Page 1 of Cinnamon Baker Bear

CHAPTER 1

Mara

“Hi there, I’m Mara Benton. I have a reservation.” For two, the voice in her head added. When she’d made the reservation, it had been for two. A romantic fall getaway for two, to be precise.

But now she was one. Single.

“Welcome to Bear Creek Lodge, Mara. I’m Curtis.” The man behind the desk smiled, then glanced toward the door and the parking lot beyond it, as though expecting someone else to follow her inside.

“It’s just me,” Mara said. She had meant the words to come out lightly. She didn’t quite manage it.

“Well, we’re glad to have you.” Curtis’s gaze returned to hers. If he wondered what had happened to the second guest on her reservation, he was polite enough not to ask. “Let me get you checked in.”

“Thank you.” As Curtis turned to the computer and began typing, Mara relaxed a little and looked around. The lodge was smaller than it had appeared in the photographs, and better for it. Cozier.

Two deep couches faced a wide stone fireplace where the remains of a fire glowed red beneath a couple of blackened logs. A basket of split wood sat ready on the hearth. Books and board games filled shelves along one wall, with a small handwritten sign inviting guests to borrow them.

Nothing in the room matched perfectly, and Mara liked that. She spent enough of her working life in hotels and event spaces where every chair had been chosen to coordinate with every cushion and lamp, and where someone leaving a coat over the back of a seat could spoil the effect a designer had spent weeks creating.

This felt different. Warm. Welcoming. Which was just what guests needed after a long drive to get here.

“All right. I’ve got you all checked in.” Curtis reached beneath the desk and produced a key attached to a small wooden tag. “Cabin seven. It’s one of the cabins toward the edge of the property. Nice and quiet, and you’ve got a lovely view from the porch.”

“That sounds perfect.” Mara turned to face him.

“Come on. I’ll show you where it is.” He tilted his head toward the door.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Was he taking pity on her? Could he see she’d shed more than a tear or two on the drive here?

“I don’t mind.” He came around the desk and picked up her suitcase before she could reach for it. “It’s easier than trying to explain which path you need on your first day. Half the trees look the same until you’ve been here a day or two.”

Mara smiled. “I was going to tell you I’m good with directions, but maybe I should wait until I’ve proved it.”

“You’ve got ten days. There’s plenty of time.” Curtis smiled back and held the door open for her. “And honestly, any chance to get out in the fresh air is one I’ll take.”

“Okay then.” She liked him. Liked the way he set her at ease. One of the reasons she’d picked Bear Creek Lodge for this getaway was the countless reviews that said how friendly the staff was.

And they were right.

The fall chill caught Mara the moment she stepped outside, cool and sharp after the warmth of the lodge. She pulled her jacket closer around herself and followed Curtis along the path. Tall pines grew among maples whose leaves had begun turning shades of gold, orange, and deep red. Fallen leaves had gathered along the edges of the path, and more drifted down whenever the breeze moved through the branches above them.

“Cabin seven is just up here,” Curtis said. “You’re far enough from the main lodge that you won’t have people passing your porch all the time, but it’s still only a couple of minutes back if you need anything.”

“That sounds just right.” Not that she planned on needing anything. Organization was her thing, and she’d packed everything she might possibly need.

Except Scott. He was back home. Only it wasn’t her home anymore, was it? The apartment was his, and when she got back from Bear Creek she was going to need somewhere else to live. Where, she had no idea. She hadn’t let herself think that far ahead. Not on the drive, and not now, with Curtis a few steps in front of her carrying her suitcase.

Somewhere to begin again.

“We’ve got a few cabins farther out. Some people like being completely tucked away.” Curtis glanced back at her. “Although they usually appreciate the peace more before they realize they left the milk or their phone charger in the car.”

“I can imagine.” The cabin appeared around the next bend, tucked beneath a pair of tall maples whose branches stretched over the roof. Yellow leaves lay scattered across the porch and steps. The cabin itself was built from dark wood, with a stone chimney at one end and two wooden chairs positioned to face the valley.

Mara slowed. “Oh.”

Curtis stopped beside her. The land dropped away beyond the cabin, revealing wooded hills washed in fall colors. Red and amber mixed with copper and green, stretching toward distant mountains beneath a pale blue sky.

“It’s beautiful.”