17
Hundreds of people stream out onto the front lawn of the Claremont. Only trouble is, the lawn is covered in snow. Whistler is a skiers’ paradise, but I am not a skier.
And even if I were, like my sister and Taylor, no one here is prepared for evacuation. My sister, with her beautiful hair and makeup, her dress soaked through, I catch her eye and she is shaking her head in horror as we stand back and watch the hotel ignite.
“Stand back. Stand back everyone,” firefighters yell as they carry hoses from their trucks. The fire is at the back of the building, where all the rooms are, but since the sprinklers went off, not much of the interior will be destroyed.
“My God,” I say, shaking my head in shock. “I can’t believe this is happening to Sophia and Taylor.” My heart breaks for my sister. I know how badly she wanted this day to be perfect, this entire wedding to be a dream come true. And now everything is up in flames.
“I hope to hell everyone’s okay,” Samson says, wrapping his arm around me. His arm feels like safety, like security and promise. I don’t want him to let go.
We haven’t exchanged even a few words yet, and I know things like I’m sorry and I forgive you will need to be said, but then tragedy struck us all.
I nestle myself deeper against him, my cheek presses against his chest, and he smells like evergreen and mountain air. He smells like a man.
And I want to tell him I want him to be my man.
Will I forgive him? One million times over.
Let it be. Let it be.
No one is perfect, every one of us is flawed. But I believe in my heart Samson was trying to make things right when he came clean to me. He wasn’t trying to hide.
And I see him.
“Everyone is going to need to leave the property,” a firefighter directs us.
Samson nods and leads me toward my sister and the rest of the family. The wedding party is huddled on the road, our heels sinking in the deep snow and our bare legs shivering.
“An employee told us that everyone has been safely evacuated,” Sophia explains, her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Taylor looks like a train wreck, stress written in his eyes, and I hate that everything is ruined.
“Does anyone know what happened?” my mother asks. My father’s hand is on hers, and everyone’s watching the back half of the hotel crumble. The sky is full of smoke, and the fact that it’s already nightfall doesn’t help anything.
“I heard someone mention an electrical fire,” my aunt tells us.
As we watch the firefighters work to extinguish the flames, I feel Sampson slip away from me.
Instantly, I wish he were back at my side. I see him speaking with my father and Taylor several feet away.
“I’m so sorry, Sophia,” I tell my sister, wrapping her in a hug. The bridesmaids, Janet and Cecily cling to their husbands, everyone shocked at what has happened.
“It’s all so tragic,” Sophia whispers. “I guess there’s no rehearsal dinner tonight.”
Janet, Cecily and I take in her words. I wish with all my heart there was something I could do to fix things for her.
My mom is talking loudly, not helping the situation, “With this being a holiday weekend all the hotels are booked solid. My third cousin Caroline wanted to come, last-minute, to the wedding, but she couldn’t find a place to stay anywhere.”
“Not a single place to sleep in Whistler?” I ask. “Aren’t there, like, a thousand hotels here?”
“Perhaps, but Caroline wouldn’t stay anywhere less than four-star.”
I realize this is not the time to pick a fight, but it's hard not to roll my eyes at my family’s propriety. All we need now are warm beds, food, and shelter. The truth is, we should just be grateful we are alive.
Several minutes later the men rejoin us.
“Everything okay?” Sophia asks, then groans at herself. “My God, that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever said. Of course, everything is not okay. Everything is ruined.” She wipes the tears from her eyes and Taylor wraps her in a hug.
“Actually, Sophia,” he says. “Everything isn’t lost.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia asks looking up at her husband-to-be.
“The best man saved the day.”
All eyes turn to Samson, who immediately drops his gaze. This mountain man looks uncomfortable in this fancy suit and his beard tells a bigger story. He’s a man who lives on the land and loves this country.
So how is Samson, this reclusive wanderer, going to save the day?
“How?” Sophia asks.
Samson nods his head, looking at my sister. “You’re welcome to join me at my place, for the weekend. It’s not the Claremont, and I’m sorry for that Sophia, but I think it might work in a pinch.”