One More Chance: A Small Town Love Story Read online

  Chapter 3

  CHANCE OF A LIFETIME. Yeah right, Charlotte scoffed as she passed the road sign for Chance Rapids. Its cheesy slogan had been freshly painted, the vibrant colors boldly contrasted by the freshly fallen snow.

  When she had left Chance Rapids in December, the snowbanks were just starting their annual climb to dump truck height. Now, three months later, while it was still very much winter up in the mountains, there were signs of spring in the valley bottom. The sun was still shining for one. In December, the sun dropped behind the peaks at 4 p.m. She remembered admiring a rare winter sunset as she high tailed it back to the city. Now, it was 6 p.m. and a pink spring sky welcomed her back to her hometown.

  If only she had known Logan the asshole had moved back to town, she would not have agreed to be a nanny for the week. She filled up the tank in her SUV in the neighboring town, Windswan, eliminating any need to stop at the G-Spot, the one and only gas station in Chance Rapids. As much as she hated herself for it, she wanted to eliminate the possibility of a chance encounter with one local hockey legend.

  She turned onto the main street and crept past the Sugar Peaks Café. Its windows were steamy on the inside, a good sign that meant it was busy. The profit numbers for the café she and Megan owned had far exceeded her expectations. Megan had done an amazing job with the hiring and menu. So amazing that the place had turned into a hangout spot for regular locals and rich out of towners – exactly what she, and Logan had envisioned when they had come up with the concept years earlier. Mr. Peterson, her economics teacher would’ve been so proud of the numbers, she thought and smiled to herself as she continued her stalker-like pace down Main St. There were a few smokers huddled outside of the Last Chance Tavern, the only bar in town, and she thanked dusk for providing her with cover.

  She drove through town before crossing the covered bridge into the wealthy Sugar Peaks subdivision. She had been one of the original owners, and as real estate values climbed with the opening of the Ski Hill, her mountain home had easily tripled in value.

  She pulled onto the heated driveway and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the rental car. She hopped out and jogged up to the door, bursting into her house, “Lauren, Tabitha!” she shouted as she pulled off her winter boots.

  “Auntie Billie!”

  Charlotte smiled as a gangly ten-year-old set down her book and ran to hug her.

  “You’re so big, you’ve gotta stop growing kid,” Charlotte gripped her niece into a bear hug, surprised that they were almost eye to eye.

  “Tabitha. Remember we talked about calling your Auntie Charlotte, not Billie Jo.” Lauren yelled from the kitchen.

  The child looked at her feet. “Sorry, Auntie Charlotte. I forgot.”

  Charlotte’s heart melted. “It’s okay, Tabitha. I haven’t seen you in a billion years.”

  “It’s been two.”

  She was at the sweet age where she took everything literally. Lauren walked over and hugged Charlotte. “It’s been too long.”

  “It has,” Charlotte agreed. She pulled back from their embrace to get a good look at her younger sister. She was in her early thirties, but the stress of her life as a single mother was showing in her tired brown eyes, and she felt rail thin in Charlotte’s arms.

  Charlotte smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen and her stomach responded with a growl. “What’s cooking?”

  “Tabitha was craving mac and cheese.”

  Charlotte typically wouldn’t touch carbs or dairy with a ten-foot pole, but she didn’t want to seem high maintenance in the first five minutes of their reunion. She opened the oven and practically moaned as the smell of gruyere cheese and breadcrumbs filled the kitchen. “When did you learn how to cook?”

  “Ha. I didn’t. We stopped at your café and picked it up. There’s a nice little section of pre-made dinners there. Didn’t you know that?”

  “Of course,” she lied. She didn’t know. She had given Megan free reign of the daily operations of the café.

  Lauren pulled the bubbling tray out of the oven to cool.

  “You know what would go well with this?” Charlotte smiled and opened her wine fridge. “Wine.”

  “It’s my first day of work tomorrow, Bill.”

  “Geez. I’m not suggesting that you drink the whole damn bottle, Lauren. You can have one glass and still be able to get up in the morning, can’t you? And it’s Charlotte. Even to you.”

