My Favorite Souvenir(11)

Maddie’s eyes were wide and sparkling. Her entire face lit up like a little kid’s on Christmas morning. The beauty I’d been appreciating outside couldn’t hold a candle to this woman’s smile. Not even close. Realizing I was staring at her lips, I forced my eyes anywhere else. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“I did. In fact, it was the highlight of my honeymoon,” she said with a laugh.

“That’s pretty sad.” I chuckled. Using my teeth to grasp the end of one glove, I yanked my hand out of it so I could dig into my pocket for the keys to the control station at the base of the mountain as we approached.

After we exited at the bottom, I turned off all of the lights, returned my snowshoes to the rental room, and locked everything up. Our driver pulled up within a few minutes.

I opened the SUV door and whispered in Maddie’s ear as she climbed in, “You might not want to touch anything in here.”

“Ugh. I’d almost forgotten about that. Did you have to remind me?”

I winked. “That’s what big brothers are for.”

The ride back to the hotel was luckily uneventful. Vail might get a shit ton of snow, but they definitely knew how to clear the roads. The main thoroughfares had already been plowed once and were much more passable than on our outbound trip. I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet, so I thought maybe I’d ask Maddie to have a drink at the bar with me again when we got back. But it turned out the hotel bar was already closed. I felt deflated, though it was probably for the best. The last thing this woman needed was me having a drink or two and hitting on her.

Once again outside our adjoining-room doors, we both lingered.

“Thank you again for tonight,” she said. “It meant more than you know.”

I smiled. “I’m glad.”

Maddie surprised me when she stepped forward and pushed up on her toes to kiss my cheek. “Goodbye, Milo. I hope you have a safe flight tomorrow.”

“Yeah. You, too, Mads. Take care of yourself.”

She opened the door to her room and turned back to wave one last time. All I could think as I watched her disappear was, I hope like hell this storm sticks around a while longer.





Chapter 4




* * *



Hazel



Normally, I had no problem sleeping in. But this morning I’d been tossing and turning since six am, even though I hadn’t fallen asleep until almost one. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the way I’d felt up on that mountain last night—how exhilarated and alive I’d been. My heart had thumped inside my chest, and it made me realize how long it had been since I’d felt that kind of excitement. It was as if I’d been dead the last few years, only no one had told me to lie down and call it a day.

Oddly enough, it hadn’t even been Hazel Appleton who had awoken. It was Maddie Hooker. The entire evening, starting with the crazy hotel check-in, had been more excitement than I’d experienced in a long time. And that said a lot.

Two months ago, I’d believed I was perfectly happy. Had Brady not done what he did, I’d likely be on my honeymoon with him at this very moment. That thought didn’t sit well with my stomach for so many reasons now. So many questions ran through my head.

Would I have been happy if Brady hadn’t canceled the wedding and we’d gotten married?

How could one night—a few hours with a random stranger—make me feel more alive than I’d felt over the last few years with a man I supposedly loved?

Did I love Brady?

Or did I love the idea of Brady?

Where did I go from here? Did I move back to Connecticut and slip back into my comfy life, taking pictures of runny-nosed school kids for the next forty years?

A sense of panic came over me at that thought, and I had to sit up in bed and whip the covers off.

God, I felt a little nauseous.

I needed to stop lying in bed and ruminating over my life. I also really needed to figure out what the heck was going on with my canceled flights. The airline had told me to check my confirmation number online, and eventually all passengers would be rescheduled onto new flights. So I reached over to the nightstand to grab my phone. When I signed in, I found they’d put me on a two o’clock flight connecting through Atlanta, instead of the direct one I’d had before. Though it probably wasn’t a good sign that the airline’s website had a bright red flashing weather alert, warning that there could be delays and cancelations again today.

I sighed and dragged my ass out of bed, off in search of some caffeine.

Downstairs, I grabbed two cups of the complimentary lobby coffee. I thought I might listen at Milo’s hotel room door and deliver one to him if I heard any signs that he was awake. It was the least I could do after all the trouble he’d gone to last night.

I didn’t even have to put my ear to the door to hear the television blaring in his room. I knocked lightly. After a minute or two went by, I figured maybe he was out already or slept with the TV on. But just as I turned toward my room, Milo’s door opened.

“H…” I never made it past the first consonant.

Oh.

Jesus.

Oh my.

Milo stood in the doorway wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist. Droplets of water ran down his chest…his very carved chest.

I swallowed.