Praise for

‘Sarah Morgan puts the magic in Christmas.’

—Now magazine

‘Full of romance and sparkle’

—Lovereading

‘Sarah Morgan continues to hang out on my autobuy list and each book of hers that I discover is a treat.’

—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

‘Morgan is a magician with words.’

—RT Book Reviews

‘Dear Ms Morgan, I’m always on the lookout for a new book by you…’

—Dear Author blog

SARAH MORGAN is the bestselling author of Sleigh Bells in the Snow. As a child Sarah dreamed of being a writer and, although she took a few interesting detours on the way, she is now living that dream. With her writing career she has successfully combined business with pleasure and she firmly believes that reading romance is one of the most satisfying and fat-free escapist pleasures available. Her stories are unashamedly optimistic and she is always pleased when she receives letters from readers saying that her books have helped them through hard times.

Sarah lives near London with her husband and two children, who innocently provide an endless supply of authentic dialogue. When she isn’t writing or reading, Sarah enjoys music, movies and any activity that takes her outdoors.

Readers can find out more about Sarah and her books from her website: www.sarahmorgan.com. She can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

COPYRIGHT

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2014

Copyright © Sarah Morgan 2014

Sarah Morgan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9781472054883

Version: 2018-10-26

Dear Reader,

From the moment I first introduced Tyler O’Neil in Sleigh Bells in the Snow, I was looking forward to telling his story. I know from my e-mails that lots of readers are eagerly waiting to read about him, mostly because we all love a reformed bad boy!

Since the injury that ended his career as a medal-winning downhill skier, Tyler has been helping with the family business at Snow Crystal, Vermont. He is a single father, raising his teenage daughter, Jess, a situation that brings its own challenges for a man used to putting himself first. He’s had plenty of relationships, but the only woman whom has been a constant in his life is Brenna, who he has known since childhood. Brenna’s feelings go way beyond friendship, but she knows Tyler doesn’t see her that way. Or does he?

Tyler’s story is a romance, but it also explores love in its widest sense and what it means to be a father, a son, a brother, a lover and a friend. Sometimes when I’m writing a story it takes me a while to work out the exact details of the final chapter, but with Maybe This Christmas I knew right away how I wanted this book to end and writing it felt wonderful.

If you ask a writer to pick their favourite book, they will usually tell you they love them all equally and that’s exactly what I’d say if you asked me that question, but if I did have a favourite, then Maybe This Christmas would be right up there at the top of my list. I hope you love it too.

Sarah xx

PS Don’t forget to visit my website and sign up to my mailing list to be sure never to miss a new book release!

www.sarahmorgan.com Twitter @SarahMorgan_ Facebook/AuthorSarahMorgan

To my parents, who taught me the importance of family

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks, hugs and kisses go to my talented editor, Flo Nicoll, who has worked with me on all three O’Neil Brother books and sprinkled her own special brand of editorial magic over each story. Thanks also to HQN Books in the US and Harlequin UK for all their hard work in putting this series into the hands of readers and to my agent, Susan Ginsburg, for her invaluable advice and input.

Right from the start I knew how I wanted Maybe This Christmas to end. I’m indebted to Alison Kaiser, Town Clerk from Stowe, Vermont for her guidance on the marriage licence laws in the state of Vermont and for her patience in answering my many questions as I tried to find a way to make my dream ending a reality.

The process of writing this series has frequently slipped into family time and without the endless support and encouragement from my husband and two sons I would have starved and been found buried under several months’ worth of laundry. They are nothing short of brilliant (and I mean that even though they washed a red sock with my white shirt).

I owe the biggest debt of gratitude to my readers, who continue to buy my books, thus ensuring I can continue with my dream job, writing them. Thank you. You’re the best.

Sarah

xxx

Table of Contents

Cover

Praise

About the Author

Title Page

Dear Reader

Dedication

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Preview

Endpage

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

TYLER O’NEIL STOMPED the snow off his boots, pushed open the door of his lakeside home and tripped over a pair of boots and a jacket abandoned in the hallway.

Slamming his hand against the wall, he regained his balance and cursed. “Jess?” There was no response from his daughter, but Ash and Luna, his two Siberian huskies, bounded out of the living room. Cursing under his breath, he watched in exasperation as both dogs cannoned toward him. “Jess? You left the door to the living room open again. The dogs aren’t supposed to be in there. Come down here right now and pick up your coat and boots! Do not jump up—I’m warning you—” He braced himself as Ash sprang. “Why does no one listen to me around here?”

