time there.
She stopped in front of a recessed control panel, checking to make sure the temperature and humidity readings were correct.
The storage room contained an electronic lock with a keypad. She tapped in the combination and went inside. After scooping out pellets for the koi she crossed to the far side of the room, smiling as she approached the large pond taking up roughly half the space. The pond’s surface was smooth and peaceful, broken only by the gurgle from the fountain in the center. But as she walked closer, the swirl and soft splash of water let her know the koi were aware of her presence.
Enjoying the flashes of orange, white, silver, black and red gliding through the water, she began tossing in the pellets one handful at a time. She called the fish by name, commenting on the beauty of their markings or how gracefully they could swim.
As she silently practiced the spiel she planned to pitch later that day at her meeting, she looked up to notice a gorgeous tropical flower blooming. One she’d never seen before. That’s when movement from the other side of the pond gave her a start. A flash of black hair followed by a pair of dark eyes peeking out from behind a ficus tree told her a child was hiding there. Relaxing, she realized Edith’s renters must have a child.
“Hello, there,” she called out.
No answer.
“Would you like to come over here and meet these guys?”
She heard a rustling sound before a small black-haired child sprinted toward the house. The door made a swooshing sound as it opened and then closed again. Poor kid, she thought, must be shy.
She looked at the time on her phone. Too bad she couldn’t stick around and introduce herself. She needed to get to work. As project manager of Snowy Sky Resort, it would probably be bad form for her to be late for her first meeting with the ski-area consultant the board of directors had hired.
* * *
TATE STUDIED THE figures in front of him, satisfied with the projections for the profits from the latest snowboard bindings he’d designed and patented. The Zee Tap had been on the market for only two years, but it was already fast approaching status as the year’s top-selling binding in the world. Even though Tate knew he was doing well, something compelled him to keep continual tabs on his finances. He knew that “something” was undoubtedly his own poverty-ridden childhood.
Since retiring from his professional snowboarding career, he was aware that he only had a limited amount of time to capitalize on his past success. That’s why he’d diversified and taken on consulting jobs like this one at Snowy Sky Resort. Although accepting this particular job happened to be motivated by much more than business.
“Uncle Tate!” Lucas ran up to him nearly out of breath, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Slow down, buddy. What’s the matter?”
“There’s a fairy woman in the fish room.”
“A fairy...what?”
“A fairy woman. She’s in the fish room.”
Tate smiled. Lucas had taken to calling the atrium the fish room. He loved to hang out in there. At first Tate had been concerned because of the water feature, but after a few days he felt certain that Lucas wasn’t going to get in the pond with the fish and if he did somehow fall in, Tate was confident he could climb out.
Even so, he had been thrilled to learn Rankins had a community center with a pool. He’d already enrolled Lucas in swim lessons. He wondered if it was normal to worry and fret about most everything where a child was concerned.
“Come and look at her.”
Tate stood and moved from behind the desk in the spacious room the owner of the house had graciously cleared for his use as an office. She’d left the antique books in the floor-to-ceiling shelves that took up one entire wall and he was glad. It lent the room a cozy feel.
“Okay, but what makes her a fairy exactly? Does she have wings?” Tate assumed Lucas was referring to the woman caring for the atrium in the homeowner’s absence. He’d been relieved when he had learned that he wouldn’t have to look after it. There were plants in there he was certain his brown thumb could wilt without ever touching, not to mention the goldfish.
Lucas explained patiently as he led the way. “No, Uncle Tate, fairies don’t let humans see their wings. Only other fairies can see their wings.”
“I see. So...is she wearing a certain dress or playing the flute or something? Is that how you know she’s a fairy?”
“She talks to the fish.”
“Fairies talk to fish? Do they talk back?”
Lucas had picked up his pace and kept glancing back as if he wasn’t moving quite fast enough. Tate walked faster.
“No, this fairy talks to the fish. I’m not sure if they talk back because I don’t speak fish.”
Tate felt a mixture of affection and amused confusion.
But when they entered the atrium they found it empty of both humans and fairies.
“Oh, no...” Lucas’s face fell as his eyes darted around the warm, bright space. His voice was filled with such abject disappointment it tugged at Tate’s heartstrings. “She’s gone.”
HANNAH SLIPPED ON her snow boots and wrapped the soft, teal-colored mohair scarf around her neck. She arranged the matching hat on her head and silently thanked her cousin Janie who had knitted the set.
Lift number two had become fully operational today and she was going to check it out before her meeting. She wanted everything to be perfect for Tate Addison. As not only project manager of Snowy Sky but founder and shareholder as well, she was used to doing things her way. She relished the freedom she’d had thus far in seeing her vision becoming a reality.
Hannah was fine with getting a “second opinion,” and yet, having the resort—her hard work, her dream, her baby, her second chance at achieving success—evaluated in this manner? Well, it was bound to be a little nerve-racking for anyone.
Hoisting a hip onto one of the many railings gracing the lodge’s massive front steps, she slid down to the frozen ground and then headed for her snow machine. She couldn’t help the welling of pride as she took in the tall T-shaped metal poles marching up the hillside. Snowy Sky wouldn’t be officially opening until next year, but enough had been accomplished that it was already looking like a real ski resort.
Tate Addison had recently retired from the sport of snowboarding with one of the longest and most successful careers of all time, and although he was several years older than her, she had seen him compete when she’d been on the professional skiing circuit.
She squelched a ping of jealousy; thinking of her own career cut short so cruelly still filled her with a painful longing, a yearning for the medals and accolades she’d been so close to achieving.
Jeez, Hannah, she told herself, bitter much? Mourning the past was most definitely not a part of the “postaccident healing plan” she and her sports therapist, Dr. Voss, had developed and that she had executed over the past few years.
Hers and Tate’s different backgrounds and experiences shouldn’t matter, though. When he looked at the big picture, as he’d been hired to do, everything would be fine. All she really needed to do was collect his stamp of approval. She would answer every one of his questions thoroughly and eloquently. Then, at the board meeting next week, he would inform them of what a great job she was doing, collect his fee and be gone.
Simple.
Hannah headed toward lift two and found Freddie there waiting for her in the control booth as she’d asked. Freddie was a hometown boy, an avid skier and one of the first employees she had hired.
“Freddie, I’m going to