Starlight Magic

Chapter 1-2

“Why do I feel like I’ve suddenly fallen into The Lion King?” Celeste asked as lightly as she could manage.

“Perhaps because you have?” Shannon replied.

Shannon hadn’t yet seen her with short hair, nor had she been back to this house since she’d moved out, but she made no comment about either. She noticed, though; the light frown that drew her brows together was evidence that she wanted to ask about both. Instead, she waved Ty over. He leaned down to hug Celeste, then introduced her to his son, Jack, who was sound asleep in his father’s arms and utterly precious.

“He’s beautiful,” Celeste sighed. Her eyes locked on his soft, angelic face as pain of a different kind tightened around her chest.

“Are you up for holding him?” Ty asked gently.

She wanted to so much that it hurt, but at the thought of doing so, the claws of cold self-loathing clenched, digging deeper. She shook her head and pinched her eyes closed as those frighteningly emotionless tears threatened again. “I’m sorry… I can’t.”

“Oh, honey,” Shannon whispered. She scooted Celeste’s legs over and sat on the bench with her. “What can we do?”

Celeste opened her eyes and stared out the window at the darkening twilight. A handful of stars had come out but nothing like the sparkling tapestry she remembered from her trip to Northstar last Christmas. Yearning blossomed like a rose of the most exquisite and ethereal amethyst hue—the rose of creativity, openness, and infinite possibility, all the things she desperately needed.

“Do you think I could find a place to rent in Northstar for a couple months?” Her lips twitched in a humorless smile as she recalled what she’d said to Shannon right here in this house almost three years ago. “I think it’s my turn to have a good old fashioned late-twenties identity crisis.”

“When are you thinking about coming out?”

“I thought I’d follow you guys home.”

Ty frowned. “The Hammonds’ cabin is booked until March, but there are a couple cabins by the ski hill that the owners sometimes rent out if they don’t plan to use them. We’ll find something, and if you have to camp out on our couch for a little while until we do, so be it. You ladies talk about whatever you need to talk about, and I’ll make a couple phone calls to see what I can find out.”

Celeste flashed him an appreciative smile and watched him step into the kitchen to make his calls. “You found a good man, Shannon. And I know it doesn’t show right now, but I am so happy for you.”

“Yes, I did, though I think it’s probably more accurate to say he found me. I might’ve gone the rest of my life without realizing what a special love we have. But back to you and this wild hair of yours. What about your job? That’s pretty short notice, and will they give you any more time off? Or can you telecommute?”

“I quit my job. Today was my last day.” Celeste hugged herself, trying to keep that memory at bay with all the rest determined to swamp her. “Turned in my resignation two weeks ago.”

“What are you going to do for money?”

She saw the intent in Shannon’s eyes and cut her off before her friend could open her mouth to voice it. “Don’t you dare offer to lend me money. I have to do this myself.”

“You don’t have to. We’re here for you, Celeste, however you need us.”

“I know that, and believe me, I need you. But I need to….” She stumbled on the admission that she needed to start fresh standing on her own or she’d never be able to escape the memories of her life with Marc. “I can take care of myself.”

“I’m well aware of that. You’ve always been one of the most independent people I know. But how are you going to take care of yourself? I’m asking so I know where you might let me help you.”

“I have my Etsy store and my freelance design business. They’re both doing pretty well. Things will be tight until I can build up my client base a bit more, and I might have to let go of this place and move in with Grandma Letty when I come back until I can find a new place to live, but if I can find a cheap enough place in Northstar, maybe I’ll be able to keep it. Either way, I’ll be fine.”

“May I ask why you quit your job at Liberty Bay Advertising? You love that job.”

“I did. But I blew up at my assistant two weeks ago. Over nothing. If that had been the first outburst, I would’ve stayed, but everything just…. I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Confusion pinched Shannon’s brows together.

Celeste sighed. She’d managed to keep her secret from her best friend for Shannon’s sake, but she couldn’t do it anymore. “I lied to you, Shannon. About Marc.” She drew a deep breath. “Everything about him and our marriage.”

“Good news,” Ty interrupted. When he noticed their serious expressions, he held up his free hand. “Sorry. I can wait my turn.”

“That’s okay,” Celeste told him. “What’s the good news? I could use some.”

“Dad says one of those cabins by the ski hill will be available to rent by next weekend. It’s an A-frame with a great view of the mountains, an open floor plan downstairs, and a loft for sleeping. And it’s cheap—just a couple hundred a month. You’ll have to pay for electricity, your Internet and phone, and the propane, but it has a wood stove, so it won’t cost much to heat.”

“Sounds perfect. Thank you, Ty.” She reached for his hand and Shannon’s and gripped them tightly. “I was just telling Shannon how lucky she is to have you. And how lucky I am to have you both in my life.”

“The feeling is mutual,” he replied. He glanced around the house. “The cabin is furnished, but do you want to bring your things? We can rent a U-Haul and tow it over for you.”

“Yeah, I think… I think that’s what I’d like to do.”

Then, if I decide I don’t ever want to come back, all I’ll have to do is tell my landlord.

