Key Ridge, Colorado had one main street, a handful of hotels, a ski resort, and a population of just over one thousand people. But when I got off the plane a few hours ago and Mattie picked me up, I was surprised to find the streets practically bustling. We’d even had to wait to get a seat at the bar we’d been holed up in for the past two hours.

“Spring break,” she’d explained, like that was supposed to mean something to me. We’d both grown up in Florida before I’d moved to Atlanta after college. Spring break to me meant lazy days on a beach and sun-kissed skin. But apparently in Colorado, spring break was prime time for skiing and snowboarding. Which explained the feet of white fluff piled up alongside the sidewalks.

When I’d decided to fly here on a whim, I hadn’t exactly pictured this much snow in mid-March. But Mattie had informed me there was at least a month left before the ski season officially ended, and Mother Nature had blessed them with way more snow this year than the past few. Funny—I didn’t realize more snow was a blessing, but you’d have thought it was a miracle with how excited my sister was describing it.

“Twenty-eight and unemployed,” I groaned, resting my forehead in my hands. “I never thought it’d come to this.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Mattie unhelpfully pointed out.

“I can be dramatic if I want to be. It’s my life.”

“It’s a job, not your life.” Mattie waved the bartender over to order another drink, purposefully ignoring the scowl that had creeped onto my face.

My career was my life. Or at least it had been up until yesterday. I’d been scaling the corporate ladder of that company ever since I graduated from college. It defined me, and I was more than okay with that. It thrilled me when people asked me what I did for a living and I could tell them I was the Director of Marketing at a thriving real estate company.

Now I was nothing.

“Did you tell Mom and Dad yet?” Mattie asked.

I scoffed. “When would I have had time to tell them? When I was sobbing on my drive home after my boss broke the news to me? When I was packing to come visit you? Or did you want me to call them from the plane? Where I was such a whimpering mess that the gentleman sitting next to me asked if he could switch seats.”

“He did not,” Mattie said.

“He did too. He picked a seat next to a crying baby—a baby, Mattie. He thought that would be a more peaceful flight than being in my vicinity.”

Mattie completely ignored my hysterics. “They’re about to leave for that month-long cruise in Australia. You should really call them while they still have service.”

“I’ll call them when I have a new job,” I said.

“Who knows how long that will take?” Mattie argued. “You’re just going to lie to them?”