Luna, the more gentle of the two dogs, put her paws on his chest and tried to lick his face.

“Nice to know my word is law.” But Tyler rubbed her ears gently, burying his fingers in her thick fur as Jess emerged from the kitchen, a piece of toast in one hand and her phone in the other, head nodding in time to music as she pushed headphones away from her ears. She was wearing one of his sweaters, and the gold medal he’d won for the downhill dangled around her neck.

“Hi, Dad. How was your day?”

“I made it through alive until I stepped through my own front door. I’ve skied off cliffs safer than our hallway.” Glowering at her, Tyler pushed the ecstatic dogs away and nudged the abandoned snow boots to one side with his foot. “Pick those up. And leave your boots on the porch from now on. You shouldn’t be wearing them indoors.”

Still chewing, Jess stared at his feet. “You’re wearing your boots indoors.”

Not for the first time, Tyler reflected on the challenges of parenting. “New rule. I’ll leave mine outside, too. That way we don’t get snow in the house. And hang your coat up instead of dropping it over any convenient surface.”

“You drop yours.”

Holy hell. “I’m hanging it up. Watch me.” He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up with exaggerated purpose. “And turn the music down. That way you’ll be able to hear me when I’m yelling at you.”

She grinned, unabashed. “I turn it up so I can’t hear you yelling at me. Grandma just sent me a text all in capitals. You need to teach her how to use her phone.”

“You’re the teenager. You teach her.”

“She texted me in capitals all last week, and the week before that she kept dialing Uncle Jackson by accident.”

Tyler, entertained by the thought of his business-focused brother being driven insane by calls from their mother in the middle of his working day, grinned back. “I bet he loved that. So what did she want?”

“She was inviting me to come over when you’re at the team meeting at the Outdoor Center. I’m going to help her cook.” She took another bite of toast. “It’s family night tonight. Everyone is coming, even Uncle Sean. Had you forgotten?”

Tyler groaned. “Team meeting and Fright Night? Whose idea was that?”

“Grandma’s. She worries about me, because I live with you, and the only thing that never runs out in our fridge is beer. And you’re not supposed to call it Fright Night. Can I come to the team meeting?”

“You would hate every moment.”

“I wouldn’t! I love being part of a family business. The way you feel about meetings is the way I feel about school. Being trapped indoors is a waste of time when there’s all that snow out there. But at least you get to ski all day. I’m stuck to a hard chair trying to understand math. Pity me.” She finished the toast, and Tyler frowned as crumbs fell on the floor.

Ash pounced on them with enthusiasm.

“You’re the reason the fridge is empty. You’re always eating. If I’d known you were going to eat this much, I never would have let you live with me. You’re costing me a fortune.”

The fact his joke made her laugh told him how far they’d come in the year they’d been living together.

“Grandma says if I wasn’t living with you, you’d drown in your own mess.”

“You’re the one dropping the crumbs. You should use a plate.”

“You never use a plate. You’re always dropping crumbs on the floor.”

“You don’t have to do everything I do.”

“You’re the grown-up. I’m following your example.” The thought was enough to bring him out in a cold sweat. “Don’t. You should do the opposite of everything I have ever done.” He watched as Jess bent to make a fuss of Luna, and the medal around her neck swung forward, almost hitting the dog on the nose. “Why are you wearing that?”

“It motivates me. And I like the example you set. You’re the coolest dad on the planet. And you’re fun to live with. Especially when you’re trying to behave.”

“Trying to—” Tyler dragged his gaze from the medal that was a painful reminder of his old life. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean I like living here. You don’t worry about the same stuff as most grown-ups.”

“I’m probably supposed to.” Tyler ran his hand over the back of his neck. “I have a new respect for your grandmother. How did Mom raise three boys without strangling us?”

“Grandma would never strangle anyone. She’s patient and kind.”

“Yeah, right. Unfortunately for you, I’m not, and I’m the one raising you now.” The reality of that still terrified him more than anything he’d faced on the downhill ski circuit. If he messed this up, the consequences would be worse than a damaged leg and a shattered career. “So have you finished your assignment?”

