LITMIR.BIZ

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raised a brow. “Sounds like Evergreen, doesn’t it?”

      He took bacon and eggs from the fridge, and turned to me grinning. “I guess it does.” He ran a hand over his face. “It’s funny. If you’d have asked me a year ago did I want kids, marriage, a different job, I would have laughed in your face. But something changed, like a switch was flicked, and I didn’t recognize the person I’d become. It was so sudden, and I just felt like I’d been living a lie. The job, the work culture in NYC just seemed so meaningless. The only thing that mattered to me still was Amory, and I realized how much I loved her. When everything else fell away, all I wanted was her, and a different life.”

      I took a frying pan from the hook and put it on the stove, lighting the gas for him. “I did wonder why things moved so quickly between you and Amory all of a sudden. I thought it was because I was out of the way.” Amory had made it her mission to get me out and about in New York, and often I felt guilty that I was encroaching on time they could spend together, but at that stage Cruz worked long hours, and Amory always reassured me it was fine.

      He dropped a dollop of butter in the pan, which sizzled, liquefying. “I probably scared her with my sudden intensity. In fact, I know I did. But it was just so clear to me, you know, like a complex math problem solved in the blink of an eye. Now though, how do I make things right? How do I show her I’m still the same guy, but with different goals?”

      I flicked on the coffee machine and folded my arms, contemplating it all. “I guess you just lay your cards out – that’s all anyone can do – and say, this is me, this is what I am and… see?”

      He placed bacon in the pan, which shriveled and shrank back in the heat. “I know Amory thinks it’s unfair to stay together if I want children. She thinks it’s like shopping and I can walk down the supermarket aisle and pick one, oh look she’ll make a great mom, but you know, I love her enough, too much actually, to let that one thing end us. So she doesn’t want kids now, and maybe she never will, but I’d choose her over that any day. Sure, I’d love to have a family, but not at the cost of losing her.”

      “Have you told her all of this, Cruz?” I knew they’d gone back and forth over most of it a number of times, but he was really ready to change his life, and all he wanted was her. She wanted to stay here, and he wanted open spaces and a quiet life. Couldn’t they both stay and at least explore a new start in Evergreen? Had Amory told Cruz she, too, was tired of New York and the demands of big-city living?

      “Yeah, but I think she only hears what she wants to hear.”

      “Cruz, I need a chef, and you need a new challenge. Think about staying, will you?” I didn’t care that I hadn’t checked with Amory. These two needed a shove, and maybe if they stepped away from their old lives, they’d find some harmony here. Cedarwood had worked its magic so far…

      Later that day I went online, and was surprised to find my email full of queries about the lodge. There were messages about weddings, bridal showers, and even a bar mitzvah. While I was thrilled, I wondered where they’d all come from. How had they heard about Cedarwood?

      I went through them all, answering their questions, attaching pictures, sample menus, price lists.

      “If you squint any harder you’ll fall asleep,” Amory said. “What’s so fascinating?”

      I laughed. “Well, for reasons unknown, we have an inbox full of potential clients. Come see.”

      She leaned over my shoulder, and I scrolled down, showing her the emails.

      “I bet we’ve been written up somewhere! Give me that.” She grabbed the laptop and hit the keys frantically, mumbling to herself, as she tried various word combinations before saying, “Boom! Found it! Only the New York Observer!”

      “No!”

      “Yes!”

      “NO!”

      “YES-S-S!” She let out a squeal.

      “Let me see!” She turned the screen to me and I shrieked, clapping a hand to my mouth as I read the headline: Clio Winters rises again, wowing brides with one-hundred-year-old venue.

      “Rises again? Like I’m the undead!”

      Amory continued to read: “Like Midas, everything she touches turns to gold, and Cedarwood Lodge is no different.”

      I hugged myself tight. “Well, the press have certainly changed their tune! That’s a long way away from accusing me of being a celebrity wedding wrecker! How did they find out about the expo?” I asked.

      “We must have had a rogue bride here,” Amory screeched. “We’d usually have picked up on being spied on! Who do you think it was?”

      “I don’t know,” I said, picturing their faces, their smiles. “I bet you it was Felicity! That whole monster-in-law thing was a farce!”

      “Yes! And don’t forget the try-the-dress-on-routine!”

      “Or was it our troublemaker, Isadora?”

      Shrugging, Amory scanned the rest of the article. “She mentions the food! She says: The canapés were fresh and seasonal, exceptional in every way, and the Christmas feast luncheon was better than Mom’s – but don’t tell her I said that.”

      “We have to thank Cruz a million times over. I’m not sure how he handled it with such aplomb.”

      “The rest of the article gives our details, and says: Book early, I have a feeling Cedarwood Lodge won’t be a secret for much longer.”

      “Let’s celebrate! We have to plan the most extravagant Christmas Eve dinner. We can deck out the little salon that adjoins the side deck, set up a table by the picture window so we can watch the snowfall up close.”

      Her eyes shone, because there was nothing better for a party planner than decorating and hosting her very own party. “Yes! Let’s go to town on that room! We’ll need another Christmas tree, something small…”

      “Shall we head into town and buy Christmas bonbons, and something for the center of the table?”

      “Yes! We still have a few more gifts to buy too!” She rubbed her hands together. “We’re going to need to make a list. OK, well, get your granny shoes on and we’ll head into Evergreen.”

      I scoffed. “My granny shoes?”

      “Those big clodhoppers of yours. Those boots, the ones that look like you’re about to head into war after an apocalypse.”

      I hit her on the arm. “They’re snow boots, I’ll have you know. You’re not the one who has to walk around the grounds every day, checking on things.” I’d been escaping for long walks, telling whoever asked that I was clearing my head, when in actual fact I was searching for the maze. I knew it was somewhere on the east side of the property but that was thick forest, totally overgrown, and impossible to navigate in the slushy snow. Isla would have a better idea of where it was but I was loath to share my mom’s secret because I’d promised her I wouldn’t. There probably was no maze after all these years. By now it would be just one big overgrown hedge, but still I wanted to see it myself. So far, no luck.

      “Well, get them on, darling, and let’s go shopping!”

      I grabbed her arm as she was about to leave. “Amory, you know Evergreen isn’t actually a bustling little shopping capital, don’t you?”

      She threw her head back and laughed at my worried expression. “I think I’ll survive. Now come on, we’ve got gifts to buy!”

      In town, the street had come alive with shoppers wearing determined expressions. Storefronts were lit up with Christmas lights, and tinsel was draped behind windows. In the window of Puft were lush green-iced donuts, stacked atop each other in the shape of a Christmas tree. We waved to Aunt Bessie. I stuck my head in and told her we’d stop by after shopping. Wreaths blew sideways, their little bells jingling in the

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