Excerpt Reveal: My Favorite Souvenir – Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland

“Good afternoon. You’ve reached the Four Seasons Resort, Vail, Colorado. How

may I direct your call?”

I took a deep breath. “Hi. I checked out early this morning. My reservation was

for ten days, but I only wound up staying two nights. Is there any chance you might still

have my room available? Or any room, for that matter? My flight was canceled because

of the storm.”

“Let me take a look. What’s your last name?”

“Appleton.” I shook my head. “Actually, the reservation was under Ellis. My

fiancé’s last name.” Or ex-fiancé. But I’d let her call me Mrs. Ellis at this point if it

meant I could have a place to sleep tonight.

“Give me one moment and I’ll check.”

“Thank you.”

I sat down in the lobby of the Best Western, the third hotel I’d been to in the last

two hours. It was dumb of me to check out this morning. Though, at least I was

consistent. After making the bad decision to go on my previously planned honeymoon

alone, I’d brilliantly decided to check out only two days into the trip…without looking at

the weather report for Vail. When I arrived at the airport, I had no idea that a blizzard was

on the way. But the airline had assured me my flight was still scheduled as planned. And

they’d kept their word right up until five minutes before we were supposed to board,

when they announced a two-hour delay. Two hours turned into three, and three turned

into five, and when we hit six hours of sitting on uncomfortable plastic seats outside the

gate, they finally admitted it wasn’t going to happen. Every other flight had been

canceled by then. And now, every hotel seemed to be full.

“Hi, Mrs. Ellis?”

I cringed at being called that, but answered anyway. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry. After you checked out, your room was rebooked. We’re actually sold

out for the night because of the storm.”

I sighed. Of course you are. “Okay. Thank you.”

This was just my luck lately. I called four more hotels, until one said they might

have a few rooms available. Apparently they had guests that hadn’t checked in yet and

were in the process of making calls to confirm whether they would still be arriving today.

Rooms would be freed up on a first-come, first-served basis. So I decided to take a

chance and head on over. It was already seven o’clock at night, and there was no point in

sitting here anymore. Surprisingly, Uber was still running, even though the airport had

called it quits hours ago.

Out front, the snow was coming down hard. A giant SUV with snow chains on the

tires pulled up in front of the door. I couldn’t check the license plate or get a look at the

make and model of the vehicle since it was covered in snow, so I walked over to the car

and motioned for the driver to roll down the window.

“Are you Hazel?” the older woman behind the wheel asked.

I smiled. “Yes.”

“Heading over to the Snow Eagle Lodge?”

“Yes, please.”

Even though the next hotel was only two miles away, it took fifteen minutes to get

there. By the time we pulled up, the conditions were almost white-out. It couldn’t be safe

driving in this anymore.

“God, it’s really terrible out here,” I said as I pulled up the hood of my jacket. “Be

careful driving tonight.”

“Oh, I will, honey. The next place I’m driving is home. I only picked you up

because you were on my way. Good thing you’re at your hotel now. No one is going to

be on the roads tonight anymore.”

Great. This place really better have a room for me.

As I climbed out of the SUV, a gust of snow smacked me in the face, despite the

fact that we were parked under the building’s overhang. The wind made it look like

someone had shaken a snow globe, hard. Inside the hotel, I wiped flakes from my

eyelashes and glanced around the lobby.

Oh no.

This didn’t look good. A line of at least thirty or forty people snaked five rows

deep, waiting to get to the reception desk. I sighed and wheeled my luggage to behind the

last person. More than half an hour later, I finally reached the front.

“Hi. I called earlier, and the person I spoke to said some rooms might become

available, that you were going to contact guests who hadn’t showed and see if they were

still coming?”

The woman nodded with a frown. “Yeah. I can put you on our waitlist. But we’re

still making calls, and to be honest, it’s not looking too good.”

My shoulders slumped. “Okay. Well, I guess please add me to your wait list.”

The woman lifted a clipboard and set it down on the counter. She thumbed

through a few pages and turned it to face me, pointing at the next available line, which

was two from the bottom of the page. “Just add your name and cell phone number.”

I scribbled both and let the pages above the one I’d been writing on fan back into

place. Noticing the sheet at the top looked just like the one I’d signed, five or six pages

down, I glanced through all the papers. There had to be at least a hundred names and

telephone numbers.

“Are these all on your waiting list?”

The hotel clerk nodded.

“How many people haven’t checked in?”

“I think about a dozen.”

Oh God. This really wasn’t good. But maybe people had just added their names

and left, like in a packed restaurant. Maybe the bulk of people ahead of me on the list had

found other hotels.

Turning around, whatever hope I’d talked myself into immediately deflated.

