A Love So Real: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 1) Read online

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The woman’s face broke into a wide smile. “We’re twins. I suppose Norma didn’t mention that.”

  “Uh, no,” Arianna said as she moved closer to the door. “She just said that you were her baby sister.”

  Nadine’s laughter was contagious, and Arianna couldn’t help but smile.

  “Of course she’d say that.” Nadine motioned for Arianna to come into the lodge. “She’s only older by six minutes though, and considering she spent those minutes learning how to breathe and cry, I wouldn’t exactly say they gave her any advantage.” She closed the front door and led the way over to a desk off to the side. “Do you have any siblings?”

  As Nadine stepped behind the high desk, Arianna said, “No. My parents stopped at one.”

  “I’m one of five, and I went on to have three kids of my own.” Nadine pulled a large book from beneath the ledge of the desk and flipped it open on the shiny wood surface. “You’ll run into them if you stay here for any length of time since they all help me out.”

  A family business, Arianna mused. In a way, her parents ran a family business too. It just hadn’t been anything she was interested in being part of. If she’d stepped into a role so solely focused on numbers and searching for potential start-up companies that would earn them massive amounts of money, the artistic side of her that helped her thrive would have withered and died. What she currently did allowed her to use the head for numbers she’d inherited from her parents along with the artistic endeavors that fed her soul.

  “How long were you thinking of staying?” Nadine asked as she plucked a pen from a mason jar on the corner of the desk. “Norma mentioned something a little bit longer than a couple of days?”

  “Could I leave it open-ended?” It seemed that being pinned down on actually staying longer than a night or two was about all she could commit to. “Probably a least a week.”

  “Open-ended is fine, as long as you’re willing to move to another cabin at some point. I’m not sure if Norma mentioned that we’re doing a little updating to the cabins. Nothing major. Mainly just repainting and redoing curtains and such. We’ll be doing your cabin last, so if you’re still around then, we’ll just have to move you to one of the redecorated ones. That’ll probably be in a month or so.”

  Arianna considered where she might be in a month, and the idea of still being in New Hope wasn’t as shocking as it should have been. When she’d made her escape from LA, she hadn’t intended to be gone longer than a few days, but here she was, seriously considering a month. For sure she couldn’t stay out of contact for that long, but there was nothing to say she had to be back in LA anytime soon. She could do a big chunk of her work remotely. Including the video she needed to make…soon.

  “That will be fine,” Arianna assured her.

  “I’ll just need some ID and a form of payment,” Nadine said. “We’ll start with a week then go from there. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds good.” Arianna fished her wallet out of her purse and opened it to get her ID and credit card.

  “Arianna Carrington-Harder.” Nadine slanted her a look as she took the plastic cards from her. “That’s quite a mouthful.”

  Arianna grinned. “Tell me about it. My parents decided that I needed each of their last names. And you can call me Anna. That’s less of a mouthful.”

  “Anna it is,” Nadine said as she scribbled some information down in the ledger in front of her.

  The ledger struck Anna as rather old-fashioned, but in a quaint sort of way. It suited the feel she was getting of the town and the lodge. As she waited for Nadine to process her payment—after giving her what seemed like an absurdly low rate for the week—Anna looked around. She might have been worried about what sort of accommodations she was getting for such a low price if the lodge hadn’t looked so clean and nicely decorated.

  “Here you go.” Nadine handed her back her cards. She turned and punched in a code to open a metal box on the wall behind her and pulled out a key. “Why don’t we walk to the cabin, then when we come back, you can drive your car over since you’ll know where you’re going. Not that it’s that complicated, but I’d kind of like an excuse to get out for some fresh air.”

  Nadine had just come around the counter to join Arianna when the front door swung open. When Arianna spotted a tall man in a plaid shirt, jeans, and a ballcap standing in the doorway, she had a sudden sense of just how small the town really was.

  “Hat, Elijah,” Nadine said.

