Chapter One

Holly

Holly Jones pulled out a red pen and started grading.

“Did you seriously bring your grading with you?” Aliyah asked, turning to look from the road to stare at her friend.

“Yes. And pay attention to the road, please,” Holly replied, motioning to the twisting mountain road in front of them. “It’s snowy and this pass is always slippery.”

“Yes, Ms. Jones,” Aliyah replied, sounding like one of their second-grade students. “You know this is supposed to be a vacation, right?”

“Yes.” Holly circled and marked the writing assignment of her student in front of her. “But, I’ll feel like I’m on vacation when these are done. I only have a couple left.”

Aliyah shook her head sadly. “You work too hard.”

“You work just as hard as I do,” Holly replied. She slid a finished page back into her folder.

“I’m not the one grading papers right now,” Aliyah said, turning on the windshield wipers to brush away the big snowflakes. It was snowing harder the closer they got to the ski resort.

“That’s because you’re driving.” Holly grinned at her. “So, it’s a good thing you’re not grading papers.”

“You are going to have fun this trip, right?”

“Yes. I promise to have fun,” Holly replied, not looking up from her grading. She'd asked her students to write their three wishes for the holidays and wanted them ready to return to her students as soon as she got back from her trip.

“I’m serious. I don’t know the last time you did something that wasn’t work related.”

“I do fun things,” Holly insisted. “I did that 5k race in November. That was fun.”

“That was a school fund-raiser and you ran one of the check-in desks.” Aliyah gave Holly a disapproving glance. “Seriously, when’s the last time you went out on a date? Or did something not sponsored by the PTA?”

Holly opened her mouth, but couldn’t find an answer. “Uh...” She shrugged and tried to turn the question back onto Aliyah. “What do you do for fun? You’re just as busy as I am.”

“I went on a date with a fireman last week, remember? Captain McHotty?” Aliyah sighed with pleasure. “We played laser tag. We ate at a fancy restaurant that didn’t have a teacher’s discount.”

Holly clicked her pen a couple of times. “Fine. Your point’s made. I’m boring.”

“You’re not boring. You’re stuck. You’ve focused only on work. You need a life outside of work.”

“I know.” Holly sighed. She wasn't sure how she'd become boring. She'd just become so focused on her students that she'd become blind to the world around her. Her dad often told her that she gave too much of herself, and she had a feeling she was doing it again. “But, at least it got us this weekend, right?”

“Partly,” Aliyah acknowledged. “You've always been an amazing teacher. You earned this award. And you still deserve to have fun sometimes. It is possible to have both. You need some balance in your life.”

The entire reason Aliyah and Holly were driving up to the mountains was for Holly to be awarded with the Educator's Award. She'd been nominated by her students and selected by a committee as the best teacher in the nation.

As such, she and a friend got to go stay at Blue Aspen Ski Resort for a weekend and go to a fancy party. The party was as much to honor her as to raise funds for education scholarships, so she was happy to be there and assist.

“I’m going to remember how to have fun this trip,” Holly promised. “Just as soon as I finish these papers.”

“Sure.” Aliyah chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Will you hand me my sandwich?”

“Sandwich?” Holly frowned, looking around the interior of the car. “Where’d you get a sandwich?”

“At the gas station before we started up the pass,” Aliyah replied. She pointed to the backseat. “It should be right back there.”

Holly twisted around in her seat until she found a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. It had fallen off the seat and onto the floor. She held it up, making an unsure face.

“Are you sure you want to eat this?”

“It’s wrapped in plastic. It’s fine.”

“It’s not just that.” Holly turned the sandwich around in her hands and grimaced. “It’s a gas station sandwich.”

“I’m hungry.” Aliyah grabbed the sandwich from Holly’s hands. She gave Holly a glare as she ripped open the plastic and took a big bite. “I’ve eaten worse at the school cafeteria.”

“And that’s why I bring my lunch,” Holly murmured, shaking her head and going back to her grading.

“How's your dad?” Aliyah asked, her mouth full of sandwich. “Is he still closing the store?”

Holly paused her grading. “He's okay, and yeah. The store is still closing. He just can't make it work without Elements in town. They're his biggest customer. With them leaving, we just don't have the sales.”

Aliyah shook her head. “Damn. I was hoping he was going to make it.”

“Me too,” Holly said. She looked down at her grading, but her eyes didn't want to focus on it. The biggest employer in town, Elements Computer Technologies, or ECT as everyone called it, had been bought by some big tech firm.

At first, the town thought it would be great. Paradigm was huge and had great growth potential. That was until Paradigm announced that they were moving ECT to San Francisco. Suddenly, a huge portion of the town was preparing to move across the country. The town was in a panic.

Holly tried not to think about it, but it was affecting nearly everyone she knew. Her students were planning on moving. Businesses were closing or trying to figure out how to deal with the loss of customers.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much Holly could do about it. She was just a second grade teacher.

Snow fell in big flakes on the small car as they made their way up and into the Rocky Mountains. Heat blasted out of the vents, but it was still cold in the old car and Holly was glad she’d worn a sweater. Frost formed on the edges of the windows as they crossed over the continental divide. The trees disappeared at tree-line, giving the two women a clear view of the rocky tops of the mountains and miles of gray clouds.

Winter was heavy in the mountains as they crested the top of the pass and descended toward the ski slopes. White drifts stood high on the side of the two lane highway as tall evergreens came back to line the road. The car engine didn’t whine on the way down like it did on the way up.

Slowly the gray faded into black and the mountains disappeared into the darkness of night. Snow drifted in hypnotizing patterns in front of the headlights, dancing around the car and back into the trees.

