Frost and Found

Chapter 1 Scarlett

ONE

SCARLETT

Men are as irrelevant to a woman’s existence as a laugh track is in a sitcom, yet my sister still insists on marrying one.

Luckily, Luke happens to be the perfect person for her, so that makes him acceptable in my books.

It also helps that they’ve been together since they were teenagers and I’ve known him half my life.

I shiver in my coat as I watch my sister pacing back and forth twenty feet away from me, talking animatedly with her fiancé while I fill the car with gas.

“You’d think they haven’t talked to each other in weeks rather than the mere five hours it took for us to fly from New York to Calgary,” our youngest sister, Sadie, says from the back seat of the car. Her window is rolled down and she’s watching Sienna with the curiosity of a cat.

“She’s going to forget us as soon as she’s married,” I say.

“She was just using us to make herself look good,” Sadie agrees.

I nod. “We’re the ugly stepsisters and she’s Cinderella.”

“Are you two talking trash about me?” Sienna asks, walking back to us.

“No,” Sadie and I say at the same time. We smirk at each other as Sienna rolls her eyes knowingly and sticks her tongue out at us.

“Let’s see how you act when you’re marrying the love of your life,” she says.

That’s never going to happen.

I brush off the bitter thought as the pump clicks under my hand and I remove it.

“Does anyone want snacks?” I ask, grabbing my purse from the car.

It’s a good thing we rented an SUV at the airport because we packed like it’s the apocalypse and not a two-week destination wedding.

We gave our rental to our parents’, so they didn’t have to stop for gas and took theirs, instead. Hence the pitstop.

“I’ll come. I have to pee, anyway,” Sadie says.

She grabs her hat, pulling it low over her brown hair.

We all got our mother’s brown hair and her features, a fact my mother loves.

The day I showed up with lavender hair was the day my mother decided I didn’t love her.

It’s taken her five years to come around and realize the lavender is not going anywhere anytime soon.

“Why is it so cold?” Sienna says, tucking her hands into her jacket pocket.

Sadie gives her a look. “You’re the one who wanted to get married in the middle of nowhere Alberta, in December.”

We enter the store, and I make a beeline to the snack’s aisle, grabbing a bag of our favorite chips.

“Cedar Creek Ranch isn't in the middle of nowhere,” Sienna protests. “Silverpine is only two hours from Calgary.”

“In the Rockies,” Sadie says.

Sienna and Sadie get in line for the washroom still arguing about this destination wedding while I pay for the gas and our snacks. We love Sienna and her choice to get married anywhere she wants, but we’d be terrible younger sisters if we didn’t tease her about it.

The photos Sienna showed us of Cedar Creek Ranch were so gorgeous they didn’t even look real. A huge ranch nestled under the Rockies, the snow-covered mountains looking almost AI generated.

I couldn’t have picked a better place for my sister to marry the love of her life.

I hand over the snacks to my sisters while I quickly use the washroom. Sadie takes over for the rest of the drive.

“I wonder if mom and dad are already there,” Sienna says from the front seat.

“If they were, we’d be getting calls every ten minutes asking us where we are,” I say.

“Ten minutes is being generous,” Sadie adds with a laugh.

I wouldn’t say our mother is a helicopter mom, but she’s not not one.

She’s raised three, fearless daughters and supported us fully no matter what we wanted to do.

She’s also overprotective to the point where she tracks our location and if we’re not where we are meant to be, she’ll call us right away.

“I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get there,” I say.

I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in almost three days because I’ve been busy with maid of honor duties. My eyes are already closing when I hear one of my sisters say that I’m going to miss the beautiful scenery.

I wake up with the slam of a car door and open my eyes to see the charming Inn we’re parked in front of.

It looks like an elaborate gingerbread house and immediately makes me think of a Christmas horror movie and this is Santa’s village for the damned.

I suddenly fear that if I go in, I’m not coming back out.

“Are you coming, sleepyhead?” Sadie asks, turning back to look at me.

I nod, covering my mouth to hide a yawn. We get out of the car and leave the luggage for later. Sienna is already walking ahead, climbing the porch steps. Sadie and I stand by the car, looking up at the massive mansion in front of us.