  “Roger that, Boss.” Lauren saluted.

  “Sorry. I’m just a little on edge,” Charlotte said as she poured a glass for Lauren and herself. “Does Tabitha want any?”

  “She’s ten.”

  Tabitha giggled.

  “Doesn’t stop the kids in Italy,” Charlotte smiled. She knew exactly how to push her sister’s buttons

  “Oh, my god. And I’m leaving her with you for an entire week?”

  “Relax. We’ll keep her wine consumption to one, maybe two, glasses a day.” She winked and gave her niece a little nudge. Tabitha grinned up at her aunt. Charlotte pulled some milk out of the fridge and poured it into a wine glass.

  “To spending time together, as a family,” Lauren said as she raised her glass.

  The three ladies clinked their glasses together in cheers. Charlotte took a sip and the vintage Brunello di Montepulciano immediately calmed her nerves.

  Charlotte dished the creamy mac and cheese into three bowls and the three of them sat at the island and devoured the delicious pasta.

  “Wow. You guys were hungry! What do you want to do tomorrow?” She asked as she cleared the empty bowls from the island.

  “Um, I don’t know,” Tabitha said and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Come on kid. You’re on vacation with your Auntie Charlotte. You name it, we can do it.”

  “Hm.” Tabitha sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs, the reflection of the fire in the fireplace glowed on her youthful chubby cheeks. Charlotte could practically see the steam coming out of her ears and noticed the sides of her lips hiding a nervous smile.

  Lauren walked into the room, sat down beside her daughter and rubbed her knee.

  “You can ask her,” she stated as she smiled warmly at her daughter.

  Tabitha looked down at the woven rug on the floor, her voice quiet, “I’d love to learn how to ski.”

  “Easy. You got it, Pontiac. Anything else?” Charlotte sat down in the oversized chair next to the fire. One of the few times she regretted not having kids was when she saw the cute little skiers racing down the mountain, their pigtails and braids flying out behind them in their skittle colored snowsuits.

  “Why am I a Pontiac?”

  “It’s just a figure of speech honey. It used to be a kind of car.” Lauren took a sip of her wine and smiled at Tabitha.

  “Do you think I can do it?” Tabitha’s eyes were wide but sparkled with excitement.

  “Your auntie doesn’t have an athletic bone in her body, and she can do it. You’re going to be skiing circles around her by the end of the week.”

  Charlotte tossed a cushion at Lauren, “Hey, easy now.”

  Over the years, and thousands of dollars in lessons later, Charlotte had turned into a proficient skier. What had started as a skill for wooing clients, had turned into a love affair. There was nothing she liked better than coming in from a day of skiing, her cheeks rosy from the cold, and slipping into her outdoor hot tub.

  “You’re going to love it, Tabitha. And yes, I totally think that you can do it. You can do anything you put your mind to. I promise you that.” Charlotte truly believed every word. Both she and her sister were successful career women who came from nothing. Their mom had worked two jobs to support them. They grew up eating boiled hot dogs and wearing thrift store clothes. At least once a year, they were mocked at school for wearing somebody else’s cast-off clothing.

  “We’ll put her in lessons.” Charlotte finished off her wine and flicked on the TV that was mounted above the fireplace. “Now who wants to wat
ch... um, what are people watching these days?”

  “If it’s okay with you, Auntie Charlotte, I’d really just like to read my book.” Tabitha held up a library book.

  “Me too,” Lauren held up her book.

  “The apple didn’t fall far from that tree,” Charlotte said and smiled at the two bookworms.

  “I’m going to go to my office to get some work done. Good night ladies. Everything you need should be laid out in your rooms.” Charlotte set her wine glass down in the sink and walked up the curved wooden staircase to her office. But, instead of pulling up her active listings, she sat down and googled “Logan Brush.”

  An hour later, deep into the internet, Charlotte clicked out of her search. It looked like Logan Brush had retired from professional hockey, never married, had a string of model girlfriends that didn’t last longer than a few weeks at a time, and was worth millions. What the hell was he doing back in Chance Rapids?

