Chapter Four
Since she was not inclined to tour the resort on her own, and Davis had work emails, Emma took one look at their cabin and promptly collapsed onto the bed.
The trip up the mountain had exhausted her. Davis had been on a conference call for half of it, fully ignoring her as usual. For the rest of the trip, he’d moaned about the lack of cell service in the mountains.
She must’ve needed the rest as it was well after six the next morning when she woke up.
As she slowly came to consciousness, the sound of tapping on a keyboard was the first sound she heard. She groaned and pulled her pillow over her eyes.
“You managed to get connected to Wi-Fi, I see.” Emma pulled the pillow off. Davis sat in bed beside her, his laptop screen resting against his long legs.
“Yeah, of course. I figured I’d go through some emails before we got started on this ho-ho-holiday nightmare.”
He kept his eyes on the screen. She’d gotten so used to his casual jibes that few of them even registered anymore. But this one hit a little too close to the mark.
“Why the hell did you come if you think it’s a holiday nightmare? You could’ve gone to Canada to spend time with your family. Or wherever they’re spending the holiday this year. Vail? St. Moritz?”
He snorted. “They’re staying home for once, remember? You and I both know that would be even worse. Mom would be expecting some sort of production, given that we’ve been together for years now.”
By production, he meant a fuss over his proposal.
An engagement party, to show them off to all their snobbish friends.
It’d been well over a year since they’d visited, so they hadn’t seen them since it became official.
Though Davis’ mother hardly seemed to tolerate Davis, let alone Emma, she still saw them as boxes waiting to be checked off.
Good job? Check. Nice wife? Double check. Children? Triple check.
Mommy Dearest would be demanding wedding dates or even wanting to plan the wedding for herself in Ottawa. Given that Emma hardly had any family left, she’d say something like, “It just makes sense, dear.”
She tossed the blanket off. “Nice to know that you see this trip as a lesser level of hell.”
Davis made a start at a protest before Emma stepped into the bathroom and swiftly shut the door behind her.
She gazed at herself in the mirror. Given the unfamiliar space, it took a moment to register the scene.
The sage green and white guest towels gave a subtle hint as to where she was.
The larger clue was the tasteful Christmas tree tucked into the vanity corner.
She was glad she’d slept through Davis’ inevitable tirade about bathroom decor adjacent to the toilet.
She quickly washed her face and then stepped out into the main part of their cabin. Davis was on the phone and hardly noticed her absence.
A traditional Christmas tree sat in the corner of the room, its soft golden lights still twinkling, since they’d forgotten to turn it off the night before.
The lodge had been recently updated, and it showed. The walls were painted in shades of white and green, and they featured unique detailing, creating a subtle tree pattern on the far wall. Her fingers itched to sketch the room in her art journal. She could add a watercolor wash afterward.
Davis would likely chastise her for getting paint on the furniture though, so her journal stayed in her bag.
A small, modern kitchenette stood opposite a walk-out balcony at the rear of the cabin.
She stepped into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee before heading toward the balcony. Despite the frigid December temperatures, she needed fresh air. She pulled her robe tightly against her as she tugged the door closed behind her.
The vague, blueish-purple-hued mountains were the backdrop for the scene.
Around their cabin were countless others.
Some were only steps from the main lodge, and others, like theirs, were only accessible from a series of wooden bridges.
Fairy lights were strung along the bridges and rooftops and tossed onto the lower branches of some of the trees.
She took a large inhale, taking in the sharp scent of coffee mixed with the cloud-heavy sky and the nostalgic aroma of pine trees. Her breath spiraled out in front of her.
This place was perfect. That said, she didn’t foresee a Christmas miracle. They’d been here less than twenty-four hours. Davis was miserable, and he was making Emma miserable in turn.
She’d been a fool to think otherwise. He’d taken pity on her when he’d told her to book this trip. This break-up was inevitable, and she hated that she was finally facing the music in this picturesque wonderland.
