The Cottage on Juniper Ridge. Sheila Roberts

sighed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Aiding and abetting her sister in her insanity—what was she thinking? I must be crazy, too.

      But once they hit the town she could understand why her sister had wanted to come here.

      “Look how cute this is,” Jen said, gazing out the window at the Bavarian architecture of the shops as they drove down Center Street.

      The downtown was cute, Toni had to admit, and especially with everything all decorated for the holidays. The old-fashioned streetlamps were bedecked with fat, red bows and greenery, the trees were strung with lights waiting to bloom come evening. The town was surrounded by glorious mountain peaks frosted with snow. So were the rooftops here in town. It all made Toni think of gingerbread houses.

      “Let’s check in and then come back and shop,” Jen suggested.

      That sounded fine to Toni and they drove to the Icicle Creek Lodge.

      “Oh, my,” Jen breathed as they pulled up in front of the rustic, old place.

      It looked the way a mountain lodge should—large, rough-timbered and accented with stone. The sweeping lawn was thick with snow. A trio of children, probably staying there, was busy taking advantage of the white stuff and building a snowman. Inside, the lobby was done up to the nines for the holidays with greens and ribbon and little twinkle lights everywhere. And in the center of the lobby sat an old-fashioned sleigh, piled with presents. Somewhere, someone was roasting nuts and the aroma filled the place.

      Toni could envision bringing her family up here for a holiday vacation. Jordan would love this.

      Well, maybe. Jordan would have loved it a couple of years ago. These days she didn’t enjoy doing much of anything with her family. Dad was mean, Mom didn’t understand and Jeffrey was stupid and a pest. Sigh.

      Their room was all charm—wood paneling, two double beds with white down comforters, a view out the window that took Toni’s breath away. It would be so easy to fall under the spell of this place.

      Jen joined her at the window. “Gorgeous, isn’t it?”

      Oh, no. Jen couldn’t afford to fall. “Great place to vacation,” Toni said, hoping her sister would get the message.

      “It might be a good place to live.”

      Living here would feel like stepping inside a storybook. But her sister had some real-life issues to deal with. “You have a place in Seattle you haven’t sold.”

      Jen frowned. “You don’t have to remind me.”

      “Yeah, I do.” Someone had to keep Jen in line. Toni felt a sudden respect for Jiminy Cricket. Keeping someone out of trouble who was always bent on diving in nose-first was not a simple task. “I don’t want to see you put the cart before the horse.”

      “I’m just looking. Remember? Come on, let’s go check out some of the shops.”

      Jen had been right about the shops. The first one they walked into sold imported lace goods and teapots, and within ten minutes Toni had purchased a lace tablecloth for their grandmother. And a holiday table runner from Germany for herself.

      That was only the beginning of the shopping spree. After that she went on to buy novelty hats for both her kids in the hat shop, several ornaments for the tree in a shop that specialized in all things Christmas and a box of chocolates from Sweet Dreams, the town’s chocolate company.

      Jen purchased some, too. “For later tonight,” she said. She gave Toni’s arm a sisterly hug. “Isn’t this fun? Aren’t you glad you came?”

      “I am,” Toni admitted. Who didn’t enjoy girl time and shopping? And everyone here was so darned friendly. Even she was beginning to harbor dreams of moving to Icicle Falls, ogling the beautiful scenery and stuffing her face with chocolate. “But remember, I have to be back by six tomorrow evening,” she told both her sister and herself. “Wayne and I have reservations for seven.” She was still determined to get in that dinner with her husband. They were going to be romantic if it killed them.

      “Hey,” Jen said, stopping in front of Mountain Meadows Real Estate. She studied the pictures of homes for sale displayed on the window and her eager smile fell away. “Prices up here aren’t cheap, are they?”

      “Looks like real estate has held its value,” Toni said. Another plus for residents of the town, but Jen couldn’t afford those prices. “Of course, these are houses. Condos might be less.” What was she saying?

      “Good point. Let’s go in and find out what’s available,” Jen said, starting for the door.

      Toni held her back. “Come on, Jen-Jen, let’s just have fun this weekend and leave it at that. You really shouldn’t even be looking until your place is sold.”

      “It can’t hurt to look,” Jen insisted, and went in.

      “Yeah, it could,” Toni muttered, and followed her inside.

      Once in the office, the woman on duty was happy to show Jen what they had in her price range...which wasn’t much.

      “None of those condos were as nice as what I have in Seattle,” Jen said as they left the office.

      “Then maybe you should stay put.”

      Jen frowned. “I really want to change my life.”

      “That’s all well and good, but what would you live on if you moved up here? You work in Seattle. Remember?”

      “I saw help-wanted signs in a couple of windows. I could find a job in town.”

      “Oh, yeah. You’d make a lot of money working in some shop,” Toni scoffed.

      “You don’t need a lot of money to live simply,” Jen told her. “That’s what Muriel Sterling says.”

      “Muriel Sterling has never gone shopping with you.”

      Jen didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled her cell phone from her coat pocket and began to surf the internet.

      “Great,” Toni muttered, “I feel like I’m back home with my daughter, being ignored. What are you doing now?”

      “I just had a thought.”

      “What kind of thought?” What was Jen up to?

      “Maybe I could rent something.”

      “You don’t want to have nothing to show for your money but rent receipts,” Toni protested.

      “Not down the road. But for right now, it might be nice to rent. No responsibility. If there’s a problem, the landlord fixes it.”

      Toni shook her head. “I think you’re nuts.”

      Jen held her phone out. There on the screen was the picture of a cottage with wisteria climbing up the front porch railing and along the roof. “That’s cute. And look at the price.”

      “For that price there must be something wrong with it.”

      “Well, I’m going to call and ask about it.”

      From a nice condo to a teensy house in the mountains—her sister really had lost her marbles. “I wish I’d never given you that book,” Toni said.

      Jen ignored her. “Hi, I’m calling about your ad on Homelist. Is that house still for rent? Great. I’d like to see it. Tomorrow morning? Yes, I can do that. Ten? Perfect.” Jen ended the call and smiled as if she’d accomplished something important. “We’re all set. The owner will meet us there.”

      “Just remember. You’re only looking,” Toni cautioned.

      “Of course,” Jen agreed.

      The next morning when they pulled up to the place, Jen quickly slid from looking down that slippery slope into lusting. “Oh, it’s adorable!”

      Yes,