Page 12 of Heart of Stone
Lifting her uninjured arm, Natalia pointed to a cabin on the opposite side of the lake. “She’s over there. I told her I’d help with the fall and Thanksgiving decorations around the cabins until it gets too dark, so we decided to split up and cover more ground.”
That’s when I noticed what I’d missed when Natalia had turned those stunned, tear-filled eyes in my direction. A container filled with an assortment of what I could only assume were decorations.
“You decorate the individual cabins?”
Her face lit up, the smile transforming her. Any trace of pain from the fall she’d taken was gone. “I told you things get fun around here at this time of year.”
Confusion washed over me. “This isn’t part of your job description, despite the numerous titles you hold.”
“No, it’s not.”
My brows shot up, silently questioning her.
Natalia’s eyes sparkled with the joy she clearly felt. “I love it. There’s a lot I enjoy about working here. I could spend hours telling you about the things that bring me such happiness being here, but I won’t bore you with that. The bottom line is that I love the transformation that takes place around here when we decorate, and I simply enjoy being part of the process, so I do what I can to help. If I’m honest, I beg Danielle to let me share in the fun by saving some of it for me to help her with, just soI can take some small part in it. And truthfully, this is nothing compared to how I feel about decorating after Thanksgiving in preparation for Christmas.”
Was this woman ever upset?
Beyond the physical pain she felt from falling, it was like she was one big ball of happiness and positivity.
I did not need this. No doubt it was going to be enough of a problem for me to walk outside and see all these cabins decorated. The last thing I needed was Natalia—of all people—to be the woman responsible for outfitting the place I was staying with whatever holiday décor she deemed necessary or appropriate.
“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but this will have to be one less cabin for you to decorate this year.”
She squinted at me. “What?”
“I don’t want decorations.”
“Why not? Nobody’s asking you to put them up.”
I gestured to her arm and noted, “You’ve already hurt yourself just trying to climb the stairs. I’ve got things I need to do tonight, so I can’t be out here supervising and making sure you don’t break your neck when you try to hang a wreath or something.”
Natalia pursed her lips and breathed heavily as she struggled to regain control over her emotions. Then she shot up to her feet, threw the ice pack at me, it landing on the porch beside me, and declared, “Fine. You can stay here and be miserable in your stupid cabin that everyone is going to notice because it’ll be the only one not decorated. You don’t want your cabin to look festive, Reid, I won’t do it. But youwill notsteal my joy.”
She bent down, picked up the container that was bigger than her, and marched off in the direction of the next cabin.
I watched her go, feeling the weight of her words settle inside me. Then I got up and went inside, telling myself it didn’t matterwhat she did. I had a relaxing evening planned for myself, and I didn’t need this distraction.
But as I sat and ate my dinner, I glanced out the window a handful of times in the direction of where she was busy being joyful. Eventually, it got dark, and I assumed she and Danielle had called it quits for the night.
And when I walked outside the next morning to leave for Pennsylvania for a night, I growled in frustration at the autumn leaf wreath she’d affixed to my door.
FIVE
Natalia
“Will I ever grow to like this cold?”
My lips curved into a smile as I watched the stone skip across the water before it finally sank. The lake was drenched in early morning sunlight, the rays of which warmed the skin of my face. “You complain about this at the beginning of November every year, Danielle. It’s chilly, but it’s not that cold yet. Just wait until January or February. Then you can whine about it.”
I picked up another stone as she shared, “Maybe I wouldn’t be complaining if I’d been smart instead of scared. I could have been warm in Stephen’s bed.”
Twisting my neck, I looked over at my friend. “I thought he was working this morning.”
“He is.” The look in her eyes turned dreamy. “But he asked me to move in with him.”
My jaw fell open as I stood with three new stones in my hand. As I tossed the first one out, I asked, “Are you serious? When did that happen?”
Danielle wrapped the blanket she’d brought out to the lake tighter around her body. The two of us often did this. We’d come out to the lake where she’d sit in the chair—all bundled up if the outdoor temps dared to dip below sixty-five degrees—while I found the flattest stones I could and skipped them across the lake.
