'I'll leave as soon as I can get out,' Debbie said. 'I think I might have overstayed my welcome this time.'
'What, you think you can just create havoc all over the lodge, and then disappear to leave someone else to clean up your mess?'
'I can't believe you'd want me to stay.'
'I don't want you to stay. I don't want you anywhere near me right now. But you're going to face the consequences of your selfishness, and you're going to do it here. When this crisis is all over, when Mart's safely in the hospital and the guests are home, you're going to sit down with Gwyneth and Sara and you're going to explain exactly what you did to me, to the lodge, and why. It will be up to us as a family to decide where we go from there. Until then, you are going to stay in the lodge and you are going to work your ass off. Cleaning rooms, bussing tables in the cafeteria, shoveling snow- Whatever this lodge needs, you're going to do it.'
There was a split second when she thought Debbie was going to argue, was going to come back with a smart-ass comment, but then she straightened her shoulders and met Lily's gaze. 'If you're willing to have me here, then fine. I suppose it's the least I can do.'
'Damn right it is,' Lily said, trying to stop her hands from shaking in the aftermath of way too much adrenaline flooding through her system. She'd take a mountain cliff in a storm any day over this kind of crap. 'You can start now, by washing down the tables in the cafeteria.'
Debbie simply nodded. And then she was gone, leaving Lily alone, watching the snow fall in eerie silence, wondering why everything seemed… wrong.
Lily had never known the snow to fall so relentlessly. It continued to come down at the rate of a foot an hour, choking the life right out of the entire Tahoe basin and seeming to put her entire world into a weird time freeze, where everything that was wrong stood in ultraclear focus.
'At least we have food,' Matt muttered, half delirious, half wasted with pain meds. 'We're not going to have to turn into the Donner party.' He forced his eyes open. 'Promise me we're not going to turn into the Donner party. The weak got eaten first, and I'm feeling pretty damn weak at the moment.'
Sara stroked his hair. 'I promise to eat Gwyneth and Lily first.'
'Okay, then.' He smiled faintly, and Sara just sat there staring at him as if she could heal him if she wished for it hard enough. Lily could hardly bear to watch her sister's anguish.
As dark fell and more hours passed, Gwyneth pulled Lily aside in the first-aid room. Lily tried to hold on to what was left of her patience
She had her hands full worrying about Matt, the trapped guests and a distraught Sara, who kept throwing her arms around Lily, saying she was the most incredible sister ever. That was just new enough to have Lily liking it. 'What?'
'I wanted to talk to you,' Gwyneth whispered.
'I know things are all messed up, but you can yell at me later.'
Gwyneth's mouth dropped open. 'You think I want to yell at you for all that's gone wrong today?'
'Don't you?' Lily looked over Gwyneth's shoulder to Logan, who was bending over Matt, talking to him, trying to keep his spirits up, though Matt's leg and ribs were costing him considerable pain. Lily worried about how badly he needed surgery, about the possibility of internal injuries that they couldn't diagnose without an E.R. Her heart squeezed, hard.
'The radio says that the snow will be letting up in a few more hours. When it does, we'll kick everything into gear. We'll get Matt to a hospital, the guests in and out…and Logan to the airport.' The reference to Logan seemed to slip out accidentally, reminding her of his words.
To take or leave.
'Oh, Lily.' Gwyneth, queen bee, tyrant and a half, ruler of both her universe and Lily's, stood there as her eyes filled. 'You feel for him,' she whispered. 'It's beautiful.'
'No, it's not. It's…messy.'
Gwyneth laughed even as a tear fell.
Unease filled Lily's belly. 'What are you doing?'
'Trying to tell you something.'
'What? And why are you crying?'
'What you do around here couldn't be done by anyone else, including me. I think I'm finally getting that. You have strength and commitment in spades and I'm sorry I ever let you feel like you didn't. Lily, I think you're incredible.' Gwyneth hugged her hard. 'Incredible,' she repeated softly, and walked away.
Lily could only stare after her. Both her sisters thought she was the best thing since sliced bread today, which felt odd for a couple of reasons. One, she was the same person she'd been yesterday, last week. Even last year. Nothing had changed, so to be so suddenly accepted made her feel…off balance.
She'd finally proven herself to them, and yet the strangest thing was that she'd discovered she no longer needed their approval. She was okay with herself, she liked herself, and though it was lovely to have her family on board with her, their acceptance didn't change anything. 'Gwyneth?'
Her sister stopped and turned. 'Yeah?'
'If Grandma had died this week instead of last year, and left you the resort now, what would you do?'
Gwyneth smiled. 'Do you trust me, Lily? I mean really trust me?'
'1 haven't,' she said honestly.
'I know. But now?'
Lily cocked her head, surprised by all she saw in her sister's eyes. 'I think maybe I do.'
Gwyneth just smiled and walked away.
What did that mean? She looked over at Matt in bed. Logan sat at his side, reading from a joke book someone had hunted up. Sara sat on his other side. Every minute or so, Matt patted her arm, reassuring her he was alive. Lily watched the wordless glances they shared, glances that expressed everything they felt with such ease.
Because it unnerved her, made her feel things she wasn't ready to feel, she left the room and tried to bury herself in work. There was certainly enough to do, but everywhere she turned, what had to be done was being done. Logan had Matt's care covered, Gwyneth had managed any business stuff, the cafeteria was still up and running and Chris was handling snow-removal crews.
But damn it, she stood outside her office needing something to do so she could turn her damn mind off.
'Hey,' Logan said, and tugged her around to face him. 'It's late. Why don't you sleep?'
'I don't want to be asleep if Matt needs me.'
'He's got plenty of care. Chris came in to be with him for a while.'
'But-'
'The snow's still coming down, but the radar confirms a letup coming in a few hours,' he said. 'I double- checked with the hospital. They're sending an ambulance for Matt soon as the roads clear.'
The long, tenuous rescue came back to her-witnessing Mart's incredible pain, knowing that if he'd been out there any longer they might have lost him. And just like that, she broke. 'Oh, God.'
He opened his arms, bringing them hard around her. 'Hey, he's going to be okay. He's going to be in a helluva lot of pain for a while, but he's going to be okay.'
She nodded and let herself cling, pressing her face to his throat, inhaling the innate scent of him that she'd grown so attached to in just a matter of days. In only one more, he'd be gone. He'd already be gone if Mother Nature hadn't intervened. She tightened her arms.
He let out a low sound and held on. 'You never changed your clothes after the rescue.'
'I'm okay.'
'You've got to be chilled. Come on, let's go get you warm. Maybe get some sleep, too. Sara and Gwyneth have everything under control.' Before she could protest, he'd led her to her room, nudged her inside and toward the bathroom for a hot shower.
