Snowbound in Montana

by C. J. Carmichael

  Forgetting her new resolve to avoid him, Eliza glanced at Marshall. He was staring into the fire, looking sad. She wondered if he was thinking of his brother.

  There was a collective sigh, and Jason dropped his hands onto his lap.

  “That was so beautiful. I think we’ll stop there.” He got up from the bench and gave his wife a tender kiss.

  Then Betsy was back, offering herbal teas and cocoa and more plates of cookies. Though still full from dinner, Eliza was unable to resist a cup of peppermint tea and one more shortbread cookie. The fact that they had been cut into snowflake shapes struck her as totally apropos, something she remarked to Sydney when the other woman perched on the chair beside hers.

  “This has turned out to be one of my favorite Christmas’s,” Sydney said. “Isn’t that strange? I mean, we had no gifts, no turkey, no heat, no lights…and yet, it’s been really magical.”

  “I feel the same way. And your last song was the perfect finish to the day. You have a beautiful voice.”

  “Thank you. I love singing when Jason is playing piano. We belong to the same choir.”

  “He obviously loves you a lot. That must be nice.” Eliza was shocked by the longing she heard in her own voice. She’d been so proud of herself for not obsessively thinking about John the past few days. But clearly, she still had a secret yearning inside of her, to be loved like that again.

  “I do feel blessed. For a long time I’d been doubting Jason’s love. We wanted to have kids and it was my fault we couldn’t. I thought he must wish he wasn’t stuck with me. I became very bitter and angry—provoking fights over ridiculous things. Well, you saw what I was like at the beginning of the trip.”

  “You didn’t seem very happy,” Eliza said, diplomatically.

  “I wasn’t. Worse, I was making sure Jason was just as miserable as I was. I guess I hit a new low when I ran off like a spoiled kid on that last ski trip. I’ve been meaning to apologize Eliza, for ruining the day for you. I’ve already apologized to Marshall, but he was so nice about it. He’s a great guy, isn’t he?”

  Eliza tensed, ready to ward off another matchmaking attempt.

  But Sydney didn’t go there. She was still thinking about herself and Jason. “In fact, it was something Marshall said when he was helping me after I had that fall, that got me thinking. While we were waiting for the skidoo, Jason was fussing over me, and Marshall told us we were lucky we had each other.”

  Eliza could imagine him saying something just like that.

  “His words stuck with me. And with Jason, too. We were so hung up on the fact that we couldn’t have children, we forgot to be grateful for what we did have. Each other.”

  Eliza didn’t trust her voice, so she just nodded, which was all the encouragement Sydney needed.

  “It’s shockingly easy to take someone for granted, until you find yourself alone and lonely. I’m afraid of how close to the edge I pushed our relationship.”

  Eliza managed a smile this time. She would not characterize herself as either alone or lonely. But she couldn’t deny she still yearned for the blissful happiness she’d experienced during her best times with John. She’d felt so much more alive, then, as if being connected to him on the closest level, had made her somehow more connected with herself at the same time.

  “Anyway, sorry for yakking away like this. I’m glad I had a chance to apologize, though. I really am sorry for all the trouble I caused.”

  “I’m just glad it ended relatively well.”

  “My ankle is only slightly swollen today. I’m sure I’ll be back to normal soon.” Sydney gave her a bright smile, then stood up. “I should get going. Jason’s waiting…”

  “Merry Christmas, Sydney.” Eliza watched the young woman seek out her husband. Jason wrapped his arm around her waist, letting her lean on him as they made their way up the stairs. She could understand the young couple wanting some alone time on this special day. But perversely, she suddenly felt reluctant to go to her own room where she’d be so very much alone.

  She glanced around the room. The Arbuckles had joined Tina and Alec Ritchie in a four-person game of Scrabble. Buck and Bonnie were in the games room with their daughters, and Anna was playing a card game with Marshall by the fire.

  Everyone was occupied, except for Kevin.

