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“Ellie!” the girl squealed, bouncing forward and squeezing Ellie in a tight hug.
She stepped back to allow the man to embrace Ellie, and I waited for some sort of introduction.
Unsurprisingly, Ellie was on it. “Guys, this is Jake Wright. He’s working for my dad at the moment. Jake, this is Stella and Reece Blackwell. They’re the kids of my dad’s partners. Reece supervises the events part of the business, and Stella-”
“Wastes all her time snowboarding instead of taking over her duties for the family,” the younger woman intoned in what was clearly a mockery of some sort of authority figure.
“Nice to meet you both.” I shook Reece’s hand but Stella just gave me an odd little wave and whipped out her cellphone to take a selfie with Ellie.
“Have you been here long?” Reece’s tone was pleasant despite his burly appearance.
“Just a few weeks, actually. Pretty sure I’m already in love, though.”
His eyes drifted to Ellie, and I suddenly found myself choking on nothing.
“With Aspen Ridge, that is. I love it here.”
“Ah, yeah, that makes sense. What’s not to love?” But his gaze returned to Ellie, who was dutifully snapping photos with the younger woman. When he looked back to me, his meaning was clear.
I rushed to find a different topic of conversation. “Indeed. So how long have you managed the events? Are you the one behind building that new center? It’s really beautiful.”
“Yeah, I’m the one that pushed for it. I see a lot of opportunities here to grow and expand the business. Honestly, I’d like to get out of the events management and start a distillery. We have quite a lot of property and there’s so much we could do with it. The more value we can bring to the town, the better for everyone.”
I chuckled. “You sound a lot like Ellie. She seems very passionate about the community.”
“Yeah, we have a lot of similarities. We both grew up here and want to make sure the resort is doing everything in its power to benefit the locals.”
“I think it’s in excellent hands,” I replied, and the larger man grinned.
“Come on Reece, Jess’s insta story says she’s working the Bear Paw booth and I have to talk to her rightnow!” Stella appeared between us and grabbed Reece’s arm, towing him back the way Ellie and I had just come.
“Nice to meet you!” he called over his shoulder.
Ellie watched them go with a fond smile before we continued.
“That was… interesting,” I commented.
“Yeah, that’s a good word for them. But they’re basically family, so it doesn’t bother me.”
“What was Stella’s comment on snowboarding about?”
“So Stella is 22, and her life is snowboarding. She was actually on her way to the olympics in her teens, before she took a nasty fall and ended up with a broken leg. She missed out on that year, plus a year of training while she went through physical therapy. She was still not at the top of her game for the last olympics qualifications, so she’s spent the last few years really working hard. This year she’s going to all the qualification events to hopefully secure a spot for the games in two years.”
“Wow, that’s sad, but also exciting. I hope she gets it.” I didn’t want to think about how many things I gave up to dedicate my life to the military. I made my choice, and I didn’t regret it. But the idea of having the freedom to chase a dream…
“Well, her parents aren’t thrilled. They worry about her getting hurt—it can be a dangerous sport—and they want her to think about the business. But she’s just 22, you know? It’s not on her radar yet.”
I cast a skeptical expression at Ellie. “From the sounds of it, running the business has been onyourplan for most of your life.”
Ellie flushed. “Yeah, well, I’m not a gifted snowboarder. Maybe if there was something else I was really good at, dedicating my life to Aspen Ridge would have been a more difficult choice.”
“I think you know this is your calling,” I replied in a low voice, and Ellie glanced up at me in surprise. “Caring about people, improving things for them through your family’s business. That’s a gift, Ellie. Few people can do that.”
Her sky-blue eyes locked on mine, and suddenly the world around us was a blur. Sound dampened in my ears, and all I could hear was the rush of blood through my veins and the soft breaths Ellie took. Her lips were parted, an invitation so tempting I leaned in to take it without thinking. My hand rose to cup her cheek, and Ellie’s breath hitched as she waited for my lips to meet hers.
A shrill scream brought me back to reality, and I jumped away from Ellie as if her skin had burned me. My eyes darted around us for the source of the scream, finding a pair of children racing through the crowd, the girl holding a toy truck above her head and the boy in hot pursuit. The girl screamed in delight again, and they disappeared between two booths.
I turned back to Ellie, my face hot. “I’m sorry,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets. “I shouldn’t have-”
