The Mills & Boon Christmas Wishes Collection. Maisey Yates

doing the right thing with your mom,” Kai said, reaching over and smoothing a hand over mine.

      “We’re getting there, slowly but surely.” I smiled up at him, appreciating the gesture. “Go call them, Kai. I’ll be here if you need me.”

      He consulted his watch. “OK. Mind if I use your office?”

      “Go for it.”

      When he left, I went to the kitchen and brewed some herbal tea. My phone beeped with a text.

       Merry Christmas, Clio! Hope Santa spoiled you… If it’s OK I’ll pop around tomorrow to discuss the New Year’s Eve party? My boss is thinking masquerade ball now, think there’s time? I’ll bring a bottle of wine. Love Timothy x

      In all the craziness of Christmas I’d nearly forgotten about the New Year’s event we were planning. Like always, the thought of organizing an event sent a thrill through me, but so far we had been time poor with every party we’d held at the lodge and this would be no different. A masquerade ball would require a lot of prep, and we’d have to order decorations and pay for quick delivery. Still, then we’d have those props for future parties…

      I fired off a reply:

       Merry Christmas, Tim! Hope the kids had a ball! Tomorrow is perfect, we’ll have to move fast if the theme is masquerade but we can definitely do it… I have wine, so don’t bring a thing. See you soon,

       Clio x

      With the scent of lemongrass and ginger in the air, I sat cradling the steaming-hot cup of tea, and thought about what we’d need for the party, and what kind of menu would suit, what drinks, music? Cocktails, pink champagne, and hors d’oeuvres, feathery masks, jazz music? Or classical guitarists? A black and white masquerade ball! Everything in monochrome…? The lodge was the perfect venue for such an elaborate party. I just hoped we’d be able to pull it off.

      Instead of worrying, I grabbed a notebook, its pages swollen already with to-do lists, and started scribbling my thoughts down. I thought a photo booth would be fun, the old-school type that shot a length of film out which guests could take home. Aunt Bessie could do donut towers… As the ideas came thick and fast I was tempted to fetch Amory and brainstorm, but reminded myself Christmas night probably wasn’t the ideal time to talk about work.

      Without meaning to, I pricked my ears for the sound of Kai; he’d been gone twenty minutes, a good sign that they were really talking and not just making pleasantries. I smiled and got back to my planning, falling into deep concentration. Before long his footsteps echoed down the wooden floors, and I hastily jotted down an idea before I forgot it as he walked into the room.

      He sat opposite me, and I pushed a cup of now lukewarm herbal tea across to him.

      I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t move. “How did it go?” I asked softly.

      The grandfather clock in the hall tick-tocked while he formulated a response. “As well as it could have in the circumstances, I guess.” Raking a hand through his hair, he pursed his lips and gazed past me. “They wanted to know if I was planning to head back to Australia soon.”

      My belly clenched at the thought of him leaving the US for good. It was hard enough seeing him leave for other parts of the country. And it wouldn’t be long before he left for San Francisco again – even that was too much to bear. He seemed to think of Cedarwood as a place of calm, somewhere he could get lost if he wanted to, find that solitude he craved. All he had to do was head up the mountain and he could clear his thoughts, and think without the daily grind of the big city. There was a part of me that just knew he belonged at Cedarwood, but it had to be his choice.

      “Of course, they want to see you in person and make sure you’re really OK. If it was me, that’s what I’d want to do too…”

      He gave me the ghost of a smile. “I’m not leaving America, Clio. Not yet.”

      Selfishly, I was over the moon he wasn’t leaving the country – Australia was so far away. “Well, you’ve taken the first step, and I know it wasn’t easy.” I reached out and squeezed his hand. “Now you’ve spoken the first time, it will get easier going forward, trust me.”

      Kai had to follow his own path. Our timing may not have been right – we were both dealing with messy fallouts from real life – but my world made more sense with Kai in it. Even if I only saw him once a year, it would be better than nothing. Maybe our paths would cross again in the future when he had worked things out, and was where he wanted to be…

      “Thanks, Clio. For everything. Having someone to talk to, someone I could trust with all of this has made it so much easier.”

      We clasped hands a little tighter. “I’m glad you trusted me.”

      We stared into each other’s eyes as moonlight shone through the gauzy curtain, and for a moment everything was right with the world.

       Chapter Thirty-One

      In my office, I added a log to the fire and watched it until it caught alight. Boxing Day was always a mixed bag for me. While the fairy lights still flashed on the tree, the fun itself was over for another year. Still, this Christmas had been a good one.

      While the lodge inhabitants slumbered, I worked. I checked various tourism websites we used that helped connect guests to accommodation, and was happy to see a few enquiries about the special offers we’d introduced, and one booking for March. I replied to the queries: did we offer guided walks? (Yes! Micah had climbed those mountains since we were kids, he knew them backwards.) Were there enough things to do to keep a tech-obsessed ten-year-old busy and away from his phone? (Yes! Plenty of indoor and outdoor activities, enough that screen time would be forgotten.) Did we cater for gluten intolerance? (Yes!) And lastly, could dance lessons be booked ahead of arrival so they didn’t miss out? (Sure!)

      I felt a real thrill replying because obviously our marketing campaigns were working, judging by the sorts of questions we were being asked. With that done, I went about the lodge taking photos, ready to share them across our social media accounts, knowing that, for most Americans, today would be a quiet day, and a lot of people would be lazing at home scrolling through their phones.

      Outside, I took photos of the sleds by the bank of the ice rink, catching snowflakes drifting down, and uploaded the best one to Instagram with the hashtags #WinterWonderland at #CedarwoodLodge. I enjoyed the chatty aspect of social media, and liked to see our pages growing, knowing it was all about the numbers – the more followers we had, the more people were aware of the lodge, which always gave me a little buzz.

      I tucked my phone into my back pocket, and headed to the eastern side of the property. I debated with myself whether to hunt for the maze again. I could have asked Isla to show me, but it didn’t feel right. So instead I turned back to the lodge, leaving it hidden for one more day.

      Micah and Isla were standing together in the front garden, Isla gesticulating wildly as she directed Micah toward a hedge. “What are you two up to? I would have expected you to still be asleep or even spending the day lolling around on the sofa?” I said as I came up next to Isla and watched Micah trimming the top of the hedge.

      “Clio,” Isla said, snaking an arm around me and giving me a squeeze. “We’re so sorry we missed seeing your mom and Aunt Bessie yesterday. We just got so caught up with Micah’s family, and then we watched Christmas movies, and before we knew it, pretty much everyone was snoring on a couch somewhere.”

      Seeing them work together in the snowy landscape, their laughing and teasing, turned my wedding-planner mode back on. For some reason I couldn’t help picturing their nuptials, and they weren’t even engaged. A spring wedding… Flowers blooming, a bright bouquet of yellow tulips, a simple white sheath dress for Isla, Micah wearing a casual, cream-colored linen suit. A violinist in the corner playing a sweet song as Isla walked down the aisle…

      “Hey,”