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“All you need to do is relax and spend some time resting and getting your life back together,” I say. “You’ll love Aspen, I promise.”
“I can’t wait,” she replies. “I’ve never been to Colorado.”
“It’s definitely one of the best places that America has to offer,” Jason says. “And it’ll be even better with you in it.”
Selina can’t help but laugh, and just the sound of it makes my heart flutter in ways I didn’t think were possible anymore. “You are determined to kill me with kindness, aren’t you?” she asks Jason.
“That’s the best way,” he says.
I can’t wait to spend as much of this winter as possible with her. She may appear as a shy and somewhat wary doe with big eyes and a complicated past, but Selina is a beautiful and intelligent woman, a force of nature with just enough drive to make anything happen for her. Life hasn’t been kind to her lately, but I know that with a smidge of rest and relaxation, she will lift her head up high once more and eventually reach her full potential.
That flame inside of her… I recognize it because I see it in myself. I see it in Jason. And while Sully may not be so sure of himself, I see it in him, too. Something tells me that Aspen is going to bring everything to the surface—the good, the bad, the lustful. We’re going to find ourselves again, and Selina is going to be precisely what we need.
I will do my best to make sure that we’re also precisely what she needs.
5
Selina
Breathtaking.
This little corner of winter heartland is absolutely breathtaking.
Matthew’s cabin is one of a cluster of ten nestled on the very edge of Aspen, overlooking the Aspen Mountain Summer Road and the already snowy resort town. I didn’t expect it to be so white and enchanting in mid-November, but I welcome the views and the overall sense of tranquility that this place is intent on offering.
The mountain rises behind the cabin with its gentle ridges covered in ancient pines—green giants with snow-covered branches and peaks reaching for the cerulean heavens above. The small country road connecting the cabins snakes its way downward into Aspen, and I can’t help but smile at the sight of the red mailboxes that line it.
“How do you like it?” Matthew asks as we get out of the airport shuttle. He paid extra to have the driver bring us all the way up here. I certainly didn’t mind—the flight was tiring enough.
“This isn’t exactly a cabin,” I tell him, staring at the marvelous construction. “It’s more like a mansion.”
He laughs. “Five bedrooms, six bathrooms… yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“It’s beautiful,” I say.
And it is. Built on two levels on a solid brick and stone structure, the cabin’s façade is covered with long sections of aged logs, while the slated roof rises to make room for a small attic. The windows are large squares surrounded by black metal frames with thick glass and a gray fog blackout effect.
Steam rolls off my lips with every exhale as I admire the quaint front garden, covered in white. It’s littered with gnome statues carved from portly river rocks, each of them smiling and waving at whoever passes by, while the fence is made up of ash-wood planks and painted red. It creates a pretty contrast with the snow and the gray front steps of the house.
Matthew, Jason, and Sully get the luggage inside first, then proceed to give me a tour of the property, starting with the backyard. Not much of it can be seen from the road, but it is sprawling and surrounded by trees and naked buckthorn bushes. “It’s brimming with wildflowers in the summer,” Jason says as I look around, trying to take each detail in, to memorize every inch of this place that is going to be my home for the next couple of months. “Sully planted some flowers over in that corner,” he adds, pointing to the eastern fence. “He had a green thumb phase a couple of summers ago, and to our astonishment, those flowers come back every June.”
“What kind of flowers?” I ask Sully.
He shrugs, half-smiling. “I have no idea. They’re colorful and pretty.”
“That was the selection criteria,” Jason laughs.
“And we also have a hot tub,” Matthew says as we leave the dormant backyard garden and head up the back porch steps. Nestling underneath the roof is a large, square jacuzzi with a green tarp covering the top. It’s tall and big enough to fit a group of at least ten people, and my mind is already flaring up and flying in all directions. “We make frequent use of it during the winter.”
“I can imagine,” I mumble mostly to myself. I can absolutely imagine spending a cold winter’s night soaking in the hot tub with three of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around. And for the next two months’ worth of cold winter nights, chances are that I’ll be doing just that.
I snap out of my daydream, mentally kicking away the images of Sully, Jason, and Matthew claiming me in it. I’m escorted inside and shown around the house. Matthew takes his time giving me a brief history of the place. I can’t help but admire the ground floor with its generous open floorplan, large kitchen and dining areas, spacious living room and black marble bathroom.
“My great-grandfather built this in the early 1900s,” he says as we walk around. “Back then, Aspen wasn’t as big or as popular as it is today. Frankly, this whole area wasn’t even developed, and the town itself was still about half a mile away.”
“That explains the fireplace,” I reply.
The mantle is a sculpted splendor made of luscious, gray marble blocks with golden veins running upward, each glinting with the light captured from the gold-brushed chandelier hanging above. Everything in this place was either designed to look gracefully aged or is, in fact, preciously vintage. The furniture is new, built on solid wood frames and adorned with handsewn tapestries that imitate the classic Midwestern quilt styles, while the wall art and the giant burgundy carpet are definitely mementos of a past era.
