I turn back toward the stack of firewood outside my cabin. The sun’s dropped a little lower and the forest around me hums with early evening sounds. Crickets tuning up, birds calling their last for the day. My place may not be fancy, but it’s mine. It’s built solid and the memories here are forever. It’s my cabin now, my familiar place from the past that endures intomy future.
I split another log and line it up for stacking while picturing Tessa in that driver’s seat with powdered sugar on her fingers, biting her lip, fighting off panic with humor.
Cute, brave, and kind of irresistible.
Maybe I’ll swing by tomorrow. Make sure the raccoons haven’t unionized. Just being neighborly. That’s all. Nothing complicated … except how damn much I would like to see her again.
Chapter 3
Tessa
The Grand View Lodge rises from the mountainside like it grew out of it. Stone walls anchor into the hillside, massive glass windows reflecting the craggy Colorado peaks. It’s the kind of place my parents used to call “aspirational,” the kind you’d circle in a glossy magazine and never actually visit.
Funny how many years we came here in the summer but never visited this lodge. Thanks to a certain raccoon, I’m finally visiting. I navigate my travel weary, dusty SUV into a parking space near theentrance. This place looks too nice to accept me inside. I’m half-covered in powdered sugar. Well, it’s better than raccoon piss.
A valet starts walking toward me, dressed in slate gray pants and one of those white short-sleeve golfing shirts. He has a polite smile, but I wave him off before he can reach my bumper.
“I’ve got it, thanks,” I say, tugging my suitcase handle until it clicks free from the back seat. I sling my duffle over one shoulder and head for the lobby doors, determined not to look like a woman who just fled from the little cabin of horrors. Even if, let’s be honest, I totally am.
Maybe I really am a wuss and not up to roughing it. I'm just going to have to accept scraping a few raccoon turds off the floor ... not fleeing to a four-star lodge like some spoiled city girl.
Inside, the air is cool and crisp, like it’s been filtered through forest leaves. Everything smells faintly of lemon pine, and the floors gleam like they’ve never knowndirt. A wall of windows stretches to the right of the check-in counter, revealing nothing but layers of pine-covered ridges and blue-gray mountaintops. No lake, no town below … just sky and stone.
The woman at the front desk offers a warm smile as I approach.
“Hi,” I say, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “I'm Tessa Montgomery. I phoned from my car a little while ago. I need a place to stay tonight.”
“Of course,” she replies smoothly. “We’ve got a king suite ready for you. Just one night?”
“For now, yes.”
She tilts her head slightly, still smiling. “Did your car break down … or, is everything okay?”
I let out a breathy laugh that’s more an embarrassing confession than amusement. “Not exactly. I got ambushed by a raccoon.”
Herbrows lift.
“At my family’s old lake cabin. I was trying to unlock the door, and it shot out like a cannonball. I think it’s been living there rent-free for a while now.”
“Well,” she says gently, handing over a sleek keycard, “I believe we’re raccoon-free tonight. But let us know if you need anything.”
“Thank you.” I take the card, grateful for her kindness. I step into the elevator finding it just as clean as the lobby. Clean feels good right now.
I find my way to the room on the third floor. It’s all the way at the end of the hall. Inserting the keycard, the light blinks green and I push the door, letting myself in. The space is pristine. No fireplace, but the bed looks cloud-soft, and the bathroom is pure spa fantasy. There’s a large shower plus a soaking tub big enough to host a book club. Glass shelves hold bath linens and tiny, perfectly arranged toiletries.
I drop my bag on the bench and let my suitcase coast to a stop against the wall.A mirror near the closet reflects back a girl who looks tired and out of place. It kind of shocks me. I’ve had this sensation before. You know where you walk past a building where the windows reflect your image and you think, “who in the hell is that?” Surprise, it’s you. I turn away from the mirror and walk to the window instead.
The view is breathtaking with layered mountain peaks silhouetted by the setting sun, clouds shifting above like slow-moving white cotton candy. I rest my forehead lightly against the glass, letting the cool surface ground me.
This wasn’t how I thought today would go.
I reach for my phone, thumb hovering above the keyboard. I start to type:
You were right. This place is a disaster.
Then I erase it.
Instead:Made it. I guess you saw the photos. Will send more tomorrow as I get things under control. Noneed to worry.
