work and I’m going to do it on my own.”

“You’re thinking about this all wrong, Andrew!” Timothy was growing more frustrated with this conversation every passing minute. “You’re the head of restaurants and dining. There are three restaurants here. You’ve got the sandwich shop and the family restaurant in the main lodge that both turn a profit and are always full of people—”

“But they’re not mine,” Andrew interrupted. “Those were both here before I was put in charge. They’ve got good employees, a standard menu that works well, and managers that know how to handle their jobs. They bring in almost the same amount of money every month. I could take a month off and come back and they’d be just fine.” He sighed and sank into one of the empty chairs by the table. “But at the end of the day, I want to make a change. I want to leave a lasting mark here. I want Le Bleu to be that mark. I can’t let it be shut down by you, or Peter, or anyone else.”

“Then let me help you make it profitable so it doesn’t have to be shut down!”

“Did you not hear me? I need to do this myself. This is my place at Snowed Inn. It’s my way of setting myself apart from the rest of the family.”

“And what about me?” Timothy felt exasperated. He stepped towards his brother and clutched a hand to his chest. “We were supposed to do this together. I spent all this time working towards the plan that we made together. Now you’re moving forward on your own and what? There’s no room for me in this?”

It was hard growing up in such a large family. There were times when you felt like you were just another face in the crowd. Standing out, finding a way to make yourself an individual, was hard. Timothy had always been grateful for the friendship he had with Andrew. They’d done everything together when they were kids. The plans they had made together had always revolved around proving themselves to everyone and showing just what they could do when they put their minds to it.

But now, it seemed like Andrew had abandoned the camaraderie that had gotten them through childhood.

“Look, Tim, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say right now.” Andrew looked away with a hint of shame in his eyes. “I’m going to fix this and I’m going to do it on my own. The rest of the department is yours to do what you want with. I don’t care what you do, but Le Bleu is mine and mine alone.”

“So that’s it then?” Timothy’s shoulders slumped forward and he fought back the tightness that had begun forming in his throat. “You’re just going to throw away everything we worked for together?”

Andrew didn’t respond. He didn’t even stir.

Timothy bit his lip until the taste of copper touched his tongue. The sharp flavor of his own blood snapped him out of the disbelief that had robbed him of speech.

“Fine, I’ll tell Peter that you refused my offer,” said Timothy as he turned towards the exit. “I tried to help you, Andrew. If you lose Le Bleu now the fault is entirely your own.” He didn’t wait for a reply. The anger and pain that clenched at his chest were threatening to overflow now. He wasn’t about to give Andrew the satisfaction of seeing him cry. They may have been friends once, but that was no longer the case. Now, they might as well have been complete strangers as far as Timothy was concerned. Andrew had shoved away all of the hopes and dreams they had shared together in favor of his own desires.

Timothy clomped heavily down the stairs to the first floor of the building where Le Bleu was located. A large lobby opened up around him, with a vaulted ceiling and elegant, but simple, decor. It was quite a contrast to the gaudy interior of the restaurant he had just left.

Along one side of the room was a bar where drinks were served in the evenings. On the far side of the room was the entrance to the auditorium. The large room could seat nearly five hundred people and its massive stage had seen countless comedians, plays, and concerts. The walls of the lobby were covered in old style posters in large frames with display lighting. Everything was quiet now but come evening the guests of Snowed Inn would flock here to be entertained.

Timothy passed through the lobby without hesitation. He’d seen it a thousand times and he would likely see it a thousand more. For now, the sting of Andrew’s words was too strong for him to linger in the building for much longer. He shouldered his way through the front doors and out into the chilly air of early autumn. He sucked in lungfuls of the icy air and used the cold to chase away the threat of tears that had begun to cloud his vision.

He wasn’t going to let Andrew make him cry. It was clear that his brother had made up his mind about this a long time ago. There was no point in allowing himself to get upset by it. It wasn’t worth it.

At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he headed down the sidewalk away from the auditorium building.

Snowed Inn was made up of a cluster of buildings, gathered together like a small mountain village. The central lodge building was by far the biggest and grandest. It housed the main hotel rooms, as well as the spa and the gym and many of the other amenities that guests could make use of. Then, of course, there was the auditorium building. It was separated from the main lodge by a long, winding path that passed by the ice skating rink and the main ski lift. Further along, that same path were the condos that were available for guests to rent. Each of the members of the Snow family also had a condo to call their own.

Beyond that were the cabins and the lake, as well as the hiking trails that curved through the woods.

During the winter people flocked to ski the slopes, skate on the ice rink, and enjoy the outdoor weather. During the summer, guests would hike the trails or fish in the lake. This was an in-between time for them. A time where everyone was on pins and needles waiting for the first snow to fall. In a way, it felt like everyone was holding their breath in anticipation. Because once the snow came their peaceful existence would be upended into chaos.

Most of them anyway.

By refusing his help, Andrew had left Timothy without a job. He was right when he said that the other two restaurants pretty much ran themselves. They were well established and other than the occasional request for new equipment they didn’t have many expenses. Telling Timothy he could have them was like giving a seeing-eye-dog to someone with perfect vision.

While the rest of his family would soon be buried in their work, Timothy would be left trying to figure out how he fit into everything. Just another member of the family with nothing special to contribute. Four years of school had been wasted on this idiotic dream that Andrew had sold him on. Now he was back to where he had been before.

He tried to push those thoughts aside. Whatever happened next, he’d figure something out. Right now, the first order of business was to let Peter know that Andrew wasn’t going to budge.

Timothy made his way to the main lodge. The central lobby of the lodge building had an almost palatial quality to it that still gave Timothy chills whenever he entered it. Peter’s office was located just off the main entrance near the stairs. It was kind of amusing to Timothy to see his eldest brother’s name inscribed on the door placard. He still thought of Peter as the oversized, awkward teenager that couldn’t ski properly until he was nearly eighteen.

With that thought in mind, he knocked on the door.

No answer.

He knocked again. Still nothing.

Frowning, Timothy tried the doorknob. It was locked.

“Okay, fine,” he muttered to himself as he backed away from the door and headed back the way he came. Peter must have been taking advantage of the lull in activity to spend some time with his family.

Peter’s boyfriend Luke had given birth to their son just a few months before Timothy had come home. It had been a few weeks since then, but he still hadn’t really had a chance to talk to Luke all that much. If he was going to become part of the family one day, Peter still had yet to propose, then now was as good a time as any to get to know him.

Once he was back outside, Timothy proceeded back down the sidewalk towards the condos. With any luck, he might even get there in time for lunch.