What The Heart Knows (13 page)

If
she were being honest with herself, she was looking forward to
showing him the lodge. It would be nice to get out of the inn. Out of
the boos/employee relationship. Out of the power struggle that would
always be a part of being at the inn.

Emily
reached into the cabinet for her travel mugs and filled them.

“So
I hear the lodge has a big draw,” James said, walking back,
holding out a piece of coffee cake that Lena had dropped off an hour
before.

“Yeah,”
Emily said, handing him his coffee. “not usually this early.
But from December through March, they're typically at capacity. Which
we are thankful for because we get the leftovers who still want to go
and are willing to do the drive every morning.”

“How
far is it?”

“In
good weather... about half an hour. But it's a really steep hill so
if we have any kind of weather, people get stuck on either side of
the mountain. Sometimes they get our guests camping out there while
we have theirs here.”

“That's
why Elliott wants to put the gondola lift thing between here and
there I guess.”

“Really?”
Emily asked, surprised but hopeful at the prospect. It would mean a
lot more business for the inn. And the town in general.

“Yeah,
actually... I think Lena said that that was Devon's idea.”

“Wow,”
Emily said, thinking about Devon with his head in the clouds and his
eyes glued to his phone.

“I
know it's hard to see past the hipster carelessness,” James
said, as if reading her mind. “but that kid has a lot of
potential if his family would let him make some decisions about the
business.”

“Fat
chance of that,” Emily said, going over and grabbing another
slice of coffee cake, wrapping it in foil.

“You
wanna head out early?” he asked, watching her anxious energy.
He could already see her cataloging all the things she could be
doing. Straightening the sitting room. Helping Alec get the horses
out to pasture.

Emily
thought about the empty front desk for a second. Devon wouldn't
arrive for an hour. But it was too early for check-ins and no one was
due to check out for another two days.

“We'll
leave a note at reception,” James suggested, making her turn to
him. Had she been mumbling out loud? “So everyone knows they
cant check out until after eight.”

“Alright,”
she agreed.

A
few minutes later, they were nestled in his car, cranking the heat.
He had seat warmers. Which she used to think were absurd and
ostentatious, but had suddenly decided they should be considered
basic necessities. James laughed as she groaned and sank in the chair
lower. “So where are we going?”

Emily
held a hand out, pointing toward the left. “Follow that road
until you hit a lodge,” she
said,
closing her eyes.

James
pulled out of the parking space. “Hey are those flurries?”
he asked, sounding excited at the prospect.

“Don't
be ridiculous,” Emily said, not bothering to open her eyes.
“It's too early for snow.”

She
was sitting pin straight in her seat twenty minutes later, eyes wide,
looking out the windows like she couldn't believe what she was
seeing. Beside her, James was white-knuckling the steering wheel,
looking completely out of his comfort zone.

“Oh
my god,” Emily said, squinting to see.

“I
told you I saw flurries,” James said, smiling, but not taking
his eyes off the steep road.

“This
makes no sense,” Emily said, shaking her head. “It's like
a friggen blizzard.”

“Climate
change?” James suggested, wishing he had had the good sense to
buy a bigger, snow-capable vehicle. “We could turn back,”
he suggested.

“Are
you crazy?” Emily asked, watching the snow envelope the car,
making it almost impossible to see. “Going up is bad enough. We
would end up wrapped around a tree trying to get back down.”

“Up
it is then,” he agreed, thinking how unprepared they were for
being stuck up a mountain. No reservations. No luggage. And the storm
didn't seem like it was planning on giving up any time soon. There
was no way they would be back in Stars Landing by dinnertime.

Beside
him, Emily seemed to be of the same mindset as she pulled out her
phone and started texting manically. “Just letting everyone
know what is going on,” she said when she noticed him glance at
her. “Hey,” she scolded. “I don't know about you,
but I'd rather not end up a mangled mess in a closed casket. Keep
your eyes on the road.”

It
was fifteen long minutes later when they finally pulled past a sign
that welcomed them to Star Lodge. The building itself was a long,
sprawling, two story log cabin structure with a a main focal point
where the roof pitched up in a triangle huge with windows lined
inside it. Porches lined each level, overlooking the huge drop that
would make for great skiing.

“This
place is massive,” James said, thinking about the picture on
the brochure that had made it almost look quaint and intimate.

“Forty-eight
guest rooms,” Emily agreed, nodding.

“So
Devon is like...”

“Really
rich?” Emily asked, laughing. “Yeah. They have owned this
place for a few generations. It's gorgeous. Even in the off season,
they do weddings and corporate getaways. There is actually a huge
lake right out back. So they get sportsmen in the summer. They do
really good business up here. His family isn't hands-on though. They
sit back in their house on the hill in the expensive part of Stars
Landing, spending money like water and bitching at Devon for wasting
his life working at the inn.”

“He's
a kid still,” James insisted, pulling the key out of the
ignition. The parking lot was really full considering it was early in
the season for them. “Mark my words,” he said, taking a
deep breath and stepping out of the car. “one day he is going
to demand to be given more control of this place. He just needs to
grow up a bit first.”

“Fuck,”
Emily said, getting out of the car and curling into her sweater and
ducking her head. She looked over at James for a second. “Race
ya,” she said and was already off, giving herself a slight head
start toward the door.

