Up to Snow Good: A Small Town Holiday Romance Read online

  “Do you wish we could go back?” His fingers brushed over her hand, sending sparks straight to her core.

  She couldn’t resist the attraction she’d always felt for him and told herself it was a trick of nostalgia or the pangs of loss from her recent tragedy.

  “Yes, and no. Really, when does young love ever work out? The years we had apart have helped us become solid human beings. We have experiences separate from one another that have molded us into the people we are today. I don’t think I’d trade that in to go back.”

  She stared at his eyes—eyes that called to her from across the table as if they were reaching into her soul and pulling her close.

  Don’t be so silly. He’s just being a friend, and I’m lucky enough to have that.

  The main thing was to save the lodge, and if Max wanted to help her, then she’d have to focus on that and only that. The rest would have to take care of itself.

  “What about you?”

  He leaned back, forcing his hand to drop from hers. “I’d like to go back and redo a lot of things like talk to my father before he became the angry and bitter man he is. Also, I would have told my younger self to hold you tighter and never let you go.”

  It was all sweet words, but subconsciously, she still worried about the possibility that he wasn’t on the up and up, and if that was the case, she didn’t stand a chance.

  He was so casual and loose, and she searched for the lie lurking behind the charm but couldn’t see it. If sincere, he was a godsend, and she would not turn that away.

  Another person flashed in the back of her mind—Sam.

  Could both Max and Sam have her best interests at heart? They could, but did they?

  She and Max had the weight of a family feud behind them, and his father was up to Lord knows what, but wasn’t it odd that Sam had come to her with the notion of a romance when things were so desperate with the lodge? Could he have other ideas like taking over the lodge and tossing her aside?

  “What are you thinking about?” Max asked.

  “Just thinking about life.”

  There was only one person she could trust absolutely, and it was Ruthie. There wasn’t a dishonest bone in her body. She said it like she saw it.

  “Shall we go?” he asked. He paid their bill and took her home. At the front door, he brushed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. It felt like he’d ravaged her entire body.

  “Have a good night, Lauren,” he said and made his way to his room, which was at the opposite side of the lodge from hers. She’d done that for self-preservation because she’d never be able to sleep knowing he was in a room next to her own.

  Once she was back inside, she found Ruthie in the kitchen at the small corner table where she enjoyed her nightly tea.

  Ruthie gave her several worried glances, and a few huffs and puffs, before Lauren finally asked, “What, Ruthie?”

  “You know what, child. Dat Hunter man, his name is perfect for his intentions. Now he’s here in our house looking at you like a hungry lion looks at dinner?”

  “It’s my house, Ruthie, which means my rules.” After a tense silence, and a shocked expression, she went on, “I didn’t mean it like that. This is your home, too, and always will be.” She felt so much shame at her gut response. In that moment, she sounded like Max’s description of his father. It proved that hard times made hard people.

  “Look at what he’s done. He shows up, and we fight like mom and child.”

  “No, Ruthie, we’re not fighting. I love you, and you love me, but love isn’t always easy. Give him a chance to prove he’s a good man?”

  Ruthie shook her head. “I watch dat man, and I tell you, he’s a bad man.”

  Lauren forced a smile. “That’s why I invited him to stay here. I knew that if he was up to something, you would figure it out.” That wasn’t completely honest, but the lie made Ruthie feel good.

  In truth, she invited him to stay because he made her feel something she hadn’t in years—love.

  “And I will,” Ruthie said, her big body trembling with her determination, index finger raised and waving. “I surely will.”

  “Oh, I’m certain of that.” Ruthie had worked at the lodge for as long as Lauren could remember, but not long enough to get rid of her “dats” and “childs.” She was as close to a second mother as Lauren could have.

  “And you,” Ruthie warned with the glare. “You stay away from dat man’s room, and you know what I mean by dat.”

  “Ruthie, I’m a grown woman.”

  “Dat what I mean. He’s a handsome man and will make you look like a fool if you go to his bed.”

  Heat warmed her cheeks. She was certain they were ruby red. “Ruthie, really—”

  “Don’t you Ruthie me.” She waved her hand through the air. “Dat man in this house? What would your father think?”

  Lauren’s anger rose, along with the hairs on the back of her neck. The frustration of being told what to do, how to live, and who to love raged inside her. She’d been hearing what a bad man Max was for far too long, and the unfairness of it hurt her in ways she hadn’t imagined.

  Invoking her father’s memory created pangs of bitterness from deep inside her soul. She wanted to be slow to anger and quick to forgive, but given the circumstances, it was difficult.

  “Give him a chance. That’s all I’m asking.”

  Ruthie turned away. “You ask too much.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Max

  Max wasn’t surprised to get the call days later, but that didn’t mean he was excited about meeting his father back at the house. The same clouds of white smoke, which had always surrounded him, looked like a halo, but there was nothing angelic about his happy welcome.

  Max had hoped for better, but it wouldn’t be that easy.

  “My son,” Pops said with a smile, offering Max a brandy as he led him into the study, where they’d met so many times before. “I’ve missed you. Thank you for seeing me.”

