Chapter Two
Chapter Two
ZOEY HILLCREST WATCHED SHOCK enter the mature woman’s mossy green eyes. The cheese board she held teetered, and Zoey lurched forward to intercept it. Ever quick on his feet, Cooper beat her to it, rescuing the charcuterie before it hit the floor. That he lost only two small squares of cheese and a trio of grapes in the process demonstrated his dexterity.
The woman was stylishly dressed in a thigh-length, geometric-patterned sweater in shades of green over slim jeans and knee-high leather boots. She shoved her fingers through her short, auburn hair and dropped her gaze. She shook her head, which sent her large gold hoop earrings swaying, then gave Zoey a second look. “You’re not Willow.”
“No, I’m Zoey.” She guessed this woman to be in her mid-sixties, and the confusion in her expression brought dementia to mind. Gentle compassion washed through Zoey as she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Helen.” She raised her hand to cover her mouth and murmured, “I can’t believe it.”
Helen’s bewilderment tempted Zoey to reach out and hug her. She was a hugger by nature, which often came in handy for her professionally, but she’d learned to read the room. A hug wasn’t the appropriate response here today. Instead, she made her tone friendly, saying, “We have an appointment with someone named Willow. I love your earrings, by the way. I’d wear big hoops every day if I could, but I work with children, and the little ones like grabbing my earrings.”
Helen’s hand shifted from her mouth to her earring, but her gaze didn’t move from Zoey. Cooper interrupted the odd moment by returning the charcuterie board to Helen.
While Helen thanked Cooper, Zoey took that opportunity to glance around the room. A wide-eyed teenager stood behind a registration desk, gawking at them. She smiled at the young man, stepped toward him, and said, “Good morning. We have an appointment with your event planner. Where can we find Willow Eldridge?”
“Uh…,” responded the teenager. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her today. Wow.”
That wasn’t very helpful. Zoey hoped this trip hadn’t been a waste of time. She’d loved the look of Raindrop Lodge when they drove up, but she didn’t want to trust the biggest day of her life to a business with poorly trained front-facing employees.
“We are a little early,” Cooper pointed out.
“True.” Neither Zoey nor Cooper could stand being late, so they invariably arrived early. It was one of the many ways they were compatible. Addressing the teenager, she said, “Where should we wait for—”
Before she finished her sentence, she heard the lodge’s front door open. Cooper glanced over his shoulder and murmured, “Whoa.”
“Hello,” came a feminine voice from behind her. “I’ll bet you are Zoey and Cooper. I’m Willow Eldridge. Welcome to Raindrop Lodge.”
Zoey turned around.
Willow’s welcoming smile froze. So did Zoey’s.
Whoa is right. Zoey’s gaze swept Willow Eldridge from head to foot, then back up again. The woman could be her sister. Maybe even her twin.
For a long moment, the two women stared at each other. Same green eyes. Same high, prominent cheekbones. Similar tall, lithe builds. Same blond hair color, though Zoey wore hers in a longer style. She thought Willow might be a few years older than she.
Deep inside herself, where childhood dreams never wholly died, a spark of hope flared to life. Zoey was an only child. What if…?
Then the woman named Helen broke the spell by laughing. “Lord love a duck,” she said. “I’ve always heard that everybody has a doppelg?nger. It looks like the two of you found yours.” She stepped forward, delight replacing the confusion on her face and making her look younger. She extended her hand toward Zoey. “I’m Helen McDaniel, one of the owners of this resort. I apologize for my brain freeze. I honestly thought you were Willow when you walked in.”
As Zoey shook Helen’s hand, the younger woman said, “I thought you were Willow, too. Only, I’m Willow.” She extended her hand to Cooper. “Willow Eldridge.”
“Cooper MacKenzie,” he replied, shaking Helen’s hand first, then Willow’s. “This is my fiancée, Zoey Hillcrest.”
“It’s very nice to meet you both,” Willow said. “It’s always nice to get a referral from Celeste Blessing.” To Helen, she added, “They’d hoped to have their wedding at Angel’s Rest, but their date isn’t available.”
“Ah, yes. My sister told me Celeste was sending someone our way. When are you getting married?”
