Contents
Chapter 3
Overview
Will Baxter arrives at Brookbanks Resort, shocking Fern into flight. He explains Margaret hired him as a consultant last summer, believing Fern knew. Fern discloses Margaret’s recent death and that she now owns the resort. With Jamie stepping in, the encounter ends unresolved as fireworks start and Will departs.
Summary
At the front desk, Fern recognizes the sharply dressed guest as Will Baxter, the man she spent a transformative day with ten years earlier. Frozen, she lets Jamie handle the check-in until Will says her name. Overwhelmed, Fern signals Jamie to extract her and bolts from the lodge.
Outside, Will follows. Fern stumbles, and Will helps her up, their proximity reviving old feelings and anger. Pressed, Fern demands to know why he’s at her resort and rejects coincidence.
Will explains he was hired by Margaret last summer as a business consultant and assumed Fern knew. Stunned, Fern reveals Margaret died in a car accident in May and that she now owns the resort. The news rattles Will, who offers condolences that land badly on Fern’s unresolved hurt.
Jamie arrives with a key and first-aid offer, implicitly protecting Fern. Recognizing Jamie’s name, Will tenses. With tensions high and Fern insisting she’s fine, Will excuses himself, apologizes again, and leaves down the path as the fireworks begin—echoing his departure a decade earlier.
Who Appears
- Fern BrookbanksProtagonist; shocked by Will’s arrival, flees, falls, confronts him, reveals Margaret’s death and her new ownership.
- Will BaxterReturns unexpectedly; helps Fern after her fall; reveals Margaret hired him as consultant; offers condolences and leaves.
- Jamie PringleFern’s ex and colleague; manages Will’s check-in, shields Fern, offers first aid, and disrupts the charged moment.