James
burst through the door half a second before she did, tumbling in and
grabbing the back of a couch to hold her up as she caught her breath.

“I
win,” he said, smiling at her for a second before looking
around. It was a huge great room. There was a desk off to one side,
two employees there looking over at them like it was the most normal
thing in the world to see adults running into the building.
Everything was wood. The floors, the walls, the ceiling. It felt
streamlined but comfortable. To the side was a massive fireplace with
an assortment of couches around it for warming up after a long day
out on the slopes. To the right of the room were
small
round tables with chairs. For having hot cocoa or coffee. For
planning your day. For watching the snowfall out of the many windows.

“Wow,”
he said, nodding.

“Yeah,”
Emily agreed, never having gotten used to the gorgeousness of the
place, despite visiting at least once every year for a decade.

“Emily?”
one of the employees asked, coming toward them. She was a few years
younger than Emily with long black hair, big black eyes, and an
altogether intoxicatingly exotic look about her. Native American
possibly. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey,
Aria,” Emily said, smiling at the woman in her blue jeans and
white sweater. “You look great,” she added and James had
to admit she did. “This guy over here decided he wanted to see
the lodge today. We thought we could be back in Stars Landing before
dinner.”

“Yeah
that's not gonna happen,” Aria said, smiling. “they are
already closing the roads on both ends. The weather is predicting a
foot up here and five or so inches back in town. You'll be lucky if
you can get back tomorrow.”

“Please
tell me you have rooms,” Emily said, looking around. “I
don't want to have to crash on the couches in the staff break room,”
she said, grimacing. “again.”

“Well
you lucked out,” Aria said, taking in their momentary relief.
“we have one room left.”

Emily
glanced over at James with a tightening in her belly. Oh, no. That
was not going to work. “Please tell me it is a suite or a
double.”

Aria
looked between them, a sinister smile spreading across her too-pretty
face. “Afraid not. It's a junior room with a... full sized
bed.”

“And
a pull out couch, right?” Emily asked, not caring how desperate
she sounded. She couldn't, she absolutely could not, spend a night in
a full sized bed with James Michaels. Nope. That was not going to
happen.

“Afraid
not,” Aria smiled at her. “We had the oddest call at the
crack of dawn this morning,” she said, lifting a brow.

Emily
felt dread building. “What kind of call?”

“Oh,
a call from town,” Aria hedged. “reserving the last room
with two queen sized beds.”

“What?”
Emily asked, screwing up her face. That made no sense. “Who
called?”

“Oh
you know,” a familiar voice said, coming up from the side,
making Emily's spine straighten. No way. “I just thought that
this would be as good a place as any to sit around and read my smut,”
Maude said, stepping in front of them, looking entirely too pleased
with herself.

“Oh
you're trading rooms with us, you crazy woman,” Emily said,
staring daggers at Maude.

“Afraid
I cant do that,” Maude smiled sweetly.

“You're
one person. You don't need two beds,” Emily objected. She
looked at Maude's stubborn smile and groaned. “Fine. Then I am
taking the extra bed in your room. There it's all settled.”

“Cant
do that either,” Maude said, clucking her tongue.

“Why
the hell not?” Emily demanded.

“Because
where would the fun be in that?” Maude asked, patting her
shoulder as she walked past, toward the hot chocolate cart over by
reception.

“That
card reading, pain in the ass, meddling...”

“Easy
tiger,” James said, chuckling at her outrage. He smiled at
Aria, reaching in his pocket and pulling out his credit card. “I
guess we'll take the room,” he said, putting a hand on Emily's
arm. She looked like she was ready to bound across the room and
tackle the older woman and wrestle her room key out of her hand.

“Great,”
Aria said, giving him a beaming, appreciative smile. “I'll just
go and check you guys in. There's a gift shop,” she said,
taking in their snow-soaked clothes. “if you want to go and
grab some warm, dry clothes.”

“Thanks,”
James smiled at her and watched her turn to walk away. He shrugged at
Emily who
still looked
like she was fuming, but, more so... panicked. “Gotta make the
best of this,” he reasoned. “Come on... your teeth are
chattering. Show me to this gift shop.”

The
gift shop was the size of an average chain coffee shop, with rows and
racks of winter gear: heavy coats, snow pants, long johns, hats,
scarves, gloves, boots. They could barely push through the aisles,
grabbing various items and piling them in their arms.

Emily
had two pairs of comfortable looking gray sweatpants and two Stars
Lodge sweatshirts, one in pink, one in white. They apparently did not
carry underwear and only huge, bulky men's socks, which she grabbed a
bag of.

When
she caught up with James, half of his face was blocked by the pile in
his hands. It looked like he had picked out some sweatpants and
sweatshirts as well, his in blue and black. But on top of that, he
had two sets of snow gear. One was in black, for him she assumed. And
another set was in bright purple.

“What
the hell are you doing?” she asked, putting her items on the
cashier's counter.

“Hey,
we're stuck here,” he said, smiling. “we might as well
get out and enjoy it,” he added, throwing his pile on top of
her's and reaching for his wallet. “Go pick out some boots. I
didn't know your size.”

“What?
No. I'm paying for myself,” she said, looking at the cashier.
“don't you dare take his money,” she warned, going off to
grab a pair of boots. When she got back, all of two minutes later,
James was already signing a credit card receipt and the cashier was
bagging the items. She sent Emily a guilty look.