Chapter 6
HANNAH
“Ugh, every time a man goes ape shit, a tear drips down my leg.” Maya moves her dark sunglasses to the bridge of her nose, eyeing, quite possibly drooling over the pack of men in front of us.
“They’ll find copious amounts of sexual thoughts and desires.”
“Maybe a couple of screws loose, too.”
Lucky for me, Maya is found watching the bachelor party bicker over what they want to do next. She sips gingerly from her coffee mug, smirking as she pushes those dark sunglasses back over her eyes. “I love when men get feral over activities.”
“You also go crazy when they take out the trash.”
She waves my comment away. “It’s the simple things, really.”
I grip her arm, forcing her to look at me. “I didn’t come over here to ogle, I came here to tell you something I overheard.”
I have her attention from the tone I use. She pulls her sunglasses off, eyes searching my face for danger. “What happened?”
“Let’s go somewhere more private.”
I lead her back to my cabin, the once-happy Christmas wreath reminding me of a downfall that is sure to transpire in the next month. I hate knowing this before Maya and having to tell her…
She begins to pace. “All right, spit it out.”
I shut the door behind me and lean against it. Anxiety ripples through my body, making my legs shake. “Your parents’ accountant showed up when I was taking test shots this morning.”
“Dennis, yeah, he’s been with my family since the beginning. What did he want?” Maya bites her lip, waiting, her body swaying as she crosses her arms.
“I ended up in the kitchen looking for the hot chocolate cart and…” I swallow hard, fingers clammy, bracing myself for impact. “...I overheard a very private conversation. He said the place has lost revenue.”
She huffs out a clear breath of relief. “Yeah, we fluctuate before the winter season kicks off. It’s normal.
” With a shrug, she lets out a breathy laugh, but as I watch her fingers twist on the sleeves of her winter jacket, I know it’s all a show.
“For a second, you had me thinking the place was going to close or something.”
I blink several times at her, and my silence stops Maya’s cold, shaking hands.
How do you tell your best friend that your childhood wonderland is going under?
How do you tell her that everyone is going to lose their jobs and that a place once filled with hope, dreams, and beautiful memories is going to close before the season even starts?
She swallows, and I can hear it from where I stand. “Hannah…what did you hear?”
Her doe-like eyes kill me, forcing the worst to come from my mouth. I can barely speak above a whisper, my heart ripping right down the middle. “They’re not going to make it this season. February at most, maybe.”
Maya sinks to the floor, crestfallen from the news. I reach her in seconds, curling next to her on the floor, hugging her shoulders.
She tries to breathe, rocking back and forth. “My parents…”
“Probably didn’t want to worry you,” I mention, hoping this is the case, but the moment the words left my mouth, I knew it wasn’t.
“This is the place where we escape, our home away from home,” she mumbles, tears streaming down her cheeks.
I swipe them away with my sleeve, my own tears falling, dripping down my chin. If we lose Snowy Peak, we lose a piece of our childhood—the memories, the last place before my dad…
We cry together on the floor for a while, holding each other as our lives depend on it. I can’t believe this is happening, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
For a while, we sit in silence after our crying session, legs crossed, picking at the carpet. My head pounds, eyes sore. What had been a great morning had quickly turned into a shitty day.
“I think you should talk to them, get the truth from them,” I suggest.
“Will you come with me?” she whispers.
I still. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”
Maya looks up, giving me her best puppy dog look. “It’s as much your place as it is ours. We grew up here. I know you feel the same way as I do. Please?”
I sigh, nodding. “Sure.”
She gives me another squeeze before standing, taking me with her.
I want to reassure her we’ll find a way, but the hope I once had trickles away as we get closer to the main building. Because what if we’re too late?
One of my favorite dishes of the night suddenly tastes like cardboard. Maya barely looks up from her plate, picking at charred pepperoni slices, her mind is most likely where mine is—in negative land.
I try to finish what I can, but it’s the cumulonimbus cloud that hangs over our heads, threatening to drown us out, and my anxiety keeps coming, knocking the wind out of my lungs.
After make-your-own-personal-pizza-night, Maya asks her parents to speak with us privately.
We follow them to the main suites, leading us into their room.
Decorated with Christmas-style curtains and lights, right down to the comforter, Jill encourages us to sit, while she and her husband stand, waiting for us to begin.
I swallow a hard lump in my throat, unsure how to proceed, when Maya starts to ramble, clearly upset, skipping straight to pissed off.
“So, when were you going to tell me the resort was going under?” The accusation is clear in her tone, her eyes bouncing between her parents.
Her parents exchange a look before responding. “And where did you hear this?” Jill questions, her expression blank, arms crossed.
Maya snorts, not impressed by her mother’s deflection. “Come on, Mom. I want the truth, please.”
My gaze drops to my lap as my hands fidget, and I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying not to draw attention to myself as Maya’s anger rises further. The room starts to shrink, suffocating me with all the words being left unsaid.
Anthony speaks instead, watching us intensely from where he stands. “I want to make it perfectly clear that we tried our best to keep this place up and running as long as we could. Our plan was never to sell, but we hoped we could pass it to you, Maya, when we were ready to retire.”
Maya narrows her eyes at her parents. “Go on.”
They both nod, then Jill says, “Believe us when we say we’re truly devastated, and we exhausted all our resources to try and save it.
Which is one of the many reasons I asked you to invite Hannah.
” She then turns to me, her eyes glossy.
“We were hoping that with new photos and a better website with ads, we could try to at least break even before the winter season ended.”
My heart contracts, sadness seeping into my bones at their attempts. “I’ll do it for free, and we can still try to run the ads and the new website.”
Anthony wraps a protective arm around Jill’s shoulders. “No, Hannah, that’s not fair to you. We will still pay you for your time. We’re just glad you got to spend one last season with Maya before it closes.”
Maya is at the door before I realize she’s not by my side anymore.
“Maya!” I call after her.
Anthony runs his hand down his face as his shoulders sag in defeat over his only daughter's devastation. “We tried, honey.”
“Yeah, well, not hard enough.” Maya storms out of the room, leaving me with her parents, her steps running down the staircase.
I’m about to follow her when Jill stops me in my tracks. “I’m sorry, Hannah. If anything, we’re glad you came. We just wanted one last family moment here, even if it’s a bittersweet ending.” She cups my cheek before exiting the room.
Anthony remains by the fireplace, leaning against it. “If it’s not too much to ask, can you talk Maya down from that ledge? You’re the only one who can.”
I nod. “I’ll try my best.”
The problem is, I want to join her.