by Kay Correll
“Probably get a better price now before news gets out about Dobbs wanting to sell his property and change the zoning laws.”
“We won’t let that happen.” Jason pressed a quick kiss on his mother’s cheek. “Even though Beth dropped out of the race for mayor, we still can lobby against the changes.”
“Well, some people in the town would like the zoning changed. If more big condo complexes are built out here on the lake, it would mean more tourists in town, more business, more jobs.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” He sighed. The lake was just about the most perfect place on earth as far as he was concerned, and he loved helping his mother run the lodge nestled between the banks of Sweet River and Lone Elk Lake.
“How does Bree look?”
“The same. Well, older. Sadder.”
“She’s had some tough blows in life. Last time Abby was at the cabin, she came to the lodge for dinner. Said that Bree had gotten divorced.”
“I heard that. That’s too bad.” He took one last gulp of his coffee. “I’ve got to run. The tractor is acting up and I need it in tiptop shape before any of the big winter storms hit.” He set his mug in the sink. “I’ll see you tonight at the lodge. I told Bree to come over about six.”
“I’ll see you then. Looking forwarding to seeing Bree again.”
Chapter 2
Bree finally coaxed the water heater to spit out some lukewarm—no, maybe lukecool water—so she could take a quick shower. A really quick shower. She grabbed a towel and dried off in a hurry. Better add look at the water heater to her growing to-do list.
She pulled on a pair of jeans, a warm sweater, and boots. It would be good to see Jason’s mom, Nora. The woman had always had a place at the table for any of Jason’s friends who might drop by. The lodge’s dining hall did a brisk business on the weekends during the summer and a fair business during the weekdays. Nora kept one table in the corner for friends and family who stopped by. Bree could remember many a night she’d pop up from the table and help deliver a meal to a big group of diners, or help clear off a table during the rush and set it up for the next customers.
She hadn’t thought about those nights in years. Now she couldn’t wait to get over to the lodge. After grabbing her parka and gloves, she tugged the door behind her and yanked it again until she could finally get it to close all the way. She hurried down the gravel drive and crossed the blacktop road. She walked down the road and slightly around the bend. There, heading up the hill, was the pathway, the shortcut to the lodge. More overgrown than when she was a girl, but still there, calling her name. Beckoning her to climb the hill and disappear into her past.
She resolutely put one foot on the pathway and started her ascent. When she got to the top of the hill, she saw the cute white gazebo the Cassidys had built on the crest of the hill. She sank down on a bench and looked out at the view. The lake stretched out before her and the snowcapped mountains rose majestically in the distance. The sun was beginning to set and threw a bouquet of brilliant colors across the sky. She’d missed this view, too. How many times had she and Jason or she and her sisters sat up here talking? Then it had been on an old log, not on a nice bench in a gazebo. She could almost hear their young, girlish voices. But no, it had been forever since the three of them had sat up here. Twenty years was a long time, she reminded herself. A long time—but not long enough.
She rested a moment, taking in the view, feeling the cool breeze, listening to the wind through the trees. She’d loved the lake in the summer on the weekdays. When the crowds were not so overwhelming, but the warm summer days blended one into the next. All three sisters had held a series of part-time jobs with no serious responsibilities. Life had been simple then.
Well, until it had gotten complicated.
She rose and took one last look at the view, then turned and headed down the hillside toward the lodge. Another overwhelming feeling of coming home washed over her, maybe more so than even when she’d returned to the cabin.
Jason waved to her from the bottom of the hill, sitting on the steps that led up to the dining hall. The dining hall was a log structure with a wide wrap-around porch with swings and rocking chairs gracing its weathered wooden planking. A huge stone fireplace hunkered at the far side of the building, its chimney reaching up toward the darkening sky. The place was charming and inviting, worn and weathered, but not a bit dilapidated or old. She lifted her hand in a quick wave, paused one more moment to take in the familiar sight, and hurried down the hillside.
Jason looked up at Bree waving from the hilltop. A surge of emotions swept through him. A longing for carefree childhood days. The friendship. The laughter. Until it had all disappeared on that one fateful day. They had both lost so much that day, and he rarely let himself think about it. That summer had changed his life. He’d become more focused. Decided for certain that he’d come back and help his mother with the lodge. That summer had shown him what was important and how life could be so very short.
He pushed all that aside, just glad to have Bree back, if only for a while and not under the greatest circumstances. It was so like her to be the one sister who came back to get the cabin ready to sell. Always responsible. She always claimed it was her middle child fatal flaw.
She crossed the last of the distance between them, her cheeks rosy from the cool air. A broad smile lit her face. “I’ve missed all this. Even that hill. Though it’s a bit steeper than I remember.”
“Old age, Breester. Old age.”
She punched his arm. “We’re the same age. Are you old?”
“Nah, I’m in great shape. Forever young.”
“Then that’s what I am, too.” Her words and the defiant jut of her chin said one thing, but the hesitation in her voice said she didn’t quite believe herself.
