Chapter 8

8

N oah stepped into the lobby of the resort and was immediately met with his gawking family members standing behind the check-in counter. His mom looked like she had stars in her eyes, while his dad looked amused. Jackson leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in a leisurely way and a smile on his face. His brother Ethan was always happy and had his signature smile plastered across his face. His youngest brother, Miles, looked serious as always, with his daughter, Emma, swinging his hand back and forth with a bright smile on her face. Noah frowned.

“Noah! Why didn’t you tell us you had a date?” Karen asked.

Noah looked around at his siblings with accusing eyes, wondering who ratted him out. He hadn’t told any of them for this reason alone. He didn’t need his family all up in his business. It would get back to them fast enough, just from word-of-mouth from the locals.

The guilty, yet satisfied, look on Jackson’s face had Noah narrowing his eyes at him. Jackson shrugged.

“Megan told me,” he said.

“When did you see Megan?” Noah asked.

“I ran into her in the lobby.”

It was a pathetic attempt, but Noah needed to take the attention off him. This wasn’t a big deal. It was only a date. “Oh yeah? Well, are you still hanging out with Mia nonstop? I saw you earlier.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows I hang out with Mia. Stop changing the subject.”

Damn it. It didn’t work, and he didn’t have enough time to come up with something else distracting.

“So you’re dating a guest?” Karen asked.

Noah sighed and glanced toward the elevators. Jessa would come down at any moment, and the last thing he wanted was for them to have an audience.

“Now is not the time for this. I don’t need you all freaking her out.”

“Why would you think we’d do that?”

Guests passing by gave them curious looks, so Noah took a few steps closer and lowered his voice.

“Mom, I love you, but you all are standing here gaping like I’m a thirteen-year-old about to go on a date for the first time. It’s a little embarrassing that you’re re-enacting all that when I’m thirty-two years old,” Noah hissed.

“But we’re so happy for you,” Ethan said, the amusement on his face getting brighter with each passing second.

Miles snorted beside him and looked over at the elevator when it dinged with its arrival.

“Uncle Noah, is that her?” Emma asked.

Noah prayed she hadn’t come down yet, when her voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Uh… hey, Noah.”

Noah shot his family a meaningful threat before plastering a smile to his lips and turning around to face Jessa.

“Hey, you ready to go?”

Her eyes nervously glanced past him toward his family, and he inwardly cringed. He could imagine his mom staring at her with hearts in her eyes, begging them to get married and have children.

Good Lord. She better not be.

Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go , he chanted in his head.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

As if they were damn zoo animals, his family’s eyes followed them to the resort doors. Noah glanced back and glared, but his brothers only waved obnoxiously. Despite his attempt at steering Jessa away, she glanced back as well, and the lines between her eyebrows merged at the waves from his siblings.

“You look really pretty!” Emma shouted.

Jessa giggled awkwardly and held up a hand and gave a small wave in confusion to the rest of the group before smiling brightly at Emma.

The snicker from his brothers followed them out the door, and Noah swore he’d kill them all.

Once they were in the parking lot, Noah led Jessa over to his truck and opened the passenger side door for her. He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side, sliding in and shutting out the icy wind.

“Um… What was that about?” she asked.

He sighed. Couldn’t even make it to dinner before the family conversation came up.

“Just my psychotic family trying their hardest to embarrass me.”

“They’re just… hanging out at the resort? Do they normally hang out there?”

Noah turned the truck on and backed out of the parking spot. “Not normally this late. Apparently Megan told Jackson we were going out, and Jackson spread it around to the family.”

Confusion crossed her face. “What do you mean not normally this late?”

He glanced at her as he drove through town. They could have walked, but with as cold as it was, he thought it might be best to drive.

“Their workday is over.”

“They all work for the resort?” Then she squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. “That’s right. You told me your family owns it, right? I’m sorry. I got distracted by the nachos that were set down in front of us right after you told me.”

He laughed. Once the truck was in park, he turned toward her in the seat. He realized she knew nothing about his family, something he forgot he would need to explain. Living in a small town, everyone knew what everyone else did for a living, so he didn’t normally need to explain it. It had slipped his mind.

“I’m sorry. I’m used to the small town life and everyone knowing everything about my family and me.”

A small smile crossed her face. “I can understand that.”

“Let’s get inside the diner, and I’ll fill you in there.”

“Sounds good.”

He stepped out of his truck and nodded at a couple walking by before pulling open Jessa’s door. He took her hand and helped her down. The sidewalk was well-maintained from the snow, but it could get slick in spots.

They stepped inside Trudy’s, the local diner, and smiled at the server, who took them to a table near the window. After she walked away, Noah smiled at Jessa.

“There aren’t a lot of options for restaurants around here, and I wanted to avoid the resort. The roads are a little slick today, so I didn’t want to risk driving to the next town over.”

At Jessa’s questioning look, he continued. “Since my family owns the resort, they all spend a lot of time there. All the employees gossip with my parents and siblings. Plus, the display they just put on in the lobby doesn’t exactly make me want to hang out there.”

She giggled. “I understand.”

