Christmas At Cedarwood Lodge

Thirty minutes later Aunt Bessie texted back:

Oh, they make the cutest couple! They were both a little bewildered when I said you’d been called back for an urgent meeting! So far they’ve spent a lot of time looking at the table. Will interfere if I need to xxx

Micah would see straight through my cancellation but that was OK. I’d just deny it – hopefully he’d be all starry-eyed and ready to give love a chance, and then he’d forget about that tiny detail. It could happen!

Let me know how it ends up. I’m not saying I expect a marriage proposal but a date would be nice. xxx

While I waited for news I punched purchase orders into the laptop. The paperwork side of the lodge was never-ending and we hadn’t even opened yet. To keep track of what we were spending I entered it every day, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up myself once we were busy with guests. With staff wages, purchases and invoicing, I’d need a full-time bookkeeper to keep things on track. The costs were mounting up with the renovations, but I did some quick breathing exercises to pull me from panic, and then stopped and laughed. Damn Kai and his mumbo jumbo…

An hour later my email pinged. A bride-to-be had seen the chapel photos on Instagram and wanted to visit next month to survey it as a potential wedding venue. I could feel it in my bones that Cedarwood was going to be popular because of its unique appeal. Even with my amateur attempt at photography it was attracting enquiries. I emailed her back and told her about the bridal expo and held my breath as I sent it. There was no going back now. Well, why not! There’d be brides and bouquets as far as the eye could see at Cedarwood Lodge in December if I could pull it off. Who needed sleep anyway?

I jumped up to find Kai and see if he’d stay on and give the chapel the TLC it needed, but then the door swung open, catching me mid-flight.

“Kai, you won’t believe…” My words dried up. “Micah, oh, hi. What is it?” He wore a look of mutiny and I knew damn well why. It was all I could do to stifle giggles and instead appear unruffled.

With folded arms he said, “The old set-them-up-and-don’t-arrive trick? I really thought your matchmaking days were over, but I guess not.” He stared me down and it was all I could do to keep a straight face. He couldn’t actually prove I’d done it on purpose.

I put a hand to my chest. “Me? I did no such thing! As you can see…” I gestured to the multitude of paperwork scattered over the desk, notebooks filled with scrawls and laptop glinting with pictures of the lodge on a slideshow. “I’ve been extremely busy and an emergency cropped up. Anyway, how was it?”

He rolled his eyes dramatically. “When you use that chirpy voice it’s even more obvious. It was a setup and Aunt Bessie was in on it. She was one step away from lighting candles and serenading us.”

Dang it! Aunt Bessie, like me, was a hopeless romantic, but wasn’t exactly subtle at times. “Did Isla catch on?”

“I’m sure Isla thinks Aunt Bessie is great, if not a little zealous with customer service.”

I laughed. “Well, look, you survived a real date!”

Groaning, he fell into a chair and rubbed his face. “She’s great: funny, beautiful, and totally eccentric when she talks about flowers, which she does a lot, but she’s leaving, right? When Cedarwood is finished. So what would be the point? Don’t you see, I’m setting myself up for failure if I even consider it? We both know long-distance love doesn’t work out. You tried it and failed, right?”

“It didn’t work for me, but Timothy and I were so young! That was completely different. This is just another damn excuse from you. It baffles me, Micah!”

“I wish you’d focus on your own love life and leave me be. You’re being the world’s biggest hypocrite, you know.” He ran a hand through his hair, and dropped his gaze like he was confused. Isla had ignited something in him and he just had to work through those feelings and leap!

“Did Cupid strike me with his bow and arrow?” I retorted. “No, he struck you! So don’t try and turn this around on me.”

“Yeah?” His lip twitched as if he knew a secret. “And you and Kai aren’t spending any time alone together?”

I let out a scoff. “That’s only by brute force. He’s got it in his adrenaline-junkie head that climbing up mountains will help me sleep. And it does because my entire body aches afterwards and all I want to do is snooze so I can’t feel the muscle pain.”

He grumbled under his breath and I knew I’d won the battle.

Men. Love wasn’t that complicated, surely? My mind drifted to Kai, and as I thought about him packing up his truck with all his tools, and driving off into the sunset, I understood Micah’s worry a little better.

