“She has luggage?”
“She’s a dog, of course she has?—”
“That is not a dog.”
The corner of Rebecca’s lip twitches. “She’s a dog-ish.”
The tight knot at the base of my neck loosens. Whatever is going on in Rebecca’s life that brought her here isn’t so bad that she lost her sense of humor.
“I meant my clothes. I don’t have any.”
“Was there a fire or a flood?”
“No, um, I made an abrupt exit, stage left.”
I nod slowly as exhaustion turns the edges of my awareness fuzzy. “Well, if there’s anything I can do, um, I’ll leave my number at the desk downstairs. I should leave. Um, call Brady, report back, go home, and crash.”
Just then, my phone beeps with an aggressive emergency alert, setting Pookie into another squeaky barking fit like I heard when I originally knocked on Rebecca’s hotel room door.
She pales as if it’s a missing person’s report and I’m going to send her back to wherever she came from.
I skim the briefing. “Ooh. This doesn’t look good. The weather center has escalated the snowstorm headed this way to a historic blizzard. The roads are officially closed except for emergency vehicles.
Rebecca looks at my uniform. “That would be you, right?”
“I’m off the clock, but otherwise, yes.”
From the foot of the stairs, Noella, inn co-owner and the kindly woman who has occupied the main desk for as long as I can remember, rings a soft bell, making a general announcement to anyone within earshot. “Roads are closed. But we’re all safe and cozy here.”
“That means we can’t leave?”
“It would be at your own risk.”
“Is there an electric vehicle charging station here?”
I shake my head. “I’m afraid not.”
“So I’m stuck.”
“Where were you trying to go?”
“Home.”
Knowing Brady and I do—the man is practically a brother—he wouldn’t want her risking the drive through the mountains. Not even with me behind the wheel.
She looks at me, expectant, and I know what she’s going to ask.
This feels like it could be trouble or the best thing in my life waiting to happen.
CHAPTER 3
REBECCA
Feeling slightly panicked about this situation, before Reese can disappear down the hallway, I blurt, “Let me buy you a hot cocoa for your trouble.”
“It was no trouble.”
I sing-song, “I noticed a little cocoa cart by the fireside lounge when I arrived last night.”