“Almost there,” Aliyah announced just as Holly finished grading her last page. She was rather proud of her students. They’d all done the assignment and done well. It made her glad that they were learning.

Holly raised her eyes, scanning the snowy mountain road for the ski resort. As a native Coloradoan, Holly had been skiing nearly every winter of her life, but the Blue Aspen Ski Resort was always way out of her price range. The lift ticket prices were higher than any other resort, and the hotel price might as well cost her entire teaching paycheck.

Blue Aspen was a place for A-list actors and billionaires to come play in the snow. The skiing was always said to be superb, but the hotel was the main attraction. It was supposedly a winter wonderland of comfort. Holly had only seen pictures of it in fancy magazines.

But today, Holly and Aliyah were going to get to experience it for themselves.

“Are you done working now?” Aliyah asked, turning off the highway and following the signs for the resort. “You promised you would use this as a vacation.”

“I finished.” Holly held up her school folder and tucked it back into her bag. “I’m ready for our weekend adventure. No work, just play.”

She leaned over and turned up the Christmas carols on the radio. Only a couple of weeks remained until Christmas. Holly was already signed up to help with the town parade and the Christmas Party at her dad's bookstore. The spirit of Christmas was slowly starting to infuse her soul.

“Good. We won this trip and we both need to just relax.” Aliyah peered through the dark to check a road sign. “No work.”

“No work. Promise.” Holly held up three fingers like a scout.

“You weren’t a scout, but I’m going to trust you on this.” Aliyah gave Holly a serious look as she turned onto a smaller road. Snow drifted around a beautiful rock sign emblazoned with the Blue Aspen logo. They were almost to the resort.

The car came around a bend and both Aliyah and Holly gasped.

It looked like something on a Christmas card. If Holly were younger, she would have sworn they’d been magically transported to the North Pole and were about to visit Santa.

Tall peaked roofs dusted with snow glowed under white Christmas lights. The windows sparkled with fireplaces inside. Trees sparkled with lights and decorations. Everything was classy and contemporary. No blow-up decorations or plastic figurines, just the careful placement of lights and reflective ball ornaments.

It was absolutely stunning and magical.

Aliyah parked the car and turned off the engine. The car’s cabin instantly dropped several degrees and they hurried to grab their bags from the back and head inside.

The inside of the resort was just as beautiful as the outside. Warm wood furniture filled the lobby. A giant fireplace glowed with flames. Candles flickered in nooks and on tables, while the scent of snow and fresh-baked cookies filled the air. A giant Christmas tree decorated with red satin streamers and fake snow stood proud in the center of the room.

“Wow,” Aliyah whispered as they walked wide-eyed through the lobby to the check-in desk. “This is nice.”

“Yeah.”

“Welcome to the Blue Aspen Resort and Spa,” the woman at the front desk greeted them with a smile. “How can I help you?”

“Hi. I’m Aliyah Jameson and this is Holly Jones. We have a reservation.” Aliyah smiled at the woman as they set their bags down on the floor. “Holly won the Educator's Award.”

“Of course.” The woman quickly typed something into the computer. “Here you are.”

Holly grinned at Aliyah. This was going to be great.

“You’ll be staying in one of our premium suites.” The woman handed them two plastic key-cards with mountains engraved into them. “These are your room keys as well as your lift tickets. You also have equipment rentals through our rental shop. You can pick up your gear any time tomorrow morning.”

Holly slipped the key into her back pocket.

“Breakfast starts in the main dining room at five in the morning and goes until eleven,” the woman continued. “The gym is on the third level with the spa. You also have access to the main pools and the network of hot springs pools around the resort. Your keys will let you into those areas as well. You can reserve any of the private ponds here or online.”

“Network of hot springs?” Aliyah asked, her brow crinkling.

“Yes,” the woman replied with a nod. “Blue Aspen Resort has a natural hot spring. There are several pools and private soaking ponds throughout the resort. They all interconnect and combine into the main pool just outside. It gives us a naturally heated outdoor pool.”

Aliyah’s jaw dropped open. “That’s awesome.”

The woman smiled at her and slid an envelope across the desk. “These are your tickets to the Educator's Award Ceremony tomorrow evening. The dress is formal.”

“We already have a hair appointments booked,” Holly informed her. Holly was going all out for this party. She even had a fancy designer dress that she’d borrowed from a friend.

“Excellent. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Please enjoy your stay here at Blue Aspen.” The woman smiled at both of them. “Do you need any assistance with your bags?”

“I think we’re okay. Thank you,” Holly replied. She bent over and picked up her duffle bag full of snow gear. Beside her, Aliyah did the same, but groaned slightly with the motion. Holly figured her friend was just sore from being in a car for three hours.

Holly turned and nearly ran directly into a man in a dark wool peacoat.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said quickly, stepping back and nearly into Aliyah. Holly’s eye widened as she took in the expensive suit under the expensive jacket. She didn’t recognize him as a celebrity, but then she wasn’t exactly up to date on all the newest stars.

He certainly was handsome enough to be a celebrity.

“No harm,” the man replied with a smile. His eyes were warm and dark. Holly blushed and quickly stepped out of the way. Aliyah was already halfway to the elevators when Holly caught up with her.

“Did you see that guy?” Holly asked her, glancing back at the man.

“No,” Aliyah replied, shaking her head. She pressed the elevator button twice in rapid succession and it miraculously appeared.

“Huh.” Holly looked at the man one last time before stepping onto the elevator. She started to grin.

This was going to be amazing.

Merryweather

Things were looking up.

There were possibilities for love popping up all over the place. All it took was a little magic.

Merryweather felt rather than saw those possibilities when she watched Holly bump into Nathan. Love was written all over their futures.

It just needed a little push.

That was Merryweather’s specialty.