  Chapter 4

  CHARLOTTE PULLED INTO the parking lot of Sugar Peaks Mountain Village and smiled. The sun shone brightly, and the temperature hovered around freezing, perfect for a beginner. Charlotte looked over at Tabitha whose eyes were wide as they took in the gondola cabins that whisked brightly colored skiers and snowboarders up the mountain.

  “Are you excited?” Charlotte asked.

  “Do I have to go all the way to the top?” her voice shook.

  “Not right away. There’s a bunny hill. Once you’re more comfortable we will go to the very top, which you can’t even see from here. There’s a huge bowl over that ridge.” Charlotte pointed to the spot where the gondolas were disappearing from view.

  “Wow.” Tabitha wrung her hands in her lap as she stared at the mountain.

  “Hey, don’t you worry about a thing. You’ll be flying down this mountain in no time.”

  As the two of them walked to the central square, the excitement in the air was palpable, skiers laughed and clomped around them in their heavy plastic boots, skis resting on their shoulders.

  “Come with me, Tabby Cat.”

  “Tabby Cat?”

  “Shit. I mean, shoot.” Being around a kid was making Charlotte very aware of just how often she swore. “I have this habit of giving people nicknames. If you don’t like it, I can think of something else. Or, you know, just call you Tabitha.

  The young girl grinned. “I like Tabby Cat. Mom is so serious all the time. I like being a little silly sometimes.”

  Charlotte felt her heart swell inside her thermal ski clothes, she was well on her way to being a cool aunt. “Well then, let’s go get you some skis and be silly, Miss Tabby Cat.”

  While a scruffy guy named Ethan outfitted Tabitha, Charlotte frantically scrolled through her emails. She was worried about being away from work for a week. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Kate had responded to all messages on her behalf and that there weren’t any fires that needed to be put out. She pulled up her text screen and smirked as she sent a message to Megan.

  “I’m in town. What’s the big news, Mrs. Johnson?”

  Johnson was Josh’s last name. Charlotte smiled as she envisioned Megan reading the text. Charlotte was 99% sure that the big news was an engagement announcement. She couldn’t have been happier for her friend. Last year, Megan’s husband of fifteen years left her for his pregnant mistress and Charlotte had been there to help pick up the pieces. Now she was with an incredibly hot carpenter, Josh, and four months’ pregnant with his baby. Megan’s story made Charlotte believe in the old saying about when one door closes, a window opens. In Megan’s case, her window had six pack abs and a giant smile.

  Her phone chimed.

  “Who told you?”

  “Ha,” Charlotte said out loud and furiously typed back. “You just did.”

  Megan sent back the red, angry-faced emoji.

  The phone rang in Charlotte’s hand. She jabbed at the screen to answer the call.

  “Why did this announcement have to wait until I was in town?” she asked.

  “Hello to you too, Charlotte,” Megan laughed. “Let’s meet up to talk about the details.”

  “Suuure,” Charlotte replied. “What’s with the formality?”

  Megan ignored Charlotte’s question. “Can you come to the café?”

  “I’m skiing with Tabitha right now, but we could stop in for some hot chocolate after. Not sure how long the kid’s going to last.”

  “Anytime this afternoon works for me. Have fun with your niece.”

  “Thanks, Meg. Love you.” Charlotte hung up the phone and slipped it into the inner pocket of her down jacket. Even the newest phones would freeze if they weren’t next to some form of body heat.

  Charlotte and Tabitha left the ski shop and headed to the bunny hill.

  “Auntie Charlotte, I don’t think I can do this.” Tabitha’s voice wavered.

  Charlotte picked her up in her arms and hugged her. “You. You can do this. You just need someone who can actually teach you. This is...” she turned to a young ski instructor wearing bunny ears.

  “I’m Jessica,” she quipped. “You must be Tabitha.”

  Tabitha nodded and Charlotte set her down on the snow. “Jessica is going to teach you and she’s the top bunny on the bunny hill.” Charlotte smiled and squeezed her niece.

  “Do you want an all-day lesson?” Jessica asked Charlotte.