“Yeah, well, dating Isla isn’t a good idea,” he said. “She’s great, but she’s a nomad, going from job to job.”

“Hmm,” I mused. Really, anything could happen, right? Isla could fall in love with Cedarwood and want to stay on…

Had I broached that possibility with her?

Chapter Nine

“So, I’ll organize someone to fix the stained-glass windows?” Kai leaned against the stone wall of the chapel, pad and pen in hand. It felt cooler inside since the thick limestone walls absorbed the frosty air.

“Yes… ideally I want to keep these windows if they can be restored, rather than replace them.” Sun leached through the glass and colored the stone floor in prisms of light. The stained glass was circa 1920s and I didn’t want to lose any of the heritage. Even if it cost more to find an artist to repair what remained, it would be a worthy investment. The designs were eye-catching – flowers and cherubs, a landscape made from glass – but they were also a marker of another time, and part of the history of Cedarwood.

He continued: “Before we do that, though, the beams have to be raised and the rot at the base fixed. Also, the vestibule is full of rising damp and some of the stones need to be replaced. Aside from that, the main issue is refurnishing it.”

The pews still sat in solemn rows in front of the pulpit but the elements had ravaged them over the years, and sadly they weren’t restorable.

“Could you make new pews?” I asked. “It’s not as though they’re complex, are they?” Kai hadn’t signed on to renovate the chapel, and I wondered briefly if I was looking for an excuse for him to stay. Or was it that I relied on him, and knew he’d do the job properly, safely?

“I could knock some up. If we found some nice timber they’d last for ever. If the snow and rain hadn’t seeped inside these would have too. Once the windows are fixed and the damp sorted the chapel will stay dry and the furniture will be safe all through the winter.” His breath came out wispy with fog from the cold. “I’ll get them done before I leave so you can go ahead with your bridal expo. I’ll submit our plans to the council for approval, but you’ll have to follow up on them once I’m gone. They can get lost sometimes unless you badger them.”

I nodded, feeling a catch in my throat. Perhaps it was the chill of the room. “It’ll be so strange without you here.”

He gave me a weak smile. “No one will force you up the mountain.”

“True. Small mercies and all that.”

We lapsed into silence, as I fumbled for something to say. A knock at the door saved us, so Kai made his excuses and left.

“Have you got a minute?” Isla’s forehead furrowed.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“The grounds beyond the lake are a little unruly, and I wondered if you wanted me to work that far along. Or are we leaving it wilder?”

Beyond the lake was the entrance to one of the walking trails, and the land was overgrown and full of brambles. “We will need to tidy that area if guests wander that far, but it probably won’t be an issue until spring. I think Kai and Micah are the only ones crazy enough to walk in lashing wind and rain at the moment.”

“OK, well, I’ll add it to the list and see how we go for time.” She shuffled around like there was more she wanted to say.

“Anything else?” I asked, giving her a wide smile.

She chewed on her bottom lip before replying. “Clio, thanks for offering me the contract for Cedarwood. I know you would’ve had applicants with more experience.” It struck me that the bubble we had was bursting. Everyone was thinking of their next job, of leaving Cedarwood for good. I’d miss them all, and what we shared here, and it was hard to believe I’d continue without them. Still, I wouldn’t pine just yet. We had a few more weeks together.

“Your resume was best suited to us. There was no question about your being the right landscaper,” I said, meaning it.

There were times Isla had a kind of solemnity, a heaviness, as though she carried a burden. When that passed she was energetic and lively, but when her guard fell, like now, it was obvious there was something wrong, always hovering just below the surface. I sensed she needed a confidante.

“That’s nice of you to say.” She fiddled with her gardening gloves and wouldn’t meet my eye.

Rays of saffron sun shone through the stained-glass window. “Isla, what is it? You know you can talk to me as a friend.”

“Do you have sisters?” she eventually asked.

I shook my head. “No, I’m an only child. What about you?”

“Same,” she smiled. “With my job, I don’t tend to have many friendships. They’re a little hard to maintain when I pack up and leave all the time. Sometimes I wish I was more grounded, settled, you know?”

Outside, the rumble of a truck started, coughing and spluttering like it was on its last legs – I wouldn’t miss the noise once the renovations were done. “It must be hard moving on all the time.”

She dropped her gaze. “Yes.”

