“Honestly? I have no idea what’s going on,” she confessed, happy to have this conversation with her sister. They had no secrets, and MJ had always been her sounding board where Jack was concerned. Where everything was concerned, really.
She hung a tiny angel while MJ waited for the rest of the answer.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time together,” she finally said. “Sometimes it feels…nice. Other times, it’s awkward. Mostly, it’s very familiar and fun.” Cindy laughed lightly. “Fun more than anything. After all, it’s Jack.”
“And he’s fun,” MJ agreed. “Listen, Cin, don’t get in your head about this time together. You two were married for twenty years. You share a child. And you’re so natural together. I just watched you with him last night and marveled at how you two are so much alike.”
Were they? “Well, we’re co-workers right now, technically. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel something.”
MJ put a hand on her shoulder, the ornaments forgotten as her whole face registered nothing but tenderness.
“You always loved him,” she said gently. “And if I’m being honest? I sat there last night and wondered why the heck you and Jack never found a way back to each other.”
“Oh, you’re just a romantic,” Cindy said, but the truth was, she’d been wondering the same thing. “You know what happened. Life got in the way. He loved his job, the travel, the spotlight. I loved the lodge, being rooted here. We tried and we…didn’t make it.”
And ten years later, it was actually hard to remember why.
“But you never stopped loving each other.”
Cindy hung one more festive Santa ornament and then lost the burning need to control the decorating. Nowthatwas proof that she really was confused.
“Maybe not,” she murmured, dropping onto the sofa with a sigh.
Quiet while she watched her sister humming and hanging, Cindy’s mind drifted back to Henry Lassiter. Every time she and MJ had a moment together, Cindy decided it wasn’t the right time.
The fact was, she had a solution to their problems long term, but she wasn’t sure if MJ would be willing to pay the price. Maybe if she?—
Suddenly, the front door creaked open and one of their guests walked into the wide entryway, dusting snow from his navy peacoat.
“Oh, hello, Matt,” MJ said quickly, her whole face brightening as she looked over her shoulder at him. “I thought you were having lunch in town today.”
Cindy hadn’t seen much of Matt Walker, the man who’d come the day after Thanksgiving and showed no sign of checking out of Cabin Five.
He’d kept a low profile, not skiing at all, to her knowledge, but she had noticed him in and out of the kitchen a few times, chatting with MJ.
“I am headed into town,” he said. “But I left?—”
“Your gloves in the mudroom,” MJ finished. “I set them on the counter for you.”
“Thank you.” He held up his bare hands. “I got very chilly taking my morning walk. But I couldn’t turn around because I found the little…I guess you’d call it a river.”
“That would be generous,” MJ said on a laugh, swiping back a strand of hair. “That’s Moose Creek. It’s best in the spring when the snow melts and the stream is in full force. Unless it floods. Now it’s just icy and a little treacherous, so be careful down there.”
“I bet it’s beautiful in the spring,” he said, looking at MJ like the “it” he was talking about might be…the woman in front of him.
“Everything comes alive,” MJ told him, her blue eyes glinting like…likeshewas the one coming alive.
Well, well,well.
Cindy sat quietly and watched the exchange, her jaw gaping as she realized Matt hadn’t even noticed she was in the room. But he certainly noticed MJ—couldn’t tear his gaze away, in fact.
Cindy studied the guest who, up until now, had just been the guy who was paying full price for their most expensive cabin. He had rented a black Escalade, which he took out fairly frequently, but he didn’t ski and he didn’t…say why he was here all alone.
Matt Walker was probably sixty-six, maybe sixty-seven years old, with a few silver streaks in short chestnut hair. He wore glasses, had a mustache, sported the healthy glow of a tan, and had broad shoulders that looked like he’d been no stranger to hard work during his life.
Matt took a few steps closer, ignoring the tree but looking directly at MJ. “I’d love to see this place in the spring. Can I book for April?”
“Absolutely!”
