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“You remembered!” Colette exclaimed as she reached into the bag and pulled out the burger and fries that were nestled inside.
“Of course I remembered.” Louise shook her head, offended that Colette doubted her abilities. “I remember all of my favorite customers’ go-to orders.”
“So I’m your favorite?” Colette asked, wiggling her eyebrows and earning an eye roll from Louise.
She bit into the burger and had to fight off a moan as the taste exploded across her tongue. She had no idea what Louise had her cooks do to elicit so much flavor in her burgers, but she prayed she never had them switch the formula. Reaching across the table once more, she grabbed the Styrofoam cup and punctured the lid with a straw. Bringing it to her lips and taking a quick swig, the taste of a peppermint chocolate shake made her sigh.
“Perfect.”
Louise chuckled at her but didn’t say anything as Colette took a few more bites, savoring each one.
“You know,” Colette said thoughtfully, “this is a big step up from the casseroles people usually bring.”
“Did you get a lot of those?” Louise arched an eyebrow in question.
“I could probably feed all of Snowy Pine Ridge with what’s in the fridge in the guest house.” Colette chuckled, thinking about all the people that had stopped in over the last few weeks.
“Well, at least there’s someone taking care of you.”
She felt a blush rise in her cheeks as she took another bite. Louise didn’t press further though, opting instead to look around the space. Colette had gotten a lot done over the last few days as the haze of grief had slowly started to lift. The only thing really left for her to do was schedule for the storage company to come and pick up Emma’s things and then give everything a good scrub down.
“Are you moving in here?” Louise asked and Colette shook her head.
“I can’t.” Her voice came out hoarse, betraying just how much the thought distressed her. “I thought about it, don’t get me wrong. But I couldn’t do it. It doesn’t feel right.”
Louise nodded. “Makes sense. So what are you gonna do with the place?”
“Rent it,” Colette explained. “I figured I’ll continue living in the guest house, and renting this out will provide me with income as I try to figure out what to do next.”
“Good. That’s a smart move.”
“Yeah.” Her voice trailed off a little as she contemplated what to say next. “I just want to find the right person, you know?”
“What do you mean?” Louise cocked her head in question.
“It’s hard to imagine anyone else living here. I know Emma wouldn’t want it to stay empty, but I just can’t be the one to live here. Not for a while, anyway. It still feels too much like hers. But I don’t want to rent it out to just anyone either. I want to take my time and choose someone that I know will cherish it as much as Emma did.”
“I don’t know if you’ll ever find anyone that loves this house as much as Emma did.”
Colette nodded, finishing the last bite of her sandwich.
“Thank you so much for this.” She nodded her head toward the empty wrapper and container of fries. “I really needed it.”
“I know you’ve been working almost non-stop on the house, and I know you well enough that I figured you’d forgotten to eat.”
“You’re not wrong.” Colette shrugged, drawing a laugh from Louise.
They sat for only a few more moments before Louise patted her thighs and announced that she needed to head back to the restaurant to prepare for the dinner shift. Both she and Colette pushed themselves back from the table, and Colette walked with her to the door.
Once Louise had wrapped herself back in her coat and secured her scarf and boots, she trudged back out into the snow. Colette stood for a moment watching her, thankful for the family that she had created here in Snowy Pine Ridge.
“Sometimes it’s the family that you make, and not the one that makes you, that really counts,” Colette said aloud, repeating the phrase that Emma used to say all the time when she’d catch Colette feeling sad about her past.
And as she stood in the doorway, watching as Louise fought her way through the snow to her car, and she thought of the way the townsfolk of Snowy Pine Ridge had shown up for her over the last three weeks, she felt as if she finally starting to truly understand what Emma had meant.
CHAPTERTWO
Zach McKnight jolted awake as he cast a panicked look around his room trying to identify the source of the shrill screeching that had pulled him from his dreams. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear them of the sandpaper feeling and to bring the room into better focus. It was only when his gaze landed on his nightstand and his phone, that he realized where all the noise was coming from.
