“How do you know he’s cute?”
“I blush, but you glow.” She winked. “I want every detail afterwards.”
“You’ll get them,” Nicole promised, leaning in. “Ifyou ask the single dad on a date.”
“Me? Ask him? Are you kidding?”
“Hey, I’m going on a ski date,” she reminded Gracie. “If I can do that, then you can at least give a man a cream puff and throw your phone number in the box.”
“He knows where to find me.”
Nicole leaned in, knowing her always reticent cousin often needed a good push down the slopes of life. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Gracie gave the saddest smile. “I fall in love, get my heart smashed, and you have to pick up the pieces.Again.”
“I was only eighteen when you went through that with Sam,” Nicole said, remembering the dark days after her cousin’s unexpected pregnancy and subsequent heartbreak.
“You were there for me, though, even though your own parents were getting a divorce and you were starting college.” Gracie reached over the table and put her hand on Nicole’s. “I don’t know where I’d be without you, Nic.”
Touched, Nicole squeezed her hand, then grinned. “I do love irony,” she said. “We send Benny to camp to find a friend…and you meet your one true love?”
Gracie pushed back to stand. “Girl, you watch too many rom-coms and I have to go bake.”
“Make an extra cream puff.”
“I will,” Gracie said with a smile. “And let’s hope we don’t both wipe out.”
“Amen to that, sweet cuz.”
MJ slipped into her small suite of rooms as the lovely late afternoon settled over Snowberry Lodge. With her two full-time employees taking the week off, today had been a bear. Not only was the lodge at capacity, she’d had two check-outs followed by two check-ins, countless food requests, the occasional emergency, and they were still in full Christmas mode.
Her sister decided to end the day with another snowmobile ride with Jack, but MJ just wanted to rest.
She slipped into her comfy chair, feet up on the ottoman, head back, happy to be in the little corner of the world that she called home. Technically, she “lived” at Starling House with her Gracie, Benny, and Red. At least, she had a room there and many of her belongings.
But she hadn’t slept there since George died. The empty bed in their old room was just too lonely.
So, she’d migrated to this sizeable suite right off the kitchen. It only made sense to stay here. She often rose at five A.M. to get breakfasts going and once in a while, a guest needed something in the middle of the night. George used to trudge down to thelodge when that happened, but with him gone and Cindy living fifteen minutes away at her townhouse, MJ had to step in.
So this was her home now, and that was just fine.
Just as she got comfy, she heard footsteps in the kitchen and held her breath, hoping they weren’t followed by the ding of the small bell she kept on the counter for guests to contact her. They were welcome to the fridge and pantry, but sometimes they needed?—
She almost grunted at the sound of the bell.
They needed her.
Pushing up, she smoothed out her slacks and straightened her sweater, stepping out to see a man in a ski jacket, gloves dangling from the zipper. “I hate to bother you, but we have a problem,” he announced.
“How can I help you, Mr. Kingsley?” she asked, grateful that she hadn’t lost her keen eye and the skill that allowed her to remember every guest’s face and name. “The kitchen’s always open.”
“That’s kind of you, but we’re actually headed out into Park City for the evening, but we, uh, noticed a leak in the bathroom. Toilet keeps running and there’s water on the bathroom floor.” He cringed in apology. “I’d hate to see it cause any damage.”
And so would she. MJ’s heart dropped, knowing exactly which bathroom he meant, in one of their largest rooms called the Aspen Suite, directly over the dining area. And the Kingsley family of four couldn’t easily be moved to another room—not that the Snowberry Lodge had a single vacancy right now.
That was a good problem to have. A leaky toilet? Not so much.
“We’ll get it all fixed up while you’re gone,” she assured him cheerfully, despite the fact that an emergency evening plumber would not be easy to find the day after Christmas. “You don’t mind if someone enters your suite?”
