“Itisridiculous to wear shoes like that in the middle of winter,” he said. “I agree.” She playfully punched his arm and he looked down at her. Their faces were very close. “But admit it, it’s also fun. Didn’t you say thinking you were about to die in a plane crash made you want to make some changes in your life? Shouldn’t those changes include more spontaneous fun?”
“How can I argue with that?” She looked up at the swirling snowflakes as he carried her through Snow Falls. Two lefts, a right, and in no time at all they arrived at a stately three-story gray brick stone inn. It was covered in scaffolding on one side,but was still utterly charming—aside from the fact that it was strung with chaotic strings of Christmas lights in every shade. Anna had the urge to immediately find the owner and give them some holiday decorating tips.Less is more, she would say.One or two colors tops, but multicolored is a bit busy for the classic style of this building.
A hand-painted sign to the right of the short stone staircase Josh was carrying her up proclaimed this to be the Snow Falls Inn—except one of then’s was covered in snow, so it said “Snow Falls In.”
Josh set her down in front of the tall oak door, festooned with not one but three different wreaths. “There, door-to-door service.”
“Thank you, Josh.”
He smiled down at her. “I had a really fun time watching the game with you, Anna.”
“I did, too. Thanks for getting me here safely.”
As fluffy white flakes fell gently around them, Anna felt like they were suspended in a snow globe. “So,” he finally said. “Do you still think I’m... what was the word you used? ‘Forgettable’?”
“Carrying me through the snow definitely makes youun-forgettable in my book.” She found herself unable to look away from his gaze.
“That’s a relief,” he said softly, eyes on hers as he reached out to brush snow from her hair. His hand grazed her shoulder, and his gentle touch made her body feel like a lit sparkler in the darkness. Then he cleared his throat. “Better get you inside where it’s warm.” He turned away and pushed open the heavyfront door, holding it open for her. “Welcome to Snow Falls Inn,” he said with a smile. Beyond the reception area, a massive fireplace was lit up with a welcoming fire and was surrounded by comfy-looking couches and chairs. It all would have looked like something from the pages of a decor magazine—had every surface not been festooned with Christmas ornaments in every color, shape, and size.
Anna began to shrug off Josh’s parka, just as she saw Mr. Dadu, Maryam’s kindly grandfather, sitting comfortably in a cozy chair near the crackling fireplace. He gave her a friendly wave and she waved back.
“I’m sure Deb and Kath, the owners, will take good care of you,” Josh said.
His glasses were covered in melting snowflakes. She hoped he would take them off to clean them, so she could get a better look at him—she had the sudden urge to memorize his face in case she didn’t see him again. But he left them on. She handed him his parka. “Thank you, Josh.”
Something was different about him now, she noticed. His demeanor had suddenly changed. He glanced from side to side, as if looking for someone—or trying to hide from someone.
Maybe he reallywasa spy.
“I should go,” he said. “Good night, Anna. Again, I really enjoyed our evening.”
“Good night, Josh,” she said, and tried to ignore the pang she felt at the idea that she might never see him again. “I did, too.”
“Safe travels tomorrow.” He waved goodbye and headed for the stairs.
She watched him go, then turned and approached thereception desk. A smiling woman with a loud Christmas sweater—whom Anna was immediately certain was behind the loud light display outside and the questionable Christmas-decor decisions inside—greeted her.
“The good news is, wedohave a room left,” she said in an Australian accent. She handed Anna a key chain shaped like a holly sprig. “I was told there was going to be one last straggler, and I was starting to think about sending out a search party! Unfortunately, your room is one of the ones that isn’t quite done yet. This place is a work in progress, and we’ve got a large... er, corporate party booked on the other side of the hotel, the side that’s all renovated.” She tilted her head in the direction Josh had headed off in. “The bed’s comfortable, though. And we looked into the mold on the ceiling—I can confirm it’s the nontoxic kind! Just don’t... touch it. Ever. Promise?”
None of this sounded promising, but a comfortable bed to sleep away this long day was all she needed, really. The woman handed her a bottle of water and a granola bar—one of those hippie ones that was full of good-for-you things but always tasted like sawdust. Anna took it gratefully, not sure how easy it was going to be to get breakfast in the morning. “Oh, wait,” she said, remembering Janey’s urgent layout request. “Do you have a computer with email, or a fax machine?”
“So sorry, love, no internet here, and the phone lines have been knocked out by the storm. That means our fax machine isn’t working. Hoping phones’ll be back up and running in the morning.”
“Thanks anyway.”
Upstairs, Anna found her room, turned on the light, and looked around. Unfortunately, the cheerful woman at the deskhad oversold it. The ceiling was water-stained—and covered in patterns of mold that resembled those inkblot tests. Anna could see a man with an axe and a fish with two heads. The overhead lighting was dim and flickering. She turned on a bedside lamp, hoping the softer light might improve things—but no such luck. The new lighting angles picked up more strange stains on the walls, and peeling wallpaper. Anna sighed.
It wasn’t that she was like Nick and had grown up wealthy, used to only high-class accommodations. She hadn’t. Her dad had been a lawyer, but had made the switch to family law and opened his own office in Golden after he met Beth. After a while, his generous nature had landed him so much pro bono work he never quite seemed to break even. But Beth was an interior designer, and she was the one who had influenced Anna’s tastes for fine surroundings—even if those fine surroundings were simply a matter of resourcefulness. She—and Anna alongside her—had always loved the challenge of taking something that already existed and turning it into something even better. Anna and Beth had come up with a game inspired by the showThis Old Houseon PBS, which they had watched obsessively. They made up their own pretend show,New Room, No Budget: Anna and Beth would make believe they were on a reality show, really play up the drama for the nonexistent cameras in whichever room in their house they had chosen to transform that day.Use what you have, do what you canhad been one of Beth’s mottos. Many days, by the time Anna’s dad got home from work, the house would have been transformed into something that looked completely new and different—no matter that Anna and Beth hadn’t spent a cent.
Anna sighed and pushed away the memories. Even anenthusiastic round ofNew Room, No Budgetwouldn’t helpthisroom. There was no way to turn this place into something brand-new because all she had on hand, she found as she dumped her handbag onto the bed, was an almost-empty Body Shop perfume oil bottle, a half-eaten bag of scotch mints, a smooshed muffin, a bunch of magazines, her makeup bag, and a pashmina. She rooted through the pile, searching for the charger for her flip phone, but came up empty-handed. She had packed it into her suitcase, she realized, figuring she wouldn’t need it until she was in Toronto with Nick. She picked up the room phone—but as Kath had said, there was no service. Just as she had when her phone died, Anna felt something like relief flood through her.
She unrolled her pashmina, draped it over the foot of the bed, then peeled off her dress and tights and slipped between the sheets—and was pleasantly surprised to discover the mattress was not lumpy and mildew-smelling, as she had been certain it would be. Instead, the sheets were crisp, white, and smelled as if they had been dried on a line in the middle of spring. The mattress was the perfect balance of firm yet yielding. This bed would never have made it into an episode ofNew Room, No Budgetbecause it was obviously very expensive.
She settled her head on a pillow that was magically the ideal height and texture for her and fell fast asleep dreaming of how it felt to be carried through the snow by a kind, handsome stranger.
SIX
Maryam