“August seventeenth is our preferred date,” Cooper replied, his brown eyes warm and friendly.
“Of next year?”
“No, this year,” Zoey clarified, sharing a rueful smile with her fiancé. “We didn’t know we were hunting a unicorn when we looked for an available venue in Eternity Springs.”
“We have an open date on their weekend,” Willow informed Helen.
“That’s good.” Helen glanced over her shoulder and called out, “Genevieve, come meet our visitors.” To Zoey and Cooper, she explained. “Genevieve is my sister and Willow’s mother. As you probably surmised, Raindrop Lodge and Cabins Resort is a family business.”
Zoey watched as a woman seated near the fireplace looked up from reading a stack of papers. She rose from her chair and started across the lobby. She was an attractive woman—blond, slim, and petite—and Zoey guessed Genevieve was the younger of the two sisters.
Zoey recognized the moment when Genevieve got a good look at her. The polite smile on her face melted like ice cream in the hot summer sunshine. She spoke in a shocked tone of voice. “Oh my.”
Helen piped up. “If Zoey weren’t so obviously younger than Willow, I’d ask if you and David accidentally left a twin behind at the hospital when Willow was born.”
“Well, thank you very much, Auntie,” Willow said, folding her arms.
Helen shrugged and winked at Zoey when Genevieve added, “Yes, Helen. Thank you very much.”
Zoey shrugged. “If I’m younger than you are, Willow, it’s not by much.”
“That’s it.” Willow clapped her hands. “You’re my new best friend. Zoey, Cooper, allow me to introduce my mother, Genevieve Prentice.”
Genevieve shook their hands, saying, “Welcome to Lake in the Clouds. I agree that the resemblance between you and my daughter is striking. Perhaps our family trees connect somewhere in the past. We moved here from Texas. Any Texas roots in your family?”
“Not that I know of.” But, then again, Zoey didn’t know what connections might be found in a family tree, did she? “We live there now, but I grew up in Florida. My dad moved to Houston for work when I went off to college.”
“Lots of people are moving to the Lone Star State these days,” Willow observed.
“Lots of Texans moving to Colorado,” Helen pointed out. “Or at least keeping a second home here to escape the summer heat.”
Cooper grimaced. “I grew up in Michigan. My first summer in Houston almost killed me. It’s why I lobbied for a mountain location for our summer wedding.”
“Speaking of your wedding,” Willow said with a smile, “perhaps we should get started on our meeting. If you would join me in my office, I’d like to hear your thoughts. I’ll show you around the property once I understand your needs.”
After taking their leave of the two sisters, Zoey and Cooper followed the wedding planner down a short hallway and into an office that offered a breathtaking view of the lake and mountains beyond. When Zoey could drag her gaze away from the wall of windows, she noticed four framed photographs decorating the room’s other three walls. They depicted scenes from different weddings.
Zoey stepped closer to study the photos. “What a gorgeous setting.”
“That photo on the right is the first wedding we hosted here at Raindrop Lodge,” Willow shared. “It was my older brother’s wedding to the most wonderful woman—the most patient woman—in the world. She needs that patience to put up with my know-it-all bro.”
“So says the little sister,” Cooper wryly observed.
“You betcha.” Willow’s grin was wide and winsome. She reached into her desk, withdrew a pair of spiral-bound books, and handed one to Zoey and Cooper. “This is our idea book. You’ll find more photos here.”
Willow opened a notebook and picked up a pen. “Now, we confirmed that August seventeenth is your big day?”
“Yes.” Zoey shared a smile with Cooper, then added, “We could move it back a week if necessary, but you said you are open on that date?”
“We are. So, let’s add the rest of the basics. Estimated size of your guest list and wedding party?”
They discussed their wants and desires for the next twenty minutes or so. Cooper’s interest in wedding-related details didn’t surprise Zoey. He was a detailed kind of guy—precise, organized, and decisive. He was a problem solver and a decision-maker. And smart as a whip, of course. The man didn’t lack confidence. All were qualities that made him such an excellent orthopedic surgeon.
