“Which one?” Baxter laughed, “The mom or the kid?”

  “Both,” Thomas smiled wryly. “Let’s go.”

  But as the four of them moved to walk forward, the door swung open, again just missing them, but this time, a gorgeous woman with silky black hair burst out in front of them. “Did you see a woman head out of here?” she asked, leaning out into the cold. “Lots of makeup, fake tan,” she prodded.

  “She went that way.” Baxter pointed to the parking lot.

  “Good,” the woman said and stepped back into the chalet.

  “Wow. Let’s get out of here,” Baxter whispered. “I know a catfight in the making when I see one.”

  Nicole rolled her eyes while Barry and Thomas laughed. “I’d put my money on the brunette.”

  “I don’t know,” Baxter said. “That blond looked pretty damn scrappy.”

  “You should’ve gotten her number,” Thomas said as they reached the car. Thomas was happily married and was constantly pushing Baxter to meet women, but Baxter had been focused on business for as long as he could remember. He dated women from time to time but found that it usually took a lot more effort than the orgasms were worth. That, and he had no desire to settle down and live any kind of domestic life anytime soon. “She looked like a handful,” he joked, knowing that Thomas meant the very attractive brunette, not the trashy blond.

  “You’re here for a month, find some ski bunny and have a little fun.” Thomas elbowed him.

  “We’re here for business,” Baxter said. He opened the car door and hopped into the passenger seat. The rest of the team took their seats in the back.

  “Where to?” Their hired driver, a local man named Al, asked.

  “O’Hare Realty,” Nicole piped up from the back seat. “It’s on Main Street. The number is—”

  “I know where it is.” Al smiled and put the car in gear.

  As they wound their way down the switchbacks of the mountain road, leaving the gleaming modern multi-million-dollar mountain homes behind them, the quaint and colorful mining homes of Chance Rapids came into view across the river.

  The team was chatting in the back, but Baxter couldn’t concentrate. There was something familiar about that dark-haired woman. He wondered if that could be the girl he met years ago. He didn’t think that he’d ever forget her face, but it had been over ten years. Could it have been her?

  Three

  Lauren had six of the candles in the unicorn cake lit when Charlotte burst into the kitchen. “She’s gone,” she announced.

  “Good,” Lauren said without looking up. “Thanks for putting candles in the unicorn’s eyes, now it looks like some kind of devil unicorn.”

  Charlotte took the lighter from her sister’s hand and blew out the candles.

  “What are you doing?” Lauren tried to snatch the lighter back.

  “The kids are all out at the half-pipe. The cake is going to have to wait.” Charlotte pulled out one of the offending eye-piercing candles and tried to smooth over the frosting. “Hmmm.” She put one hand on her hip. “I think that’s worse.”

  “You think?” Lauren asked. The unicorn now looked like someone had completely gauged its eyes out. She jabbed the candle back into the eye. “I guess we’ll have to wait until after the contest to do the cake.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Now we can relax for a minute.”

  Charlotte looked at her watch, “I’d love to join you, but if I don’t get out of here, I’m going to be late for a meeting.”

  “What meeting?” Lauren asked.

  “Those investors I was telling you about,” she said and pulled on her coat.

  “Which investors?” Lauren prodded. She knew exactly which investors her sister was talking about. The very investors she had begged her specifically NOT to meet with.

  “Um. Just some…” Charlotte zipped up her jacket and pulled on her leather gloves. She held her hands up stickup style. “Don’t kill me.” She stepped back from her sister. “It’s just a meeting. I’m not agreeing to anything.”

  “Charlotte,” Lauren shouted. “I thought we discussed this.”

  Charlotte wasn’t meeting her eyes. “We did discuss it, but I don’t think that we ever really agreed on anything.”

  “Ugh,” Lauren groaned loudly. “I can’t believe you.” She flopped down onto one of the chairs at the long communal style eating table. “The very people I’m trying to stop, are meeting with my own flesh and blood.”

