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But Christopher was busy with Robert, Johnny, and Simon doing exactly what our mother said not to do, race down the slopes. I hadn’t seen Nicholos yet, but I’m sure he was involved in that somehow. I was staying the hell out of it. I was sure that as the eldest cousin, I was going to be blamed for whatever went wrong. I gave them a stern warning not to do anything foolish and left them in Billy’s hands.
Kind of odd, because Billy looked around Robert's age. Maybe not even that old. But from what I saw on the slopes, he knew what he was doing, and had no problem taking charge. Despite Christoper being several years older, he put him in his place for being reckless.
The younger, more inexperienced ones like Simon, Jaxson, and Jason had opted for snowboarding on the smaller slopes. When I checked on them, all I heard was a bunch of laughter and what looked more like a snowball fight than snowboarding.
This left me with what I needed, time to go and find Adilyn. I had been looking forward to seeing her again, and even though she was shocked to find me at the lodge, the sparkle in her green eyes was still there when she looked up at me. Well, at least it was until she learned I was a Henderson. Everything about her demeanor changed then. I needed to find out why.
When I entered the lodge, I had hoped to find her in the lobby, but instead, I ran into my aunts Zoey, Ziva, Lena, and Morgan by the fireplace. I would’ve thought my mother would have been with them. All she had spoken about before the trip was how much she was looking forward to spending time doing nothing but relaxing. Maybe that meant avoiding everyone, and she was in her room.
It was possible that she also felt like me. I loved my family even though I didn’t know my aunts and uncles well. But we’d never spent such a long period of time together. The reunion was a good idea, and it would provide us with time to learn more about each other. Yet there were a lot of strong personalities all under one roof and that also meant some heads could butt.
I was planning on doing some hiding away myself, but only so I could have some time alone with Adilyn.
“Have you seen my mother?” I asked, trying to give a hint that I noticed her absence.
Lena answered, “Yes, she was with us earlier, but now she’s with Cori and Tessa in the kitchen. Doreen mentioned baking Christmas cookies with the kids, and those three seemed more excited than the kids and quickly volunteered to help.”
Sounded like Mom. She used to love doing that kind of stuff with us when we were young. “Was Adilyn in there too?”
Zoey and Morgan looked at each other and smiled. Then Zoey said, “No. But I do know where she is.”
And you are going to make me ask.
Morgan snickered and said, “She’s in the library.”
Ziva added, “Guess she’s preparing some craft stuff to do with the kids later. Maybe she could use your help.”
Zoey chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure she could.”
“So much to do, and she is all...alone in there,” Lena grinned.
This kind of stuff was what I expected from Christopher, not my aunts. Shaking my head, I looked around searching for which door that may be.
Ziva pointed to the one behind the staircase. “That’s the library.”
“Thanks,” I said, “but I don’t want to disturb her.” They all giggled in response.
I had never heard grown women giggling. Maybe that wasn’t their first round of wine.
“I think you are disturbing her even through the closed door,” Morgan said.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, truly puzzled as to why they were teasing me like this.
“Well, Christopher and Nicholas seem to be under the impression that you are smitten with Adilyn,” Lena stated.
More than smitten. Whatever that is.
“Why would they think such a thing?” I asked.
Ziva said, “Guess you were seen in a very intimate conversation earlier.”
I laughed. “Oh yes, we were. She was telling me that I had to leave.”
“What?” Lena asked in a shocked tone.
Nodding, I said, “She even offered to help me find another resort to stay at.”
“Why would she do such a thing?” Zoey asked.
