Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
I frowned. “I can drive myself,” I said stupidly.
Alex shook his head. “You’re upset, and you’ve been drinking. You should go with Tommy. Foster kitted out his truck with every winter safety feature known to man.”
“It’s true.” Tommy’s cheeks turned pink. “Don’t mess with a Wyoming sheriff when it comes to road safety. Apparently.”
“I’ll be okay,” I insisted.
The two of them exchanged a look before Alex said. “What if you need a friend there to drive you home?”
My stomach twisted. “What, like after a breakup? Are you trying to make me cry? Jesus, Alex. Fuck.”
He held up his hands, wincing. “That’s not what I mean.”
Tommy shoved Alex away. “What my insensitive cousin meant was, if you happen to meet up with someone else and want to ride home with them, it’d be more convenient if you didn’t have your own car. Besides, parking’s tight on Starlight Spectacular night.”
This made sense, I supposed, but something was definitely off. Mrs. Hoffman’s emergency baking situation, Hazel and Avery’s sudden departure, Alex’s fire-inspection-that-wasn’t, and now SERA’s medical team lead acting as my chauffeur? I had no clue what was happening, but I also didn’t have it in me to protest any further.
“Fine,” I sighed. “But I’m probably not staying for the whole thing. I’m not in a festive mood.” Especially if my meeting with Maddox didn’t go well.
Tommy eyed me carefully. “That’s too bad. I thought tonight was supposed to be your twelfth date of Christmas?”
“I thought so, too,” I muttered. But I couldn’t imagine wanting to film this.
The drive to Slingshot Mountain took twenty minutes on winding roads that were slick with fresh snow. Tommy kept up a steady stream of conversation the whole drive about the Starlight Spectacular—how volunteers spent the whole day tricking out the slope with thousands of colored lights, how magical it looked when it all came together—but I found myself tuning him out as we climbed higher. I was way too anxious to embrace the magic.
When we reached the base of the mountain, though, I was surprised by just how much activity there was, even though the main event didn’t start for another hour. Tommy had mentioned a team of volunteers, but there were dozens and dozens of people scattered across the mountain, working with what looked like an elaborate lighting setup.
Way more elaborate than I’d expected, even knowing what a big deal this event was for the town.
“Wow,” I said, stepping out of Tommy’s truck. “This is really something.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason why people come from all over to see this. But somehow, I think tonight’s Starlight Spectacular will be extra spectacular.” Tommy grinned as he shoved a motley collection of hat, scarf, and gloves at me. “Come on, Foster’s coordinating from the base lodge. Maybe he knows where your date is.”
As we made our way through the crowd, I started recognizing faces. Mrs. Hoffman was there, along with Sadie and Hazel. Even Chief Kincaid was helping string lights, working alongside several firefighters I didn’t recognize.
Maya appeared at my elbow, slightly out of breath like she’d been running.
“Adrian! There you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“We?”
She gestured vaguely at the crowd. “I mean, ah… me. And… well, anyway, come on! You need to check out the view from over there.”
I looked around as Maya towed me toward the base lodge, noting the way people kept glancing in my direction and then quickly looking away. The way conversations seemed to stop when I got too close.
“Maya,” I said carefully, “what’s going on?”
Her eyes went wide with manufactured innocence. “What do you mean? It’s just folks getting ready for the Starlight Spectacular. Happens every year.”
“Uh-huh. And where is your brother?”
“Maddox? Oh, around here somewhere. Probably helping with the technical stuff. You know how he is with equipment.”
The sun had almost completely set now, and the first strings of lights were beginning to flicker on across the slope. But instead of the random twinkling pattern I’d expected from videos of previous years’ events, the lights seemed to be forming shapes.
Letters.
My heart stopped.
“Maya,” I whispered, “what the hell is happening right now?”
She followed my gaze to the mountain, where more and more lights were coming online. The message was becoming clearer with each passing second, spelled out in massive letters across the entire ski slope:
#TeamMaddrian
#RealLifeRomance
And a final row of lights, almost blinding in their all-caps glory.
ADRIAN STAY
“Oh,” Maya said with obviously fake surprise. “Would you look at that.”
For a split second, I thought this was a poorly timed prank Maya and some of the townspeople had perpetrated. Some new level of matchmaking, maybe.
But then the shadowy figure of a man walked out on the slope. I immediately knew it was Maddox, just from the way he carried himself. But even if I hadn’t, I’d have recognized that he was wearing my charcoal wool peacoat, indigo-blue scarf, and the Nordique Chasseur hat with “ultra-luxe earflap” detailing that Maddox had proclaimed “ultra-ridiculous.”