Snowbound with the Soldier

Kara’s gaze moved from Samantha to Jason’s pleading look. Why was she the only person who thought this was a bad idea? Didn’t he have more important things to do than play tour director?

“Please, Mommy? I already have my homework done.”

That was true enough. Samantha had been an angel all week. Kara knew it had a lot to do with Santa, but she’d take what she could get, when she could get it. Her daughter had earned the right to have a little fun. Who was she to take it from her?

“Okay. But we can’t stay long—”

“Yay!” Samantha cheered.

“Good.” Jason smiled, setting Kara’s heart aflutter. “Let’s go take that tour. I think someone is anxious to begin her work.”

“Uh-huh.” Samantha beamed a cheery smile at them before grabbing a hand of each adult and pulling them onward.

Kara glanced past her daughter to Jason, who seemed truly relaxed and comfortable holding Samantha’s hand. Letting him field the child’s million and one questions about the resort, Kara took in all the recent updates.

The hallway’s robin’s-egg-blue walls were bare, and a faint smell of fresh paint lingered. A lifetime of memories lived and breathed inside this ski lodge. If these walls could talk, they’d spill stories of stolen kisses, tears and shared promises.

Jason pointed out the new restaurants, spa and indoor Olympic-size pool while the past continued to crowd in on Kara. She remembered how things used to be—how things might be again, if only she could make Jason understand the impossible. But her confession wouldn’t fix things between them. It’d only scare him off. She doubted even this business could hold him back if he learned exactly what had happened after he’d dumped her. Not that she’d ever have a reason to tell him. He was her boss, nothing more.

The tour concluded with the game room to the left and a bowling alley to the right. A screech of joy ripped from Samantha’s lungs. “There’s a bowlin’ alley, too.”

Both of them laughed at her comical enthusiasm as she tried to decide what game she wanted to try first.

“Mister, can I really play them all?”

His smile lit up his face, making his blue eyes twinkle. “First, call me Jason.”

“Jason, can we play now? Bubbles wants to bowl. Can we, huh?”

“We have a lot of games to test, so we better get started.” He rolled up his shirtsleeves, then found the power switch. Lights flickered and the lanes lit up.

“Mommy, are you gonna play, too?”

“I don’t think so. I can’t bowl in these boots.”

“Not a problem,” Jason assured her. “We’ve got brand spanking new shoes. What size are you?”

Kara took in the expectant look on her daughter’s face and then turned to meet Jason’s appealing gaze. How could she turn them down? After spending way too many hours being professional, and a responsible adult, she was just as anxious as Samantha to let loose and be included in the fun.

They placed bumpers in the gutters to keep their balls in the lane. Jason and Samantha nearly doubled over in fits of laughter when in her enthusiasm Kara flung the ball too hard and too soon. It bounced over the bumper and into the next lane. Samantha, with the aid of a bumper or two, pulled off a spare, while Jason scored strike after strike.

After he soundly beat Kara, he surprised them with a takeout pepperoni pizza he’d kept warm in the employee kitchen. When he glanced her way, Kara mouthed, “Thank you.”

He had outdone himself this afternoon. The man certainly was full of surprises. Her daughter was thrilled with the fun, and to be honest, Kara was thrilled, too.

When they finally worked their way over to the game room, Jason produced a pocketful of quarters. He handed Samantha a few. “Here you go. You can test the machines in here while your mother and I talk a little business.”

“Aren’t you gonna play, too?”

“In a couple of minutes.” He ran a gentle, reassuring hand over Samantha’s back, making Kara’s heart pinch as she thought of all the father-daughter moments her little girl had missed.

Samantha, seeming satisfied to wait, moved to a claw game where the intent was to pick up one of the colorful plush animals with the shiny metallic prongs and place it in the chute. Before she could utter a complaint about being too short, Jason produced a plastic footstool. This was the thoughtful, generous guy Kara had fallen in love with all those years ago. And if she wasn’t careful, the past just might repeat itself.

“Step up here,” he said, holding out his hand to assist Samantha. “Better?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” She surveyed the mound of colorful stuffed animals. “I want that purple monkey.”

“Put your quarter in and give it a shot.”