What?
When they’d arrived at the resort, things had only gotten colder.
Bob didn’t know why the two women in his life were so quiet, but he was determined to not let it ruin his trip. He couldn’t dodge the idea that he’d said something wrong this morning, right before they left Stella’s apartment. Stella had had an overnight bag packed already from her canceled trip, so he’d just had to fit it in the trunk with his and Marilyn’s things. He’d also wedged in her cello. It’d been a tight fit—he almost hadn’t gotten everything in—but he suspected Stella wouldn’t have minded sharing her seat with the instrument she’d been playing for years.
When he’d gone back up to the apartment, Stella was grabbing a quick shower. Marilyn sat on the couch with her arms folded.
“What’s wrong?” He sat next to her, the springs on the couch bending them toward each other.
“Nothing.”
But he knew that look. There definitely was something.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Why would I be mad?” Her left shoulder went up in a shrug. “Everything’s fine.”
“You’ve been speaking to me in monosyllables since last night.” Oh. Wait. “Is this about Stella coming with us?”
In the bathroom, the water shut off.
Marilyn tightened her arms. “You didn’t even ask if it would be okay if she came along.”
“Our daughter was going to be alone for Christmas. Is that what you wanted?”
“Keep your voice down,” Marilyn hissed. “Of course that’s not what I wanted.” She turned to him. “I wanted to be consulted before you made drastic changes to our plans.”
The bathroom door opened. He heard footsteps, and then Stella’s bedroom door clicked shut.
He kept his voice low. “What was I supposed to do? Ignore her?”
“I don’t know, okay? I just— Never mind.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have checked with you first.”
Her arms fell to her sides. “Thank you. And you did the right thing, it’s just that—”
In front of them, the TV popped on. Stella walked into the room with the remote, dressed in jeans and a chunky blue sweater. She rubbed at her long blonde hair with a towel. “I thought we should catch a little weather and traffic before we leave.” She plopped into an armchair and threw her leg over the arm. “That was quite the storm yesterday, and it doesn’t look like it’s letting up.”
The channel six weatherman had excitedly told them that more snow was coming, and fast. “We should get on the road,” Bob had said. “I want to beat the next round, if possible.”
Now, several hours later, Bob wished he could go back to that moment, ask Marilyn “Just what?” But the time had passed, and now they were making their silent way onto the Evergreen Resort property, the night heavy and laden with snow.
He just hoped he could find it.
And, he hoped the apology had smoothed things over enough for them to enjoy their trip. But if not—he mentally shrugged—he’d deal with that later.
He drank the last swallow of the vanilla coffee he’d picked up on their way through Deep Haven. Cold.
Running into Dan and the other guys at the coffee shop in town had been a nice surprise. Bob had embraced his solidly built, dark-haired friend. “Dan. How are you?”
“You made it to town. Excellent. You’ll love the Evergreen Resort. I think the family is stuck in Florida. But they left Romeo in charge. He’s fantastic—”
“I think we met him. He pulled us out of the ditch.”
“Can’t believe he’s alone for the week of Christmas at the resort. It’s their biggest week of events. With Casper out of town, Romeo will probably have to oversee the Wilder House, too. And Boone here is getting married there on Saturday night.” Dan gestured to a blond man at the counter.
The man turned around, holding a tray of coffee. “I’m sure Romeo will pull it together. Between my bride and her to-do list, I’m sure everything will be perfect. But he definitely has his hands full.” He turned to the Browns. “Nice to meet you. Have a great vacation.”
“Plan to,” her father said. “Thanks.”
Now, as Bob pulled up to the drive of Evergreen Resort, the quietness of the snow drifting down around him, he just wanted to revel in the feeling of not needing to think about the candles for the lighting service on Christmas Eve and whether or not there was enough space between the Christmas tree and the altar for the children’s nativity. This was his first Christmas off in forty years, and he’d be darned if anything slipped in to ruin it. He was not going to think about the ministry for six glorious days.
Dan had told him that the big blond guy, Boone he thought the name was, was getting married on Christmas Eve. Bob felt a little sorry for his friend, having to officiate a wedding on a holiday, but Dan seemed excited about it. And, Bob admitted to himself, he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t see the appeal of a wedding full of twinkle lights, snow gently falling, and the strains of Christmas music in the air.
Just because he was skipping Christmas didn’t mean the rest of the world had to.
Bob slowed as he pulled into a driveway, and the Evergreen Resort spread out ahead of them. Several small cabins ringed a lake covered with snow, evergreens growing in the distance. Smoke curled from one of the chimneys.
The perfect hideaway.
“Ladies, it looks like cabin six will be our retreat from the world for the next six days.”
Beside him, Marilyn grunted, and in the back seat, Stella uncrossed her arms and sat up straighter.
Gravel crunched under their tires as he drove the short distance to their accommodations.
Getting out of the car again, Bob stood by the trunk for a moment and took a deep breath. Hints of pine and wood smoke and the clean, fresh scent of new-fallen snow filled his lungs.
Pristine. Peaceful. Perfect.
He couldn’t wait to get started.
Okay. Marilyn was determined to lose the bad attitude.
She and Stella sat in the car, engine ticking as it cooled down. Bob had jumped out to find their cabin. A few inches of freshly fallen snow covered the path that led around a smattering of small, cute cabins settled against the lakeshore.
In fact, freshly fallen snow lay over everything, smoothing out the harsh lines of the Evergreen cabins and blanketing the area in a winter wonderland. The still-falling snow made a gentle shush as it dropped to the ground.
Marilyn took a deep breath and let go of the negative feelings she’d been holding on to during the drive up here to Deep Haven. It wasn’t Bob’s fault that Stella’s trip got canceled, and of course he’d done the right thing to invite her along.
What were they going to do? Leave their daughter alone on Christmas?
Of course not.
She could still reconnect with Bob, even with Stella along. She’d just have to be more creative with her plans. She could still recreate some aspects of their honeymoon, even if it wouldn’t be as romantic. She just needed to get Bob talking to her again.
Plus, she hadn’t missed the strange reaction Stella had had to the guy who had helped them out of the ditch. An overreaction that seemed born of some other deep emotion.