  The man reached up to remove his cap, running his other hand through his hair before looking at them. The first thing she noticed about the man was his light blue eyes, accented by his dark hair and lashes. Okay, maybe she’d also noticed his broad shoulders and fit build when she’d seen him through the restaurant window, but up close, his eyes were definitely getting top billing. He had no expression on his face as he regarded her, his lips set in a firm line.

  “This is my son, Elijah. He helps me keep all this running. You’ll no doubt see him around if you spend much time outside the cabin.”

  “We’re renting out one of the cabins?” Elijah asked, his voice deep and just a smidge gruff. “I thought you wanted them empty.”

  “I did, but renting out just one isn’t going to impact our plans much, if at all. Don’t worry.” She led the way past Elijah toward the open door, reaching up to pat him on his shoulder as she walked by. “This is Anna, by the way.”

  His gaze met and held hers for a moment before he gave a quick nod.

  “Nice to meet you,” Arianna said as she paused to hold out her hand.

  She noticed his gaze drop to her hand before he took it in his own for a firm—albeit brief—shake. It was enough time for her hand to get lost in the large warmth of his, and to register how rough his palm was against hers. He definitely did something other than sit behind the check-in desk. His were the hands of a man who did plenty of physical labor.

  Figuring she wasn’t going to get any conversation out of the man, Arianna headed out the door to where Nadine stood waiting. The woman’s gaze went over her shoulder, and Arianna could have sworn she was holding a whole silent conversation with her son.

  When the door shut softly but firmly behind her, Nadine looked back at Arianna and gave her a smile. “Don’t mind Eli. He can be a bit gruff at times, but he’s got a great heart.”

  It struck Arianna as she walked beside Nadine, that at the end of the day, having a great heart was infinitely better than being polished and poised and able to make great conversation. She’d met far more of the latter than the former in her life. Maybe it was time to actively look for more good-hearted people. She could already sense that Norma and Nadine were some of those people.

  “There’s a spot to park your car,” Nadine said as they walked down a narrow road.

  There were cabins on each side of the road, a total of six of them. They looked to be of two different sizes, so maybe one and two-bedroom cabins. After passing the first set, Nadine gestured to one of the small ones on the right-hand side of the road.

  The cabin had a similar look to the lodge with steps leading up to a porch that ran the front of the building. This one didn’t have any of the floral display the lodge did, most likely because the cabins weren’t in use.

  Nadine unlocked the door and stepped inside. Arianna followed her, curious about what it would look like considering Nadine felt it was in need of an upgrade.

  “This is one of our single room cabins,” Nadine said as she flicked on a light.

  So maybe the cabins were studio and one bedroom. Arianna looked around, spying a large bed with a wrought iron frame set against the far wall near a bay window that looked out the back of the cabin. There was a quilt on the bed that had a light floral print on it. Against one wall there was a stone fireplace with comfortable-looking furniture situated around it.

  “There’s a small kitchen here with everything you should need to prepare meals. I usually make breakfast for any
guests, but since it’s only you, you’re welcome to join us for dinner as well.”

  “Is there a place where I could pick up a few groceries, just to have on hand?”

  “Yep. The grocery store in town carries a good selection of items, so you should be able to find what you need there unless you’re looking for some high-end products.”

  Arianna was well aware of the image she likely portrayed. Even though she’d been on the run, so to speak, she had still applied enough makeup to cover the results of sleepless nights and the strain of the past few weeks. Her hair was pulled up into an artfully messy bun on the top of her head in a style that was popular with women—and some men—these days. On top of that, while she was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, they weren’t cheap brands.

  Probably the most telling item, however, was her car. Not that she could take credit for it. Every year, her dad bought her a new car and had it delivered to her. She’d tried to object the first couple of times he’d done that, but he’d just ignored her protests. At least she’d had an excuse to not purchase the purple G-Wagon her manager had wanted her to buy. Just because someone could afford a G-Wagon and could choose to paint it purple, didn’t mean they had to.