“Well, how about you sit down for five and tell me what’s really bothering you? Whatever you say stays here, in this chapel.”

She gave me such a grateful look my heart nearly tore in two. Maybe that sadness she carried was pure loneliness and I understood that. I’d felt it often enough myself since returning home to Evergreen, but thankfully I had old friends to fall back on.

She moved from foot to foot, the room humming from the noise outside. “I feel like I’ll drown in these feelings if I don’t confide in someone.”

I gestured for her to continue.

She blushed, bringing out the freckles on her nose. “He makes me forget there’s anything in the world except him and we’ve barely even talked. I can’t think straight when he looks at me. It’s the strangest thing. I’ve never felt like that before, and I don’t know what to do.”

“With Micah?”

She nodded.

I hid a smile but inside I was jumping for joy. “Why not meet for a date and see what happens?” Micah had valid reasons for being wary about plunging into love again, but I couldn’t see what was holding Isla back. Shyness, and what else?

“I doubt Micah even knows I’m alive! When we talk it’s like this halting, awkward mess.”

“Nerves, perhaps? On both your parts…” It wasn’t my place to tell her how Micah felt but I was sorely tempted, and had to allude to it. Surely she could read the signs?

“Do you think he feels the same?”

I nodded. Whoops. What else could I do? Time was running out. Isla would leave soon unless something was done. “I think you’re both struggling with the same feelings and how to act on them.”

Her blush deepened. “Well, that throws up a whole new set of problems. Unrequited love was torment enough, but that is infinitely worse.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“I worry…” Her face pinched. “…That Micah will see the real me, and it’ll all be over and I’ll have to leave Cedarwood early because it’ll hurt too much to stay.”

“What do you mean, the real you? Unless you’re some kind of knife-wielding maniac in secret…?” I gave her a half-smile.

She laughed. “I can wield the secateurs fairly well, so unless you’re a hedge you’re safe. But it’s more than that.”

“OK… like I said, whatever you tell me stays in this room.”

When she gazed up at me, my heart seized. She wore a look of abject grief, like she was one step away from dissolving into tears. What could make her so unhappy? I moved to embrace her. “Seriously, Isla, talk to me. It can’t be that bad…”

After a deep, shuddery breath she said, “A few years ago I was visiting my parents’ farm for the weekend. It’d been almost a year since I’d seen them. That night their house caught fire. We still don’t know how it started, maybe faulty wiring, something shorted out. It spread so quickly, and it destroyed the house, and all of their farming equipment.”

“Oh, Isla, that must have been terrifying. Were they OK?”

She nodded. “They got out just in time. But I went back in for the dog, Roxie. I couldn’t let her suffer like that, knowing she was trapped and inhaling all that toxic smoke. I raced around the back and into the kitchen where she usually slept, and found her whimpering. As I went to pick her up a beam fell, blocking my path. Roxie scampered over it and out the door, but I got stuck, the smoke distorting my vision. The kitchen collapsed all at once, and I knew I had to clamber through the flames or I’d perish in there. It was the most terrifying thing ever, and I could hear my mom screaming my name. So I just reacted, and ran through the fire. I was burned down my body.”

I let the story float, absorbing it all. “Isla, what a shocking thing to go through. I can only imagine how frightening it was for you and your family, but why would sharing that with Micah matter?”

“The burns.” She swallowed hard. “I’ve never given the scarring much thought because I was so damn grateful to be alive. But now I wonder, how they’ll feel under his touch, how they’ll look… and I just want to retreat. What if it repulses him? Or the thought of it puts him off?”

I hadn’t even thought of the scars. I’d only thought of her near-miss and how terrifying it must’ve been for her. “Oh, Isla. What a thing to worry about. Micah’s…” I groped for something that wouldn’t sound like platitudes, something that would convince her to take a chance. “If you knew him as well as I do, you’d know it would be a non-issue for him.” I paused. “Unless it’s upsetting for you, and then he’d be concerned. Out of all the men in the world, Micah would be the one to make you feel beautiful, because you are beautiful, and those scars, no matter how much you dislike them, are part of your story. They’re part of who you are, and how you got to this point, and I’m sure Micah would say the same. It’s a big ask, me telling you to trust in him, but I think you should.”

