Page 31 of The Lodge

“I can tell you everything—or you can wait and be surprised.”

“Okay, well, now I’m intrigued.” I would almost always picktell me the plan, but there’s a playfulness to his voice that makes me think he’s really excited to surprise me. “I think I’ll wait and see?”

“Excellent. You’re gonna love it.”

“You’re pretty confident, as usual.” I nudge him with my elbow, feel the warmth radiating between us.

He grins. “If you don’t like it, I’ll make you dinner again instead—but you’re gonna love it.”

We take the path back down toward the village, but this time, we continue toward the main lodge instead of the ski school. It’s snowing, just enough to be magical. The lodge gives off a warm glow; somewhere in the distance, I hear the faint sound of live music.

“Turn here,” Tyler directs as we approach the main building.

A white neon sign boasts the wordsHONEY & THYME. Beside the hostess stand waits a petite Asian woman whose name tag readsJULIE—I recognize her from the concierge desk when I checked in. She’s beautiful, and the very definition of professional.

“Jules, this is Alix. Alix, Jules.”

She smiles and gives my hand a firm shake. “So lovely to officially meet you, Alix.”

“Thanks for pulling this together,” Tyler says.

“You’re lucky I was still here,” she replies with a playful smirk.

“When are younothere?”

“Fair point.” Julie glances at me, then says, “Follow me.”

She leads us inside. I remember reading about this place in the welcome brochure—it was described as a lounge, and that feels accurate. Lots of buttery leather couches and warm lighting, numerous servers buzzing around with drink trays. It’s fairly crowded but not overly loud.

Julie leads us all the way to the back of the place. We veer toward a set of double doors, breezing right past aRESERVEDsign and onto the patio.

Did he—did he reserve thisentire patio?

Two couples were waiting near the hostess stand, and several more groups were just inside. This patio could easily seat twenty.

There’s only one table.

It’s a table for two, set up elegantly with a simple black cloth and sparkling dinnerware, right near the patio’s focal point: a large firepit, a lively fire blazing inside. I can feel its warmth even from here.

Julie leads us over, gestures for us to have a seat. “Hannah will be taking care of you tonight—she’ll get you started with drinks.”

“Thanks again, Jules.”

She gives him a firm side-hug, one that fits theshe’s like a sister to mevibe he told me about last night.

“It looks like this place only does drinks?” I say when it’s just us again, giving the cocktail menu a once-over.

“That’s part of the surprise,” he says, fire twinkling in his eyes. “Okay. So. One of the restaurants here at the lodge is a pretty big deal in the culinary world—they’ve got two Michelin stars. Even with Jules’s help, it’s impossible to get a same-day reservation. So… they’re bringing the restaurant tous.”

“Julie must really love you,” I tease.

“She’s very protective of me,” he says. “Her younger brother and I must have annoyed the shit out of her on a regular basis, and we fought like I was part of the family, but she’s always had my back. I think I told you she inherited Black Maple Lodge when her father passed away—she was only twenty-four. She’s been pulling strings around here for a lot longer than that, though.”

“And you’re still friends with her brother?” I ask, remembering the phone call he took last night while I was over at his place.

Tyler averts his eyes to the menu, studying the cocktails.

“We don’t get to hang out much anymore,” he finally says. “But yeah, we talk almost every day.”

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