  “We’ll talk later, Lauren.” Charlotte was at the door. “I won’t agree to anything. It’s just an exploratory meeting. It might even be a conflict of interest for me to help them.” She paused with her hand on the door rail, as if the thought had just crossed her mind.

  “I’ve been working for months to kill this project. You know more about it than you should.”

  “Don’t get your panties in a knot. I won’t say anything I’m not supposed to.”

  “Just go.” Lauren waved Charlotte away with the back of her hand, “We’ll talk about this later.”

  “Toodleloo,” Charlotte grinned and gave a fluttery fingered wave as she hurried out the door.

  Lauren headed into the empty kitchen and dragged her finger through the creamy pink frosting of the unicorn’s tail, discreetly enough that no ten-year-olds would be able to tell. “Could this day get any worse?” Lauren asked herself.

  Four

  The last time Baxter was in Chance Rapids he was twenty-one years old, had long hair, and a beard. Ten years ago, Chance Rapids had a diner, a gas station, and well, that’s pretty much it. He looked up and down Main Street and couldn’t believe how much the little town had grown up. There were several outdoor shops and a café that served cappuccinos.

  He had expected O’Hare Realty to be a dingy old real estate office with a little old lady at the front, probably still using a typewriter, but it was the polar opposite. The office was nicer than his, and Baxter’s was gorgeous. Whoever designed the place had been able to tastefully blend outdoorsy country with modern chic. The lobby had a huge cobblestone fireplace, herringbone hardwood floors, and floor to ceiling windows. Digital photographs of all their listings hung in the windows, suspended by wire cables.

  The receptionist, a pretty blond girl named Maria, ushered the Caldwell team into a conference room and offered them drinks while they waited for the broker, Charlotte O’Hare.

  “This is a gorgeous table.” Nicole ran her hands along the thick slab of wood with a rough edge. As she handed Baxter a file folder, the sleek glass door opened, and Baxter felt his steadfast hands start to tremble. It was the woman he and Thomas had just seen at the ski lodge.

  “Have I kept you waiting?” the raven-haired woman asked as she pulled off her parka, revealing a simple black turtleneck and skinny black jeans. She kept her furry boots on and rushed to the table.

  Baxter stood and stepped forward. “Baxter Caldwell.” He reached out his hand.

  “Charlotte O’Hare,” she smiled and shook his extended hand.

  Baxter introduced the rest of his team and everyone took their places at the conference table.

  “What can I help you with?” she smiled.

  Baxter couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen this woman before today. And he felt a little let down that there wasn’t a glimmer of recognition in her eyes when she met him. Although, ten years ago, he had looked like a different person. Back then, he was young and naïve, but he felt like he and the girl, a cleaning lady at the lodge, had an instant attraction, and that in those brief hours they shared, they had formed a bond that he would never forget. He found it hard to believe that two people who had spent such a magical night together could forget what each other looked like. No, this couldn’t be her he rationalized. He knew deep down that if he ever saw that cleaning lady again, he would know it, instantly.

  “Thomas is the principal in our land acquisition department.” I swept my hand toward my executive. “Perhaps he can start things off.”

  Thomas cleared his throat. “Sure,” he said. He raised his eyebrows at me. I always took the lead in meetings, but there was something about this Charlotte O’Hare that had unnerved me.

  “As you may have heard, Caldwell International is in the process of acquiring the ski resort here in Chance Rapids, along with several of the local heli-ski operations.”

  Charlotte nodded. “It’s a small town. I’ve heard.” She smiled wryly and leaned back, crossing her arms across her chest.

  “Right.” Thomas pulled out a glossy brochure. “You also may have heard that we are in the process of amending the town’s official plan in order to apply for an expansion to the existing mountain village. He pushed the glossy brochure towards Charlotte. She picked it up and quickly flipped through its pages, pausing at the center fold.