She tugged her jacket off and set it on the bench next to her. And that’s when Noah could drink her in. His family had distracted him from looking her over before, but now the maroon sweater she wore looked beautiful with her dark hair, which cascaded down her back in long waves.

“You look gorgeous, by the way.”

A blush crept up into her cheeks, and she smiled shyly at him. “Thank you.”

They each picked up the menu and looked over it, despite Noah knowing it like the back of his hand. He didn’t need to look, but he thought staring at her would make her uncomfortable.

Once they both settled on their food and placed their orders, he smiled at her. “So, how are you liking Wintervale so far?”

“I love it. It’s a beautiful town. Almost doesn’t feel real.”

He smiled. “Yeah. It’s picturesque. It wears off once you’ve been here a while until you travel somewhere else.”

“I bet.” She picked up her water glass and took a sip. “So the group of people standing with Jackson at the resort were all your family?”

Noah nodded. “Yes. Those were my parents, my other two brothers, and my niece.”

“No sisters?”

He shook his head. “I’m sure my mom wanted a daughter at some point, but she got all boys. But she’s got my niece now that she can spoil. How about you? Any siblings?”

Jessa shook her head. “No. I’m an only child.”

Noah’s life was chaotic growing up. He grew up in this small town helping at the resort since he was a young child. He and his siblings ran around together, playing and exploring the trails. Rarely did they spend time indoors. He wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I can’t imagine not having siblings.”

“It’s all I know. I can’t imagine having siblings, although I’m sure it’s fun. I always wished I had a sister. But Megan is kind of the sister I never had.”

The server walked over and set their meals down in front of them before disappearing again.

“How many cities have you visited?”

Jessa shrugged. “A lot. I’ve lost count, but I’ve been to every state at least once. My family traveled a lot growing up.”

“And you said you’re from Arizona, right?”

She smiled timidly. “I always get weird trying to answer that question because we never stayed in one place for long, but I usually say Arizona just because it’s where the company I work is based. My parents traveled with work, and we were always on the go. They are both photographers and would work on commission or for magazines. I was primarily homeschooled since we never stayed in one place long.”

Noah couldn’t imagine a life like that. Never having friends in one spot or a place to call home. Living out of hotels. It didn’t sound fun.

“Did you enjoy it?”

“I guess you could say I did. I mean, I still do it now, but it’s really all I know. Settling in one place gets me restless. I’m just not used to it.”

Noah’s stomach sank. This was a first date. He knew nothing could come of it, so why did hearing her not wanting to settle in one place disappoint him so much?

“I wish I had a home base, though. Someplace to always go back to and call home. That’s something I never had. Aside from the occasional trip to visit my grandparents’ place in Texas before they passed.” She took a sip of her drink and speared a piece of broccoli.

“Where are your parents now? Still traveling?”

She smiled. “Yes. They’re currently doing a world cruise. It’s nine months long.”

“Wow. That sounds fun… and long.”

She giggled, and his heart tripped in his chest. The sound was music to his ears.

“Yes, a very long time to be at sea, but it’s right up their alley. They enjoy it and that’s all that matters. We try to meet up at least once a year to see each other. Otherwise, it’s a lot of video calls.” She took a sip of her water. “But enough about me. Tell me about you and your family. What all do you do at the resort?”

Noah leaned back in his seat. “Well, you know I’m ski patrol. My mom runs the backend, like keeping track of the expenses, the accounting. My dad helps with that and just doing anything else that needs work, like maintenance. Jackson does the landscape. Gardening in the summer, snow removal in the winter. That sort of thing. My brother Ethan is the adventure guide; hikes, cross country skiing, mountain biking. Anything adventurous. My youngest brother Miles is the chef at the restaurant.”

“And who does your niece belong to?”

“She is Miles’s daughter.”

Jessa nodded. “So what do you do when there isn’t any snow on the mountain?”

“I help with maintaining the grounds. Keep things running during the summer when we are open for mountain biking and hiking. We have a first-aid station up there for anyone who gets injured, so I hang out on the mountain in case of injuries.”

Jessa finished her bite of food before taking another sip of water. “How did you all decide who would do which jobs?”

Noah shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we just kind of fell into it. We were never told we had to do one thing, and our parents never asked us to stay in Wintervale. We basically all just took over an area we enjoyed doing and made it our own. I lived on the slopes as a kid. Skiing from the moment the mountain opened until the mountain closed. At the time, we had a guy named George who used to run the ski patrol. He has long since retired, but he started teaching me about it. It really interested me, so I took some classes to be an EMT so I would know how to handle situations. When George wanted to retire, he suggested I take over.”

Noah shook his head at the memory with a smile on his face. When George approached Noah about taking over, Noah was surprised. He was only twenty and didn’t feel like he knew enough to do that. It was only later that he realized George had been training him to take over.

“It’s always been enjoyable for me. I get to spend my day on the mountain doing runs. What more could I ask for?”

Except someone to spend it with.

The thought hit him like a freight train. Being with Jessa now had him wanting to be with someone. He didn’t realize how much he had missed spending time with a woman.

She smiled softly at him. “That sounds ideal.”

It was. Now he just needed to fill the last little void in his heart. And he wondered if Jessa might just be the person to do it.