That prospect merged with gratitude for her friends and saturated her, filling in all the fractures in her soul. For the moment, she didn’t feel so shattered. “About Marc—I didn’t want to tell you before because you’d just had Jack, but since I’m going to be foisting myself on you for the next couple months, it’s time I told you both the truth. All of it.”

Trouble.

That’s the word that sprang to Brodie’s mind when the svelte beauty strode out of the pool house in a simple but oh-so-sexy one-piece, one-shoulder black swimsuit. Slender and toned with proud shoulders and the kind of feminine curves that made it impossible not to stare, she was breathtaking. He watched her step cautiously behind Ty and Shannon Evans around the ice-crusted boardwalk to the Ramshorn Hot Springs’ larger pool. With a body like that swathed in black—glossy sable hair cropped to chin length, shiny black polish on short, no-nonsense nails, and dark, defiant eyes in addition to the black swimsuit—she exuded a don’t-f**k-with-me confidence, and Brodie had a strong suspicion he’d end up ignoring that warning.

She was trouble, all right. Trouble wrapped around a maimed core, and he’d never had much luck leaving wounded animals alone to suffer.

“Jesus, Brodie,” his sister muttered, “you stare any harder and your eyes’ll fall right outa your head.”

“Let ‘em fall out.”

Ainsley narrowed her blue eyes and studied the newcomer. “You think that’s your new neighbor?”

“Seeing as she’s here with Ty and Shannon, I’d say most likely so, sprite.”

“Ooo, boy. This’ll be fun to watch.”

“Uh-huh.” He moved closer to the stairs as Ty and the women dropped their towels on the bench that ran the length of the pool. He snorted. Leave a wounded animal alone? Yeah, right. They’re goddamned magnets to me.

“Gallus,” Ainsley uttered under her breath.

He didn’t know if she was calling him or Shannon’s companion reckless. If the latter, she was probably right; the stew of anger and pain simmering in the woman’s eyes—rich brown, he saw now that she was close enough—certainly gave the impression of rashness. If Ainsley referred to his impulse to investigate that concoction, she was definitely right.

The two women descended the stairs and slipped into the water while Ty walked down to the deep end and dove in. Shannon and her friend lingered on the steps.

“Evening, Shannon. When did you get back from Washington?” Brodie asked in greeting. “And where’s Jack?”

“Oh, hi, Brodie, Ainsley. I didn’t see you there,” Shannon replied.

She waded over, but her companion remained on the steps with water only up to her lower ribs. For a moment, she watched them with a faint frown. Then she propped her elbows on her thighs and leaned over her legs with her face tilted to the stars, and the sorrow that washed over her face made Brodie’s heart ache.

“We just got home a couple hours ago, and Jack is currently being spoiled by Grandma Phoebe and Grandpa Hunter,” Shannon said when she reached Brodie and his sister.

“I’m sure they missed him,” he remarked.

She nodded with a laugh. “They all but kidnapped him the second we walked in the door, so we decided to take some time for ourselves.”

Ty surfaced a few feet away and greeted Brodie and Ainsley before pulling his wife into his arms. “How’s it going? Think you guys’ll be able to open the ski hill a little early this year?”

“It’s looking that way.”

“No Brendan tonight, so I guess you already took him up to his mom’s.”

“Yeah, right after school. There’s some movie opening tonight in Butte he wants to see. So, Shannon, who’s your friend?” Brodie inclined his head toward the onyx-haired woman.

“Allow me to introduce you properly,” Shannon said, waving her friend over.

The woman pushed off the stairs and glided through the water over to them. When she regained her feet beside Shannon, the sadness he’d seen had vanished. She was a few inches shorter than her auburn-haired friend, he noted—petite but definitely not dainty. And heaven help him, with water droplets and rivulets shimmering on her skin, she was even more stunning.

“Brodie, this is my best friend and former roommate, Celeste Dawson. She’ll be your neighbor for the next couple months. Celeste, this is Brodie Dunn and his sister, Ainsley. They and their parents own the Northstar Ski Hill, so these two would be the ones to talk to about getting your board and skis waxed.”

Not shy, either, he mused as she brazenly looked him over with her lips pursed ever so slightly and her eyes narrowed in appreciation. Jings, crivens, an’ help ma boab.

“Good to meet you both.”

In contrast to Shannon’s clear, musical voice, Celeste’s voice was a touch throaty and induced a curious wave of tingles. She extended her hand first to Ainsley and then to Brodie. Firm grip but brief, and when she pulled her hand back, she folded her arms. Defensive. She continued her perusal, however, and he sensed an undercurrent of a to-hell-with-it temper. Reckless, he thought again, or gallus as his Scottish-born father would say.

“You ski?” Ainsley asked before Brodie could recover his wits enough to form a proper response.

“Ski, snowboard, cross-country ski, and snowshoe. And none of it as often as I’d like.”

Yeah, you’re in trouble, lad. Brodie grinned. “You’ll have ample opportunity here.”

“I’m counting on it. What’s this about the ski hill possibly opening early this year?”

“We’ve had an unusually snowy fall so far, and we’ve already got a good base piling up. We may even be able to open before Thanksgiving, and that hasn’t happened in the years we’ve owned it.”