Dressing for bed, Jenni couldn’t help but remember the cool dismissal she’d received from Dan when they’d returned to O’Reilly’s. He’d been kind and polite, but nothing else. No tenderness, no request for another date, nothing. He’d not even brought up his request for her to help him house hunt.
“Lord,” Jennifer found herself breathing a silent prayer. “Show me what to do. I just can’t go through another tug-of-war relationship over my love of You. I guess I’d rather be alone.”
Jenni thought about her words for a moment. Did she really mean that? Would she rather remain single than have to diminish or even end her relationship with God?
“Yes,” she said aloud. “Yes, Lord, I do mean it.” Somehow, just coming to that realization gave Jenni a great amount of peace.
The next day dawned bright and clear, with Jenni’s alarm clearly sounding at six a.m. The office would technically be closed until eight, but Jenni was quickly learning that she needed to be up and ready well before that time.
Kelly pulled into her parking place at exactly eight. Jenni had asked the petite blond to join her for breakfast. Jenni had something on her mind she wanted to discuss.
“Well, I’m here, but that’s about all I can say,” Kelly said as she joined Jenni at the small breakfast bar. “I’m so frustrated, I could scream.”
“What’s the matter, Kelly?” Jenni asked, holding up a pot of coffee at the same time. “Want some?”
Kelly went to the cart that held Styrofoam cups for the guests and brought one back to the table. “My roommate is moving back to her parents’ house. Now I’ve got to find someone else to help share the rent. I absolutely hate looking for new roommates, especially in light of the fact I’m only going to be here another eight months.”
“Another eight months?” Jenni questioned.
“Yeah,” Kelly answered, deep in thought. “I’m transferring to another resort next year. It’s a promotion.”
“What will you be doing?” Jenni poured the coffee while she waited for Kelly’s reply.
“I’m going to manage another resort owned by the Walkers. It’s in Dillon which is a lot closer to my family. They live in Leadville.”
“Well, that fits right in with my plans,” Jenni announced, taking a seat opposite Kelly. “I think it might also resolve your roommate problem.”
“What did you have in mind?” Kelly questioned.
“First let’s pray, then we’ll talk,” Jenni answered. She offered a brief prayer of thanks before turning to Kelly. “I’d like you to move in here and help me manage the resort. I’ve already mentioned it to Aunt Pam and she thought it would be great. I explained to her that I needed a backup.”
“So you could date the handsome Daniel James?”
Jenni frowned slightly at the memory of the previous night. “Well, at least so I can get away from time to time,” she answered thoughtfully and continued explaining before Kelly could question her further. “This cabin has two bedrooms anyway and it would also be a security measure. Then of course there’s the new cleaning staff. I’ll need to have you in charge of them and it just seems smart to have the management located here, under one roof, so to speak.”
Kelly wasn’t listening to the explanation with any interest. Her eyes were scrutinizing the dark circles under Jenni’s eyes. “So what happened with you and Dan?”
Jenni sat back in her chair with a sigh. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well,” Kelly began, leaning forward on her elbows. “I fully expected to come in here this morning and find you all sunshine and smiles. Instead, you look like you haven’t slept a wink and the tone of your voice makes it clear that something is bothering you.”
“Oh,” Jenni said blankly. “I wish I could understand it enough to explain it all to you. We really did have a nice time. In fact, I think Dan was very interested in seeing me again, but. . .”
“But what?” Kelly interjected.
“But, I started asking him how he felt about God and he didn’t want to talk about it,” Jenni answered.
“Boy, you just jump right in, don’t you?” Kelly said with a laugh. “I don’t think I would’ve had the nerve to start asking a man about his religion on the first date. You didn’t by any chance discuss politics too?”
Jenni had to laugh then. “As a matter of fact –”
“Oh, brother,” Kelly said and rolled her eyes. “You didn’t!”
“It’s not as bad as you think. My father is a Kansas legislator. We just talked about him.”
“Whew, what a relief. So what happened next?” Kelly continued the interrogation.
“Nothing and that’s the problem. He barely spoke two words after making it clear that he didn’t want to discuss his view of God. I doubt he’ll ever talk to me again, much less ask me out.”
“Why not just accept his friendship and see where it leads. Dan James is going to be here for a while and you’ll no doubt run into each other. Don’t let yourself get so serious about the man; just be his friend.”
“You know, you’re right,” Jenni said, and for the first time since she’d offended Dan, she felt the burden lifted from her shoulders. “I’m way too serious about this. It comes from spending too many years as a fiancée. I think I’ve forgotten how to just be friends.”
The bells on the office door rang, indicating that someone was entering. Jenni gave Kelly’s shoulder a squeeze as she headed to the office. “Thanks, you’ve helped me a lot.” Jenni had nearly gotten to the office when she said over her shoulder, “Think about my offer, okay?”
“What’s there to think about?” Kelly stated. “I’ll take it.”
Jenni nodded and turned to greet her first customer of the day.
The morning passed quickly but without any sign of Daniel, much to Jenni’s disappointment. The new cleaning staff arrived, but since Kelly was still working to train them, Jenni offered to help with the cleaning one more time.
Kelly wrote down something on a piece of paper and handed it to Jenni. There were only two cabins that she wanted Jenni to clean, number twelve and number thirteen. Jenni looked hesitantly at the piece of paper; the number thirteen was staring her in the face. Kelly nodded and turned back to introduce the cleaning staff.
“Jenni Campbell, meet Karen Fletcher, JoAnn Madison, and Kim Jenson. They will be handling all the cabins after tomorrow. Karen will have numbers one through five. Thos are the larger cabins. JoAnn will have six through thirteen, and Kim will have fourteen through twenty.”