“No. I started, but I got distracted watching the recording of your downhill in Beaver Creek. Come and watch it with me.”

He’d rather poke himself in the eye with a ski pole.

“Maybe later. I had a call from your teacher.” Casually, he changed the subject. “You didn’t hand in your assignment on Monday.”

“Luna ate it.”

“Sure she did. You are allowed one late assignment in each trimester. You’ve already had two.”

“Weren’t you ever late handing in assignments?”

All the time.

Wondering why anyone would choose to have more than one kid when being a parent was this hard, Tyler tried a different approach. “If you have five late assignments, you’ll be staying late at homework club. That cuts into your skiing time.”

That wiped the smile from her face. “I’ll get it done.”

“Good decision. And next time, finish your homework before you watch TV.”

“I wasn’t watching TV. I was watching you. I want to understand your technique. You were the best. I’m going to ski every spare minute this winter.” She closed her hand around the medal, making it sound like a vow. “Will you be at race training tomorrow? You said you’d try to be there.”

Floored by that undiluted adoration, Tyler looked into his daughter’s eyes and saw the same passion that burned in his own.

He thought of all the jobs that were piling up at Snow Crystal. Jobs that needed his attention. Then he thought about the years he’d missed out on being with his daughter. “I’ll be there.” He strolled through to his recently renovated kitchen, cursing under his breath as cold seeped through his socks. “Jess, you’ve been dripping snow through the whole house. It’s like wading through a river.”

“That was Luna. She rolled in a snowdrift and then shook herself.”

“Next time she can shake herself outside our house.”

“I didn’t want her to get cold.” Watching him, Jess pushed her hair behind her ear. “You called it our house.”

“She’s a dog, Jess! She has thick fur. She doesn’t get cold. And of course I called it our house. What else would I call it? We both live here, and right now there’s no chance of me forgetting that!” He stepped over another patch of water. “I’ve spent the past couple of years renovating this place, and I still feel as if I need to wear my boots indoors.”

“I love Ash and Luna. They’re family. I never had a dog in Chicago. Mom hated mess. We never had a real Christmas tree, either. She hated those because she had to pick up the needles.”

Tension and irritation fled. The mention of Jess’s mother made Tyler feel as if someone had stuffed snow down his neck. Suddenly, it wasn’t only his feet that were cold.

He clamped his mouth down on the comment that wanted to leave his lips. The truth was that Janet Carpenter had hated just about everything. She’d hated Vermont, she’d hated living so far from a city, she’d hated skiing. Most of all, she’d hated him. But his family had made it a rule not to say a bad word about Janet in front of Jess, and he stuck to that rule even when the strain of it brought him close to bursting. “We’ll have a real tree this year. We’ll take a trip into the forest and choose one together.” Aware that he might be overcompensating, he reverted back to his normal self. “And I’m glad you love the dogs, but that doesn’t change the fact you should keep the damn living room door closed when they’re in the house. This place is no longer a construction site. The new rule is no dogs on sofas or on beds.”

“I think Luna prefers the old rules.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “And you’re not supposed to say damn. Grams hates it when you swear.”

Tyler kept his jaw tightened. “Well, Grams isn’t here, is she?” His grandmother and grandfather still lived at the resort, in the converted sugarhouse that had once been the hub of Snow Crystal’s maple syrup production. “And if you tell her, I’ll throw you on your butt in the snow, and you’ll be wetter than Luna. Now go and finish your assignment or I’ll get the bad parent award, and I’m not prepared to climb onto the podium to collect that one.”

Jess beamed. “If I promise to hand in my assignment and not tell anyone you swear, can we watch skiing together in your den later?”

“You should ask Brenna. She’s a gifted teacher.” He was about to reach for a beer when he remembered he was supposed to be setting an example, so poured himself a glass of milk instead. Since Jess had moved in, he’d disciplined himself not to drink from the carton. “She’ll tell you what everyone is doing wrong.”

“She’s already promised to help me now I’ve made the school ski team. Have you seen her in the gym? She has sick abs.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her.” And he didn’t let himself think about her abs.

He didn’t let himself think about any part of her.

She was his best friend, and she was staying that way.

To take his mind off the thought of Brenna’s abs, he stuck his head back in the fridge. “This fridge is empty.”

