We were by the back door leading into the living room. I could see Dina through the sliding door. She was fast asleep on one of the couches by the fire. Trey and Heidi were nowhere to be found. Neither were Jeremy and Liz. Wonder how that turned out. Drew went to open the door, but I pulled at his arm.

“Hey, Drew?”

He turned around.

“Are you, um … mad?”

He laughed softly. “Mad? No. Disappointed a little, but not mad.”

“You sure?” I asked. Was all hope lost?

“Hey,” he touched my cheek. “This is just the beginning, girl. Like you said, we’re just getting to know each other. And I’d like to learn a lot more.”

He bent down to kiss me. And I leaned into him, feeling his arm wrap around my back. His grip was firm and his lips were warm and full. Yes, I was his girl, and he was kissing me. Kissing me in front of the stars and the moon and the snow gently clinging to the trees. Kissing me, Samantha Levy.

Me and my kissable lips.

The next morning started with the telephone ringing next to my head. I fumbled before dropping it on the wooden night table.

“Yeah?” my voice was scratchy and slurred. My tongue tasted like a brillo pad.

“Did I wake you, chickadee?” said Dad.

“Nope,” I croaked. Dad laughed softly.

“Fun night?” he asked. I heard Kathy murmuring something in the background.

“Uh-huh.”

The room slowly started to come into focus. I could see Jeremy’s soggy dyspepsia T-shirt hanging over my chair.

“Sounds like it,” said Dad. “Honey, Kathy and I are kinda hungry and I called Jeremy but he’s not quite ready yet, either. So we were thinking of heading downstairs. Is that okay?”

“Sure, yeah. That sounds good.”

I hung up and fell back onto the pillow. I felt my stomach sloshing around. My head was sloshing around, too. My lips felt raw and chapped from all the cold air and the kissing. I ran my finger across the rough line where they met my skin. Wow. We had done some serious kissing!

I heard Jeremy turn on the shower. I wondered when he got back in with Liz. Had they done it? Was sex all that it was cracked up to be? Mind-changing? Earth-shattering? How did he know to trust this girl Liz whom he had just met and who shook her hips and made kissy faces into the microphone? But he was a boy. It was different for them, right? And then I started picturing them naked and lying on his bed and that was gross because he was my brother, after all.

I slipped on some socks and pulled on my hoodie over my pajamas. Everything felt a little fuzzy and I couldn’t move too quickly. Tee-hee! My first real hangover. I was finally a grown-up! Maybe that would mean I had bigger boobs and pouty lips. You know, like in the movies after a crazy party night, when the lead girl looks all disheveled and sultry? I gave a quick look in the mirror. I didn’t look too sultry right now. My hair was stuck to the side of my face and there were deep creases from the pillow across my cheeks. Oh, well.

Now I just needed some coffee and to get to the slopes as soon as possible. I stuck my cell phone in my pocket so I could call Phoebe, and then headed downstairs.

The lobby had a strong fire going, and I could hear people in the dining area stirring their coffee and chatting, and the toaster bell announcing fresh English muffins. Everything felt a little too bright and loud. But by far the loudest thing was a woman standing by the front desk, her hands on her hips and her salt-and-pepper nest of hair shaking as she spoke — or rather, yelled. It was the Albert Einstein lady I saw yapping at Phil the first day.

“I expected more out of you! You call this a family business? I could have stayed at a number of different places, but I chose to come here. It is inexcusable!” Her voice was shrill and only added to the throbbing in my head.

“I’m sorry. I really am.” Eric was standing behind the desk, speaking slowly, carefully.

“Well, what are you going to do about it is what I want to know? Huh?” the woman screeched.

Eric cleared his throat. “I’ll have to talk to my father. We’ve never really had this situation before. I mean, after we replaced the hot water heater —”

“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You are obviously going to have to replace it again! But before you do that, you are going to refund me my money and get on that World Wide Web and you are going to find me another place to stay, mister!” She was shaking a single salmon-colored fingernail in his face.

Who was this lady? Who said “World Wide Web” and called people “mister”?

A lot of people in the dining area had quieted down now and were peering over curiously. Nutbags McScreech just kept right on going.

“Come on! Do it!” she commanded. It was disgusting how she was treating him like he was a disobedient puppy.

“Well, I’d like to refund you, but —” started Eric. I could see he was trying to stay calm, taking deep breaths. But his eyes were blinking furiously.

“Good. Because that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Do you hear me?” the woman demanded.

“Yes.”

“Do you?”

I couldn’t take this. I knew it was none of my business, but this was ridiculous. I stepped forward. “Actually, everyone can hear you. You’re waking up the entire inn.” I crossed my arms and tried to exact a menacing gaze.

Lady Einstein spun around like she had been stung by a bee.

“And who are you?” She looked me slowly up and down, her lips pressed together in disgust.

“Sam Levy.” I almost said, “The one with the kissable lips,” but I refrained. “And I was going to have a cup of coffee and sit by the fire, but you kind of ruined that plan.”

“Well, excuuuuuuse me,” she sneered. “Do you know what ruined my morning?”

“No. What?”

“When I went to get into my shower, there was no hot water. No! Hot! Water!”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s no reason to —”

“And this young man says he doesn’t know what he can do about it. I mean, really!”

“I’m sorry, and how is this his fault?” I asked, hands on hips.

She puffed out her cheeks and spluttered. Her lips were colored the same salmon as her nails, and they were thin and flaky. She should learn about cherry ChapStick.

“Well, he works here, doesn’t he?”

“It’s a very old building,” started Eric.

“I’m not talking to you right now. You had your chance.”

I was seriously going to kick this lady in the teeth.

“No, you had your chance. It’s not his fault that there was no hot water. Maybe it’s because you used it up taking a bubble bath the night before. I don’t know. And I don’t care! All I know is that is no way to treat somebody who has opened up his home to you. So you think about how to speak to someone before you open your mouth again, because if I were him, I wouldn’t give you any refund. I would tell you to pack your bags and get out of here!”

I hadn’t meant to go that far. But once again, my mouth was moving faster than my brain, and by the time I stopped, I was breathless. Both Einstein and Eric were staring at me, wide-eyed and stunned.

Finally, Eric spoke. “Mrs. Briley —” he began.

“No, that’s okay,” she said. Her voice was a lot lower and softer now. “I’ll be speaking to your father as soon as he comes in. Make sure you tell him it is urgent. And you —” She turned back to me, her teeth gritted together. “You have quite a mouth on you, young lady. You’d better watch it or one day it is going to get you into some serious, I mean serious trouble.” Her nostrils flared but I just concentrated on her flaky lips and didn’t budge an inch. Then she grabbed an apple from the front desk and marched up the stairs and down the hall.