She did look tired. Good, but tired. Maybe just from the long drive, or maybe from life’s trials. He wasn’t sure. He looked up at her from his perch on the step. “I was hoping you would really come. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to watch you come down that hillside again. It’s been a long time.”
“Twenty years.”
“Well, you’re back now.”
She reached down a small, gloved hand for him and tugged him to his feet. “Come on. I hear there’s some good cooking around here.”
“You betcha. Mom’s dying to see you. Let’s head for the kitchen.”
They cut through the dining room. About half of the tables were filled with diners. He mentally counted them as they walked past. Fairly good turnout for midweek. Maybe the extra online advertising he’d been doing was starting to pay off.
He pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen. “Mom, look who I found.”
Nora looked up from her cooking with a warm smile. Bree crossed the kitchen and was instantly enveloped in a hug. He stood back and grinned like a fool. So glad to have Bree back here. So glad to see her in his mom’s arms again.
For a moment, just a tiny one, it was like everything horrible had never happened.
But it had.
Bree collapsed gratefully into Nora’s arms. For the first time in a very long time, she felt safe and like she belonged somewhere. How could a hug deliver that much to her?
“I’ve missed you, girl,” Nora whispered in her ear, not voiced as a reproach, more as a fact. “Stand back and let me look at you.”
Bree stepped back and smiled at the woman. Nora looked older. Her hair had streaks of gray and was cut in a short, easy-care style. Her face was lined with a few wrinkles, and she looked slightly thinner. But her smile was the same, and her welcome was heartfelt. She bubbled with the same amount of energy as ever.
“When Jason told me you were here... Well, I’m just glad to see you. You’ve grown up into a beautiful woman.”
“Thanks, Nora.” Bree didn’t believe that remark. She considered herself okay looking. Her curly brown hair refused to be tamed, she carried an extra ten pounds she just could not lose, and every time she caught
her reflection or saw herself in a selfie, she could see the haunted expression hidden behind the flecks of gold in her brown eyes. Not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination. Her older-by-a-year-and-a-half sister, Abby, was the drop-dead gorgeous one. Her younger-by-two-years sister, Cece, well she was short, cute, and vivacious, and people were instantly drawn to her. But Bree’s ego had been so beaten down in the last few years that she’d take any compliment thrown her way. Eagerly.
“Now, scoot.” Nora shooed them out of the kitchen. “As soon as Judy gets back from the supply room, she’ll take over the cooking again. You two go out and grab a table and have a nice dinner. I’ll be out to chat as soon as I get things under control here in the kitchen.”
They threaded their way through the tables, stopping once for Jason to say hi to someone he knew and once when one of the waitresses paused to ask him a question. He looked like a man in his element. Relaxed, friendly, in charge. No longer the young boy who ran errands for his mom and bussed tables.
Jason led her to the same table in the corner that they’d sat at a hundred times before. He pulled out the worn ladder-backed chair for her and she slipped into it. The faded, shellacked wooden tabletop was showing wear, but still looked inviting. A chrome napkin dispenser and chrome-topped salt and pepper shakers sat atop the table. She remembered many nights sitting at a table after the dining hall had closed filling up those shakers and napkin dispensers as she waited for Jason to finish up and come hang out with them.
The waitress came over and took their order, paying curious attention to Bree and devoted attention to Jason. Bree decided on the lodge’s famous meatloaf. Jason ordered fried chicken. They both ordered a cold beer.
They sat in comfortable silence for a bit. Bree watched the comings and goings of the diners and marveled at the lake view through the expansive windows across the front of the dining hall. She drank in the familiar sights and sounds and smells. The clatter of dishes. The low voices of the customers who would occasionally break into laughter. The faint scent of Nora’s apple pie. She feasted on her surroundings, wrapping them around her like a child clutches her tattered security blanket.
“Still the same?” Jason interrupted her thoughts.
“The same. But different.”
“Well, for one thing, there’s just the two of us here at our table. Not the whole group.” His voice was tentative.
“Yes, there is that,” she answered in a low voice.
“Did you two ever work out your differences?”
“Differences is a mighty understated word for what happened.” She fiddled with her napkin and avoided looking at him.
“But you’re sisters.”
“Sisters don’t do that to each other.”
“They shouldn’t. But we were all kids. Kids make mistakes.”
“Some bigger than others. Some more easily forgiven and forgotten.” She looked directly at him to drive home her point.
“Do you see Cece often?”
How should she even answer that? Admit they’d barely spoken to each other? They’d only seen each other at scattered holidays at their parents’ insistence. That it still took her breath away when her sister walked into a room. That no amount of “I’m sorrys” had been able to mend the rift. Ha, it was more than a rift. It was a canyon of pain between them.
She settled on “I rarely see her.”
“That’s too bad. You two were so close. I thought you’d work it out by now.”
“Do we have to get into this? I’m having a hard enough time with this trip back to Sweet River as it is.”
“Sorry, Breester.” His eyes held hers for a moment. She could see he was truly sorry.
“How about Abby? Do you see her?”