Every seat in the lobby area behind me was taken. Some were even sitting on the floor,

leaning against their luggage. With very few options, I wandered over and found an

empty space on a carpeted area of the floor, not too far from the concierge desk. Though I

knew it was futile, I took out my iPad and continued to search for a hotel with

availability. Even if I found one, getting there would be a miracle on its own at this point.

The nearby concierge desk had been empty while I scrolled and made calls, but

now two women walked over. One I recognized as the manager, since I’d spent a half

hour staring at the people behind the front desk while I’d waited in line. The other had on

a nametag and held a clipboard. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation from

where I sat.

“These seven we still haven’t reached,” the manager said. “All of the other rooms

have been checked in, or we’ve reallocated them to people from the waiting list.”

The employee flipped through the pages and looked around the full hotel lobby.

“Jeez. And this storm is supposed to stick around for days.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a guy standing on the other side of the

concierge desk. His back was to the ladies talking, but he craned his neck, and I thought

he, too, might be eavesdropping. Figuring he was probably just as bored as me, I went

back to my iPad search—until a few minutes later when I noticed him scribbling

something with a pen on the inside of his hand.

What the hell is he doing?

He wrote for a few seconds and then seemed to go back to eavesdropping. The

manager had walked away, leaving the employee to make her phone calls. She hung up

from one call and dialed again.

“Hi. This is Catherine from the Snow Eagle Lodge. I’m trying to reach Milo or

Madeline Hooker.”

The minute she said the names, the eavesdropper scribbled on his hand again.

Catherine continued leaving her message. “I just wanted to confirm whether

you’d still be arriving this evening. Your reservation is guaranteed, so we’ll hold it as

long as you need. However, if the storm has perhaps caused a change in your travel plans,

we do have a long wait list of guests who could use the two rooms you have booked. My

number here is 970-555-4000, if you could please return my call at your earliest

convenience. Thank you.”

The same thing went on with the next two calls. Catherine left a message and the

eavesdropper scribbled. Curious about what he was up to, I kept my eye on him. After the

hotel clerk finished making her calls, she went back to the front desk. Eavesdropper

picked up his backpack and casually strolled down a nearby hallway. I leaned to watch

where he was going, and he eventually pulled up his hood and exited out a side door I

hadn’t even noticed was there.

I thought it was odd, but I figured the show was over.

But a few minutes later, a guy with the same ski jacket walked through the front

lobby door. He pulled his hood down, and I got a look at his face for the very first time.

Damn, he was handsome. Medium brown hair that was kind of shaggy and

needed a cut, full lips, hazel eyes, and tanned skin. His warm skin tone really stood out

against the pasty color of most people in Colorado this time of the year, including me. It

was a shame I loathed men right now, because he was seriously gorgeous. He dusted

some of the snow from the shoulders of his jacket and went to wait in line. It was much

shorter now, with only two men in front of him, mostly because people weren’t braving

the storm anymore. I had no idea what possessed me to do it, but I decided to get up and

wait behind the guy. Maybe I was imagining things to keep myself entertained, but I had

the distinct feeling he was up to something.

When it was his turn at the front desk, I moved as close as I could to listen

without seeming like a stalker.

“Hi. I’m checking in,” the man said.

“Great. What’s your last name, sir?”

He cleared his throat. “Hooker. Milo Hooker.”

I squinted. The guy was totally full of shit. I knew it!

The unsuspecting hotel clerk punched a bunch of keys on her keyboard and

smiled. “I have your reservation right here. Two rooms for two nights, breakfast

included. Is that right?”

“Uhhh…” The guy nodded. “Yeah. I booked two rooms. But it turns out I’m only

going to need the one.” He looked over his shoulder. “Looks like you won’t have a

problem filling the other one, though.”

She smiled. “No, we definitely won’t. I’ll just need a credit card and a picture ID

please, Mr. Hooker.”

I waited. This was the moment of truth. If he wasn’t actually Milo Hooker, he was

going to have to make up some excuse.

The guy reached into his front pocket like he was going to pull out his wallet. For

a second, I thought I might’ve been wrong, but then he pulled out a wad of cash.

“I lost my wallet on the slopes today. Luckily, I had some cash sent over through

Western Union before the storm got too bad. Can I just pay cash?”

The young woman hesitated. “You don’t have any ID at all? I’m not supposed to

check people in without photo identification.”

Fake Milo poured on the charm. He leaned forward and showed off a set of

cavernous dimples. “We could take a selfie together?”

The woman giggled. She actually giggled. “Let me just check with my manager.”

She disappeared into the back and returned with the manager a few minutes later.

A crazy idea popped into my head. She said there were two rooms… I made a

spur-of-the-moment decision and approached the counter.

“There you are, Milo.” I rested my hand on the guy’s shoulder. “My flight was

canceled. I hope they still have our rooms.”

Fake Milo turned and looked at me with his brows furrowed.

