Christmas At Cedarwood Lodge. Rebecca Raisin

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СКАЧАТЬ you’ll be a shriveled-up old maid in some windy, creaky lodge with a menagerie of animals who share your bed.”

      I guffawed. “As if! I don’t even use Pinterest any more!”

      “Liar. You forgot to make your dream-wedding board secret. I like the pearl wedding dress the best, the backless gown… stunning.”

      I wanted to dissolve into the floorboards. How could I have forgotten to make it secret! I’d been planning my own wedding since I could talk, but what was wrong with that? I just really liked weddings. Was that a crime?

      “Your romantic side is what makes you shine so brightly. Promise me you’ll find Timothy and go for coffee. And if he’s married, then don’t kiss him. Simple. But on the other hand, if he’s single… well, first love rekindled. God, I’d pay to see that.”

      She was incorrigible. And if I didn’t nip this in the bud she’d get carried away, and start pinning her own suggestions to my dream-wedding board. “Amory, my life isn’t a romantic comedy. First love rekindled? That only happens in movies. Fiction!”

      “And where do they get their inspiration from, huh? Real life, that’s where! Non-fiction!”

      Amory was a bulldozer when it came to pushing me out of my comfort zone. But she really didn’t understand the complexities of finding love in a small town. Again, I realized she’d jabbed me into a corner with all this nonsense about love.

      “I actually phoned you to talk about the new members of staff who arrived…”

      “Don’t try and change the subject. Your mission is to have coffee with the Matt Damon lookalike, and report back.”

      “Oh my God, Amory. Wait. How do you know what he looks like?” Timothy did bear an uncanny resemblance to the actor Matt Damon, and I knew he still looked just the same because I’d stalked his Facebook profile once. OK, maybe twice, but I’d had a few cocktails and didn’t everyone do that anyway? There wasn’t much to see because it was locked up tight, which left me with just his profile picture.

      “I found your yearbook and saw all the scribbled love hearts around the photo of him. Seriously, you were the sweetest thing, weren’t you?”

      I blushed, grateful she couldn’t see me. “Before you corrupted me.”

      “Which was so much fun! I have to go into a dinner meeting, which fills me with joy, so call me and tell me everything, just as soon as you’ve done it, deal?”

      I avoided the demand and said, “Don’t let them cold-shoulder you because of me.”

      She let out an evil chuckle. “Don’t you worry, darling. They’ve tried that but, then I got the go-ahead from you-know-who’s squad, to organize her surprise birthday party – so I’m quite the flavor of the month. You know what these agency backstabbers are like. Fickle.”

      Sadly I did know, all too well, how the tide could turn in an instant at the agency. “You’re a superstar. I wish I was there to see it.”

      “One celeb party is the same as the next, no matter how we dress it up. You’re not missing out.”

      “I guess. Wait, before you go, how are things with Cruz?” While Amory made a show of behaving like some kind of man-eater, I knew she had deep feelings for the mysterious Cruz, who hailed from Ecuador and was all intense with deep, smoldering eyes.

      “The same,” she sighed. “You know men in Manhattan. Can’t really commit to anything except their gym routines. And I’m crazy busy myself, so we’ll have to wait and see. We’re meeting for cocktails tonight, and then a show on Friday, so two dates in one week… a miracle in these parts.”

      Amory would never fully admit how she felt about a guy; it was like some protective instinct in her. And she’d been equally blasé about most guys up until now. Cruz was different, and I hoped she’d open up to him. “He really likes you, Amory, you can tell, so I hope you don’t act indifferent with him.”

      “Darling, I don’t act indifferent, I am indifferent. Because most of the guys I’ve dated have been total bores. There’s no point hiding the fact they sent me into a slumber. Cruz is the first guy I haven’t had to fake it with… and I’m not talking only sex,” she laughed. “But I won’t pin my hopes on him, not just yet. There’s a definite sizzle of attraction, but what if it fades?”

      “That first overwhelming can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t stop thinking of you stage of love might fade away but it’ll be replaced with more enduring emotions like comfort and stability.” What the hell did I know? I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been on a date… still, it seemed like sound advice.

      “Boring! I want the sparks.”

      I laughed, knowing Amory wouldn’t settle for mundane, ever.

      “Oh, God, please tell me that’s not Bonnie Tyler warbling in the background again?”

      I froze.

      “Darling, when you play ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ I know things are grim. Please, turn it off and listen to something more upbeat?”

      “It’s… the radio!” I lied.

      After ending the call, I leaned back and smiled. Amory always knew just what to say to perk me up, even if it was to rekindle a pretty dull flame from my past… Turning up ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ I thought about my best friend’s advice. Believing that true love was out there was easy; I just couldn’t quite believe it was going to be found in the tiny town of Evergreen.

Chapter Five

      The evenings grew longer and winter crept closer, bringing moody gray skies and the promise of cooler months to come. Under such solemn light, I felt the space between me and Mom yawn wider. She still hadn’t appeared and I knew something was up. I dialed her number again and was rewarded with the robotic voice: the number you have dialed… I hung up. Enough was enough.

      At the lodge, things were progressing hectically and only just behind schedule, and I supposed the world wouldn’t fall down around me if I took one night off from the endless paperwork and reconciling the figures. There was just so much to do, but I wasn’t concentrating properly with Mom’s absence on my mind.

      The wind keened like a lost soul as I locked the front door of the lodge. Kai was wandering around the grounds so I set off and found him peering into the window of one of the chalets near the lake.

      “I’m going out,” I said. “Are you OK to lock the front gate?” He always stayed behind, his work days longer than anyone else’s. As though he couldn’t fully relax until he’d checked every single job.

      “Sure,” he said, trying to make out the chalet room configurations in the encroaching darkness.

      I buttoned up my coat as the bracing winds took hold. Kai looked downright spellbound. Surely it wasn’t just the chalets prompting such a reaction? “What is it?” I asked. “You look like you’ve found Wonderland.”

      “I have found Wonderland. I had no idea the chalets were so well appointed. I guess I expected them to be derelict. СКАЧАТЬ