The day after Christmas felt like waking up inside a held breath. Sunlight streamed through the curtains early. It was a welcome surprise, sunlight warming my face as I stretched in the big, comfortable bed.
The lodge was quieter, but not empty. Fires still burned. Staff still moved. Snow still fell in heavy, relentless sheets outside the windows. But something had shifted ,like the mountain itself had settled into protective mode.
Or maybe that was just me.
I ran into Alexandre three times before noon.
The first was just outside my door.
I opened with my coffee balanced precariously in one hand and nearly collided with a broad chest wrapped in dark wool. Heat radiated off him like a furnace.
"Oh-sorry," I blurted, stepping back instinctively.
He stopped. Didn't reach for me. Didn'