Letting that depressing thought linger, she leaned forward on the railing and took a hearty sip of her coffee.
She wrapped her hands around her mug and exhaled.
The soft whoosh of the sliding glass door opening alerted her to Davis’ presence. “Hey. I’m sorry for earlier.”
She didn’t turn. “For which part, exactly?”
There was another whoosh—this time of his breath exhaling on a sigh. “Aren’t you freezing out here? Can you come inside?”
“In a minute. Let me enjoy a moment of solitude, then we’ll talk.”
She didn’t need to see Davis to know he was staring at her like a fish, desperate for breath. He was accustomed to being the one with the sharp tongue.
He closed the door, and she sipped her coffee quietly, enjoying the sounds of the forest waking up.
* * * *
It was too late to hide from the familiar voices creeping up on Caleb as he helped ready the lodge for breakfast.
Besides, that uniform was too snug to handle all that maneuvering. He worried the seams on his too-tight shirt or khakis would burst. Sabrina had promised to order in a larger size, but with it being Friday, he’d be stuck in the too-tight uniform over the weekend.
“Why, Caleb, don’t you look as handsome as the day is long?” Babs Dodge called out. She meant nothing by it—after all, she’d known him since he was in diapers—but Babs seemed to live to make Caleb uncomfortable.
He groaned and continued pulling the dining room chairs down. “You mean not very, right? Considering these are the shortest days of the year.”
Babs snorted and poked Inez Munoz in the side. “You always said Caleb was the cleverest of the Ellis children.”
“Isn’t it time for you two to have a hot flash or something? Leave my son alone.” Lainey Ellis rushed up to brush imaginary lint from his flannel. “Is this the biggest size your sister has in stock? It looks a little snug, Bug. You don’t want to give old ladies like Babs ideas.”
Caleb hated his childhood nickname. Thankfully, everyone else in the family had given it up.
“I can hear that,” Babs said. There was no malice in her voice. The biddies—aka Falling Leaves’ Coffee & Knitting Society—where very little knitting took place, but gallons of coffee were consumed—had been friends for years. Even the newest members could count their time in the society by years.
“My outfit is fine.” He gently moved his mother’s hand from his biceps. As if the universe was in on some comical joke, a button popped off, then pinged off the carpet onto his shoe.
“Well, I can sew that on for now. But, Inez, will you go hunt down Sabrina or Brandon? There’s got to be some bigger clothes around here somewhere.”
“Mom, stop. I already talked to Sabrina about it.” Caleb moved away from her to continue pulling chairs down. “What are you doing up here so early, anyhow?” Falling Leaves was nearly forty-five minutes south of the resort, which meant that the biddies had hit the road well before five a.m.
“Get to our age, and you’ll find out how easy it is to sleep through the night, Bug.”
“Why don’t you tag along with Inez and see if you can find Sabrina? I need her anyway. It looks like her morning shift lead is MIA.”
To that, his mother rolled her eyes but did as he asked.
Caleb hurriedly finished setting up the dining room before heading into the kitchen to help the staff prepare breakfast.
Luckily, this was a practice he’d done countless times before.
He’d be on-site finishing up construction and get roped into helping in various roles around the resort while they worked out the kinks.
He didn’t mind kitchen work. Why couldn’t the manager here quit?
He’d be much happier working behind the scenes.
Although Sabrina was easing him into things, the thought of entertaining a group of guests still made him want to barf. He had middle-child issues. Both Sabrina and Sebastian could command a room whenever they wanted.
Caleb would much rather slide into the background. Like right about now, as Inez caught him in her sights.
“I’m busy,” he told her as she approached. “Unless you’re willing to throw in a helping hand back in the kitchen.”
Inez owned The Over Easy Café in downtown Falling Leaves. She used to take on every role from cook to hostess until her kids recently stepped in and took over. Now, she only worked a couple of days a week, meaning her penchant for gossip had increased a hundredfold.
“You can talk while you work.” She couldn’t help herself as she set serving spoons in front of one of the chafing dishes.