  “I don’t need anything fancy,” Arianna told Nadine. “Just some fresh produce and maybe some cheese. I’m a sucker for cheese.”

  “I make no guarantee that they’ll have much selection beyond cheddar,” Nadine said.

  “Cheddar’s fine.” For some reason, Arianna didn’t want Nadine to think she was a snob.

  “Through here is the bathroom, and the instructions for the whirlpool tub are on the wall next to the mirror.”

  After she walked her through how to light a fire, Nadine assured her that if she needed help, she only had to call the lodge.

  “Do you have wi-fi here?”

  Nadine laughed. “We didn’t, for the longest time, but after it became a regular request of guests, we realized we couldn’t not have it. The information for connecting is on the desk.”

  “Thank you. I’ll confess to being a little bit of an internet addict.”

  “Aren’t most you young people?” Nadine asked, her smile taking the sting from the comment.

  “Yep. I would say that’s probably true.”

  “Why don’t we head back to the lodge so you can drive your car here and get settled in? We eat dinner at six, so feel free to come to the lodge anytime around then.”

  As they walked back, Nadine shared a bit about the lodge and the cabins which appeared to have been a family business for a few generations. She hadn’t mentioned anything about a husband, and Arianna didn’t feel comfortable asking about it. If she spent any length of time in the town, it was likely she’d either meet him or find out what had happened to him.

  After saying goodbye to Nadine on the porch, she got back into her car and slowly drove the road to park in front of her cabin. Once she’d carried her things in, Arianna dropped onto the bed and flopped back, grateful that it was, in fact, as comfortable as it looked.

  Since there were still a couple of hours before dinner, Arianna decided to take a quick nap. For the first time in ages, she felt like she could truly sleep. Because of that, she plugged in her phone and ignored all notifications long enough to set her alarm for an hour.

  She pulled off her jeans and sweatshirt then slid under the quilt and turned on her side, letting out a long breath. The seclusion and peacefulness of the cabin washed over her, chasing away the tension that had wrapped itself around her. For the first time in what felt like forever, she was able to fully relax.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Eli watched as his mom and sisters debated the paint colors yet again. If—when—they all actually agreed on a color, he was going to grab the sample from where they’d taped a slew of them up on the wall and head for the hardware store. He didn’t want to give them a chance to change their minds.

  “What do you think, Eli?” Sarah asked.

  “They’re gray, Sarah.” Eli pulled off his cap and scratched his head before running his hand through his hair. With a sigh, he put his cap on again, bill to the back. “One will be as good as another.”

  “Not hardly,” Leah scoffed. “Can’t you see the differences?”

  Eli crossed his arms then angled his head as if considering the fifty million shades of…well, gray.

  “I like this one,” Eli said and reached out to pull a random sample off the wall. Instantly, the three of them began to tell him why that particular shade wouldn’t work. “Okay. How about this one?”

  One by one, they managed to whittle down the options until just two remained taped to the wall.

  “I see what you did there,” his mom said, wagging her finger in his face.

  He gave her a quick smile as his sisters debated over the final two. In the end, his mom would have to be the tie-breaker as she so often was between his two younger sisters.

  “So I hear we have a guest,” Leah said, crossing her arms. “I thought we weren’t taking anyone else in until we finished doing all this work.”

  Eli wasn’t surprised at his sister’s reaction to the change in what his mom had originally said. Leah had always had a difficult time with plans changing. She was the kind who had her plan for her day set the night before, and any adjustments to that were usually met with resistance. Sarah, on the other hand, was more than happy to go with the flow.

  “Yes, that was the original plan, but honestly, this doesn’t change anything. We’d already planned to work on that cabin last, and she said she’s willing to move if we need her to. Norma thought she needed a place, and you know how I feel about people in need.”

