Snowed in on Main Street

by Kasey Stockton

  Mia knew she was more qualified for the position.

  Retrieving Pug from the parlor where the lazy dog still slept on the sofa, Mia went upstairs and let herself into the room with the broken sink. It wasn’t the end of the world. The small sink in the kitchenette still worked fine. But it made the room unusable for guests until Marco had a chance to fix it.

  And it made the room available to her for the week.

  She turned on the shower and situated Pug on the bed before peeling off her wet clothes and hopping into the water. The hot, steamy water felt so good; if she wasn’t careful, she’d fall asleep right there.

  Instead, she ran her late-night conversation with Elliott through her mind over and over again. The guy had a point. It would do them both some good to get closure. The only problem was that Mia became infused with anger every time she saw his face.

  And she wasn’t feeling ready to let it go.

  Chapter Six

  Elliot had never been so stressed trying to eat breakfast in his entire life. He regretted ever asking Amy if he could take Taylor and Boston downstairs to eat, but he’d only been trying to help out.

  And now there was chaos everywhere.

  The teenaged girl from last night was filming everything he did, and her parents were doing nothing to stop it—or they were oblivious.

  The boy who appeared to be her brother was whining that he was bored and wanted to snowboard.

  There was a woman crying loudly with a small dog on her lap because she was so worried she wouldn’t make it home in time for Christmas with all of the snow.

  And to top it all off, Elliot’s own niece and nephew were making a huge mess with their scrambled eggs.

  Elliot was ready to climb back up to his room and shut the world away. But he couldn’t just leave the kids. Or the mess.

  Where was Mia, anyway?

  He leaned forward. “Hey Boston, are you finished eating?”

  His nephew looked up at him through wide brown eyes. “Yeah.”

  “Awesome.” Elliot stood, waiting for the kids to follow him. “You guys want to go see the Christmas tree?”

  “Yes!” they answered in unison.

  Score.

  Elliot led the children down the hall.

  He’d checked in with the front desk when he woke up and assured himself the power was back on and they weren’t relying on the generator anymore.

  A brunette at the front desk gave him a double take when he approached and he shot her his winning smile. It was likely going to aid him in getting what he wanted, even though he knew it was probably against hotel policy—Mia’s number.

  “Elliot James,” the front desk attendant said with a saucy smile. She pulled her long, dark hair over her shoulder and leaned forward on her elbows. “What can I do for you?”

  He glanced to her name tag. “Well, Hannah, there’s a lot of chaos in the dining room right now and I figured your manager should probably be made aware.”

  Hannah’s evident pleasure at being addressed by her first name was immediately overcast with irritation. “Our assistant manager is not in at the moment. What is the nature of the chaos?”

  “Upset guests and rambunctious children, mostly.”

  Hannah glanced behind him toward the elevator and then down to her phone.

  “I don’t mind calling and complaining to the manager, if that makes it easier for you,” Elliot said. “If you could just give me her number…”

  “I’m sorry, we can’t reveal that sort of information to a guest.”

  Darn. Elliot glanced over his shoulder to his niece and nephew and found them both examining the ornaments on the tree. “You could dial the number and hand me the phone?” Elliot asked.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t think that would be appropriate.”

  Elliot tried to swallow his frustration. “What time does she get back in?”

  “She’ll be down whenever she wakes up. I was under strict orders not to bother her while she takes a nap.”

  So she was still in the hotel. Excitement bubbled up in Elliot’s chest. “And what room number is she staying in?”

  “Two-oh—” Hannah blinked, stopping herself. “How did you know she was in the hotel?”

  “Just a guess. You were saying?”

  Hannah gave him a knowing smile. “I can’t reveal that information.”

  Elliot chuckled. He shook his head. He was so close to discovering where to find Mia. Turning away from the front desk, he approached his niece and nephew. “You guys finding some cool ornaments?”

