Page 19 of Stuck Together
We both let out a sigh of relief when I parked the car outside the lobby entrance of the resort.
“Thanks God, we’re finally here.” Madison relaxed her shoulders. She had been tensed with her hand gripping the door handle for the past ten minutes at least. With every turn the car took, she gasped. Her face had been scrunched up in a terrified scowl ever since the road disappeared beneath the thick layer of snow.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. I knew I shouldn’t. I didn’t enjoy driving in that snow any more than she enjoyed the ride, bur her reaction was cute. “You can relax now. Despite the roads and the weather, I got us here safely.”
She looked at me with wide eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know how. You couldn’t even see the road anymore. Plus, the roads are getting slick.”
“But we’re here and that’s all that matters.” I reached over and squeezed her hand without thinking. The urge to comfort her was strong and I couldn’t stop myself from taking her hand in mine. A tingling sensation ran up my arm and I felt her tremble. I quickly let go as she looked away from me. “Come on. Let's go get checked in. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. The sooner we get settled in our rooms, the sooner I can eat.”
She turned aback toward me with a huge grin on her face. “I see some things haven’t changed.”
I narrowed my gaze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You always did tend to think with your stomach, Logan.” She chuckled. “You ate so much when we were in high school, I never understood how you didn’t weight two hundred pounds.”
“I can’t help it if I have a healthy appetite.” I opened the door with a smile, enjoying the playful exchange between us. It reminded me when we were kids and gave me hope that maybe we could restore our friendship. I appreciated how this small exchange lightened the tense moment we just shared.
With our coats wrapped around us, we rushed through the lobby doors. The night air had turned positively cold during our drive. The temperature had to be near zero. It wasn't uncommon to have storms like this in early December, but freezing temperatures this early in the evening was uncommon this early in the winter season.
The hotel lobby doors opened, and a blast of Christmas music filled my ears. I groaned. I wasn’t a fan of Christmas, but I particularly hated Christmas music. It was too cheerful and generally filled with false hope and lies about make-believe characters to fool children. The world didn’t need any more false hope or misguided stories.
Every year since Rylee was born, I had to force myself to pretend to be in the holiday spirit. I did my best to make Christmas enjoyable for her. She deserved to find her own joy in the holiday. She didn’t need to grow up cynical about Christmas like me. Over the past six years Christmas had slowly turned into one of those holidays that annoyed me more than it brought me joy. Just call me Scrooge, and don’t force me to smile or enjoy myself.
Three huge Christmas trees sat in the center of the lobby area separating the check in desk from a lounge area and a bar. Even more were scattered throughout the sitting area and restaurant near the back. Twinkle lights of various colors were strung along the walls, ceilings, and around the large pillars that provided a sense of separation between the check in counter and the lounge area. I had to admit it was a beautiful sight—cheerful and happy—but I'd still rather not see any of it.
“Good evening, sir. How may I help you,” the receptionist working the check-in counter asked.
“Logan Anderson and Madison Hart checking in. We should have two rooms ready for us.” I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and handed her my company credit card. “Put both rooms on this card please.”
She punched a few keys on her computer with nothing more than a nod. A few seconds later, she looked up at me with a frown. “I see a reservation for two nights for both of you, but it’s for a two-room cabin, not two separate rooms.”
“No, we should have two rooms, not a cabin. My assistant called on Monday to make the arrangements. She said everything was finalized.” I pulled the reservation paperwork out of my bag and handed it over to her. She took the paperwork with a curt smile.
“Let me check again, sir.” She hit several keys, flipping between screens. After a few moments she looked up at me and sighed. “I’m sorry, sir. While this paperwork does indicate you reserved two separate rooms, those are not available. There’s a note on your account saying you asked to have your rooms upgraded to the two-bedroom cabin.”
I looked up at her, mouth agape. “I can assure you; I made no such request.”
Her expression softened to something that looked a little like sympathy. “The cabin is much nicer than any of the rooms in the main resort. It’s very spacious and the bedrooms are on opposite sides of the shared living space giving each bedroom complete privacy.”
“I’m sure it’s quite lovely, but no. Please change it back to two separate rooms in the main building.” She nodded and punched a few keys before looking back up at me with regret filled eyes.
“I'm sorry, sir, but we are fully booked. With the storm coming in some of our guests were not able to leave. This cabin is the best that I can do for you right now. If something opens up, I’ll notify you and we can move you then if you desire. But right now, this is all I've got.”
I dropped my head into my hands and rub my eyes. This was not going to be good. The last thing I needed was to be in close quarters with Madison. But it didn’t look like we had much of a choice. “Fine, if that's all you got. Madison, are you okay with this?”
I turned to see her chuckling. It wasn’t athis is funnychuckle, but more of ajust my luckchuckle. “It doesn't sound like we have much of a choice.”
“No, I suppose not.” I sighed.
“We have you in one of our private cabins off to the side of the resort. It is within walking distance to the main building so you wouldn't have to go far to reach the restaurants. Staff is already out clearly the sidewalks to make the walk easier for guests.” The receptionist finished checking us in. She handed me two key cards. I slipped on in my pocket and handed the other to Madison.
Eager to stay focused on work and not the fact that I’d be sharing a romantic cabin with Madison for two days, I decided to see if our client, the owner of this resort, had arrived. “Can you tell me if Mr. Bennington has arrived? We have a meeting with him in the morning, and I'd like to make a brief introduction if he's around.”
“Unfortunately, Mr. Bennington hasn’t made it in yet. He was supposed to be here an hour ago, but the weather has delayed his travel. I can notify you when he arrives.”
“Thank you. I'd appreciate that.”
“Of course, sir. The restaurant is open until 10 pm and just off to the side of the lobby. Would you like help with your luggage?”