“I’m sorry, man. That sucks.”
“Yeah, well, I knew what I was getting myself into.”
Warren lets out a sigh. “At least you found someone. I swear, I’m beginning to think I’ll never meet anyone in this town. Maybe I need to expand my reach.”
“Are you thinking about leaving?”
He shrugs. “Not sure. You know I love the lodge, and I love you.” He bats his eyelashes at me. “But I want more.”
I scoff. “Yeah, well, I never did and look where that got me. Trust me, when you least expect it, life will give you a lesson that you need.”
“And what lesson is that?”
I open my mouth to answer, but an angry voice cuts me off. “Don’t you know how to answer your goddamn phone?”
I turn to find my sister trudging through the snow, her eyes ablaze with fury.
“Dilynne?”
“No, it’s Mrs. Claus, you moron!” The sound of the snow crunching under her footsteps gets louder as she closes the distance between us, planting her hands on her hips. “Jesus Christ, Henley. I’ve been trying to call you for the past hour. I finally got ahold of Jess at the lodge who told me you were snowboarding, but she can’t leave the restaurant, so I had to drag my ass all the way out here.”
I stand from the bench, my anxiety growing rapidly as I take in the expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Elodie. She’s sick.”
“What? How?”
“I don’t know. Germs are everywhere.” Rolling her eyes, she says, “She tried calling you too, but when you didn’t respond, she called me and I called Laney. Laney is at the house with her and Remy…”
I rip the strap on my other boot and abandon my snowboard completely. “Fuck. Is she all right?”
Dilynne begins to walk back to the main lodge as I follow her. “I mean, she’s not dying, but she has a fever, chills… Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t notice this morning before you left.”
“She and Remy were still sleeping.”
My sister shakes her head. “Well, that explains it. Long story short, when she woke up and realized she was not feeling well, and when you didn’t answer, she called me.” Breathing heavily, she says, “I thought you’d want to know.”
Pushing a hand through my hair, I start running at full speed to my truck. “Warren!” I call out over my shoulder.
He raises his hand in the air. “I’ve got it. Go take care of your girl!”
And as I race back home, I pray she’s all right—because if she’s not, I’ll never forgive myself.
***
“Where is she?” I bark out as I stumble through the front door of my house.
Laney jumps from her spot on the couch, clutching Remy to her chest. “Jesus, Henley.”
“Elodie…where…”
“She’s resting.” Laney peers down at Remy to check that she’s okay. For a second, I debate going to my daughter, but Laney makes the decision for me. “Go. I’ve got the baby.”
My footsteps are heavy as I make my way down the hallway to Elodie’s room, not bothering to knock. As I open the door, the sight of her curled up in bed almost splits my heart in two.
I wasn’t sure anyone but my daughter had the power to do that.
“El?” She doesn’t respond, so I move toward the bed, stripping off my jacket as I do and tossing it onto the chair in the corner. When I take a seat on the bed, I find her eyes closed, but her brows pinched together. “Elodie?”