  “Yes!” Boston said, grinning. The kid was missing three teeth, which made for a wonky smile. But it was cute all the same.

  “Great. Let’s head up and check on your dad.”

  He got Boston and Taylor to the stairwell and up to level two. Before Hannah the receptionist caught herself, she had said two-oh. That meant that Mia was sleeping in one of these rooms.

  Crouching low, Elliot drew his niece and nephew closer. “Do you guys want to play a game?”

  They both nodded their heads eagerly. Good.

  “This is how we play. You guys run down this hallway and knock on all of the doors. Loudly.”

  “And what happens?” Taylor asked, tilting her head to the side.

  “The hotel lady will come out of one of these doors and if you’re the one who knocked on her door, you get a dollar.”

  Both of their faces brightened at the prospect of money. “Can we get something from the vending machine in the stairs?”

  “Sure thing,” Elliot said. His niece and nephew turned for the hall and immediately started banging on each of the doors down the hallway which, incidentally, all began with two-oh.

  But the racket these kids were making was loud. A lot louder than Elliot expected. He rose to his full height and started opening the door to the stairwell again. Maybe it was better to hide behind the door and pretend he didn’t know what had gotten into Taylor and Boston.

  A door opened midway down the hall and an older woman poked her head out of her room. He recognized her as the woman from the breakfast room who had the terrier, crying about making it home in time for Christmas.

  She looked down the hall at the kids banging on doors and Elliot realized just how dumb and reckless this plan was. He pushed open the door all the way and stepped into the hallway. What had gotten into him? Had he really wanted to see Mia that bad that he sent his niece and nephew down a hall of rooms banging on doors to wake her up? Probably from a much-needed nap, too.

  And all because of something that another worker probably could have handled.

  “I am so sorry,” Elliot said, approaching the woman where she stood halfway down the hall. “Taylor, Boston, that’s enough guys!”

  The older woman shook her head. “Kids these days. No one knows how to tame them.”

  The door at the very end of the hall opened then and Mia poked her head through the opening, her eyes blinking as though she’d just awoken and her hair disheveled. Man, she was beautiful.

  It was difficult to regret his foolish actions when this was the result.

  “What’s going on?” she asked when her gaze landed on Elliot and the older woman.

  “We found her!” Boston said, loudly. He ran back to Elliot. “We found her!”

  “I can see that.” He pulled out his wallet and handed Boston and Taylor each a dollar. “Why don’t you guys head to that vending machine and pick a snack?”

  Phew. That could have been much worse. They could have announced how Elliot had paid them to make the noise.

  “Ms. Murphy,” the older woman said, “Might I have a word? I tried to speak to your receptionist, but she wasn’t very helpful.”

  Mia glanced between Elliot and the woman before looking down at her own sock-endowed feet and candy cane leggings. Elliot heard her sigh. She flipped the lock on her door and let it close so the lock would catch the door and stay open. Pulling her robe tighter, she padded down the hallway in her socks, giv
ing the older woman a bright smile.

  “What can I do for you, Mrs. Bruin?”

  Mrs. Bruin’s eyes welled up with tears. “I can’t go home today, dear. The road out of town was damaged in the storm and no one can get through. I am stuck in Hidden Hollow and it is nearly Christmas. I am unable to do all of the lovely things I am used to doing the week of Christmas. I cannot hand out cookies to my neighbors or carol with my church choir, and I certainly cannot sit by the light of the Christmas tree and watch my movies.”

  Mia looked calm, but the way her eyes flicked about caused Elliot to believe she was panicking internally. She focused on Mrs. Bruin. “I am so sorry to hear that. I am sure if you check in with the front desk, they will extend your room at no charge until the road becomes passable. And we can all hope the roads will clear well before Christmas.”

  Mrs. Bruin’s head whipped up at once. “They didn’t offer me that.”

  Mia smiled. “Leave it to me, Mrs. Bruin, and I’ll take care of it. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and hope to make your stay at Powder Peaks Lodge a pleasurable one in spite of the circumstances.”