  Max nodded and sat down across the desk from his father. “It’s good to chat again, Pop. We’ve had so many hours in this room.”

  “In this house,” he corrected him, “in this family. In the end, that’s what really counts, isn’t it?” A long, sad silence passed between them before his father said, “The house is quiet since you left.”

  Max nodded. “It’s because we’re not fighting.”

  “We never fought, Max, not before all this. That’s why I’m glad you’re here. We have to settle things, don’t you think?”

  “Always did,” he said. “I’m relieved to hear you say it. What I suggest we do is bury that document of yours—get rid of your agreement with Frank. We’ll make this winter festival a big hit, then deal with things in the new year.”

  Pops nodded; his smile almost too broad. “If that’s the way you want to play it.”

  Max wasn’t sure how to take that, but it registered in the back of his brain in a way he couldn’t ignore. Eaton Hunter had never given in so easily. Then again, he’d never lost his son.

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too, Pop, and I’m glad to hear you’ve reconsidered your position.”

  He shrugged. “I’m a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong.” After a tense pause, he went on, “Anyway, are you staying there?”

  That sent a thread of distrust up Max’s spine, but he wouldn’t hide the truth. “I am.”

  His father raised his palms as if in surrender. “Fine, good, whatever. Truth be told, you were always a cute couple. If you wind up together, or not, what do they say these days? S’all good.”

  Max sat there, not feeling the need to answer. By his father’s reaction it was obvious he’d made his point.

  “Anyway, I’m glad to see you again.”

  Max shared the sentiment, even if he doubted his father’s sincerity. “How’s my grandmother?”

  “The same.” He sighed. “I thought you leaving would jostle her into some kind of miracle return, but let’s
face it, she’s a vegetable.”

  Those words tugged at his insides like a loose thread unraveling all hope that she’d recover. “Pop, don’t say that.”

  “You think I’m happy about it? She’s my mother. I’d do anything to bring her back. Just to have another lucid moment with her would be a gift.” He swirled a hand above his head. “All of this … I’d give it up just to have my mother back.”

  A lingering silence passed while the hot smoke of the Cuban cigar collected at the back of Max’s throat.

  “Let’s keep our eyes on the future like you said.”

  “Right,” Max wanted to believe his father was being honest, but it felt foreign to his soul. This was about more than the lodge, the Hunter name, and the destruction and destiny of two families. There was too much at stake for him to turn away. He was eager to face it head-on, all of it; his father’s corruption, his desire for Lauren, his thirst to see justice. Just that one sweep across his lips days ago made him want more—much more. He’d give everything up for one more kiss.

  He said goodbye to his father and checked in on his grandmother. He read her several more passages before he climbed back into his SUV and drove to the lodge.

  He believed his father had changed his approach, but not his intent.

  Max’s feelings for Lauren would direct his course no matter what, but his father was a man of undeniable power, and his friendly change of position could only lead to one thing, a deceitful scheme, and that meant the odds were even higher. At best, his father was finally coming around, but at worst, everything was about to fall apart.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lauren

  Sally welcomed Lauren to Sally’s Country Cupboard with a smile, eyes wide and ringed with eyeliner and crowned with big, black lashes. She seemed out of place among the wooden chickens, red-and-white-checkered tablecloths, and little corncobs printed on the drapes. Mixed in with the straight-from-the-farm feel were green and blue garlands and twinkling white lights. There were snowmen painted on the storefront windows, and mainstream country-pop versions of classic Christmas tunes playing in the background, giving the place a festive feel.

  “Hello, hon,” Sally said, both of her hands cupping Lauren’s. “How’ve you been?”

  “Keeping busy. That’s why I’m here, actually.” Sally listened with a nodding head, eyes fixed on hers as Lauren explained her concept, and what Sally’s part in it would be. At the end of her sales pitch, Sally broke a sad smile and said, “Oh, honey, no, I don’t think so.”

  Lauren couldn’t ignore the sense of surprise, which came with a certain amount of worry. “Really? We could get a lot of attention. We’ll all share in the benefits.”

  “Well, sweetie, look, first of all, I think it’s very thoughtful that you’d come to me like this, but we’re competitors too. I mean, what’s the lodge but a big, empty restaurant. I run a smaller place, but we’re on different sides of the street. I’m sorry, that’s just the reality of how things work.”

  “What if it brings people in from out of town, and they have a chance to sample some of your delicious food?”

  “Then maybe they’ll come and stay at your lodge, but how does that help me?”

  “How?” It seemed so clear to Lauren. The very question was astonishing. “Sally, Moss Creek is in real trouble. We’re all in this together. Bringing in more visitors will help everyone.”

  Sally just shook her head. “Hon, I say this with all respect and sympathy, but maybe you’re just not cut out to run a big place like that.”

  “What?” She was more than cut out to run the lodge. What she wasn’t cut out for was the backlash of trying to save it.

  Lauren was struck dumb, and Sally was quick to explain; words fast on her tongue. “It takes a particular mindset, that’s all I’m saying. You have to think of things a certain way. Honestly, I don’t know if your folks ever really grasped that either, with all due respect, of course.”