  “Is this a high rise?” she pointed to the tower that was planned for the town square.

  “It is,” Thomas said. “Twenty stories, with commercial units on the first and second floors.”

  Charlotte turned the page to the summer section. “And is this a McBroom golf course?”

  The woman knew her stuff.

  “There are going to be three of them.” Thomas grinned. “We are going to turn this town into a year-round destination.”

  “Three golf courses,” Charlotte said quietly and then shut the brochure. “It looks like you’ve got everything all planned out. What did you need from me?” she asked.

  Baxter interjected. “There are a few landowners who are holding out.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Is that so?”

  He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not, so he continued, “And there are a few who we can’t reach.”

  “And where do I come into all of this?” she asked.

  “We were hoping that you could provide us with some current market information, trends, comparable sales and the like.” I leaned forward and placed my hands gently on the table, a negotiation tactic that showed that I was open to a response. She didn’t bite. She remained silent, another negotiation tactic, so I continued. “We would compensate you of course.”

  “Is that all?” she asked.

  “Well,” The room felt like it had shot up ten degrees and the collar of my shirt was strangling me. “We were hoping to find some local business people who would be supportive of the project. And in your case, perhaps approach some of the landowners and convince them that they would be crazy not to sell,” I continued.

  “Mr. Caldwell.” Charlotte pushed the brochure across the table away from her. “If you want to get the locals on board with your plan, you’re going to have to change it. That…” She pointed to the brochure. “Does not help out the community. That is creating another community that will take business away from the downtown core. And I’m no expert, but it looks like those three golf courses will probably impact some of the natural habitats. Most people around here would rather have grizzly bears than golf courses.”

  Baxter had scheduled the meeting with the realtor first, assuming that she would be on board with the development. This meeting was not going as planned. “Are you sure about that?”

  “No. As I said, I’m not an expert, but opposition to your project is strong. If you want to get this to go through, I highly suggest you communicate with the community, ask them what they want, what will make their lives better. And Mr. Caldwell--”

  “Baxter,” he interrupted.

  “Baxter,” she smiled. “Your biggest hurdle is going to be getting the Conservation Authority on board.”

  Barry chuckled. “We’ve got them under control.”

  “You do?” Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “How so?”

  “Our pockets are deeper than theirs,” Thomas replied. “Our lawyers are better than theirs.”

  “Well, it sounds like you’ve got everything sorted out then, doesn’t it?” The smile had disappeared from her face. Fucking Thomas, getting all cocky about their resources. Baxter didn’t want to reprimand him in front of the rest of the team, or this beautiful stranger, but that idiot had just blown their shot with one of the few people in town who might have actually been on their side.

  “We’ve got a meeting with the Conservation Authority tomorrow.” I kept my voice low and flat, trying to bring some calm back to the room. “Mrs. O’Hare…”

  “Miss.”

  “Miss O’Hare.” I stood up. “I want to thank you so much for your time. You have given us a lot to think about. Perhaps we need to come to this development with a different strategy.”

  “I think that would be wise.” She stood and my team followed suit. “Come back to me when you have a revised plan. One that won’t destroy this small town, and then I will consider helping you.” She opened the door to the conference room, signaling the end of the meeting. “Aligning myself with your project as it stands, would be career suicide for me. I hope that you understand.”

  He did. They left O’Hare Realty and headed back to the swanky lodge. As they drove, Baxter started to wonder if they were in way over their heads. His dad was going to kill him. Had he underestimated these small-town people?

  Five

  Skis and poles rattled around in the back of the car as Lauren drove to her sister’s house. As soon as the car was parked, Tabitha jumped out and ran to the front door.

  “Whoa,” Lauren yelled. “I’m not your porter. Come and help with your stuff.”

  Tabitha skipped down the heated driveway and the two of them carried her ski gear to the front door where Charlotte was waiting.

  “Thanks so much for taking her,” Lauren said. She handed Tabitha’s ski boots to Charlotte. Of course, one of the most important days of her career had arrived, on the same day as a professional development day for the school.

