So I paced in circles around the gate, jittered my way through the flight as I worried that the plane might get hijacked. At one point, I worried that I might hijack the plane. After all, who was I to stop myself from doing something crazy?

When we landed, I was sure I heard one of the tires pop. Then I spent a few minutes wondering if we’d crashed and died mid-flight and if I was now in some sort of boring afterlife.

The bus ride after the flight to our little lodge in the mountains was the part where I really started to worry about what was going to happen when I ran into Dean again for the first time in six months.

When I finally stepped out of the shuttle bus and stretched my legs, I was exhausted. Sure, the North Carolina air was crisp and cool with early Winter goodness, but I barely noticed. Believe it or not, worrying was a full-body workout if you did it right. And you could bet your ass I worried with the best of them.

I turned a slow circle while my co-workers retrieved their bags from the little compartments on the side of the bus. The trees had mostly shed their leaves. The gravel road we’d followed up the mountain was winding, steep, and strewn with leaves. The air smelled like a campfire, and there were faded blue shapes of mountains stretching out in every direction I could see through the trees. Maybe the most impressive of all was the towering resort lodge where we were going to be staying.

Every single employee from Pollard was “invited” to this conference, which was code for, “come or we’ll find a reason to fire your ass at the earliest opportunity.”

I lagged behind to take in the scenery and keep an eye out for Dean, but I didn’t see any obvious sign of him. I wasn’t sure what a “sign of Dean” might be. It’s not like I’d spot his droppings or claw marks on trees. Maybe horny, dazed women? Discarded panties? Used condoms? Those would probably tell me Dean was near.

So far, it was just the employees and none of the higher ups. I didn’t even see my sister, Lizzie, who was supposedly going to be tagging along with her husband-to-be all week during the conference.

Marley came up and shoulder bumped me. “Pretty, huh?” she asked.

I nodded. The hotel was massive, with gleaming windows and “A” frame arches hosting rows and rows of mountain views in every direction. “The Pollard brothers like to remind everybody how rich they are, I guess.”

“That they do,” Marley agreed.

We headed up the path together and made our way in through the main entrance. It had an upscale cabin feel inside as well, with rock sculptures and drizzling waterfalls adding to the scene. The main entrance featured an ornate staircase flanked by walls sculpted to show the shapes of trees and leaves. Overhead, huge beams of wood ran across the vaulted ceilings and the walls were lined with windows, letting the surrounding nature do most of the talking as far as impressing guests went. At the top of the stairs, the lobby was a huge area with several sitting rooms full of real fur-lined chairs, thick and beautiful wood slab furniture, and an endless array of windows wherever they fit to show off the views.