Emily made friends easily with her classmates, regardless of their position on the school’s social-ranking ladder. In high school she’d never joined the cliques some of her friends had; it wasn’t her way. She sailed through high school, then spent the next six years at the University of Colorado in Denver. With a master’s degree in business, she graduated at the top of her class. Her parents had been thrilled when she decided to work at the resort. She came home with her new friend, Clarice, a tabby she’d found as a kitten, who still ruled the roost to this very day. Cats aside, Emily didn’t ever recall telling her parents the lodge might not be a lifelong career for her as it had been for them. They cared that she was close by. That was what mattered most. Family came first, no matter what.

She was about to put that to the test tonight.