Page 66 of This Feeling

“You can’t do cold, yet you live in Upstate New York? Close to Canada? Where the winters can be brutal?”

I giggled. “Okay, yes, I see what you’re saying, but I hate the winter months.Hatethem. I can never get warm enough, ya know?”

“I do know what you mean. It seems easier to cool off than to warm up.”

“Yes!” I said as we started walking once again. “It feels like it takes me forever to warm up. That said, I love it when we get that first snow, and everything is so beautiful. It looks fresh and clean, and when the sun hits the snow, it reminds me of diamonds.”

“There’s something magical about that first snowfall. I wonder at what point in life we stopped waking up to find snow on the ground, all excited to play in it, and groaned at the sight of it, instead. Grumpy because the sidewalks need shoveling, the car needs cleaning off. I miss that part of childhood.”

“I guess you don’thaveto wake up groaning. Wake up and decide you’re going to go out and play in it.”

“At thirty-five?”

Laughing, I nodded. “Why not? There are no rules about who can and can’t enjoy the snow. I don’t see why we, as adults, can’t go out and have a good snowball fight, build a snowman, or even make snow angels.”

Declan squeezed my hand. “I wish everyone thought that way. I was right earlier.”

We stopped outside of the Moose Village Hotel and faced one another. I looked up at Declan and asked, “You were right about what?”

He placed his palm on my cheek, and I leaned into it on impulse. “When I told Sean that he didn’t deserve you. You’re an extraordinary woman who deserves to be treated like a queen.”

My brows shot up as I tried to ignore the way my heart felt like it might beat right out of my chest. “A queen, huh?”

“Nothing less.”

Lifting onto my toes, I brushed my lips against his, then whispered, “Thank you for the sweet words. Now, let’s go kick some trivia ass!”

Declan kissed me quickly and motioned for me to walk through the door first.

The Moose Village Hotel wasn’t huge, but it was the pride and joy of the town. Luke Banks had bought the place several years ago and made some wonderful changes. He also owned Moose Village Inn, which was more like a motel and less fancy. We walked into the lobby, and like always, I was struck by how beautiful this place was. To the left was the restaurant, with its famous bar that had been used in so many movies and commercials. My mother said it was the original bar, the same one she used to come in and sit at for root beer floats as a kid. I glanced down at the black-and-white-checkered granite floor, and smiled. I loved the floor. It just screamed historical.

Besides the restaurant, the hotel’s first level held a gift shop, and a small coffee and sandwich shop.

“Did you know they made the basement into a huge library?” I asked.

“Ididknow that. My dad is good friends with Luke, so he helped when it came to the budgeting of the remodel. When he said they were converting the basement into a library, I thought it was a great idea.”

“It was. I can’t tell you how often I’ve walked down here with a book and just sat by the massive fireplace to read.”

Declan put a light hand on the small of my back as we entered the elevator and hit the button for the roof. “I heard Liam Turner’s the one who opened the rooftop bar and restaurant. Is that true?”

Nodding, I replied, “Yeah. He opened it while he and Hope were still living in New York City. I think they’d always planned to move to Moose Village after having kids.”

“Wow, that’s great. I went to school with Liam’s older sister, Lorie.”

“She owns Timeless Cup now. Did you know?”

“I didn’t,” Declan stated. “When did she buy it?”

“Just recently. She divorced Mitch and decided she wanted to do something completely different from teaching elementary school.”

Declan nodded. “That’s different, all right. A complete one-eighty.”

The doors opened to a small foyer area. Directly in front of us were the restrooms, and to the left was the entrance to the restaurant and rooftop bar.

The hostess smiled as we walked up.

“Welcome to The Muddled Moose. Are you here for trivia night?”

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