Page 25 of Should I Fall
I march through the sliding doors of the lodge, focused on the staircase to the second floor. I need to pack my suitcase before the shuttle arrives. I also need to talk to my sister, and then hope that Dash has talked some sense into himself in time.
Ugh, men!
“Stormi?” Erin calls out my name from the center of the lobby. She’s sitting on one of the love seats positioned around a cedar coffee table, looking more refreshed than I expected. I’m surprised not to see a single suitcase nearby.
“You look…better.”
“I am better.” She pats the seat beside hers. “Sit.”
“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
“I know it’s…unexpected. But, really, I’m okay. More than okay actually.”
It’s then I notice the glow.
“Chad didn’t show up?—”
“No, Chad is no longer in the picture,” she says reassuringly. “I promise you that.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“I took your advice.”
“Huh?”
She opens her palm, revealing the rose quartz I left on her nightstand on our first night here. “I decided, for once in my life, just to go with the flow. To trust that everything will work out even if I can’t see how.”
“Okay, now I know you’re not my sister. But if there’s ransom, I can’t afford it.”
Erin laughs, and I’m relieved at how genuine the sound is. She really is okay. I don’t know how that’s possible in the short time we’ve been here, but maybe there’s something magical in the mountain air after all.
That would explain me falling in love with Dash so quickly.
“I have a confession,” she says.
“Oh?”
“I’m not going home today.”
“You’re extending your stay?”
“Yeah. Indefinitely.”
“Why—”
“I promise I’ll tell you everything, but first you have to tell me what’s going on with you. Winnie told me you were stranded at a fire watch tower the past couple of nights. With a man named Dash?”
I look over my shoulder, but for the first time since we arrived at the lodge, Winnie is not behind the front desk.
Convenient timing, Winnie.
“What happened, Stormi?” Her question is ten percent concern, ninety percent curiosity.
For the first time in my life, I feel comfortable telling my sister the truth without any fear of her reaction. “I fell in love.”
“You did?” Her expression glows with happiness.
“Yeah, I did. But there’s something else you really should know,” I say before I lose my nerve. “I quit my job.”
