“What do you do?”
“That’s not interesting. Tell me about you. So, you were on your way to Toronto for a gala and got diverted by the storm?”
“Exactly. Well, sort of exactly. I was heading to Toronto for the holidays, not just a gala. But our plane ended up landing here instead because of all the snow. It was a bit scary, actually.”
“You’re all staying over at the Snow Falls Inn, right? News travels fast in this little town. Although...” He seemed thoughtful for a moment. “The people who live here are also surprisingly good at keeping secrets.”
There was something mysterious about him, something that made her want to know more, but he kept asking her questions about herself. “You’re part of that group from the diverted plane then?” he prompted.
“I think I’msupposedto be staying there—but I missed the bus and I’m not quite sure where the inn is. Actually—” She glanced behind her, out the window. “I reallyshouldbe out there looking for it...”
“Nothing in this town is far. Two lefts and a right once youleave here—but I’m staying there, too. I can walk you over, once the game is through.”
“We-ell.” It had been such a long time since she’d sat and enjoyed a Maple Leafs game. And as pressing as the need for a place to stay was, she found she didn’t really want to leave the cozy bar yet.
“Don’t you want to stay and see just how badly the Leafs can lose this thing?”
Anna felt another wave of déjà vu as she looked at his understatedly handsome face. “Have we met somewhere before?” she found herself asking.
His eyes skated away from hers, back up to the game on the screen. “Hmm, I don’t think so. What’s your name?”
“Anna Gibson.” She extended her hand and he turned toward her again. “Pleased to meet you. I was born in Toronto, but moved to Denver when I was seven. Who knows, maybe we met a very long time ago.”
“Josh Tannenbaum,” he said, still holding her hand in his. His skin was smooth and warm. He released her hand just as the Leafs scored and the bar erupted in a cacophony of cheers, with Anna and Josh joining the ruckus of hoots and hollers.
Now the Leafs fan twin was standing before them with a carafe of mulled wine. “Ready for the strong stuff?”
Anna shook her head, and Josh covered his mulled wine cup with his hand, too. “Early start tomorrow,” he said. “I’m at my limit. But maybe some poutine?”
The Leafs were now shorthanded, and doing pitifully on the power play.
“Josh, tell me about you,” Anna said, soon munching happily on a plate of gravy- and cheese-curd-covered french fries. “What do you do that’s brought you to Snow Falls? Are you stranded, too?”
He glanced down at the bar for a split second, but then his warm brown eyes were on hers again. “Nope,” he said. “I’m here by choice. But it’s very boring. Tell me, whatyoudo?”
“I hate my job, actually,” Anna found herself admitting. “Sorry, that’s really negative. But it’s true. I had this experience today on the plane that reminded me of how short life is.”
“Flying through a blizzard? Thinking the plane was about to crash? Been there.” Josh laughed. “I think the last time I was on a turbulent flight I told myself I was going to climb Kilimanjaro if I made it through.”
“And? Did you?”
“No. Sadly, I just haven’t had the time.”
“Ah, I see. Lack of time is theonething stopping you from climbing Kilimanjaro?”
“We-ell, that, and I’m afraid of heights.” He shrugged and she laughed. “How about you? What did you decide to do with your life during your frightening moments in the not-so-friendly skies?”
Anna thought for a long moment. “It’s not so much that I decided todoanything—just that maybe I had a realization: I’m living the life I thought I wanted—but it might not be what I actually want. That realization might have been even scarier than thinking the plane might crash.” She pushed the plate of food away and looked up at Josh again. He was watching her intently. “Sorry. This is really my day for oversharing with strangers. It’s just... I feel like I know you. Like we’ve metbefore.” She tilted her head as she regarded him. “It’s kind of weird, actually.”
“I’m just one of those people with a familiar face. I get that all the time. Now, what you just said—” He stopped talking and looked up at Tie Domi and Chris Neil locked in a violent embrace, each trying to get the jersey off the other—but she could tell he didn’t really see it, that his mind was somewhere else. “I understand that. I’ve been feeling that way about my life, too. I worked really hard toward something I thought I wanted, and it was not an easy path. I got a bit diverted at one point but then got back on track. Now everything is coming together for me. It’s just that having what I thought I wanted, it’s not... easy.” He sighed. “But that’s ridiculous, right?” He gestured toward the screen, where the Leafs players were now battling frantically to score another goal. “I mean, let’s just say the Leafs ever make it to the Stanley Cup finals—they aren’t going to decide it’s not as much fun as they thought, right? That it’s too overwhelming. It’swork. They’d just have to accept that. But I...” He shook his head. “Sorry. Now I’m the one unloading on someone I just met. You’re easy to talk to, Anna.”
“So are you.” They held gazes for a moment, and Anna felt a confusing flutter in her chest. She found herself wishing she could remove his glasses and get a really good look at his appealing brown eyes—but you could not touch the face of a stranger you just met in a bar. Especially when you had a boyfriend anxiously waiting for you in Toronto. “Let’s face it,” she said, trying to cover up how flustered she felt. “The Leafs are never going to be in the Stanley Cup finals—so your analogy doesn’t hold water, I’m afraid.”
He rewarded her with a deep rumble of a laugh that was as warm as a fire on a cold winter’s night. She looked down into her cider glass, the steam now curling into the air in a lazy ribbon as it cooled, then back up at him. She couldn’t deny it: there was something about him that made her want to know him. It seemed all her feelings were closer to the surface since the near-death experience on the plane. She was living in the moment. Was that so bad?
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear,” she found herself saying.
He smiled. “Who are you, Yoda?”