  His mother seemed to notice this at that same moment. Tina lifted her gaze up from the Scrabble board and frowned. “Has anyone seen Kevin?”

  At that moment, the door to the drying room flung open. “Hey guys! Come outside! You have to see this!”

  They all rushed to grab their coats and slip on their boots, Kevin dancing from one foot to the other in excitement. When they were ready, they slipped outside, following Kevin to a point about twenty yards from the lodge.

  “Look up!” Kevin instructed.

  Eliza did.

  And she marvelled.

  Never had she seen so many stars, not just twinkling, but pulsing with brilliant, silver light. The thick band of the milky-way arced over her head, and she was newly astounded by the understanding that this was her galaxy, the celestial world of which the earth was just one, tiny part.

  “Where did all the stars come from?” Kevin wanted to know.

  “They’re always out there,” his father explained. “It’s just that was can see them tonight because there aren’t any clouds or light pollution.”

  “What’s light pollution?”

  “Man-made lights, like the ones we have on our houses and cars in town.”

  “This is so cool,” Anna said. “Thanks for bringing us out here Kevin.”

  “Look at that one!” Kevin pointed to a point just above the roof. “It’s the brightest. Do you think it’s the star of wonder?”

  At first Eliza didn’t understand. But then Marshall started singing, “Star of wonder, star of night…”

  He had a baritone smooth and sweet as maple syrup. Soon other voices joined in, and then Eliza, too, couldn’t resist. “Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.”

  When they finished, Kevin’s mother spoke up. “It was the Christmas star that led the wise men to the manger where baby Jesus was born.”

  “Wow. Do you think it was the same star, Mom?”

  “It might have been.”

  Eliza shivered. She wasn’t cold. There was just something so beautiful about this moment. She could sense Marshall standing only a few feet away from her. He’d made no move to talk to her since they’d been separated for dinner. And it struck her as perverse that she should suddenly feel exactly the way she’d denied feeling only minutes ago.

  Alone and lonely.

  Chapter Ten

  ‡

  The next morning Eliza was awakened by a most peculiar sound.

  “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!”

  Followed by the jingling of…sleigh bells?

  She jumped out of bed, almost shrieking when her feet hit the cold, wooden floor. Quickly, she pulled on sock and jeans, a shirt and a sweater. Then she ran to the window, and gasped.

  Gliding up to the lodge was indeed a sleigh being pulled by two regal, golden-colored draft horses. In the driver’s seat was…Santa Claus. Behind him, the sleigh was piled high with gaily wrapped gifts.

  Eliza grinned. Kevin was going to love this. And she didn’t want to miss a second of it.

  As she hurried down the staircase, she could hear others behind her.

  “What the heck is going on?”

  “Did I just see what I thought I saw?”

  On the main floor a fire was burning merrily in the hearth, but there was no other sign of human presence. She grabbed her boots and coat from the drying room and stepped out into a brilliantly sunny day. The reflection from the snow was almost blinding, but she made out Griff and Marshall, going to meet the team, and then tying up the horses, while Santa stood tall from his perch on the sleigh and repeated his cheery message.

  A second later, the door flung open again, and Kevin
raced out, followed by the rest of his family.

  “Holy smokes! It’s Santa!”

  And right behind the sleigh, Eliza noted, came several trucks that rolled through the yard, then parked discreetly at the back of the lodge. She guessed they carried propane and the other supplies that had been delayed by the blizzard.

  But for now, all attention was rightfully on Santa who was currently apologizing for being a day late. The elderly gentleman playing the role sure looked like the real thing. Even his white beard and hair appeared genuine.

  “In all my years as Santa Claus, this is the first time I never managed to make all my deliveries before Christmas morning.”

  Kevin was soaking it up. “Really? Where are the reindeer? And where’s Rudolph?”

  “Oh, they’re resting, son. It was a tough Christmas this year. I’m sorry you didn’t receive your presents in time.”

  “That’s okay. We had fun, anyway.”

  “So…you don’t need these, then?” Santa gestured at the presents piled in bags behind him.