He was going to blow it if I didn’t do something, so I turned my attention to the

two hotel employees. “My brother and I booked rooms here for two nights, but I was

trying to get out before the storm. Obviously I had no luck. I spent the entire day in the

airport. Please tell me you still have my room? I’m dying for a hot bath.”

Milo looked at me, then the hotel employees, then back at me. I smiled and arched

a brow. For a second, I almost felt bad for the guy. He looked so bewildered. Since he

still seemed to be at a loss for words, I figured I should continue talking. “We went

skiing early this morning and had our backpacks stolen. Between that and the storm

coming, I figured it was a sign that I should get back home early. Apparently Mother

Nature had other plans. We should have two rooms—Milo and Madeline Hooker.

Someone actually just left me a message on my cell asking us to confirm. Her name was

Catherine, I believe.”

The desk clerk nodded. “That was me. The storm has a lot of people stranded here

unexpectedly without rooms, so we were checking in with guests that hadn’t arrived yet.”

The manager looked back and forth between Fake Milo and me. “We’ll have to

take a hundred-dollar deposit for incidentals on each room since you don’t have a credit

card.”

I smiled. “Of course.”

She nodded to her employee. “Check them in. It’s fine.”

The man next to me still had his mouth hanging open. So I dug into my purse,

being careful not to show my wallet, which was supposed to have been stolen, and

scooped out all of the cash.

“How much are the rooms?” I asked the clerk.

“Let’s see. With tax, they come to three-hundred-and-forty-two dollars each, for

the two nights, and then we have to collect the hundred-dollar deposit.”

<i?Shit. I didn’t think I had that much cash. I counted the money in my hand and slid

it over in front of Fake Milo. “Can you spot me forty dollars? You know I’m good for it,

bro.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

After we paid and got the room keys, we walked side by side to the elevator bank

in silence. It wasn’t until we were alone and the elevator doors slid shut that Milo turned

to me. “What the hell just happened?”

I laughed. “We just got rooms, that’s what happened.”

He shook his head. “But who are you?”

“I noticed you standing near the concierge desk and eavesdropping while she

called the guests who hadn’t arrived yet.” I reached forward and took the man’s hand,

opening it to display blue ink. “You wrote down the names of the guests. I thought it was

odd, so I followed you to the front desk to see what you were up to. When you made up

that bogus story about losing your wallet so you could justify not having any ID, I knew

you were full of shit.” I shrugged. “When the woman said there were two rooms on the

reservation, I saw an opening and took it.”

“How did you know I’d go along with it?”

I smiled. “I didn’t. But that’s what made it so much fun!” I covered my chest with

my hand. “My heart feels like it’s trying to ricochet out of my ribcage at this moment. It’s

been a long time since I did anything risky like that.”

His eyes roamed my face. I got the feeling he still wasn’t sure what to make of

me, even though I’d just explained what I’d done. He looked down at my lips, which

were still curved in an excited smile.

“Why is that?”

My forehead wrinkled. “Why is what?”

“Why’s it been a long time since you’ve done anything risky? It looks to me like

you enjoyed it.”

I blinked a few times, not having expected a question that would tug at my

heartstrings, and my smile fell. “I don’t know. I guess I kind of turned into a different

person over the last few years.”

Fake Milo’s eyes locked with mine. We’d gone from pulling off a crazy stunt and

laughing, to an odd seriousness. His eyes flickered to my lips and back once again.

“That’s a shame. You have a great smile.”

Warmth spread through me, and I couldn’t seem to unlock my eyes from the

stranger’s—at least until the elevator dinged and the doors opened on the third floor.

“This is us,” he said. “Rooms 320 and 321.”

“Oh. Right. Okay.” I stepped out and followed the signs to our rooms. Since we

were, of course, family, they’d put us right next to each other. We stood a few feet apart

as we opened our respective doors. As my lock unlatched and I turned the handle to go

inside, something dawned on me.

“I almost forgot! I owe you forty dollars for the room.”

He smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, don’t be silly. I just didn’t have enough cash and didn’t want to hand the

woman a credit card when we weren’t supposed to have ID. I’ll just throw my bag in the

room and go downstairs to find an ATM. They must have one somewhere.”

“I thought you couldn’t wait to take a hot bath, or was that part of the act?”

I laughed. “No, it actually wasn’t. I wasn’t lying when I said I spent the entire day

at the airport. A hot bath sounds pretty amazing right about now. But I can grab your cash

first. It won’t take me long.”

Fake Milo scratched at the stubble on his chin. “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to

take a quick shower and then go downstairs to the bar for a drink. Take your bath. You

can find me there afterward to give me the money.”

“Okay.”

We looked at each other for a moment.

“Alright, well, enjoy your soak, sis.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Milo. I’ll see you later.”