Ding!
The elevator sounded just before the doors slid open and Elliot stepped to the side so whoever was inside would have room to pass him. He trained his gaze back on Mia as she looked at him with uncertainty—and a touch of curiosity, he believed. Or perhaps that was wishful thinking.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” a high-pitched voice said just beside him. “Elliot James. The Elliot James is standing in my hotel?”
He turned to find a teenaged girl grinning at him, her baggy Dodgers sweatshirt hanging halfway down her thighs.
“Erin,” Mia said with an authority that impressed him. “Mr. James is a guest at the Powder Peaks Lodge and as the Acting Manager I have to ask you to respect both his privacy and his space.”
Erin shot Mia a quick glance before pulling out her phone. “Can I get a selfie?”
Elliot gave the teenager the winning smile he was used to directing at his female cast members. “Sure thing. Want me to take it?”
“Yes,” Erin said, nearly throwing herself into his arms. He set down the trash cans. Careful not to drop her phone, he lifted it and framed himself and the girl in the photo. He could see Mia through the camera just behind him as she turned and locked the closet and then walked back toward reception.
Had he bothered her by accepting the selfie? Or was that just the way she was going to act around him?
Well, if he did, what did it matter? He was used to this. He selfie-ed with fans all day long.
After taking the photo and handing the girl her phone, he picked up the trash cans and pressed the elevator button to return to his sister’s room.
“Thank you,” Erin said, swiping through the pictures he took with a wide grin on her face. She lifted her gaze. “I just love you on My Crazy Family. That has to be my all-time favorite show right now.”
“Thanks,” he said, casting a glance around for Mia before stepping inside the elevator. He didn’t see her anywhere. “See you around.”
Erin stared at him like she hadn’t thought of that herself. “I will. I will see you around.”
Elliot had to remind himself that the teen was just excited, regardless of how insane she sounded.
Leaning forward, he pressed the button to close the doors, hoping Erin wouldn’t get it in her mind to follow him and discover which room was his.
Once the doors were safely closed, he leaned against the wall and shut his eyes, clutching the garbage cans to his chest. That could have gone significantly better. He wasn’t under the false illusion that he could get Mia to forgive him. But he did hope to find the opportunity to apologize, regardless. He couldn’t see her face without remorse flooding him.
He was a guest at Powder Peaks for the next few days, at least. He had time.
The silence woke him up. Elliot turned toward the nightstand but the clock was off, too.
The power had gone out.
He blew out a breath, stretching his arms high over his head and yawning. He was used to the bustle of the city; it was so dark and so quiet here, he was positive he would not be going back to sleep anytime soon.
A sound went off in the distance and the red blinking light of the clock on the bedside table broke through the darkness.
Elliot lay in bed another few minutes before pulling himself up and padding across the floor to peek out the window. Peeling back the blackout curtains he was immediately flooded with a glowing light.
The moon and stars reflected off the snow, highlighting the white blanket which covered Main Street and the surrounding mountains. And there was a lot of snow.
Elliot let the curtain swing back and turned for the dresser which held most of his clothes. He was dressed in a few short minutes and leaving his room before he could talk himself out of it. Pausing at his sister’s door, Elliot listened for the sound of disturbed children or a sick dad, but it was silent. Hopefully that meant the whole family was getting much needed sleep.
Pausing at the elevators, Elliot’s hand hovered over the button before he thought better of it. If the power went back out, he would be stuck. Probably better to take the stairs.
The dim stairway was lit by small track lights lining the floor and he jogged down to the main level quickly. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say when he reached the lobby, but he felt the pull to go down there and check on Mia, regardless.
Gathering a breath laced with courage before he opened the door on the main floor, Elliot stepped into the darkness. Silence met him.
There were dim lights on behind the front desk, but their light didn’t reach very far. They were useful to highlight the empty desk, however. Elliot stepped forward and looked around, but Mia was missing. Well, it was worth a shot, but perhaps it would be better if he just went back to bed.
He turned for the stairwell again when a sudden, loud snore ripped through the foyer. Pausing, Elliot moved toward the parlor on the other side of the lobby. Two French doors sat open toward the foyer and he made his way across the wooden floor toward the room.
Peeking inside, Elliot could see Mia lying across the couch, a pug snuggled against her torso on the sofa cushion. Her mouth was open, and another snore tore through the room, putting a grin on his face.
Mia’s shoulder-length blonde hair was tousled and her face peaceful. He had loved her a lot, and those feelings didn’t just dissipate over the years. It was painful to watch her now and know she was so angry with him, but he understood. He had left her without an explanation or a word. He’d ghosted her.
Now, six years later, it was well within her rights to despise him.
Which was why he was taking advantage of the opportunity to gaze at her without watchful, guarded eyes gazing back. He could probably never adequately apologize for what he’d put her through. And the regret which filled him as he watched her was acute.
She began to stir and he felt a moment’s panic. What would Mia think to wake up and find Elliot standing over her, staring at her like a fool?
He was out of time. Her eyes blinked open, and Elliot stood rooted to the spot. He stared at her, sure she was going to be angry with him.