Cooper claimed that Zoey was the better diagnostician, and she wouldn’t argue the fact. Medicine was a blend of art and science, after all. In addition to information gleaned from a physical exam and testing, Zoey relied on intuition, empathy, creative reasoning, and subjective judgment to identify her patients’ ills. A good percentage of her patients couldn’t tell Zoey what hurt. Such was the life of a pediatric emergency physician.
Thinking about work threatened to dim her shine, so Zoey focused on the wedding planner.
Willow Eldridge shut the notebook where she’d recorded Zoey and Cooper’s answers to her questions. “I think we’ve covered everything I need to know now. Ordinarily, I’d give you a tour of the facilities at this point. Are you okay with that? It’s cold outside and—” She glanced through her office window. “Oh, good, the snow has stopped. The complete tour will take us about half an hour, though I can do the highlights in fifteen minutes.”
“I don’t mind the cold,” Zoey said. “And Cooper loves it.”
“May I offer you hats and gloves?”
“We have some in our pockets,” Cooper explained.
They all rose, donned their outdoor gear, and exited the office. Willow led the visitors down a long hallway toward a door that opened onto the lodge’s large lake-facing covered patio. Halfway there, Cooper leaned close to Zoey and murmured, “She even walks like you.”
Zoey replied with an elbow to his ribs. “Stop watching other women’s butts, Dr. Mac.”
“It was an innocent observation,” he defended, a teasing twinkle in his brown eyes as he added, “I am blind to any female derrière but yours.”
Zoey snickered and gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “In that case, one must be thankful that you’re an orthopedist rather than a gastroenterologist.”
He slipped his arm through hers. “Seriously, though, even Willow’s gait is similar to yours. It’s eerie.”
Zoey focused on Willow and tried to see what her fiancé saw. Since how a person walked fell under Cooper’s area of expertise, Zoey couldn’t fault him for noticing.
The wedding planner pushed open the door, and Zoey quit thinking about walks as bitterly cold air swooshed inside to greet them. Zoey shivered in response to the chill and the excitement building inside her. Despite having an understanding that they would marry after Zoey completed her medical education in June, they hadn’t been officially engaged until Cooper had asked her to marry him on Christmas Eve. Since then, she’d been working killer hours at the hospital. She hadn’t had much time to think about the wedding before boarding the plane for Colorado yesterday.
Now, Zoey’s imagination fired as they stepped onto the deck and took in the vista before them.
The overcast sky was clearing off, revealing patches of brilliant blue sky above the ice-white surface of Mirror Lake. “It’s beautiful here,” Cooper observed.
“Wait until you see it in summer when the lake isn’t frozen.” Willow pointed toward the horizon. “Granite Mountain, there in the center, and the two peaks surrounding it maintain a snowcap year-round. In the summer, you’ll often get enough wispy clouds around the peaks to have an explosion of color at sunset. In August, you’ll have swaths of wildflowers on the mountain. Seeing it all reflected on the lake surface steals your breath.”
Cooper took hold of Zoey’s hand. “I’ll bet it does.”
“I can picture it,” Zoey said. “I love flowers. If I hadn’t gone into medicine, I might have worked as a florist. I worked in a flower shop as a teenager, and I loved it. I want to have lots of flowers at our wedding.”
“We can certainly do that.” Willow’s tone grew matter-of-fact. “You indicated you prefer an evening wedding. Sunset on August seventeenth is at eight-oh-one p.m. If we plan to start your ceremony ten minutes earlier, you’ll be saying your vows at the pinnacle of the show. However, that makes for a late start. You could begin earlier and plan for your first dance at sunset. It’s a trade-off. It’s something you’ll need to discuss.”
“You looked up the sunset?” Zoey asked. “You’re very thorough.”
“Details are my job,” Willow said with a smile. “I can’t guarantee sunshine and a spectacular sunset on your wedding day. That is God’s doing. But I feel confident enough about the weather to promise Mirror Lake won’t be frozen in August. If that has occurred in the past, it has not happened in recorded history. And mid-July to mid-August is the sunniest part of our year.”
The sound of a barking dog attracted Zoey’s attention. Out on the snow-covered ground sloping toward the frozen-over lake, a young boy dressed in a navy-blue ski jacket, red hat, and yellow gloves threw a stick for a medium-sized dog with a golden coat. The sight made her smile.
