Michelle Major - Coming Home To Crimson

Chapter Three

Sienna stared at the house tucked amid the pine trees, then checked the GPS on her phone one more time. She’d made a reservation at The Bumblebee Bed and Breakfast at 1 Ivy Lane on a whim after picking up an adorable business card at the counter of the grocery store next to the rental car agency.

Normally Sienna stuck to luxury hotel chains. She gravitated toward sleek decor and modern conveniences. But something about the colorful flowers and cheerful bees drawn on the card appealed to her. She needed some color and cheer in her life.

But she also wanted a hot shower and a toilet that flushed. Nothing about the plumbing van sitting in the driveway of the dilapidated house at the end of the long, winding drive gave her confidence she’d find either at The Bumblebee.

If her mother were here, she would have been happy to enumerate the ways Sienna had managed to mess up her life—all of them in one day. Dana Pierce loved making lists.

The only thing on Sienna’s to-do list right now was getting back in the compact car she’d rented and finding a decent hotel.

“Sienna!”

She turned back toward the house, surprised to hear her name shouted out like a long-lost friend had just spotted her.

“You’re Sienna, right?” A tiny pixie of a woman ran toward her, appearing from the trees like a woodland sprite. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The woman stopped, clasped a hand over her mouth. “Scratch that last part. It sounds like the start of some creepy horror movie.” She waved her hands in the air as dark curls bounced around her face. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she repeated in a deep, melodramatic voice. “You know what I mean, though. I’m excited you found us...me, rather...The Bumblebee, that is.”

“You must be Paige,” Sienna said, reaching out a hand.

“Who else?” the woman asked, bypassing her outstretched hand to give Sienna a tight hug. The innkeeper might be small, but she was strong, practically squeezing all the air out of Sienna’s lungs. “You’re my first guest. We’re going to have the best week.”

“This isn’t summer camp,” Sienna said quietly, making Paige laugh.

“I know, silly. But I just got the sign up today.” She pointed behind her to a hand-painted piece of cardboard that read The Bumblebee B&B. It leaned against the edge of the porch rail. “Not quite up,” Paige admitted. “But you still found me.” She scrunched her winged brows, emerald green eyes zeroing in on Sienna. “How did you find me anyway?”

“The business cards you left at the grocery.”

“I remember now.” Paige nodded. “I picked them up from the post office on my way to buy food for dinner. I told Rodney—he’s the manager at the Shop & Go—not to put them out until next week.”

“Apparently he did anyway.”

Paige squeezed Sienna’s arms like they were best friends. “Lucky for both of us.”

“Are you sure?” Sienna inclined her head toward the plumbing truck in the driveway, then pointed to the various pieces of furniture sitting in the front yard. “It looks like you might need a bit more time to get ready.”

Paige gave her a brilliant smile. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Terrifying, Sienna thought to herself.

“Then why the plumber?”

“A leak in the first-floor bathroom,” Paige said, spacing her first finger and thumb a tiny width apart as she held them up to her eye. “But your bedroom is upstairs.”

“That’s good.”

“Only now,” Paige said, wrinkling her nose, “I’ll be sharing it because mine is downstairs.”

“Not so good.” Although Sienna had a brother right here in Crimson, most of her life she’d been an only child. Her mother liked to tell her she wasn’t good at sharing, and Sienna had no reason not to believe it because she’d never had to.

“It will only be for a day or two.” Paige flashed a bright smile that only wavered slightly. “Maybe.”

“I don’t mind finding a normal—I mean regular—hotel in town.”

“Good luck with that. The rodeo’s at the county fairgrounds this weekend. Everything’s booked from here to Grand Junction. Unless you want to stay in Aspen.”

Sienna shook her head. “I don’t.”

“Huh. No offense, but you look like the Aspen type. Other than the mustard stain on your blouse.”

“Why would I take offense to that?” Sienna picked at the dried mustard on the front of her shirt.

“Did you get a hot dog at the Shop & Go?” Paige asked instead of answering the question. “They’re yummy.”

“It was tasty,” Sienna admitted. The hot dog had been the best thing she’d eaten in ages. Normally she stuck to a high protein, low-carb, all organic and very little fun diet. The hot dog had been another small act in the process of reclaiming her life. Or claiming it for the first time, since it had never truly felt like hers.

“Do you have luggage?”

“Yes, but not here.” Sienna had left her suitcase with the hotel’s bellman in Aspen this morning. She supposed it was still there and figured she’d have to drive back over at some point to retrieve it. But she wasn’t ready for another potential confrontation with Kevin. “I picked up toiletries at the grocery store.”

“I can lend you some clothes.”

“That would be interesting.” Paige was at least four inches shorter than Sienna and curvy like some throwback pinup girl from the forties. “Since you’re new at this whole innkeeper thing, I should tell you that in normal circumstances you wouldn’t offer your clothes to a paying guest.”

“Not to assume too much,” Paige said, inclining her head, “but do you think these are normal circumstances for either of us?”

Sienna blew out a breath. “No.”

“Please stay,” Paige said, then gave a nervous laugh. “That sounded desperate. I don’t mean it like that.” She laughed again. “Except I sort of do. This was my grandma’s house.” She gestured to the ramshackle but still charming lodge with faded rough-sawed logs notched together and deep green shutters bordering the windows on the front. “My mom inherited it when Grammy died last year, and I convinced her to let me get it up and running again.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Sienna said automatically.

“Thank you,” Paige whispered. “It’s beautiful out here...but also quiet.”

Sienna nodded, looking around the cul-de-sac. There were a few houses at the top of the street, where she’d turned onto Ivy Lane, but The Bumblebee’s property was clearly the largest and most private.

“Grammy had five acres,” Paige said, as if reading her thoughts. “It borders the old ski resort in back. We even have a view of the main chairlift. It hasn’t operated for years, although some developer bought the property recently. My grandma fought like crazy with the old owner about selling this place and making it part of the resort. I’m hoping the new owner will be more friendly and that The Bumblebee will be in the right place to cater to skiers or families vacationing in Crimson.”

“Smart move,” Sienna murmured.

Paige beamed at her. “Thank you for saying that. My family thinks I’m crazy. I’m not exactly following the path they expected me to take.”

There was something in the woman’s gaze—a combination of hope and fear with a healthy dose of uncertainty and pride mixed in—that Sienna imagined she might see in her own eyes when she looked in the mirror.

“I’ll stay,” she said. If Sienna was going to forge her own way in life, she had to start taking some risks in order to figure out what she wanted that life to be. Somewhere between Kevin’s butt and the ride in Cole’s Jeep, she’d decided the time had come to take charge of her life on her own terms.