Up to Snow Good - Kelly Collins Page 0,31
drug addicts, and tents everywhere. That’s not what we want for Moss Creek, is it?”
“Well, no, I don’t suppose any town wants that, but it’s a sign of the times, I guess. We really should help each other out more than we do, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think so.” The frankness of the answer took Lauren off guard, but the older woman seemed to recognize that and explained. “I do plenty as it is. I pay my taxes, more than I’d like. I give where I can, but not to the homeless. I will not encourage that, and I don’t want to see it ruining Moss Creek the way it’s ruined other places like Aspen and Breckenridge, and don’t get me started on Denver.”
Lauren shook her head as she tried to wrap her mind around her neighbor’s hardened worldview. “What about the people who already live here? They will be homeless soon enough. This is a ski town, and there’s no snow. What are we all going to do about that?”
“I support local businesses,” Lucille said. “Honestly, I think if the outside world would just leave us alone, we’d be fine. You’re a sweet girl to be so civic-minded, but honestly, when they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, I think this is just the thing they’re talking about.”
Lauren gave it one more shot to get Lucille on board. “You understand that you alone can’t keep the town alive, right? Your daily trip to Lily’s or Sally’s for coffee won’t keep them in business. A trip to the local grocery store won’t pay the owner’s rent. What about places like Delia’s who depend on tourists to buy her saltwater taffy? This isn’t just about me, although I include myself in the mix. It takes a village, and a lot of tourists to keep a town like Moss Creek alive and well.”
Lucille patted her shoulder and walked her to the door. “Moss Creek was around a hundred years ago, and it will be around in a hundred more. We’ve never been a community who liked outside influence.”
“I’m not an outsider.”
She raised a brow and smiled. “Of course not.”
The words were right, but the tone said something different. She was an outsider. All those years away wouldn’t go unpunished.
Lauren walked out of her meeting with Lucille even more disheartened. She glanced around the streets of Moss Creek, wondering what had happened to the town she’d grown up in; this place which had been a refuge for her parents from the harried life of the cities back east. It had been a place where family and old-fashioned values ruled. Now, all she could see was a spreading virus of selfishness and disinterest.
For the first time, she felt more sadness than terror over the loss of her father. Moss Creek didn’t seem the same place they’d come to, the place where they’d brought their dreams to fruition. Now it was a place where the residents spoke of me and forgot about we.
There was no snowstorm coming to return the town to its former, powdery glory. No miracle from above to bring back the tourists and make the lodge the winter wonderland we had intended it to be.
Thankfully, Max had arrived to change the landscape of her life. He was the one who would receive her without objection. He was the love of her life, and she was grateful to have him at last.
I don’t want to fight anyone or justify my need to save the lodge. I just want to go home, fall into Max’s arms, close my eyes, and wait for everything to make sense.
It wouldn’t be that easy. She’d find comfort in Max’s arms, but the answers to her problems would have to come from somewhere else, or she’d have to seek them out, and the time for that was fading fast. Her world was slipping out from under her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lauren
Speckles, the mare, was in good shape and ready to run. Lauren had become so used to her chores around the lodge, especially after her father’s death, that the simple joy of a nice ride had escaped her. Like so many things, it took Max to step in and reintroduce her to those pleasures.
Riding with Max was peaceful, and the fate of the town’s future—her future—seemed miles away. Up on that mountain, with those two magnificent horses, she knew how her mother and father had felt coming to Colorado so many years before. She took a deep