Instead, she surprised him by smiling softly, and his heart leapt to his throat.
“Elliot?” she questioned, her voice groggy from sleep.
“Yes,” he said right away, afraid to move and wreck the peace. His feet were glued in place, standing behind the sofa as Mia slowly woke up. Her arms stretched high above her head but immediately went down to her waist to check on the dog snoozing there. “Is everything all right?”
Elliot cleared his throat. “The power went out and woke me up, but it kicked back on.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “Like sixty seconds later?”
“I guess so. I don’t actually know.”
“I bet that was the backup generators.” Mia placed her hands around the dog and gently held him in place on the cushion as she got up from the couch. She looked to the TV. “I guess that explains why the TV is off.”
Mia stepped past Elliot and crossed the lobby. He stared after her for a moment before following. She was treating him normally and he didn’t want it to end.
But he also recognized that she had just woken up, and he probably shouldn’t push his luck.
She paused behind the desk and then glanced up to him. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine. I just have a hard time falling back asleep once I wake up so I thought I’d come down here and make sure everything was all right.”
Her pale eyebrows drew together slightly, but she nodded and went back to looking at something on her computer. A minute passed between them in silence and Elliot chose to take advantage of Mia’s friendliness.
He leaned forward on the desk. “So how long have you been in Hidden Hollow?”
“About eight months.”
She answered so easily. Distracted, maybe, but she answered. “And have you been in the hotel business for a while? Last I heard you wanted to become a lawyer.�
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“Ever since college,” she said. Her face glowed from the computer screen. “I got a job at a front desk downtown and realized I loved the whole atmosphere and work involved in hospitality. I changed my major and pursued this instead.”
“If I can be so bold, I’d have to say that this suits you far better than being a corporate lawyer. No matter how nice their suits are.” He smiled, recalling a conversation once when Mia had confessed that part of the reason she wanted to be a lawyer was so she could wear power suits to big meetings.
“Well lucky for me this job requires suits every so often, too.”
“Mia.”
She stilled at the computer, bringing her gaze up to meet his. He could see the uncertainty in her green eyes, and he hoped she would leave her guard down and allow him to speak.
He needed to apologize.
“Listen,” he said, “I know we left things badly—”
“We?” she asked, her eyebrows shooting high on her forehead.
“No.” Elliot shook his head. “Not we. I left things badly. I was a stupid, young kid and I was hurting—”
“I really don’t know if I can do this right now.” Her voice grew hard and she waved her hand in dismissal, dropping her gaze.
“Please just let me say this, Mia. And then I promise to leave you be.”
Chapter Five
Mia felt her heart beating a hundred miles an hour. Her whole body hummed with the proximity of the love of her life and his seemingly heartfelt apology. But what was the point?
She could never trust him again.
“I don’t see how it’s useful to keep rehashing the past,” she said.
Elliot pierced her with a look so strong she wanted to glance away. But she held his gaze.
“I don’t think we’ve rehashed the past at all,” he argued.
“You know what I mean. You keep trying to bring it up.”
“Which is not technically rehashing anything. I wouldn’t mind talking about it though, for the record. I know I owe you an explanation. And I’m willing to give you one.”
Was it obvious that her heart stopped? For six years she’d wanted that very same thing. But no matter how many guys she dated or how many stupid episodes of My Crazy Family she’d watched, she could never shove that final conversation from her mind. The one that occurred in the hospital room following Elliot’s accident.
Mia shook her head. “There’s no point.”
“Sure there is. Closure,” he argued.
And Mia conceded, internally, that he did have a point. But stubbornness won out and she looked back to her email. She lowered herself into the chair and opened the latest email from Janice, typing out a message about how things went the first day.
“Give me five minutes,” Elliot said, his voice low. “Then I’ll leave you alone.”
Mia glanced at the time on the computer. Just past three o’clock in the morning. The poor man should go back to sleep so she could go back to sleep.
“Fine,” she said, minimizing the email tab and turning her attention on Elliot. It was unfair how handsome he looked at three in the morning with a scruffy jaw and messy hair. Mia was positive she looked like a hot mess after waking up from a nap on the couch. She bit back the temptation to smooth her hair. “Five minutes.”
“I know I handled things wrong. I have no excuses for my behavior except that I was a dumb kid and I didn’t know what else to do. When I got in the accident and lost my chance to go to the Olympics, I just sort of…” Elliot searched the dim room as though it held the answers. “I lost it.”
“And couldn’t answer the phone? Or texts? Or allow me into your room?”
Elliot cringed. “I know I was stupid.”
“You proposed to me, Elliot,” Mia said, her voice like steel. “You let me believe you would marry me. You told me you would heal and move on and prepare for the next Olympics and we could build a life together and then the next thing I knew your mom said you were gone and then your face was all over TV.”
“I was only supposed to be a symbol. Like a motivational speaker,” Elliot defended. “I was only supposed to be in a few commercials. And then the network picked me up and the rest just sort of happened.”