  “She’s hardly in need, Mom,” Eli said. “She’s driving a car that costs more than a lot of people make in a year.”

  His mom gave him a stern look. “Come on, son, you know that there are more needs in life than just financial ones.”

  Eli accepted her reproof, mainly because he didn’t feel too strongly one way or the other. When he’d met their guest at the lodge, she hadn’t seemed to match the car he’d parked his truck next to. Jeans. Sweatshirt. Blonde hair in a messy bun. It was definitely not an appearance that matched the car, which made Eli wonder a bit about her story. Not enough to ask her about it, however.

  “I suppose you offered for her to eat with us too,” Leah said, her brow furrowed.

  “I did. If you prefer to eat on your own, that’s fine.”

  Leah sighed and turned back to look at the two remaining paint samples on the wall. “I’ll be there.”

  “Good.” His mom turned to look at Eli. “Now let’s just review the paint choices one last time, then you can let Doug know what we need.”

  His mom reached out and pulled one of the gray samples off the wall and handed it to him. He tucked it into his wallet with the other samples. “I’ll head there now and leave the samples with him. They can prepare the paint overnight rather than me having to wait around.”

  “Sounds good.” His mom rubbed her hands together. “Now that that’s done, we can focus on dinner.”

  Together, they walked down the road back to the lodge. Eli had left his truck there earlier rather than park it at his place, suspecting that he’d be going back into town. As the girls walked into the lodge with his mom, Eli got behind the wheel of his truck and headed down the road to the highway leading to town.

  As he drove the winding road toward New Hope, he noticed how the trees were already starting to turn color. If it wasn’t for the events of ten years ago occurring during fall, it would have been his favorite season. Autumn colors were ones he could look at and appreciate all day long, unlike the gray paint color samples that had been taped to the wall.

  ***

  Arianna woke with a jerk when her alarm went off. She groaned as she reached out to find her phone where she’d left it beside her on the bed. When her hand landed on it, she shut the alarm off then lay back, willing herself not to fall back asleep. She should have just said
she’d take care of her own supper so she wouldn’t have had to get up when she still felt like she could sleep for hours.

  Slowly, Arianna turned on her side then pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. After sitting there for a couple of minutes, she pulled her shoulders back and got to her feet. Before she went through the process of freshening up, she headed to the kitchen to see about making herself a cup of coffee.

  Within minutes, she had a nice mugful of French Vanilla. Usually, she added some cream and sugar to her coffee, but unfortunately, there was no cream to be found. Having to make do with just sugar, Arianna added a little more than she normally would. She needed the caffeine, so she would take it however she could get it.

  Sipping on the hot beverage, she headed for the bathroom, grabbing her toiletries bag as she passed her luggage, which still needed to be unpacked. The bathroom was surprisingly large with a big tub in the corner framed by windows that looked out over the woods. A quick glance showed that there were blinds that could be lowered for privacy even though it didn’t appear that people could see into the bathroom due to the remoteness of the cabin.

  Deciding that she’d take advantage of the tub sooner rather than later, Arianna pulled the scrunchy out of her hair and dug for her brush in the toiletry bag. She usually would have straightened her hair, but instead, she settled for just brushing it and pulling it back in a ponytail. Moving quickly, she added a bit more eyeshadow and some face powder. After a bit of eyeliner and a swipe of mascara, she called it good.

  Because anything in her luggage was going to be wrinkled, Arianna just pulled her jeans and sweatshirt back on, assuming that the others didn’t dress up for dinner. If she was wrong and they did, she’d just make her apologies and be sure to wear something more suitable in the future.

  With fifteen minutes still before she needed to be at the lodge, Arianna took her mug out onto the back deck of the cabin. Staring at the trees as she continued to sip her coffee, she wondered if there were wild animals she needed to be wary of. That would be something she’d be asking at supper. The last thing she wanted was to be hanging out on the deck and suddenly have a bear show up to keep her company.