Page 8 of Sugarplum

"Wow. I'll be honest. I've never had a sugarplum cupcake. I just made it up. It has to do with a running joke at work." I took another bite, and it melted in my mouth. "But now I know what I've been missing."

"Terrific. I'll get you a cup of coffee to go with it. Then I'll show you to your room." She slipped into the kitchen before I could ask her what the heck she was talking about.

I walked over to a table and sat down. I was still feeling a little shaky, not so much from the accident but from everything that had happened after it, the sudden change of landscape, Holt's appearance and uncanny likeness to the game character I'd been developing a crush on for months and the Silk Stocking Inn being not just a prank but a real life place. And now the finale—sugarplum cupcakes and an innkeeper who seemed to know me better than I knew myself.

Coco returned with a steaming cup of coffee and cream to put in it. She placed it in front of me.

"It's very nice of you to open up a room for me, but I won't be staying. My friends are expecting me at Swanson's Ski Lodge. I'll be on the road just as soon as Holt pulls my car free from the snow."

Big footsteps pounded the hallway floor behind me. "Sorry, Jen, but that's not going to happen."

I spun around. Holt's shoulders spanned the entire doorway. He'd taken off his racing gear and stripped down to a black and white sweater that hugged every bulging muscle. The black snow pants and snow boots topped off the look. He truly did belong in a video game.

He lowered my suitcase to the floor. "You tweaked your front axle when you flew off the road. I towed the car up to the inn. I have a mechanic friend a few miles down the road. If you want, I can have him pick it up with his tow truck. Won't take him long to fix it."

"That would be wonderful. How soon can he be here?"

"He'll be back on the mountain tomorrow."

"What? No. That's not soon enough."

"Sorry. He's down in the city visiting his mom."

"Jeez, I knew I shouldn't have come up here. I should have listened to my more reasonable self and stayed home."

"Nonsense." Coco placed her hand on my shoulder. "You won't regret the trip up the mountain. I promise. Grab your coffee and I'll show you to your room."

Coco had this way about her that you not only didn't have a chance to protest, but you sort of didn't want to. She had such a welcoming, confident way about her, it was hard to say no to her.

Coffee in one hand and suitcase in the other, I trudged behind her, almost in a trance about everything that had happened. One minute, I was standing at my computer trying to decide why I would even consider spending the weekend in a ski lodge with Stan. The next, I was in some strange place surrounded by a flurry of impossible coincidences, including a six foot two one, who just happened to look like the game character I'd finished creating.

Was it possible I’d hit my head when the car went off the road? Even if I had, it wouldn't explain anything. Maybe what I needed was a nap. Tanya was never going to believe this.

I stopped two steps up. "Wait. I have to call my friend. She'll be worried. I think my cell phone is in the car."

"It won't matter." Coco was standing several steps up. “The inn doesn't have much reception. We are what you tech people call 'off the grid'.” My gosh, she even knew I was a techie. I should have been creeped out, but oddly enough—I wasn't. She just didn't have a creepy aura to her. She had more of an 'everything is much greener on my side of the world' thing going for her.

"If you don't mind climbing back onto the snowmobile, I can give you a ride to the gas station down the road. Best reception in a five mile radius." Holt's voice had that deep, smooth sound that could lull even the most uptight woman into an erotic spell. It sounded even better as it rumbled off the narrow stairwell.

I turned back to look at him. "As long as you don't mind. I feel like I've already cut into your racing practice. I hate to take any more of your day."

"No problem at all. Just meet me out front. Dress warm. The snow is falling harder now."

I hurried my pace and caught up to Coco on the landing.

She pushed open the door to a bedroom at the top of the stairs. It was lushly decorated in antiques, quilts and pillows. Even the curtains on the window evoked a nostalgic feeling of a past life when houses like the inn were richly decorated in floral brocade. In the center of the big room sat a massive bed with intricately carved posts and a lacy canopy dangling overhead. It was almost impossible to see the bed beneath the sea of pillows.

I stepped into the room and lowered my bag to the floor. "Do you want my credit card now or when I leave?"

"What would I need your credit card for?" Coco busied herself fluffing the already fluffy pillows on the bed.

"Uh, for the bill?"

She patted the final layer of pillows. "This is a complimentary weekend. No credit card needed."

"But—"

Coco pushed open the door to the bathroom. It was elegant and surprisingly modern, complete with a kickass soaker tub positioned under a window.

"Oh wow. Best bathroom ever. Am I allowed to use the tub?"

She laughed. "Of course. Bubble bath and a robe are in the closet. And if there's anything else you need just let me know." She headed to the door but stopped and pointed back at me. "Is homemade lasagna all right for dinner?"

"Homemade lasagna? It's my favorite."

"I know. That's why I'm cooking it." She flashed a smile, and for a second, some of the lines around her eyes that I'd seen on first glance returned. But they vanished in an instant. Then she slipped out the door. I stood in the center of the room, dumbfounded and speechless and excited as heck to try out the tub. But first I needed to ride with Holt to the best phone reception in town. Tanya would be wondering where the hell I was, and when I told her, she was going to think I'd lost my mind. And maybe I had. But if this was what crazy felt like, then sign me up for the asylum.

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