There’s a huge Christmas tree on the porch and so many Christmas lights that even if they turn off the interior lights, the whole place will still be bright.

“This is like a Christmas horror movie,” Sadie says, hooking her arm through mine.

“I thought the same thing!”

We shiver as we walk towards the porch. With the sun going down, it’s somehow gotten colder. Sienna enters the Inn before us. A wooden plaque is hanging on the inside of the door with the Inn’s name on it: The Honeysuckle.

Mom and Dad are in the lobby, talking to the old woman behind the counter. Mom is animatedly telling her all about Sienna’s wedding. She looks up excitedly when the three of us walk in.

“There they are!”

Rushing over, Mom envelopes the three of us into a hug, as if she hasn’t seen us in months rather than the couple of hours to took to get here.

To be fair, we were all in a rush to get out of the airport and my parents have been in Calgary for over a week.

This the first time we’re having a proper conversation today.

She squeezes us until we’re breathless and crying for mercy.

Dad is standing right behind her, waiting his turn.

I squeeze out of Mom’s arms and give him a quick side hug. He and I are the same, we keep our emotions inside and our physical touch limited; we don’t like people in our personal space.

“How was the flight?” Dad asks, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he pulls Mom away from my sisters.

“It was fine,” I say. “Sadie got into a fight with another passenger.”

My baby sister turns at the sound of her name, hazel eyes narrowed. Sienna and Sadie both got Mom’s hazel eyes, and I got Dad’s baby blues. There’s a running joke in my family that with my eyes and lavender hair, I look like a witch.

“That man was rude! I apologized for bumping into him and he glared at him. What kind of person doesn’t accept an apology?”

“A rude one,” Mom agrees.

I’m not saying the man wasn’t rude. I just wouldn’t have picked a fight with him, which is a lot coming from me because apparently I fight with people for no good reason.

“Did you get the chance to talk to Luke?” Mom asks.

Sadie and I automatically make kissing noises because we wouldn’t be good sisters if we didn’t tease Sienna. Our older sister blushes, but the glow on her is undeniable. She’s so happy it’s bursting out of her like sunshine. I want to wrap her up and protect her.

“Girls, be nice to your sister,” Mom chides, though there’s no anger behind her words.

“I did talk to Luke. He’ll be here next week in time for the wedding festivities to begin,” Sienna says.

The benefit of us working for ourselves means we were able to come here two weeks in advance of the wedding, and Sienna and Luke will still have two weeks for their honeymoon.

Sienna works as a freelance graphic designer, Sadie is finishing her marketing degree while helping Mom and Dad at the family chocolate shop, and I’m a voice actor.

Except the acting I do is for audio erotica and romance novels.

I still haven’t figured out how to tell people that part when they ask if they’ve heard me in anything.

They hear voice acting and think animated movies.

Mom claps once. “Okay, let’s get settled. Daddy and I found a nice restaurant for dinner. Why don’t you girls freshen up and change and we’ll meet back here in an hour?”

“Oh, can we go see Cedar Creek Ranch?” Sadie asks, eyes bright.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Mom says. “We can see the wedding venue.”

“At this hour, they will probably be closed for an event,” the old lady behind the counter adds. Her name tag reads Marion. She must be about my grandmother’s age.

“Okay, that answers that question,” Sienna says. “We have an appointment to go there tomorrow, anyway.”

“It’s much better in the light,” Marion agrees.

With the decision made that we’ll visit Cedar Creek Ranch tomorrow morning, my sisters and I get our luggage from the car and carry it up to our rooms. Sadie and I are sharing a room with a connecting door with Sienna’s room. Our parents are across the hall.

While Sadie freshens up, I open the curtains and look out at the street below.

I hadn’t noticed at first, but every storefront on the street is decorated to the nines.

It’s like they’re preparing to shoot a Hallmark movie here.

It’s so charming and quaint and it suits Sienna’s personality perfectly.

I can imagine my sister living in this town and being happy with the monotony.

There’s no way I’d ever fit in with these people.

They are all probably so nice and kind, going out of their way to help people.

I’m suspicious by nature so being nice and kind is like my third response when meeting someone.

It’s a good thing I’d never consider moving to a small town. I leave the curtains open as Sadie walks out of the washroom and it’s my turn to get ready for dinner.