“Kayla’s giving me a lift into the village later so I’ll pick something up.” Her phone beeped, and she dug it out of her pocket. “Oh—”

Tyler pushed the door shut with his shoulder and then caught sight of her expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Kayla texted to say she’s tied up with work, that’s all.”

“Sounds painful. Never mind. I’ll go to the store tomorrow.”

Jess stared at her phone. “I need to go now.”

“Why? We both hate shopping. It can wait.”

“This can’t wait.” Her head was down, but he saw color streak across her cheekbones.

“Is this about Christmas? Because it’s not for another couple of weeks. We still have plenty of time. Most of my shopping gets done at three o’clock on Christmas Eve.”

“It’s not about Christmas! Dad, I need—” she broke off, her face scarlet “—some things from the store, that’s all.”

“What can you possibly need that can’t wait until tomorrow?”

“Girl stuff, okay? I need girl stuff!” Snapping at him, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room leaving Tyler staring after her, trying to understand the reason for the sudden mood explosion.

Girl stuff?

It took him a moment, and then he closed his eyes briefly and swore under his breath.

Girl stuff.

Comprehension came along with a moment of pure panic. Nothing in his past life had prepared him to raise a teenager. Especially not a teenage girl.

When had she—?

He glanced toward the door, knowing he had to say something, but clueless as to the most sensitive way to broach a topic that embarrassed the hell out of both of them.

Could he ignore it?

Tell her to search the internet?

He ran his hand over his face and cursed under his breath, knowing he couldn’t ignore it or leave something that important to a search engine.

It wasn’t as if she had her mother to ask. He was the only parent in her life. And right now she was probably thinking that was a raw deal.

“Jess!” He yelled after her, and when there was no response, he strode out of the kitchen and found her tugging her boots on in the hall. “Get in the car. I’ll take you to the store.”

“Forget it.” Her voice was muffled, her hair falling forward over her face. “I’m going to walk over to the house and ask Grandma to drive me.”

“Grandma hates driving in the snow and the dark. I’ll take you.” His voice was rougher than he intended, and he stretched out a hand to touch her shoulder and then pulled it back. To hug or not to hug? He had no idea. “I was going to the store anyway.”

“You were going tomorrow, not today.”

“Well, now I’m going today.” He grabbed his coat. “Come on. We’ll pick up some of that chocolate you like.” Still not looking at him, she fiddled with her boots, and he sighed, wishing for the hundredth time that teenage girls came with an operating manual.

“Jess, it’s all good.”

“It’s not good,” she muttered in a strangled tone, “it’s like a massive avalanche of awkward! You’re thinking this is your worst nightmare.”

“I’m not thinking that.” He gripped the door handle. “I’m thinking I’m messing it up. I’m saying the wrong things and making you feel uncomfortable, which is not my intention.”

She peeped at him through her hair. “You’re wishing I’d never come to live here.”

He’d thought they’d got past that. The insecurity. Those creeping, confidence-eroding doubts that had eaten away at her happiness. “I’m not wishing that.”

“Mom told me she wished I’d never been born.”

Tyler zipped up his jacket viciously, almost removing a finger in the process. “She didn’t mean that.” He dragged open the door, grateful for the blast of freezing air to cool his temper.

“Yes, she did.” Jess mumbled the words. “She told me I was the worst thing that ever happened to her.”

“Well, I’ve never thought that. Not once. Not even when my socks are wet because you’ve let the dogs drag snow into the house.”

“You didn’t sign up for any of this.” Her voice faltered, and the uncertainty in her eyes made him want to punch a hole through something.

“I tried to. I asked your mom to marry me.”

“I know. She said no because she thought you’d be a useless father. I heard her telling my stepdad. She said you were irresponsible.”

Tyler felt the emotion rush at him. “Yeah, well, that may be true, but it doesn’t change the fact I wanted you, Jess, right from the start. And when your mother wouldn’t agree to marry me, I tried other ways of having you live here with us. Why the hell are we talking about this now?”

“Because it’s the truth. I was a mistake.” Jess gave a tiny shrug as if it didn’t matter, and because he knew how much it mattered, he hesitated, knowing that the way he responded was vitally important to the way she felt about this whole situation.

“We didn’t exactly plan to have you, that’s true. I’m not going to lie about that, but you can’t plan every single thing that happens in life. People think they can. They think they can control things and then whoosh—something happens that proves you’re not as in control as you think. And sometimes it’s the things you don’t plan that turn out best.”