  Mrs. Bruin stepped forward and grasped Mia’s wrist. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

  Mia looked back at the woman with equal intensity. “The pleasure is mine. Now, where did you hear about the damage to the road?”

  “From Mr. Kirkpatrick,” Mrs. Bruin said. She turned back for her room, scooping up her dog as she stepped inside. Her smile was wide and satisfied.

  The door closed, leaving Mia and Elliot alone in the hallway. “That was really nice of you,” he said. “She was very distraught this morning in the dining room.”

  Mia gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s my job.”

  “Well, it’s not your job,” he countered. “That was above and beyond. And you should realize that your actions made her very happy.”

  Mia couldn’t hold his gaze. Was she uncomfortable with the praise?

  “Did you need something, too?” she asked, her blonde eyebrows lifting. “Do you know what she meant by damage to the road?”

  “Actually, I don’t. Sorry. I was hoping to speak with you at some point but clearly now is not the right time.” He indicated her state of dress and her cheeks colored as she pulled the robe tighter around herself.

  “It’s fine,” she said over a yawn. “I’m up now anyway and I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with the road. What can I help you with?”

  “It really doesn’t matter now. The breakfast room was a mess this morning. I don’t know what was going on, but it was just chaos.”

  Her eyebrows pulled together and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Can you be more specific?”

  Elliot indicated Mrs. Bruin’s door with his thumb and then stepped closer to Mia, further from the older woman’s door. “She was upset and loud about it. The teenagers were whining that they couldn’t leave the hotel and were bored. And their parents weren’t doing anything about it.”

  He left off Erin’s constant filming of him. He could tell it had bothered Mia when Erin had asked for the selfie. Probably best not to bring up more social media fodder now.

  “It sounds like everyone was a little stir crazy.”

  “Exactly,” Elliot agreed, as his niece and nephew ran back into the hall.

  “I got Goldfish!” Boston yelled, running toward them.

  Taylor came at a much slower pace, but said equally as loud, “And I got M&Ms.”

  “Nice, guys.”

  “I wonder…” Mia paused, looking between Elliot and the children. “Hey, your family has the Wasatch Room booked all week for activities. Are you planning on utilizing it today?”

  He shrugged. “Without my parents here, I doubt we’ll do any of the activities they planned.”

  A genuine smile lit her lips and warmed Elliot’s heart. When she looked at him that way, he wanted to give her the world. But use of the Wasatch Room would suffice for now.

  “Would it be terribly unprofessional of me to ask if I can use that room today, then? You won’t be charged for it.”

  “Of course you can use it,” Elliot said right away. “What can I do to help?”

  Mia began turning back toward her room and paused, looking over her shoulder. “You mean that?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked thoughtful. “Meet me there in twenty minutes and I’ll put you to work.”

  “Deal,” he said with a decisive nod, electricity pumping through his veins. Maybe it was the spirit of the holidays and a magical shift in the atmosphere forcing Mia to agree to spend time with him. Or, maybe it was her desperate need for help. He didn’t care which, he was just glad she wasn’t avoiding him completely.

  He turned to the kids. “Come on, guys, let’s go check on your dad.”

  He had no idea what Mia had in mind or what type of work she was going to make him do, and he didn’t care. He got to spend time with her. If their past interactions were any indication, the more time they spent together, the more comfortable she became.

  It would only be a matter of time before she was willing to allow him to explain and apologize.

  Chapter Seven

  Was she crazy? Mia pulled on her clothes and brushed out her hair before tying it back in a ponytail with a red scrunchy. It wasn’t unusual for a hotel to put on activities. But usually they were planned in advance and marketed. This had the potential to flop.

  Mia would just have to make sure it didn’t flop. Nothing was going to ruin this week, and when she’d heard Elliot’s report of the dining room at breakfast, she’d nearly flipped out. Internally, of course. She hoped Elliot couldn’t tell how much it had bothered her.