As much as Zoey appreciated the magnificence of a colorful sunset, she found the sight of a healthy child doing healthy childhood things more beautiful. She didn’t get enough of that in her everyday life.
“This way,” Willow said, leading them toward a set of wooden stairs at the center of the deck. She greeted a couple seated in oversized log rocking chairs near a pyramid-shaped patio heater and asked if they were enjoying their visit to Raindrop Lodge.
She’s confident, Zoey thought. Such a question could invite complaints, so she must not be worried that her guests’ responses might reflect poorly upon the lodge.
The woman in the rocker nodded enthusiastically. “We’re having a fantastic time,” she said, her voice heavy with the sound of the Carolinas. “Everyone is so nice and welcoming. The food is excellent, too. This hot chocolate is some of the best I’ve ever had.”
“The complimentary cookies they serve in the middle of the afternoon aren’t half-bad, either,” her male companion added. “Do you know what kind they’re making today?”
“I do,” Willow nodded. “It’s Saturday. Saturday is Snickerdoodle Day.”
“Chocolate chip is my favorite, but Snickerdoodles work.” The man saluted with his steaming mug of hot chocolate.
They moved toward the center of the patio, where a broad set of stairs led down to the ground that sloped gently to the lakeshore. Willow turned toward Cooper and Zoey, wearing a satisfied smile. “Just for the record, those weren’t ringers but real guests with real opinions.” After waiting for a beat, she added, “Though I think I’ll suggest our baker whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies to serve along with Snickerdoodles this afternoon. We aim to please here at Raindrop Lodge and—”
A chirp sounded from Cooper’s pocket, a ringtone he and Zoey both recognized. Their gazes met briefly. She nodded as Cooper stepped away, saying, “Excuse me.”
Zoey gave Willow an apologetic smile. “Cooper is an orthopedist, and that’s his answering service calling. He may be just a minute, or this may take a while.”
“A doctor?” Willow opened her notebook and made a note. “I missed that detail. I usually ask the career question early in our initial discussion. I skipped it completely. Can you give me his contact information?”
Zoey rattled off the name and address of his group practice, office number, and personal cell phone. Willow noted everything, then asked, “And yours?”
Zoey gave Willow the name of the hospital where she worked, along with its main number and address. “That information is good until the first of July. I complete my fellowship in June, and I’m not sure where I’ll be working after that.”
Admiration glowed in the wedding planner’s eyes as she said, “So instead of Mister and Missus, you’ll be Doctor and Doctor. That’s awesome.”
“It’s been a long journey. Cooper and I met in California while we were doing our medical residencies. When I moved to Houston for my fellowship, he still had a year to go in his program. So, we did the long-distance thing for a year. He joined an orthopedic practice in Houston two years ago.”
“Do you plan to stay in Houston?”
“For now, yes. My dad is there. I think Cooper would like to return to a cooler climate at some point. He grew up in Michigan and likes the snow. I’m still deciding where I want to work and when I want to start. We’re planning a nice, long honeymoon. A month.”
“That sounds divine. Where are you going on your honeymoon?”
“The South Pacific.”
“Ooh, I’m jealous. My aunt Helen traveled there not too long ago. You should talk to her if you have any questions.”
“I’ll tell Cooper. The honeymoon is his responsibility. We both work crazy hours, but he has a little more time than I do. This long weekend we’ve stolen for wedding planning is the last we will have until I finish my program.”
At that point, Cooper caught their attention with a wave. He muted his phone and called out. “This is going to take some time. Why don’t you two go on and finish the tour? Zoey can fill me in later.”
“Okay,” Zoey replied. As Cooper retreated indoors, she nodded toward Willow. “Lead the way.”
“Okay, then.” Willow turned to face the lake. “Before we move on, I want you to picture standing in this spot in August. The snow is gone, the grass is green, and the lake is a brilliant sapphire blue.”
“Like in the photographs on your wall and your website.”
“Exactly. However, you need to know that the photographs don’t show the improvements we have scheduled for completion before your wedding day. In a straight line centered from this staircase, fifteen feet from the water, we are building a pergola, which we’ll use as a wedding arch. We’ll be able to leave it bare or cover it in the flowers of your choice.”
