Page 69 of Christmas at the Ranch
Her phone buzzed and she answered.
“Samantha,” her mother said. “We’ve had the most thrilling day; you won’t believe what happened.”
“I’m sure you’ll tell me,” Samantha chuckled. Her mother was so full of energy. Ever since her parents left for Europe, her mother seemed ten years younger.
“Tomorrow is the New Year’s Eve ball, so we wanted to do more sightseeing,” her mother was saying. “We drove to Villefranche-sur-Mer. It’s a tiny village above Monte Carlo with views of the Mediterranean.
“After lunch, we walked around town and I noticed a hotel called Chez Hughuette. That’s my grandmother’s middle name, I always found it strange. The owner told us the most tragic story. The hotel was built by Count Alfonse du Lapin for his bride, Countess Hughuette du Lapin. The countess lived at the château alone while Alfonse fought in the Napoleonic Wars. On the day he arrived home, he was so excited to see her, he ran in front of a horse. He was trampled to death while Hughuette watched from the window.
“Countess Hughuette’s great niece married an American and settled in New York. I think that was my great-grandmother! She died before I was born. After all, how many girls from New Jersey end up with the middle name ‘Hughuette’?
“Can you believe it? I’m related to a countess! I’ve always thought I must be French. I adore crepes and I can’t resist French chocolates, although, who can? I had to promise your father I wasn’t going to start putting on airs,” she finished. “I think he was jealous. When we came back to the hotel, he went online and ordered a DNA kit for himself.”
“I’ll have to buy you a beret instead of a cowboy hat,” Samantha said with a smile.
“I would love a beret,” her mother answered brightly. “Preferably in red. I look good in red.” She paused. “Buy a cowboy hat for yourself instead. So that when you’re back in Brooklyn, you can remind yourself that you flew to Jackson Hole. You can do anything you want, Samantha. You just have to trust in yourself.”
Samantha said goodbye and hung up.
Her mind returned to Diana’s diary. It was as if she had beengiven some huge secret that she didn’t want to know. Then she thought about Drew and their wonderful kisses. It had been so long since she’d felt like this about anyone. It was impossible to know what came next but she didn’t want it to end.
Outside the window, a soft snow began to fall. Samantha picked up her hairbrush. If only Christmas week would last forever.
Chapter Sixteen
Samantha looked up from her notebook and gazed out the window. She had been resting in her room for an hour but it was impossible to relax. She kept thinking about the diary and whether Diana was Drew’s mother. What would Drew say if she told him? How could she keep it to herself? It wasn’t her place to know and she wished she never read the diary in the first place.
And then there were her feelings for Drew. The snow coach tour had been so romantic. She could have sat beside him listening to the whoosh of the wheels on the freshly plowed roads forever. What would happen when the week was over and they had to go back to their own lives?
It had given her an idea for a Sloane Parker book. The plot came to her so quickly, she had to write it down. Sloane has just delivered supplies to a convent high in the Himalayas. She is on the way back down the treacherous mountain path on her donkey, Socrates, when the donkey stumbles and falls. Socrates’s ankle is broken and it can’t continue.
It would take hours to reach the bottom on foot and a snowstorm is approaching. Sloane gave all her food to the nuns, except for achocolate bar and a bag of granola. She’ll freeze to death or starve before anyone finds her.
The wind begins to blow and she clings to the rocks, stroking the poor donkey’s head. Her lips turn blue and she is about to give up hope when she hears a voice. A man riding a donkey emerges from the path below. It’s Damien, one of her recruits at British Intelligence.
Damien makes a splint for Socrates’s ankle. Then he and Sloane climb on Damien’s donkey, while Socrates trails behind them. It’s only later when they’re safely at base camp that Sloane is able to thank Damien. If it weren’t for him, she would have frozen to death. Damien says she should really thank herself. Sloane left a trail of carrots on the trail, and that’s how Damien was able to find her.
Sloane is surprised and pleased that he remembered. The first thing she teaches new recruits is to mark their paths in case they get lost. The bright orange of the carrots is impossible to miss and carrots wouldn’t get eaten by hawks. Hawks are meat eaters; they don’t touch vegetables.
Sloane and Damien snuggle together in the sleeping bag to stay warm. In the morning, the snowstorm is over and Sloane wakes up to a fresh, new world. She can’t wait to tell Phineas that the classes for new recruits really work.
Samantha closed the notebook and pulled on jeans and a sweater. She couldn’t put off seeing Marigold any longer. She grabbed her jacket and hurried down the staircase.
The keys to the SUV that Beatrix had borrowed were sitting on a table in the entry. Samantha tucked them in her pocket and slipped outside. She’d drive herself into town. She wouldn’t be gone long, and she didn’t want Arthur or Drew asking where she was going.
The gift shop was quiet when Samantha entered. Marigold stood at the counter, arranging postcards.
“Samantha,” Marigold said, turning around. “How nice to see you. I’ve hardly had any customers all day. Most families go home on New Year’s Day and they want to get in as much skiing as possible.”
“I didn’t come to buy anything,” Samantha said guiltily. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Marigold smiled her radiant smile.
“That’s even better,” Marigold answered. “I’ve hardly spoken to anyone besides a little boy who kept touching the glass jars,” she chuckled. “I had to ask him to stop. His hands were covered in sticky icing from his cinnamon bun.”
Samantha had so much to tell Marigold. She didn’t know where to start.
“Last time I saw you, was just after you had run into your old boyfriend,” Marigold prompted. “I gather you told him you didn’t want to see him.”
