ZOE
The play went…better than expected. No one fell off the stage, and Baz had pulled off the grumpy dad turned replacement Santa in the shortened take on the movie,The Santa Clause. He’d done such a good job that there’d been sighs from several of the moms and one grandmother sitting in the front row. It was safe to say he was a “Hot Santa,” even with the grump factor, whether he wanted to be or not.
Backstage was chaos as the kids rushed through their costume changes back into their everyday clothes and outerwear for the drive up Pineville Mountain. All week during the runup, it was hard to tell if my class was more excited over the play or the party Astrid and the wives of the Triple R owners.
Josh had become not only the main man, or rather the boy of the hour, for his role in the play, but also for the party up at Triple R Lodge. He’d poured his heart into it, and his love for his uncle was hard to miss. As I watched from across the gym, Baz and Josh embraced, the boy allowing a show of affection many of his peers had begun to avoid at this age. My heart did a little somersault at the affection between the two.
Baz put on a good front, but he was far from the grumpy mountain man loner artist he preferred others saw him as. And dammit, why did it matter so much to me that he was more than that two-dimensional persona he’d created for himself?
Because, Zoe. You want him. Period. Full stop. You want to climb him like a tree and see if what you suspected was more than just a physical attraction to him could lead somewhere.
Admitting to myself I was just as excited to spend time around Baz as the kids had been was something I’d come to terms with even as I lectured myself that having any kind of fling with him was not a good idea. It would be easier once I no longer had a reason to see him.
And yet, I could also admit my pride, vanity, or whatever had taken a hit once it became obvious that he was fine pretending our kiss had never happened. Oh, I might have caught him looking at me with a heated gaze or two, but that could have been annoyance. I still had a hard time telling the difference.
I just wish I could get overthe kissfrom two weeks ago. I’ve never been this tied up in knots over a guy. Now that I was, and he wasn’t acting like anything could happen between us, I’d fallen into a need, a want for forbidden fruit and more of his devastating kisses. I found myself looking back at all my past relationships. As short as they’d been, I never once pined over a man the way I did over Baz.
So caught up in my thoughts, I almost missed the turn for the Triple R. The forecast had called for maybe an inch or two of snow. But the wind had picked up considerably since I had left the school. Staying behind to secure the building with the janitor meant I would probably be the last one to arrive to the party, but when I cleared the last bend and slowed my approach into the parking lot, I was surprised to find just a half dozen vehicles. Where was everyone?
Fat flakes appeared, and mini snow devils skipped over the side yard. Had I missed a weather alert? I entered the lodge to find just a handful of people milling about. A buffet had been put out along with a hot chocolate station for the kids, which was barely touched. I’d definitely missed a text. Pulling my cell out of my pocket as I said hello to a couple of the families, Astrid walked into the room.
“There you are! How were the roads? Well, the only road up the mountain?” Her hair looked as if she’d been raking her fingers through it over and over.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Where is everybody?” I ran my gaze around the room trying to appear nonchalant while hoping to see Baz. But no luck.
“That twenty percent chance of snow and high winds turned into a hundred during the play. I would have thought you would have checked your phone before driving up here. Most of the families did, but as you can see, a few still made the trek. We’re deciding now where to put everybody.”
Lauren and her sister Dylan came out of the kitchen. “Okay, we have a room for everyone here. Hey, Zoe. I guess you didn’t get Addy’s text, huh? Well, maybe we could see if she has room for you at her and Ridge’s place.”
I looked down at the forgotten phone in my hand. Sure enough, there was a text from Addy, and several weather alerts. I’d turned off the ringer before I arrived at the school for the play and totally forgot about it. “Oh, I’m sure I can make it back to town. No need to interrupt their routine with the baby.”
I gave a quick hug to Astrid. “Tell Josh again how proud I am of him and how sorry that the party had to be cancelled. Call you tomorrow, okay?” Disappointment filled me as I retraced my steps and left the cozy warmth of the lodge.
A blast of freezing air hit me in the face, and a wind gust nearly knocked me back into the door, but I recovered. Waitinga beat to see if another one followed, I let out a sigh when none did. In fact, the air stilled. There were still fat snowflakes lazily falling, but nothing else to worry about.
I’d lived in this area long enough to feel comfortable driving home, but I’d better get moving otherwise I was going to have to stay the night on the couch in the lodge’s great room. This wasn’t how I wanted the rest of the evening to go. I’d hoped to have some time with Baz.
The drive to the main road took longer than it had when I came in, and as I made the turn toward Pineville from the lodge’s private drive, another gust rocked my car. I steadied the wheel as I straightened the car. See, no worries. A little wind wasn’t going to scare me off. Although the flakes had grown smaller, and now there were more of them too as they began to fall fast and furious.
Watching my speed, I flipped on the local radio channel for the latest weather report. Another gust hit my SUV, then a loud crack filled the car’s cabin. In slow motion, a huge Ponderosa pine crashed onto the road in front of me. Guess this is what I get for thinking I could outsmart Mother Nature.
CHAPTER NINE
BAZ
Astrid and Ihad been texting back and forth ever since I left the school. She wanted to try, for Josh’s sake, to make it to the lodge for the now cancelled party. The last I heard from her, most had heeded the weather alerts and not tried to make it up the mountain. Those who had, were now spending the night in the available rooms at the lodge. The last of the client-guests had left yesterday, and they were closed for the rest of the year until after the holidays.
Astrid and Josh would stay the night there, so I didn’t have to worry about getting the guest room ready since it was still a disaster from the last time Josh had spent the night. I had a fire going in my great room and was making the rounds, securing the back and front doors and making sure I had several flashlights handy in case the power went out, and my backup generator failed.
My sister’s ringtone sounded, and I answered with a laugh. “What now? Did a tree fall on the lodge?”
“No, in front of Zoe’s car. She’s on the main road about a quarter mile past the turnoff for the lodge. And of course, 911 is slammed, so….”
“I’ll get her.” Ending the call, I grabbed my jacket and headed out. I’d already put chains on my Bronco in anticipation of the worsening weather and was able to reach Zoe’s SUV within five minutes. My heart pounded the entire way. The anticipation of seeing her again battled my fear of finding her injured.
Between the howling wind and the snow covering all her windows, she may not have had any idea I was there, but that didn’t keep me from yanking open her door and scaring her. Her startled squeak barely registered. “What were you thinking, woman?” I shouted.
Swirling snow hit her in the face as she sputtered. “What did you just call me? I’ve driven in worse. And how did you know I was even out here?” She didn’t budge from her seat as I offered my hand. Instead, she calmly wiped the snow from her eyes and returned my scowl.