“Abby. Another story. She’s busy with her life and her job. Runs with a fast, partying crowd. I don’t see her often either. We don’t have much in common anymore.”
“So, now that your parents... are... gone.” He paused and looked directly at her, his eyes full of warmth and kindness. “Will you and your sisters see each other?”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. My mom’s insistence was the only thing that drew us together anymore. And that wasn’t very often anyway.”
The last thing she wanted was to spend the evening rehashing painful old memories. “So when did you decide to come and help your mother run the lodge? Oh, and what’s your sister, Beth, up to these days?”
He grinned at her sharp U-turn of topics. “Short version. Came back here after getting a degree in business with an emphasis on hotel management. I really enjoy working here. I do a little bit of everything. Keep the books. Clear the snow. Jason of all trades.” He grinned.
“And Beth? Does she work here too?”
“No, she’s a teacher in town. Though she does help out here in the summer. She has two boys. I adore them. Ten and eight years old. They have me wrapped around their little fingers.”
“So she’s married?”
“She’s actually divorced. I don’t know if you remember him from the summers you were here, but she married Scott, the star quarterback. She was probably dating him by then when you were here? Anyway, he’s a real jerk. Good riddance.”
“I remember him.” She’d always thought he was a bit full of himself. “I’m sorry, though. Divorce is tough.” She knew how hard being married to and then divorcing a jerk could be.
“It was tough on her and the boys. Scott still tries to cut in and run her life, but she doesn’t let him get very far. And she’s dating Mac McKenna now. Doubt if you remember him. He left town after high school. He’s a great guy. Good for Beth.”
“And what about Beth’s friend... wasn’t her name Sophie? They were always together.”
“Sophie took over her parents’ art gallery in town after they passed away, but now she’s singing with Chase Green.”
Bree snapped her fingers.”I thought she looked familiar. I saw a video of him singing with a new woman, but I couldn’t figure it out before. Wow, small world.”
The waitress interrupted by bringing out their meals and pausing to flirt with Jason. Of course, any woman with eyes in her head would want to flirt with him. A good-looking, kindhearted man was hard to come by.
When the waitress left, Bree said, “I see you haven’t lost your touch with the ladies.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jason flashed a boyish grin.
“Yeah. Right.”
While they ate, Jason regaled her with stories of the lodge and the people who stayed here. The regulars who came year after year. The townies who came for loud, party-filled weekends. One family who rented the entire place each summer for a huge family reunion. The weddings and receptions they hosted here now, with the guests of the weddings filling up the cabins. She could see how much he enjoyed working at the lodge.
“I guess your Mom enjoys having you help run the place.”
“I think so. Remember Jim? The old guy that helped her with everything? He retired right after you left. Well, that last year. I finished college and I just kind of stepped in and took over what he did plus some of the business side.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
“I do.”
“It looks like you’ve expanded quite a bit. But somehow, it still has its same homey feel.”
“Well, I put my business degree from Colorado U to good use. Mom was glad to turn all the financial stuff over to me. She never did enjoy that part of owning the lodge. She’s a people person. With some changes, the lodge started showing a much better profit. We updated the inside of the cabins. Put in a new dock and swimming platform.”
“For the few people foolish enough to brave the freezing water.” She could remember plunging in the lake, middle of the summer, and how it took her breath away with the cold.
“Yes, those crazy kids.” He grinned.
“You seem very contented here.”
“I am happy here. I can’t imagine doing anything else, or living anywhere else.”<
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Bree envied him his contentment. She wondered what it would be like to be so happy with your life, so satisfied where you were. She didn’t think she’d ever felt that. Not even in the middle of her marriage to Brian, not even when her son, Cody, had been born. There was always the overlying feeling of what if. But she’d thrown herself into motherhood, and for years her whole life had revolved around raising Cody and trying to keep Brian happy. She’d failed at both and was all alone now. A thought that was her constant companion, like an aching back or a nagging headache, always in the background of every moment of every day. And sometimes, when she couldn’t keep the loneliness at bay, she’d crawl into bed for a few days and wallow in self-pity. Not that it helped.
She looked across the table at Jason, glad to have him back in her life again. She’d felt an instant connection between them since the first day she’d met him. He must have felt the same way because he’d befriended her that first summer and never wavered in his always there for her attitude. He’d never acted like he wanted anything more. She reached across the table and covered his hand with her own. “You’re a good friend.”
His eyes twinkled when he said to her, “I’m a patient friend, I’ll give you that. I’ve waited a lot of years for you to come back and play with me.”
She laughed then. A true laugh. Something she hadn’t done in she didn’t know how long. It startled her, and the tiniest feeling of being alive again crept through her. He squeezed her hand, and the pressure of it sent a surge of happiness through her.
“Welcome back, Breester.”
His words were welcoming her back to Sweet River Falls, but she felt like maybe, just maybe, she was welcoming the real Bree back.
Just then Nora came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee clenched in her hands and sank down on a chair beside them. “Looks like everything is under control. Not a bad night for mid-week. The lodge is almost full, too.”
“And the next four weekends out are booked up completely,” Jason added.
