“I’ve tried,” Stella replied shortly. “All the interior decorators I have on my list have refused for one reason or another. Maybe it’s because I have very definite ideas about what I want done. Of course, sometimes those ideas change when I don’t quite like the way they work out.”
Uh-oh, enough said! Now Caroline understood! Stella Wainwright was looking for someone who would put up with her constantly changing her mind about what she wanted. A decorator’s nightmare!
As if to verify Caroline’s thoughts, Stella gave Caroline a measuring look and asked, “Do you think we could work together?”
The innocent question was loaded. Caroline knew it. If she accepted this job it would probably turn out to be pure hell. She’d bet there would be plenty of headaches with little satisfaction. Maybe even the loss of her own integrity included.
She wanted to say, “No thanks. I’ll pass.” But she didn’t. There were too many things at stake, like securing an immediate income and having a place for her and Danny to stay without imposing on anyone. Her options were painfully limited. When it came down to it, she really didn’t have a choice.
She straightened her shoulders and replied in a calm and rational tone, “Yes, I think we could work together nicely, Mrs. Wainwright.”
“Call me Stella,” the woman invited with a smile that sealed the matter. “How soon do you think you could begin?”
WESLEY WAINWRIGHT had just come back to the lodge from a hike on Shadow Mountain when the phone rang. He was breathing a little heavily when he answered it. The climb was always a strenuous one, but his six-foot body had handled the muscular demands with ease and he felt as strong now in his thirties as he had in college. He loved being out in the mountain air, away from closed-in offices, board meetings and the ever-present demands of his financial responsibilities.
He sighed as he picked up the receiver. If it was his secretary in Houston, he was going to hang up.
“Hi, it’s Stella.”
His sister-in-law had been gone nearly a week and he’d rather enjoyed not having her around. Sometimes Stella’s presence got a little tedious. He wasn’t all that happy when she’d showed up at the lodge during his planned vacation away from work and family. Frankly, he’d been relieved when she’d left to spend time in Denver. She was one of those women who liked to manage everything and everybody—including him.
“What’s happening?” he asked in a guarded tone. Stella’s voice was laced with excitement.
“It wasn’t easy but I did it. I found one.”
“One what?”
“An interior decorator,” she answered impatiently. “I found one who will come to the lodge. Last spring we talked about doing some redecorating at the lodge. Don’t you remember?”
Wes’s hand tightened on the receiver. “I thought that was in the future.” Way in the future, he added silently. “I didn’t know you were intending to carry out the idea so soon.”
“I just haven’t been able to find a decorator who would spend several months isolated in the mountains—until today.”
“When is all of this going to start happening?” His sister-in-law was constantly testing his patience. If she hadn’t been his late brother’s widow, he wouldn’t have put up with her being such a controlling force in his life.
“Since it’s early October, everything will be just perfect for the Christmas holidays. I’ve arranged for the decorator to start next week. Her name is Caroline Fairchild and she’ll be bringing her little boy with her.” She paused. “I’m thinking of putting them in rooms on the second floor. She’ll need another room close by to work in. Since your suite is at the far end of the corridor you won’t be bothered. What do you think?”
He controlled an impulse to tell her exactly what he thought. “Yes, fine.”
“Good. They’ll arrive next week.”
Wesley hung up the phone, muttering, “Well, so much for peace and quiet.”
Having Stella show up had been bad enough but now she was arranging for some decorator and her kid to move in for God knew how long. Stella had been twenty-four years old when she’d married his nineteen-year-old brother, Delvin. Noticeably pregnant at the time, Stella eventually gave birth to a baby boy they named Shane. To her credit, since Delvin’s death almost six years ago, Stella had been a conscientious single mother to her son.
Wes had tried to fill in the empty spot that his brother’s death had left in the boy’s life. Now seventeen, Shane loved spending time in Colorado. The young man had made it clear he’d rather forget about college and just enjoy life on the ski slopes and hiking trails. His mother disagreed, but Wes thought it might be a good idea for Shane to take a year off, to discover a few things about himself.
Wes always tried his best to accommodate Stella’s ideas and plans when they were at the lodge but this latest decorating craze of hers was the limit.
He could imagine the frenzy the lodge would be in when the redecorating got into full swing. Well, he wasn’t going to stick around to see it. He’d be long gone. There were plenty of spots in Colorado where a man could find peace and quiet.
He reached for some brochures and settled back to make plans for his escape.
Chapter Two
The Wainwright property on the southern edge of the Colorado San Juan Mountains was a seven-hour drive from Denver. A narrow road twisted through rugged shadowy slopes that reminded Caroline of pictures she’d seen of Germany’s brooding Black Forest.
“Are we there yet?” Danny asked in a bored voice.
“Almost.” She sent him a reassuring smile that faked the confidence she didn’t feel.
“I’m tired.”
“Me, too.” She’d turned off the main highway hours ago and had no idea how close she was to the Wainwright lodge. Only vaulting wooded cliffs rose on each side, making a tunnel-like passage for the twisting mountain road. Signs of habitation were scarce and the pencil map Stella had drawn was of little help. She’d made an X to show where the lodge stood at one end of a small, private lake—but where was the lake?
Caroline’s hands were tense on the steering wheel as she maneuvered a series of hairpin curves. Then, suddenly, without warning, there was a break in the view ahead and a startling vista opened up before her eyes. Nestled in the circle of the encroaching mountains was a meadow, a small lake and an access road posted with a wooden sign, Shadow Mountain Lodge.
“We’re here,” she said with a sigh of relief.
Danny peered over the front seat as best he could, straining against his seatbelt. “Where? I don’t see nothing.”
“Anything,” she automatically corrected him. “See that building across the lake? That’s where we’re going.”
He stuck out his lower lip the way he did when things weren’t going his way. When they got closer, he said, “I hate it. It’s ugly.”
Caroline wasn’t about to argue. Built of austere, dark wood, the mountain lodge was set in the depths of towering trees that hugged its square, unrelieved lines. A late-afternoon sun failed to lighten the blankness of recessed dormer windows crouched under a sharply slanted roof.
She remembered Stella had told her that her brother-in-law was a widower and had a six-year-old daughter named Cassie. Caroline hoped that Danny and the little girl got along. Her son was easygoing most of the time but when Danny set his mind against some thing or someone, a team of horses couldn’t budge him.
She followed the road that bordered the lake and then rose sharply to the lodge set against the steep back-drop of a mountain. She continued past