“Oh, I love that.” Zoey clasped her hands. She was so excited! “I am all about flowers.”
“The pergola is a nice addition, I think. If a bride wants a grand entrance and isn’t afraid of stairs, we can begin the bridal march here. Otherwise, you can choose wherever you wish to begin. There’s a stone path you can’t see beneath the snow, and we’ll place an aisle runner atop it—or not—depending on preference. The lodge has a ground-level side door that offers egress, and we’ll place potted plants to shield our bride’s arrival until she takes her place at the end of the aisle. The space is infinitely customizable, and if you have a vision, we’re happy to work with you to bring it to life.”
“A rose-covered wedding arch is right up my alley,” Zoey said, excitement humming in her veins. “That’s going to be gorgeous.”
Willow’s voice held a note of wistfulness as she said, “I think so, too. It’s almost enough to make me want to delay my own wedding until summertime. I’m getting married in March.”
“I noticed your engagement ring. It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you. It’s my fiancé’s grandmother’s ring. I didn’t know I would love a sapphire engagement ring until he gave me this one, but I adore it.”
“Just like Princess Di’s.”
Willow laughed. “Not quite on the same scale, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Zoey understood. She felt the same way about her own engagement ring. Although Cooper had never admitted to it, she believed that he’d waited so long to propose to her because he’d wanted to save up to buy her the perfect ring. He’d come from humble beginnings, and despite all the scholarships he’d earned, the astronomical cost of medical school meant he’d finished his education owing significant debt. A proud man who was careful with his money, Cooper had offered her a ring he’d owned free and clear when he went down on one knee. She subconsciously fingered the square-cut diamond and asked the wedding planner, “Are you getting married here at the lodge?”
“Our reception will be here. The ceremony itself will be at the church we attend in town. We’re staying closer to home and spending a week in Sedona for our honeymoon. I have two young children, and I’m not ready to travel overseas without them.”
“That’s understandable,” Zoey said. “Are they staying with your mother while you’re gone?”
“Yes. She was willing to watch them for longer than a week, but my fiancé nixed that idea. He said he’d miss them too much if we went away for longer.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Noah is going to be a great dad. My kids love him.” Willow recognized the unspoken question in Zoey’s eyes and explained. “Their father died in a car accident a few years ago.”
“That must have been very hard.”
“It was. But life is good now. Second chances are a blessing.”
“That’s true.” Zoey saw it every day in the emergency room. So often, her job was to give her patients the opportunity for a second chance. When she was successful, life was good. All too often, though, all she had to offer was heartbreak.
It wore on a woman more than she had anticipated.
Zoey shook off the melancholy that the thought provoked as she followed Willow to a four-person utility vehicle parked beneath the patio deck. “If not for the new snow, I’d suggest we walk, but we had three inches overnight.”
While driving down to the ceremony site, Zoey’s excitement rekindled as they discussed what Raindrop Lodge offered as a wedding venue. They reviewed seating options, lighting choices, and musicians on the lodge’s recommended vendor list. They considered the catering menu and the cakes. Willow then showed Zoey the area they used for receptions, including where tables would be set for dinner and the spot currently hidden beneath the snow where the dance floor lay.
At that point, Willow said, “Now, I’d like to show you another spot. Should we buzz back and pick up Cooper?”
Zoey checked her phone. “No. He’d text if he were free.”
“All right, then. Into the woods we go.” Willow whipped the vehicle around and headed away from the lake toward the lodge. Zoey noticed that a man, a young girl, and two more dogs had joined the boy and dog she’d watched earlier playing fetch. The boy continued to throw a stick, but the little girl tossed a bright yellow tennis ball. The man carried three pairs of ice skates.
As the UTV passed closer to them, the trio waved. The little girl called, “Hey, Mom! Guess what? Anna has learned how to fetch!”
Willow returned the wave and called, “Hurray!”
“Your daughter?”