“I can, but I really don’t want to.”
To that, she snorted. “Tough luck, buddy. I was just sizing you up to see if you’d fit the Santa costume this year.” She produced a sewing kit from her purse. “Take your shirt off.”
That this was the first person to make this kind of command of him in—well, months—was unsettling, to say the least.
“I’m not taking my shirt off in the middle of the dining room, Babs.”
“I can see you’re wearing an undershirt. The longer you argue with me, the longer this will take, so come on.”
“Fine. But keep your opinions to yourself.”
She glanced up at him as he unbuttoned his shirt.
He braced himself for some kind of well-meaning fat joke.
Sure, his jobs with Ellis & Daughter and at the inn were physical, but he hadn’t seen the inside of a gym in a long time.
Olivia called him “slightly fluffy” and assured him that a lot of women liked that look.
Not her, though. Although, to be fair to her, a lack of mutual attraction hadn’t been the cause of their divorce. It was that old cliché—they’d grown apart.
He gestured to the nearby buffet. “You’re going to wear this hash-brown casserole as a hat if you start poking at my middle.”
Inez chuckled. “I wasn’t going to. I do have some tact, you know.” She nimbly threaded the needle. “I don’t know, maybe it’s time to get a new costume this year. The old one is ratty, anyway. Maybe we’ll have your mama make you one.”
He turned to take a chafing dish from one of the hustling waiters and placed it on the buffet. “Don’t encourage her.”
The last thing he wanted was to be his mom’s next model. Especially since she was still bitter that Sabrina hadn’t let her make her wedding dress.
“Hmm, I can see the campaign now. You do have a beard, and it’s getting some speckled gray in there.”
“May I remind you you’ve known me since I was born, Inez? Please stop making it weird.”
“All right, all right. Here, the button’s back on. It should stay put until your bigger uniform gets here.”
He wasted no time pulling his shirt back on.
Inez stood. “I’ll head into the kitchen to see if they need my help. I might as well get on the payroll anyhow.”
She pushed open the kitchen doors. He exhaled when they swung shut after her. He’d worry about his turn at Sexy Santa after he got through the day.
* * * *
Davis was less than thrilled when presented with a list of activities planned for the lodge during their stay.
“Gingerbread house decorating? Are they serious? I thought people bought them ready-made?”
Emma snatched the activity list from his hand. “Come on, let’s get breakfast. Surely, you can’t find much fault with that?”
Davis’ long sigh as he reached for his jacket indicated otherwise.
She ignored his sullen presence beside her and tugged her hat over her head as they stepped out of their cabin.
While Davis struggled to pull on his leather gloves, she looked around at the other guests approaching the lodge.
She stepped off the decking in front of their cabin and onto the bridge leading to the lodge.
It swayed ever so slightly in the morning breeze.
Davis’ hand on her back nudged her forward. “You know, I keep forgetting to tell you that Evan found this perfect empty storefront in Soho.”
With those words, a long-kept dream rekindled from within her. He knew her dream had always been to own and operate a stationery store. The kind where you could purchase a three-dollar pen or luxury letter-pressed invitation suites for the fanciest wedding or gala.
“Oh yeah? I bet the rent is four grand a millisecond in that neighborhood.” Besides, it wasn’t as if she had officially ‘onboarded’—as Davis put it—to their New York move yet, no matter what he might think.
“Yeah, I was thinking it could be a good investment. And if it makes you happy, that’s even better.”
He pulled her in for a kiss on the forehead. He was trying, but somehow, she knew it was only for his benefit. She exhaled.
“That sounds like an interesting opportunity,” she said carefully.
The grand double doors leading into the lodge’s main restaurant were in sight. Davis reached for the door. “Sure does. Let’s discuss it over breakfast. Do you think they have any vegan options here? Or—”
Davis didn’t get a chance to finish as the doors burst open. A German Shepherd puppy scuttled past them, followed by the hunky lumberjack from yesterday.