  Leaving her room, Mia closed the door softly behind her and took the stairs down to the dining room. She poked her head in, but it was empty and spotless. Thanks to the kitchen and cleaning staff, she was sure.

  Approaching the kitchen, she found Rosa preparing vegetables on the cutting block.

  “Rosa, do you know what’s happening with the roads?”

  “There was an avalanche last night and it broke the bridge that runs over Hansen Creek.”

  “What?” Mia said, shocked. “That’s the only way out of town.”

  Rosa nodded, her focus on the carrots she was chopping. “Plows couldn’t get past it, so the roads are all covered in snow.”

  Well, that certainly explained why they hadn’t gone down Main Street by the time Mia had awoken. “What’s the estimated time to fix it?”

  Rosa shook her head. “Marco spoke with the Sheriff this morning and they’ve called into Park City for some reinforcements. They think the snow should be cleared quickly, but they have to deal with their own town first. And then they need to fix the bridge.”

  “So who knows how long we’ll be stuck here.” Mia blew a breath out through her teeth. “Well, at least we have power. Do we have popcorn?”

  The cook looked up, evidently surprised by the request. “Yes. There’s a whole jug of kernels for the air popper.”

  “Perfect. Can you pop it and have it sent to the Wasatch Room? In maybe three or four of those large bowls?”

  Rosa nodded. “Sure thing.”

  “And do we have any cranberries?”

  Rosa squinted. “We do, but I was planning to use them on Christmas.”

  Hopefully there won’t be anyone left on Christmas. “The roads should be cleared and fixed before then, right? If I use your cranberries now would it ruin everything?”

  Rosa gave Mia an endearing smile. “It would ruin nothing. You can have them.”

  “Wonderful. You’re the best, Rosa.”

  “I know,” the cook called after Mia as she left the room.

  Taking herself down the hall, Mia passed the Wasatch Room and inhaled a few calming breaths before approaching Hannah at the front desk.

  She was proud of herself for not flinching when the brunette receptionist snapped her gum. “Hannah, I’m going to be hol
ding Christmas activities in the Wasatch Room available to all guests. Will you call around to the occupied rooms and make sure they are aware, or should I do it myself really quick?”

  Hannah eyed her a moment before reaching for the phone. “I can handle this.”

  “Great.” Mia gave her a bright smile. “Did you hear about the bridge?”

  “Yes,” Hannah said, popping her gum again. “My dad says they’ll have it cleared up in a day or two.”

  Hopefully he was correct. Mia crossed the lobby and took the hallway near the parlor back toward the Wasatch Room.

  She paused halfway down the hallway when she found Elliot waiting outside of the room, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets like a James Dean character from the fifties. Her heart fluttered. Why had she asked him to come help? It couldn’t have been desperation because she clearly had everything under control.

  It had to have been a moment of weakness. She needed to manage her heart better and let her brain control her actions when Elliot was around.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said, pulling out her keys to unlock the room. Elliot followed her inside and she pointed to a few long tables stacked against the wall. “Will you begin setting those up? Two or three ought to be enough.”

  Mia tried to ignore the way Elliot’s long-sleeved t-shirt clung to his back when he lifted the entire table by himself as though it was no heavier than a bag of chips. But she’d kissed this guy before. Many, many times, in fact. And she knew just how it felt to be held in those arms.

  Facing away from Elliot, Mia found the sound control panel and connected her phone before turning it on. It took a moment to find the right volume, but once she did and she set the phone to shuffle her Christmas music album, it set the mood perfectly.

  “That’s nice,” Elliot said. He’d set up three tables and began adding chairs.

  Mia passed him. “I’ll be right back.”

  It took her no more than five minutes to go to the supply closet and locate a good handful of sewing kits. She returned to find the chairs completed and bowls of popcorn on two of the tables. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus played over the speakers and the buttery scent of popcorn reached her nose.