  “Keep going as long as she wants.” Charlotte pulled a business card out of her pocket, a well-practiced move, and handed it to the young girl. “Call me when you’re done.”

  “You got it.”

  “Tabitha, are you going to be okay?” Charlotte asked. Jessica was already on the ground in front of Tabitha attaching a little green strap to the tips her skis.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “You call me when you’re done for the day and then we can get some hot chocolate. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Charlotte raised her hand and Tabitha hesitated, but then high fived her aunt, a smile on her face.

  Charlotte grabbed her skis and headed to the gondola. The lift whisked her to the top and then she headed to the rickety old double chairlift that crept up to the peak. She joined the long singles line-up; spring break crowds were out in full force at Little Red. The singles line alternated with the line of paired up skiers, the lift operating at maximum capacity. When it was her turn to load the lift, she caught sight of her riding partner from the other singles line. He was hard to miss, towering at least a foot over everyone else in line. His goggles rested on his helmet and the familiar crystal blue eyes were the same blue of his ski jacket. Charlotte looked around frantically, but there was no escaping it, she was trapped in the lift line. She pulled her goggles down over her eyes, thankful for their dark lenses, and pulled her neck warmer up over her nose. She crossed her fingers that her bandit look was enough to disguise her identity. She was about to get on a rickety old chairlift with Logan. Fucking. Brush.

  Chapter 5

  THE OLD CHAIR SWAYED as it chugged up the mountain.

  “Beautiful day,” Logan said as he gazed up the mountain. Snow blew off the jagged peaks and sparkled magically in the sunlight.

  Charlotte nodded but didn’t speak, hoping he would get the hint and stop with the damn small talk.

  “Do you know if they’ve opened up the back bowl?” he asked. Out of Charlotte’s peripheral vision, she could see him looking at her. She pretended to study the top of the mountain.

  “Not sure,” she muttered, her voice muffled by her neck warmer.

  After all these years, Logan Brush was sitting next to her, the arms of their frozen jackets brushing against each other. Charlotte swore she could feel her heart pounding against the outer layer of her ski gear. She nestled into her neck warmer even further, her breath fogging up her goggles. She tried to take a few covert deep breaths to try and slow her racing heart.

  “We got a foot of fresh snow last night. If the bowl is open, it’s going to be amazing. I heard s
ki patrol doing avalanche control with bombs this morning.”

  Charlotte nodded. The only sound was the hum of the cable and the rumble of the rollers as the chair passed by one of its towers. The humming stopped and Charlotte looked up to see the cable above them roll back a couple of feet, the chair rocking side to side in the wind. Charlotte’s fear of the ancient chairlift cable snapping and her plunging to certain death into the cliffs below vividly coming to life.

  “You okay?” Logan asked. His deep voice would’ve been comforting if it wasn’t, you know, his.

  Charlotte gripped the safety bar with both of her mittened hands but was focused on the rocks below. Logan tapped her hand with his. “It’ll be okay. This old girl isn’t ready to call it a day just yet. I’ve been riding her for years and she hasn’t let me down yet.”

  The innuendo wasn’t lost on Charlotte, but she wasn’t ready to play flirty girl with Logan.

  “I’m fine. I’ve been on this chair before.” Her voice was muffled by her neck warmer, and she kept her gaze trained on the peak.

  She breathed out a sigh of relief as she felt the chair shudder as it came back to life and they continued their slow as molasses trip up the mountain.

  Logan turned to her “Are you a local?” he asked.

  Couldn’t the guy take the hint? She didn’t want to talk to him. In reality, he was just being kind, but Charlotte found his constant attempts at small talk verging on pathetic. A man like him was probably used to wooing the panties off any woman that crossed his path. Hell, if Charlotte didn’t know who he was, she would be celebrating her singles line jackpot. In Chance Rapids, a retired pro hockey player carried the weight of an Oscar-winning actor, maybe even more.

  Charlotte hated holding her tongue. She wasn’t the naïve high school girl from fifteen years ago. She realized that Billie Jo Bunkman would’ve kept quiet and hidden behind her goggles; she sat up taller, Charlotte O’Hare wouldn’t.