  “No problem.” Charlotte rested her hand on Tabitha’s head. “Although, soon I’m going to have a hard time keeping up with her on the slopes.”

  “You already do,” Tabitha grinned and headed inside.

  Charlotte smiled and shook her head. “Sassy. I like it.” Then she turned to face her sister. “Are you ready for this?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Lauren replied. “I’m actually glad that they moved up the meeting. We might as well get this over with. Are you going to tell me what they wanted from you?” Lauren asked.

  “Are you allowed to ask me that?” her sister smiled.

  “It’s probably better if you don’t answer,” Lauren muttered.

  “I told them to take a hike,” Charlotte smiled.

  “You did?” Lauren looked at her sister. “Really?” Her sister was a businesswoman through and through, and if there was money to be made somewhere, she would be the one to do it.

  “You were right, their plan is terrible. It would ruin this town.” Charlotte leaned her head on the open door. “I can’t be a part of something like that, even if I would’ve made some very good money.”

  “Who are you right now?” Lauren laughed.

  “I know,” Charlotte smiled. “I guess this small town is getting to me.”

  “Well, it looks good on you.” Lauren was shocked and proud of her sister at the same time.

  “You better get going, Tabitha has probably eaten half of my refrigerator by now,” she laughed.

  * * *

  Lauren pulled up to the Sugar Peaks Café. She usually made coffee at work but figured that the big city executives might turn up their noses at the instant stuff. The café was always busy, and this morning was no exception. She stood behind some snow pants-clad skiers and waited for her turn to order. To her surprise, Megan was working at the counter.

  “Hi, Meg,” Lauren smiled. “Where’s the baby?”

  Megan pointed to the cash register, where the baby carrier was sitting. “That kid can sleep through anything, except the night,” she laughed.

  Lauren smiled and laughed with her but wondered if Megan should be working. The circles under her eyes were even darker than they had been the day before, but she kept her opinion to herself, who was she to judge? She had brought Tabitha to her office all the time and had pumped breast milk in the break room. She knew how hard it was to be a new mom, and how critical others could be of their choices.

  “What can I get for you?” she asked.

  “How about four black coffees.” Lauren had cream and sugar at the office, the Caldwell executives could doctor up their own coffees.

  “Coming right up.” Megan turned to pour the coffee.

  Lauren checked her watch; she was cutting it close. Those executives should be the ones bringing the coffee, she thought to herself as she pulled out a ten-dollar bill. She looked around the coffee shop and saw mostly familiar faces and waved when she saw Freddie and Serena at one of the tables in the back. She paid for the coffee and pulled on her mittens as Megan passed the tray to her.

  “Thanks, Meg,” Lauren smiled.

  “You’re welcome,” Megan replied.

  “Hey, Meg.” Lauren paused. “If you ever need a break, I might be a little rusty, but I’d love to spend some time with a baby, so would Tabby.”

  Megan’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Lauren. I might take you up on that.”

  “Please do.” It was a genuine offer. Lauren would’ve killed for a few hours off here and there when Tabitha was young.

  Lauren paused to say hi to Serena and Freddie and then headed out the door. Lauren was thankful that the sidewalks had been freshly plowed as she hurried along in her boots. The sidewalks could be treacherously icy during the in-between phase when Mother Nature was still trying to decide whether it was fall or winter.

  Today, it was winter, and she was focusing on keeping her feet underneath her. She heard heels crunching on the hard-packed snow behind her, their owner marching at a faster pace than she was. She moved to the side to allow the speed walker room to pass. “Thanks,” the woman said breathlessly as she squeezed by, also carrying a tray of coffees. Lauren glanced down and saw that the woman was wearing expensive leather boots, with a heel far too high for the sidewalk conditions. Lauren shook her head, even her sister had retired all of her impractical footwear from her Chance Rapids closet.