Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
She grinned. “He sure isn’t. You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” I was wearing a fitted white lace dress that came down to my knees and showed off my curves. Over the sweetheart under-bodice, the lace extended up to a crew neck and down into three-quarter sleeves. The back dipped into a V above a tiny vertical row of buttons running from the middle of my shoulder blades to my tailbone. On my feet I wore satin heels, and on my head, Gran’s lace-edged veil was pinned, the tulle floating gracefully around my shoulders. In my hands was a bouquet of white roses. And at my ears were the pearl earrings my father-in-law had returned to me.
“I’m going to go sit with Dex. Are you all good?”
I nodded. “Couldn’t be better.”
She smiled with bright eyes and gave me a loose hug. “I want to squeeze you, but I don’t want to mess you up.”
“Squeeze me later,” I told her with a laugh.
“Okay. I’ll get everyone in their places and cue the string quartet,” she said, going into wedding planner mode. “You know when to start down?”
“Yes.”
She blew me a kiss. “I’m so happy for you.” Then she disappeared, leaving me with a moment to myself.
At the top of the stairs where I waited was a huge window that looked out on the mountain. It was a gorgeous May evening, warm and fragrant with the spring flowers my mom had taught me to identify—white trillium and wild columbine and Virginia bluebells. The sky was fading from a brilliant cerulean to a hazy orange on the horizon, with clouds scattered above the trees.
I couldn’t believe how fast winter had gone. Just yesterday it seemed like Devlin and I were sitting on my couch looking at his sketch, and now phase one was complete. We had started taking reservations beginning the first of March, offering fantastic spa packages for girls’ weekends, romantic breakfast-in-bed weekends, and wine tasting dinners for foodies. Both Winnie and Ellie had been incredible resources, and Ellie’s husband Gianni had helped us put together an exciting menu that highlighted locally grown foods as much as possible. Tabitha had even proved herself useful as social media manager and head of PR, enticing bloggers and content creators in the travel space to come give the new Snowberry Lodge a try.
Bob Oliver had dropped her like a stone once it had been clear that she was not going to deliver what he wanted, and she’d been so furious, she sent proof of his cheating to McKenna, who’d promptly dumped him. He’d been fired from Hotchkiss a day later.
“He shouldn’t have messed with me,” Tabitha said with a shrug. “Hell hath no fury and all that.”
She was still grumpy about “her money,” but we’d convinced her that the better Snowberry did, the more she stood to inherit down the road. We’d offered her a good salary with lots of perks, and she seemed happy.
So far, the response to the changes at Snowberry had been fantastic, and we’d booked up fast. Our designer had leaned into the Scandinavian feel I’d suggested, with lots of warm wood, big windows, and pale stone. People loved the roomy, refurbished guest rooms, and the restaurant, named Skadi after the Norse goddess of winter, was packed every night. The bar Austin had made out of reclaimed wood for Snö, our new cocktail lounge, was a showpiece. Architecture and design magazines had even featured it on their pages.
We’d updated the lifts, groomed new hiking trails, and put in the saltwater grotto, which I had to admit, was everything Devlin said it would be. This summer, phase two would begin—Firefly would be a reality by the time we opened for ski season.
The only change we’d made to our original plans involved Lake Otter. The idea had come to me in a dream, in which I’d seen groups of kids splashing around in the water, singing songs around a campfire, and eating meals at long picnic tables in the sunshine. I sat up in bed the next morning and pitched it to Devlin.
Great Lakes Camp Lemonade.
“I love the idea. But are you sure, Lexi?” Devlin asked me.
“Of course I’m sure. I can’t think of anything that would make my parents happier. They’d be so proud.”
“It’s a good chunk of land.”
“It’s going to be put to good use.”
“What about Gran?”
“What about her? I think she’ll be thrilled to see a pocket of Snowberry transformed for such a good cause. Maybe we can name the girls’ cabin after her.”
“That’s a great idea.”
I tossed my hair. “I’m full of them. Husband.”
“I just want to be certain you’re not doing this because you think you owe me something.” He put his hands on my hips and pulled me close. “You don’t.”
I tapped my fingers against his chest. “Hey, do you want to close this deal or what?”