Chapter 10
Five years agoNo matter what else was going on in her life, snow always made Maria giddy as a schoolgirl. The luxurious log cabin perched near the top of a mountain pass in North Carolina, surrounded by dark pine trees mixed with pale, bare hardwood branches. Thick, heavy flakes poured down fast enough to sound like feathery rain.
The soaring wood and stone living room was warm and bright, but she stayed out on the deck as long as she could stand it. The snow transformed early afternoon into late evening like magic.
Maria finally stepped inside, heat from the roaring fire melting the snow in her hair in a few seconds. The two-story windows let her see the storm just fine, but she'd head back out to feel the cold against her skin before bedtime. Paul and Gary assured her getti