  “Hey! I didn’t mean that!” Kevin protested.

  “That’s okay, son. I was just teasing.” Santa reached back and grabbed one of red velvet bags. “Anyone willing to help me put these under the tree?”

  By now everyone was outside and willing to help, teaming up to carry the heavy bags inside. Eliza was one of the last in the line, and found herself paired off with Marshall.

  “Good morning,” she said, hating the way he glanced quickly at her, then away.

  “Hope you slept well?”

  “Not as well as the previous night. It was a little cold.”

  He looked genuinely sorry to hear this. “You should have stayed by the fire.”

  He was right. She should have. But she’d felt awkward about the prospect of being alone with him, so she’d gone up to her room when the others did. She’d deserved her restlessness night, she decided now. She shouldn’t have been so silly. She’d probably hurt Marshall’s feelings, and he so didn’t deserve that.

  Once they’d carried the bag of gifts into the lodge, they had their second surprise of the morning. The Christmas tree lights were back on, which meant the propane tanks had been re-filled and power restored to the lodge.

  “Wow, isn’t that beautiful,” Sydney said, stepping back to admire the tree.

  When she’d first arrived, Eliza had found the tree a little plain, compared to the ones she’d decorated for Bramble House. But now the tree, glowing with white fairy lights and decorated with hand-painted wood carvings of birds and other woodland creatures, struck her as perfect.

  They stacked the gifts under the tree and beyond, there were so many of them. Eliza even noticed a few with her name on them, and wondered how that had happened.

  “Can we start opening them, now?” Kevin was dancing from foot to foot again, a sure betrayal of his level of excitement.

  “Maybe we should have breakfast first,” his mother said.

  “Let the kid open his gifts,” Buck said. “He’s waited long enough already.”

  “Yes!” Anna agreed. “It’s time for presents!”

  At that moment the two employees who had been present on their first day at the lodge, emerged from the kitchen with trays of muffins and fresh fruit.

  “We’re back,” the taller one announced cheerfully, as she set the food out on a nearby table. “I’m sorry we missed all the Christmas fun, but we’re going to do our best to make it up to you today. You can snack on these now. We’ve got urns of coffee, tea and hot chocolate in the dining hall. And in a couple of hours we’ll be serving a three-course Boxing Day lunch.”

  The fresh fruit looked especially appealing to Eliza. She filled a plate with chunks of strawberries, bananas, kiwis and oranges, then curled back into her chair to watch while Santa handed out one gift to every guest, before disappearing on his sleigh. Kevin went outside to wave him off, then rushed back inside to start unwrapping.

  Eliza took in the melee, smiling and enjoying. She loved the whoops Kevin gave for every gift, whether it was a Lego set or a sweater. She noticed the quiet exchange of gifts between Jason and Sydney and then looked away as they kissed tenderly.

  When Kevin became over-excited and started buzzing around the room with a new toy rocket ship, his parents didn’t chastise him, correctly surmising that no one was bothered. In fact, Kevin was making the gift exchange more fun for everyone.

  “Are you going to open those?”

  Eliza glanced up. Marshall was standing by her chair, eyeing the two wrapped gifts in her lap.

  “I’m having so much fun watching everyone else, I almost forgot.”

  Marshall sank onto the footstool next to her. “It’s a blast seeing how happy Kevin is.”

  “Almost as happy as he was yesterday, playing hockey.” She smiled at Marshall, relieved that they were at least talking to one another again. She glanced down at her gifts, both wrapped in gold paper with red bows. “What are these? I thought Santa was only going to deliver the gifts that were left with him.”

  “I think the company decided to throw in a few extras. To make up, in part, for how the blizzard wrecked everything.”

  In hindsight, Eliza didn’t think the blizzard had been that awful. In fact, it had fixed more things than it had wrecked. Still, she carefully pulled away the tape from the first of her gifts. Inside she found a pair of ski gloves. She slipped them on. “Perfect size. And they’re so nice and warm.”

  “Next time you’re stuck in a blizzard, you’ll be prepared.”