Her eyes were glassy with tears. “You really think so, Clio?”

“I really do. You can hide away for ever, but what good would that do you? Why not risk it and see, and I bet you’ll be surprised.” I could only guess Micah would run his fingertips along them, and ask Isla about that night, and make her feel like the most beautiful woman on earth. When he fell in love he was lost to it, and scars or not, their romance would blossom if only they could move on from their pasts. They were utterly perfect for one another and I sent a prayer up to the universe to make it happen for my two friends.

“I guess I’ve built it up into this huge issue and I can’t see past it. It’s like I don’t know who I am any more. I always have this instinct to run, so I never get close to anyone. I don’t know, it’s just easier that way.”

“I can understand that, Isla. What you’ve been through is pretty huge. Have you thought about putting roots down? See what happens when you stay for a while? We’d love to have you full-time at Cedarwood. No pressure, but you’ll always have a place here if you need it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

Hope danced in her eyes. “Really? You want me to stay?’

“Of course! But there’s plenty of time for you to decide. You do what’s right for you.”

“Thanks, Clio. Gosh, it’s good to have another girl to talk to. I miss that.”

“I do too. So let’s make it a regular thing.” I gave her arm a squeeze. Isla needed a friend – it was as obvious as the freckles dotting her nose – and I was more than happy to be that person. And I was glad she’d shared her secret with me. I’d tread gently with my two lovesick friends.

Chapter Ten

With two short weeks until the party, the lodge facelift was at full speed ahead. Kai and I had spent the better part of the day setting up the sound system in the ballroom, before working around the electricians who were fiddling with wires after the downlights had shorted, then blinked before going dead. In the end I gave up. “Kai, we’re in their way, let’s leave them to it?”

He nodded, and gave the guys a wave, before following me outside. “Let’s head up the mountain,” he said.

My eyebrows shot up. “We’ve lugged boxes all morning, and untangled five million cables, and you want to trudge up a huge mountain? You’re crazy.”

“I won’t have much longer to do it. Come on, humor me,” Kai said.

“OK,” I said reluctantly. Despite my protests, a bit of space from the lodge was just what we both needed. We’d been working since sun up and hadn’t stopped for lunch or an afternoon coffee break. “Where do you come from, Kai? Which part of Australia?” It struck me I could now walk and talk simultaneously up the mountain without my lungs burning.

He jogged up ahead, then spun to face me. “I’m from Bondi, a beachside city, which is always full of tourists. The faces always change with the seasons, but I’m betting that doesn’t happen here.”

“Why’d you leave?” My calf muscles began to protest as the climb steepened.

With hands on hips, he considered the question. “The coastline is beautiful, and Australian beaches are the best. Bright white sand, and the whole surf culture… But it wasn’t enough. I figured I’d pack up and see a bit of the world. Maybe I’d stumble on something that made sense to me. I’ve always felt like there was something more for me than surfing all morning and fixing up other people’s homes in the afternoon.”

“Have you found that mysterious something?”

He laughed. “I’m still searching.”

“And what do you think it is? Money? Waves? Lifestyle?”

He took an age to answer but finally said, “I think it’s a feeling.”

“A feeling?” I mused about what he could mean, ready to tease him, but then I realized we were both similar really…

I went to prod for details when something stopped me. Something was amiss, and it took me a good minute to comprehend it was the smell of smoke in the air. My heart stopped as I turned to face Cedarwood. Plumes of thick black smoke rose from the roof into the lilac sky. “Oh my God, Kai! It’s on fire!”

I skidded forward to get a better look, but from our vantage point we couldn’t see the front of the lodge, or whether everyone was out of harm’s way. My heart raced and my breath grew short as fear seized me. This was my place. My life. Everything I had, all of my dreams were tied to the lodge and… I froze. Micah. Isla. The team.

“Quick…” Kai grabbed my clammy hand to steady me as my body turned liquid, seemingly unable to hold me up. “We have to get down there. We have to make sure everyone is OK.”

“Yes!” I had to calm myself and get down there fast.

Running and skidding down the mountain, brambles ripped at my jacket and scratched my skin. But I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop until I knew Micah was OK. I couldn’t lose him. He was like my brother. He knew me inside and out. I couldn’t face this world without him and for some reason I had this overwhelming sense he was the person in danger. He’d protect Isla, I knew he would.