“Emma. And my son, Drew; my fiancé, Noah; and our three dogs. The puppies have been to obedience school this morning just down the road from here. The dogs are doing great. Learning a lot. It’s really too bad that the instructor doesn’t work with little boys in addition to canines. I’d enroll Drew in her classes. Is it too much to ask that a nine-year-old boy picks up his underwear from the bathroom floor after he showers? I don’t seem to be having much luck with that particular lesson lately.”
Zoey grinned as Willow added, “Noah is teaching them to ice skate.”
“They make ice skates for puppies?” Zoey teased.
Willow snorted. “Probably. I haven’t looked, but people tend to treat their pets like humans these days. Allow me to clarify. The kids and Noah are going skating. I imagine the dogs will go sliding because it’s still early days in obedience school, and leaving them behind is almost impossible.”
Watching the children, Zoey knew a twinge of envy. She and Cooper hoped to have children in the next few years.
The two women fell silent as the vehicle entered the woods. The distance wasn’t far, but it was as if they’d crossed the threshold of a new world. Willow pulled the UTV to a stop and switched off the engine. “Looks like the trees intercepted most of the snow. Are you okay with a short walk? A bit of it uphill? Nothing too strenuous, I promise.”
“I’m up for that.”
They exited their ride, and Willow gestured for Zoey to follow her. Soon, the evergreen firs and pines gave way to a stand of aspen. Ahead, Zoey spied a high-backed wooden glider beneath a canopy of winter-barren branches. Willow gestured toward it and said, “I spent so much time here this past fall that Noah built this and put it here for me. Our home is not far away as the crow flies. It’s a nice hike when everything’s not frozen.”
They took their seats. Willow gave the glider a gentle push and didn’t seem in any hurry to continue her sales pitch. Zoey didn’t have many moments of inactivity in her life these days, so she decided to take advantage of this one. She relaxed into the glider, closed her eyes, and breathed a glorious but chilly breath of fresh air.
The peace from the forest washed over her. Into her. She tilted her head back and stared upward. Straight white tree trunks rose high into a bright blue sky. “It’s like a cathedral.”
“You see that, too!” Willow turned a delighted smile her way. “This is my favorite spot on the whole property. It’s not in-your-face majestic like the lake surrounded by snowy peaks, but it’s equally magnificent to me. The creek runs just to the north of here. When it’s not deep winter, the sound of white water rushes and rumbles through the woods like music. Like a hymn. Being here makes my heart sing.”
“I can see why.”
They sat silently for a few minutes before Willow sighed deeply and said, “I have plans for this place. I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull them off, and I won’t use them as part of my pitch to you because it would take a miracle for us to get it ready before your wedding. However, I wanted to share this spot with you so you know we have this hidden gem. We can do a private pre-wedding picnic in the woods for you and Cooper or have a special event for your wedding party. We’re only limited by our imaginations.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “Well, that and your budget, of course. And the cell service. Phones can’t pick up a signal here.”
Zoey grinned. She liked Willow Eldridge. She loved Raindrop Lodge. She and Cooper needed to talk it over first, but she would love to say her wedding vows beneath a flower-covered pergola beside Mirror Lake. “So, tell me about your plans for this space.”
Willow glanced at Zoey and cautioned, “As I said, it’s all dreams right now, and dreams take time to build. Even if everything goes smoothly, it won’t be ready in August.”
“I hear you.”
“Okay, then.” Willow straightened. A dreamy smile played on her lips as she gazed around the forest.
“I want to build a chapel out of stone, wood, and glass in these woods. I want it to be called the Glass Chapel, so our architect must give us lots and lots of glass. And we need some windows to open so we can hear the creek bubbling and the leaves quaking. I want it to be part of nature but something more. Something inspirational.”
“Oh, Willow. You paint a lovely picture.”
“Thank you, although I don’t feel like my description does justice to the vision I have in my head. Celeste Blessing recommended an architect she assures will bring my idea to life. I just have to land my pitch to my mother and aunt.”
“Well, you’ve convinced me. I know nothing about owning and operating a mountain lodge or an event-planning business, but I have good instincts about people. I suspect you are very good at your job. If you think a glass chapel is—”
A faint voice floated through the trees. “Willow? Willow!”
“Mom?” Alarm flashed across Willow’s face, and she met Zoey’s gaze. “Something’s wrong.”