  Lauren nodded, but it was all the answer she could muster.

  Sally went on, “You’re pretty, and you’re young—in the prime of your life, really.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Not enough men in this town, that’s your problem. In Denver, they’d be lining up to buy you dinner. Word has it that Aspen Cove has a surplus of men too.”

  Lauren didn’t want to speak, afraid of what she might say once she got started.

  “Why waste away in Moss Creek, anyway? I can’t imagine it, there have to be so many memories.”

  That touched off more worries, and thoughts streamed through Lauren’s head and heart. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sally went on.

  “Well, I only want you to be happy. And if you want my advice about this whole winter village thing, it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”

  “Does it?”

  Sally leaned forward, glancing around as if sharing some national secret. “What if some kid gets bit by a reindeer, or Santa Claus shows up drunk? Honestly, if you pull it off, it’ll be a miracle, but more than likely, it’ll break you.”

  Lauren wrapped things up with a few pleasantries before stepping out onto the sidewalk. She glanced around, already imagining the other shopkeepers giving her similar answers. She wasn’t afraid to try, but after the mayor’s response and now Sally’s, her high hopes were falling fast. Needing a spiritual boost, she stopped at the church next.

  “Father Christmas?” the pastor repeated. “Me?”

  “What could be more fitting? It would certainly bring the congregation around.”

  The pastor shook his head, jowls jiggling. “But would it be fitting? I am a pastor, after all. And Santa Claus? It’s all rather secular, isn’t it?”

  “We’re not pushing the crass commercialization of the holiday, but the old-fashioned family aspect. We won’t put you in a red suit and beard, but something more worldly? Father Christmas, not Santa Claus. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one, we think.”

  Pastor Higgins shook his head despite his own sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, Lauren, but I just don’t think so.”

  She had been afraid of just that response and couldn’t ignore the twisting in her belly. “Well, okay, I understand if you don’t want to take part, but you’re still welcome to be there as a presence to greet newcomers. It could help your numbers.”

  “It could, but I’m sorry, Lauren. I don’t see how I can help.”

  “Just to get the word out, really. You’re our spiritual leader, and your endorsement would go a long way to bringing legitimacy to our project.”

  He shrugged. “We try to stay out of secular matters. How would it be if we appeared to take sides, one business against another?”

  “This is an idea to bring the community together, Pastor Higgins. I guess some of my fellow entrepreneurs don’t quite see it that way, but I thought surely you’d have a more enlightened perspective.”

  “I’m happy to enlighten you. This is the Christmas season. Other than Holy Week in April, this is the busiest time of our year.”

  “Too busy to mention it during the service, or let me put up a few fliers?”

  “I can pray for you, I’m always happy to do that.” Lauren smiled and nodded and asked that he did indeed say a prayer for her. More and more, she had the feeling she would need it.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Max

  Max was glad to tell Lauren that his father seemed to reconsider. There was no point in mentioning all the complications, but it was relevant to them both that he was no longer fostering his family grudge.

  “That is good news,” she said. “I mean, I get that your father felt betrayed, but my father felt he had a duty to be honest.”

  “I understand,” Max said. “I always have. My father’s infidelity was the greatest mistake of his life, and I think he knows that. If your father hadn’t brought it to light, painful as that was, who knows? He’d have kept doing it, probably indefinitely. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was necessary, and it’s on him. I guess my f
ather’s coming around to that, finally.”

  Lauren nodded, her smile pure and simple. “Wonderful that it had a good outcome.”

  Max nodded, wanting to believe it and glad that Lauren seemed willing to.

  Sitting with her in front of the fireplace, pine logs crackling, barely a guest around, she seemed alone, abandoned, as if the entire town turned its back on her. That only inspired Max to stand with her. She had a vulnerability that called to him, lighting fires in him that had long seemed a passing childhood obsession.

  He’d had girlfriends, but none had filled him with a need to rise up and protect, to be the man he’d always hoped and tried to be.

  It was almost as if Moss Creek wanted him to be the only one to stand beside her. He still couldn’t believe that he could be so lucky, if it was luck at all, and not some greater force at work in the universe.

  He worried that his father had some grand strategy that would make Max a pawn. Does he hope I’ll marry her, and we’ll gain the land that way? Pops was so dead set against it initially but now had a complete reversal. Was it Jane who changed his mind? If so, why? How would this benefit her? Lauren was back in his life, and no one could change that.

  Lauren, he thought, enjoying her presence as they sat together, the smell of pine rich in the air. Finally, after all these years, they had a chance. Could he be the man she needed?

  He was unaccustomed to the case of nerves he was trying to suppress. What if my father really is up to something, and I accidentally play into his hand?

  “Maybe the winter village isn’t such a good idea, after all.” She looked around, sadness welling up in her eyes. “Maybe everyone is right, and it’s time to let it go. Realistically, it’s only a matter of time. Even Sam said I was two months from defaulting on the mortgage.”

  “No,” Max said. “Don’t give up. Do not sell the lodge, trust me.”