Snowbound in Montana Read Online Free PDF Page A

made her way to her room. Briefly, her gaze connected with Marshall’s.
    “Sleep well, Eliza,” he said.
    “You, too.”
    She’d been wondering if thoughts about John would keep her awake all night. He was scheduled to arrive at Bramble House tomorrow afternoon. What would he say when he found out she wasn’t there? Would he leave? Try to find her?
    But these questions didn’t trouble her as much as she’d thought they would. She fell asleep quickly, lulled by the moaning of the wind and the security of her warm bed.
    In the morning, the first thing she did was glance toward the window. Since they were out in the wilderness she hadn’t bothered to close the curtains and she could see right away that it was still snowing. She felt a moment’s unease. Hadn’t Marshall said the storm was expected to end by now?
    But, it was only snow, she reasoned. And they were safe and warm, here in the lodge.

Chapter Three
    ‡
    M arshall wasn’t in the dining hall when Eliza showed up, at seven-thirty. The windows on the outside wall were so covered in frost she could hardly see out of them. But the room itself was toasty warm thanks to the cast iron stove in one corner. In the other corner was a buffet table. The center of the room was taken up with two long pine tables, bench seating on either side. At one of the tables were the Brackett and Ritchie families, complete with the three teenaged girls and poor Kevin, stuck between his parents and already looking bored.
    For lunch and dinner yesterday, Eliza had sat next to Mary and Ted Arbuckle. They were accountants who had lived in Marietta all their lives. They had no other family and liked to spend their holidays on ski trips like this one. This was the fifth trip they’d taken with Marshall, and according to them, he was the best ski guide ever.
    That was about as far as their conversation had gone. They hadn’t asked Eliza any questions about herself, and she’d finally realized that they really just wanted to be left alone.
    This morning Eliza took a place next to the other couple who didn’t have children, Jason and Sydney Kelly. They looked around her age, maybe a little older. Hopefully, she’d have more in common with them than she’d had with the Arbuckles. She soon found out that Jason was a dentist and Sydney a dental hygienist. They’d met at work and had been married five years.
    Breakfast was delicious, apple strudel and muesli, hot coffee prepared in European presses from freshly ground coffee. Jason complimented everything, trying to push seconds on his wife, who didn’t seem to have much of an appetite.
    “Have you been here before?” Eliza asked politely. There was weird tension between them that made her feel uncomfortable.
    “This is our first time,” Jason said. “We thought it sounded like a fun adventure.”
    “I’m not so sure about the fun part. But at least it gets us out of spending Christmas with the family,” Sydney added.
    Eliza smiled. “It can get overwhelming this time of year, can’t it?”
    “Especially when you’re the only couple without children,” Sydney said. “I have ten nieces and nephews on my side of the family. Jason has eight.”
    “Wow. That must get busy.”
    “Total mayhem,” Jason agreed. “This is much more civilized.”
    “Except for that little boy with the Ritchie family. I can’t imagine why his parents brought him here. He’s so annoying.”
    Eliza glanced at the other table. Kevin was no longer seated next to his parents, he was doing laps around the room, using a pretend gun to take pot shots at imaginary creatures on the ceiling. “He must be bored.”
    Abruptly, Sydney stood. “I’m going back to the room to put on my long underwear. It looks cold out there.”
    “I’ll come too.” Jason gave Eliza an apologetic smile. “It was nice talking to you.”
    Eliza smiled in return, then poured herself a second cup of coffee. As she watched them leave she had to wonder. Was Sydney usually