  The other gift contained a snow globe. Inside was a ski lodge not unlike the one at Baker Creek. She turned it upside down, then smiled as she watched the snowflakes flutter inside the globe. “Pretty.”

  “You like it?”

  She nodded. “It will help me always remember this trip. Not that I’m likely to ever forget.”

  She glanced at Marshall then, suddenly certain that the company hadn’t arranged for these gifts, but that, somehow, he had.

  “Did you get anything?”

  He shrugged. “I’m an employee. The company was only worried about the paying guests. But don’t worry. My boss forked over a generous bonus this year.”

  “Well, you sure deserve it.” She wished she had something, anything, to give him. The fact that he clearly didn’t expect anything, only made her want it more.

  “So, what time will we be leaving?”

  “Three o’clock. Right on schedule.”

  “That’s amazing.” She glanced around the room, noticing for the first time how truly warm it was. And was that roasting turkey she could smell? “It’s almost like the blizzard never happened.”

  “We’re back to normal,” Marshall agreed.

  Only they weren’t, Eliza thought later, when she was seated for the Boxing Day lunch. The group was a much more convivial one today than it had been five days ago. She hadn’t heard Kevin’s parents speak crossly to him all morning. And his sister was being kinder to him, too. The Kellys were acting all lovey-dovey, but everyone else was mingling more, chatting cheerfully and going out of their way to thank Betsy and her staff for every little thing.

  The lunch was a triumph, with roasted turkey and cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes with orange and pecan sauce, broccoli-cheese casserole, cranberries and gravy, and mounds of creamy whipped potatoes.

  Eliza held her breath when Ted Arbuckle threw out a teasing comment. “So, getting your money’s worth today, Buck?”

  But Buck took the jab in stride. “Sure am. Bonnie and I might have to bring the girls back again next year. On the condition that Marshall, here, can guarantee us another snowstorm.” He winked, while his daughters groaned, and the rest of the guests laughed.

  When the meal was finally over, Eliza went back to her room to pack, and put tips into envelopes for all the staff. When she came to the envelope for Marshall, she didn’t know what was appropriate. He’d done so much to make sure everyone had a wonderful Christmas. But she
felt so little had been done for him in return. And sure, he was a paid employee of the Montana Wilds Adventure Company.

  But he was also a person who deserved to be happy.

  She ended up giving him a generous tip, equal to the one she’d left for Griff and Betsy. But she didn’t feel right about it. The ledger remained unbalanced, as far as she was concerned.

  *

  The bus arrived at three o’clock, right on schedule. This time Eliza did not scurry to the back, instead taking the seat right behind the bus driver, Stan. He greeted them all cheerfully as they boarded, congratulating them for surviving one of the worst blizzards to hit Montana in decades.

  Last on the bus was Marshall. He counted off the guests, ending with her, then sat in the seat across from hers.

  “Let’s go, Stan.”

  From her window Eliza looked back at the lodge with its cheerful red door. At least four feet of snow had settled on the roof, and the snow was still piled high all around the walls. That door had been a blessing in the snowstorm, a beacon of color in the midst of the white-out. There seemed to be even more snow piled high on the sides of the road, testament to how hard the plows had worked to dig them free.

  “That was quite the adventure,” she said quietly, not sure if Marshall could hear her.

  “Yup,” he agreed. “I’ll bet you’re anxious to get home.”

  She’d been trying not to think that far ahead. But now her stomach tightened and she could no longer stop her thoughts from whirling.

  Was John still in Marietta?

  Would he be waiting to see her?

  Chapter Eleven

  ‡

  First thing Marshall did at the end of every overnight trip, was pick up his dog, Ace. He had an arrangement with his neighbor, Shelli-Ann Hatcher, a nurse who owned a white fluff-ball named Jax. They dog-sat for one another on a regular basis. It was convenient because she lived right next door.

  There were negatives, however. One being Shelli-Ann’s habit of feeding Ace too many treats. The other being Ace’s dislike of Jax.