The descent was interminable, as my heart thundered in my chest. Cedarwood seemed to glow bright in the sky and, watching the dancing flames, my mind went to Isla and my blood ran cold. She’d be reliving her worst nightmare. I had to get to her. We tumbled to the bottom, muddy and red-faced, the acrid stench of the fire growing stronger as we neared the lodge. Kai was just ahead of me and I motioned for him to go on. The closer I got to the lodge the more my fear choked me.

Breathless, I finally came to the front of the lodge, where a few men stood, eyes wide with shock watching orange flames lick the roof. “Where’s Micah? And Isla?” I asked, my voice sharp and shrill with panic as I looked around, desperate for any sign of them. Kai ran around the side of the lodge calling up to see if anyone was inside.

Then, through the smoke, I saw them sitting on the grass out of harm’s way. I scrambled over, my eyes stinging.

Micah was wrapped in a blanket, his face black with soot. Isla had a protective arm around him, her features lined with worry. Breathless, fearful, and about to sob, I fell at their feet. “Micah! Micah, oh my God, are you OK?” All I wanted to do was hug him, know he was safe, sure that no matter what happened to Cedarwood I would still have Micah. And beautiful Isla with her scared eyes, and ravaged heart.

He nodded and clutched my hands, giving me a reassuring smile. “I’m fine.” Despite his assurance his hands shook and I held on tighter.

“Isla…” I turned to her, aware of how much this fire would have affected her.

She shook her head, as if to say don’t mention it, so I stayed mute, while I tried to discreetly check Micah for any injuries. Was he burned? His hair was now cropped close to his head in messy tufts, but aside from that and black soot coating his skin, I couldn’t see anything else.

A wail of sirens rang out. Fire engines careened into the driveway, followed closely by an ambulance. “Did you inhale much smoke, Micah?” While I was concerned about the lodge, seeing Micah’s charred hair and blackened face scared me silly and all I could think of was his safety and that of everyone here.

“A little, but I got out quick. I’m really OK, Clio, but I’ve got some bad news.”

“Shush, Micah. Let’s worry about all of that later.” I knew he meant the lodge, and the fact we’d have to start over, but right then all I cared about was them.

I turned to Isla again, unable to shake the feeling she was reliving a past nightmare all over again. “Are you really OK?”

She nodded, biting her lip against the tears that threatened to flow. “I’m fine. Everyone is. I couldn’t find him, and I wanted to go in, but I… something stopped me, and it was like my feet were made of lead.”

I wrapped my arms around her and whispered. “He got out. He’s OK.”

She swatted at her face with the back of her hand and nodded.

“Can you help him to the ambulance?” She needed to feel like she was helping, that she was there for him, or so I figured. I silently thanked the universe she hadn’t raced into the lodge after him. Who knew what might have happened?

Her face pale with worry, she led him to the paramedic who was busy pulling supplies from the ambulance.

The paramedic sat Micah down and asked quick-fire questions, assessing him and dabbing on ointment, fixing on an oxygen mask. Firefighters lined up before running into Cedarwood, hoses clasped tight.

“Don’t worry.” Kai appeared, slightly breathless, at my side. “We’ll fix it.” I didn’t know if he meant the lodge, my stuttering heart, or what.

I shivered, chilled to the bone despite the crackle and heat of the fire the firemen were frantically hosing down, bringing it slowly under control. Would it all go up? My dreams, gone in one big puff of smoke? Kai inched over and wrapped an arm around me. “You’re shaking.”

“Do they know where it started? How?”

“The ballroom,” Kai said.

The ballroom! I sniffled, trying desperately to hide the shock clawing at me. “Is everyone else accounted for?”

Kai nodded. “Everyone’s fine. Joe the carpenter was the only other person inside when it happened. We think it was the same downlights that shorted out before; they were set too close to the insulation. And when the electrician fixed the wiring, the heat from the lights set fire to the padding. We’ll have to check once it’s out. But Micah saved the room, pretty much, Clio. He got up there fast with a fire extinguisher and managed to put most of it out. Without his quick actions the whole place would have gone up. Joe got out, but when Micah didn’t follow he went back in, and found him. He’d been overcome with smoke by then.”