Jenni noted that Kelly fell naturally into the leadership role.
“It’s nice to meet all of you. I want you to consider yourselves answerable to Kelly. If she needs anything else, she’ll come to me. I’m looking forward to working with all of you.” Jenni smiled, picked up clean linens for her cabins, and headed off in the direction of cabin twelve.
Cabin twelve was relatively easy work. An elderly couple had rented it, and they were scheduled to stay for a week. They hadn’t even used the fireplace yet, and that meant two bits of good news for Jenni. One, she wouldn’t have to deliver a new bundle of firewood. And two, she wouldn’t have to clean the fireplace. After seeing to everything else, Jenni reluctantly headed for cabin thirteen.
She was instantly aware that Dan was gone. His jeep wasn’t parked in the designated place outside the cabin, and the drapes were still pulled. Jenni knocked anyway, but when no answer came, she unlocked the door and walked inside.
She immediately noticed things about the cabin that she hadn’t before: the knotty pine paneling, the natural stone that had been used to make the fireplace, and the pine log table and chairs that sat in the dining room. Here and there, Jenni saw more personal items.
She couldn’t do much in the way of cleaning, as Dan had left many of his personal items around the cabin, and Jenni didn’t want to disturb them. She gathered all the trash and changed the towels in the bathroom and kitchen. Before leaving, she checked the fireplace where she’d first met Dan. He hadn’t used it yet. That was good, as far as Jenni was concerned.
Jenni was nearly ready to leave when she remembered the small trash container in the bedroom. She went to check it and found a bible on the nightstand beside the bed. Opening the cover, she found it inscribed, “To Daniel, From Grandma.”
Jenni closed it quickly as if it had suddenly grown red hot. What did it mean? Did Daniel read his Bible? Was he a Christian after all? Or had Jenni’s talk last night stirred uncomfortable feelings? Maybe Daniel was search for the truth. Jenni decided that if Daniel did speak to her again, she wouldn’t bring up the subject of god nor would she mention finding his Bible.
Coming through the back door to the office, Jenni was immediately overwhelmed with the scent of roses. Kelly stood at the office desk with a smile that filled her face.
Extending a florist’s card toward Jenni, Kelly couldn’t help but tease. “I’ll bet I know who these are from.”
Jenni was in a state of shock, and she stood for several moments without doing anything but staring open-mouthed at the huge bouquet of yellow roses and baby’s breath.
“Well, are you going to look at the card?” Kelly questioned impatiently.
“I, ah. . .” Jenni stammered as she took the card. “I can’t believe it. There must be two dozen roses in that vase.”
“Three,” Kelly replied. “I’ve already counted them – twice.”
Jenni opened the card and read aloud. “Jenni, I’m sorry about last night. Could we try again tonight? Dan.” Jenni replaced the card and looked at Kelly. “I think I’m in shock, Kelly. Can you believe this?”
“Sounds wonderful to me. I can’t imagine anything more debonair than a man who apologizes when you’ve been the one to offend him. That’s class.”
“That’s scary,” Jenni replied to Kelly’s words. “I know Brian would have never thought to do anything like this. I’m not sure how to react.”
“How about just accepting his peace offering and agreeing to see him again? That is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Kelly couldn’t help but laugh as she added, “Besides, if you don’t want them, I do.”
Jenni stepped forward to take the roses from the office desk. “Oh, no, you don’t. Brian only sent me flowers twice in all five years that I knew him. These are coming with me,” Jenni said possessively. “But, I’ll keep them in the living room so we can both enjoy them.”
Kelly followed Jenni into the living room, where Jenni placed the flowers on the coffee table. “What do you think? Do they look all right here?” Jenni questioned.
Kelly eyes them momentarily before replying, “I think they’d look good anywhere.” And Jenni had to agree.
Later that day, Jenni was working at the computer when the bells on the front door sounded. Without looking up from her work, Jenni called out. “I’ll be with you in just a minute.”
“Take your time,” said Daniel’s voice.
Jenni quickly looked up to make certain that her ears hadn’t betrayed her. “Dan,” she breathed and after several moments, added, “It’s good to see you.”
“Is it? I was hoping that you’d forgive me for my behavior last night. Did you get the flowers?” Dan questioned warmly.
“Did I ever! What a surprise,” Jenni said and motioned Dan to join her in the living room. “See, I’ve put them here where Kelly can enjoy them too.”
“Kelly?”
“She’s the co-manager now. She’s going to help me manage the resort, so I can have some time off now and then,” Jenni answered, straining to keep her voice even.
A smile played at the corner of his lips, and his eyes seemed to ask a knowing question before his mouth formed the words. “Time off to see me?”
Jenni blushed and tried to swallow her heart back down to its proper place. “I’d like that,” she finally whispered.
“Good. I’d like that too. DO you have time to sit with me for a few minutes? We can discuss what you’d like to do tonight.” Jenni nodded and took a seat on the couch.
“I am sorry about last night,” Dan said, joining her. “I guess you just kind of took me off guard. I was thinking about everything you’d said about your previous relationship and I guess I just worried that I couldn’t measure up. You know, give all the right answers and be the right person.”
Dan studied her for a moment. Jenni had pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail, and even without the benefit of makeup, her cheeks were rosy from the time she’d spent outdoors. He liked the simplicity of her beauty, so unlike the society women he’d found himself with back in the big city.
Jenni grew uncomfortable under Dan’s gaze, but she was learning to deal with his detailed study of things. Finally, he spoke and Jenni began to relax a bit.
“I’m glad we can start over.” Dan’s words were barely whispers. “I really like you, Jennifer Campbell, and I’d like for us to be friends.”
“I’d like that too,” Jenni agreed.