“Sophy Grant just sort of happened?” Mia asked. She could hear the ice in her tone and she closed her eyes, giving her head a small shake. “Forget it, Elliot. I thought I could be mature and listen to your side of the story and find a way to move forward with my life, but it just won’t work. You aren’t even saying anything of value.” She lifted her gaze. “I think you should go back to your room.”
Elliot peered at her, his mouth opening as though he wanted to argue. She continued to stare at him with determination until he closed his mouth again.
“Fine.” Turning, Elliot went back toward the stairwell. The door shut behind him with a thud, resounding off the walls.
Mia felt empty.
Had she overreacted? No. It was within her rights to be angry. The man had promised her the world and then dropped her without a single word. In fact, she was fairly sure the last time she’d heard from him was when he was promising to buy a ring and get down on one knee after his back healed.
He’d told her the accident was an epiphany. That it’d showed him the only thing that mattered in his life was her. And the worst part of it all was that she had believed him.
The morning sun peeked over the horizon and sent shafts of light through the parlor windows. Mia forced herself up and gently scooted around Pug to get off of the couch. Guests could be awaking any moment and she needed to make sure they would be able to get out the front door.
Obtaining her coat, hat, and gloves, she forced the front door open just enough to slip through with a shovel.
The roads hadn’t been plowed yet, but it was still early. Snow came up to Mia’s knees, immediately soaking through her pants as she got to work shoveling away the snow.
She got the snow cleared just before the door by the time Hannah showed up for her shift.
“You know Marco usually does that, right?” Hannah said, arching an annoying eyebrow.
Mia slicked away the sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist. “Well good thing I didn’t wait for him or you wouldn’t be able to get in.”
Hannah shot her a small smile before opening the door and going inside. Mia heard boots stomping against the rug just inside the door. If Hannah was here, then it was nearly seven in the morning. She needed to make sure the kitchen was open.
It’s not like she could expect the guests to all to trample out into the snow. It was difficult to walk in when it was this deep. And if no one plowed the mountain roads then the people who didn’t live in town would have no way to get to their restaurants to open them.
If Mrs. Bruin brought her tiny terrier out here, the poor thing would be swallowed in snow immediately.
Leaning her shovel against the side of the building, Mia went back inside. The smell of breakfast cooking wafted through the foyer and forced her stomach to growl. Phew. Rosa must have slipped in the back.
“Smells like breakfast is ready,” a cheerful voice said to her right. She turned to find Mrs. Kirkpatrick and her son sitting in the overstuffed chairs beside the fireplace, facing the tree.
“Good morning, Kirkpatrick family. I hope you had a restful night.”
“You are really wet,” the boy said, eyeing her up and down.
Mia smiled at him brightly, overcompensating for her exhaustion. “Yes, I am. Thanks to the snow out there.” She tried to sound cheerful but she could tell she was flagging. She’d stayed up until two in the morning watching Christmas romantic comedies and then had never fallen back asleep after her visit with Elliot.
Needless to say, she was in need of a nap. And some dry pants.
The clock rang out from the parlor indicating the turn of the hour. Clapping her hands together, Mia said, “Kitchen’s open.”
Mrs. Kirkpatrick rose, her son following her toward th
e hallway beside the parlor.
Once the guests cleared the lobby, Mia crossed to the front desk, peeling off her gloves as she went. “I’m off the clock,” she said, gathering Hannah’s attention. “But I’ll just be in room 202 if you need anything.”
“The room with the broken sink?” Hannah asked, her scrunched up nose proving her disgust.
“It’s not that bad. But yeah, I’m just staying in there while Janice is gone this week so I’m close if you need anything.” And due to the snow, she didn’t know how long it would take her to get home anyway. It was a really good thing she brought extra dog food just in case.
Hannah popped her gum. “Okay.”
“And one more thing,” Mia said, coming closer to the desk and lowering her voice. “We’ve got a VIP guest this week and he’s already been bothered by the other guests for selfies. I promised him we would do our best to keep the fans away so he could enjoy his stay in relative peace.”
Hannah perked up at once. “Who is it?”
Mia ground her back teeth, calling on her inner strength. “Hannah, do you understand what I’m asking of you?”
Hannah looked impatient. “Yes, of course. Don’t let the average guests overrun the VIP guest. Now tell me, who is it?”
“Elliot James.”
“Shut up,” Hannah said, her eyes growing wide.
Mia reared back in shock, until she realized that Hannah was just excited. “As a member of staff, Hannah, you need to be part of the team that protects our VIP guest, not someone who drools over him and takes discreet photos for Instagram.”
She scoffed. “I would never do that. I value my job too much.”
Well, that was a relief. Mia tapped the counter. “I value my sleep. I’ll check back in a couple hours. But please come and wake me up if there are any emergencies or anything I should be made aware of. Under no circumstances should you contact Janice.”
“Gotcha. Boss.”
Mia turned away, ignoring the acid Hannah slipped into those words. Hannah had been up for Assistant Manager originally when Mia was brought in from another company and Mia knew the girl never forgave her for stealing her job. Or, at least that was probably how Hannah saw things.
Snowed in on Main Street Page 3