“I wasn’t one of those things. Mom told me I was the biggest mistake of her life.”

His hands clenched into fists and he had to force himself to stay calm. “She was probably upset or tired.”

“It was the time I snowboarded down the stairs.”

Tyler managed a smile. “Right, well, there you go. That’s why.” He dragged her against him and hugged her, feeling her skinny body and the familiar scent of her hair. His daughter. His child. “You’re the best thing that happened to me. You’re an O’Neil all the way, and sometimes that drives your mom a little crazy, that’s all. She doesn’t have that much love for us O’Neils. But she loves you. I know she does.” He didn’t know that, but he reined in his natural urge to speak the truth.

“Her family isn’t close like ours, and that makes her jealous.” Her voice was muffled against his chest, and he felt her arms tighten around him.

“You may skip classes, but you’re not stupid.”

Jess pulled away, her cheeks streaked pink. “Is that why you don’t want to ever get married? Because of what happened with Mom?”

How was he supposed to answer that?

He’d learned that with Jess, the questions came with no warning. She bottled stuff up and held it inside until she burst with trying to contain it.

“Some people aren’t the marrying type, and I’m one of those.”

“Why?”

Tyler decided he’d rather ski a vertical slope in the dark with his eyes closed than have this conversation. “All people are good at some things and bad at others. I’m bad at relationships. I don’t make women happy.” Just ask your mother. “Women who care about me often end up being hurt.”

“So you’re never going to get involved with anyone again? Dad, that’s really dumb.”

“You’re telling me I’m dumb? What happened to respect?”

“All I’m saying is it’s okay to make mistakes when you’re young. Everyone messes up sometimes. It shouldn’t stop you trying again when you’re older.”

“Jess—”

“Maybe you’ll be better at it now you’ve got me. If you want to know how the female mind works, you can ask,” she said generously, and Tyler opened his mouth and closed it again.

“Thanks, sweetheart. I appreciate that.” Deciding that the conversation was getting more awkward, not less, he dug out his car keys. “Now get in the car before both of us freeze in the doorway. We need to get to the store before it closes.”

“It would have been easier for you if I’d been a boy. Then we wouldn’t have to have embarrassing conversations.”

“Don’t you believe it. Teenage boys are the worst. I know. I was one. And I’m not embarrassed.” Tyler’s tongue felt thick in his mouth. “Why would I be embarrassed by something that’s a normal part of growing up? If there’s anything you want to ask—” please, God, don’t let there be anything she wanted to ask “—you come straight out and say it.”

She tugged on her boots. “I’m good. But I need to get to the store.”

He grabbed her coat and thrust it at her. “Wrap up. It’s freezing out there.”

“Can Ash and Luna come?”

“On a trip to the store?” He was about to ask why he would want to take two hyperactive dogs on a trip to the village, but then saw her hopeful expression and decided the dogs might be the best cure for awkward. And hopefully, they’d take her mind off her mom and the complexity of human relationships. “Sure. Great idea. Nothing I love more than two panting animals while I’m driving. But you’ll have to keep them under control.”

Jess whistled for Ash and Luna, who came bounding out, ecstatic at the promise of a trip.

Tyler drove out of Snow Crystal, slowing down for the guests who were returning from a day on the slopes.

The resort was half-empty, but it was still early in the season, and he knew visitor numbers would double once the Christmas break arrived.

And across the Atlantic in Europe, the Alpine Ski World Cup was underway.

He tightened his grip on the wheel, grateful that Jess was chattering away. Grateful for the distraction.

“Uncle Jackson told me the snowmaking is going really well. Loads of runs are open. Do you think we might have a big fall of snow? Uncle Sean is here.” She talked nonstop as she stroked Luna. “I saw his car earlier. Gramps said he was here for the meeting, but I don’t get why. He’s a surgeon. He doesn’t get involved in running the business. Or is he going to be here to fix broken legs?”

“Uncle Sean is working up a preconditioning program with Christy at the spa. They’re trying to reduce skiing injuries. It was Brenna’s idea.” Tyler slowed as they reached the main highway and turned toward the village. The snow was falling steadily, coating the windshield and the road ahead.

“How come Brenna is the one in charge of the outdoor program when you’re the one with the gold medal?”

“Because Uncle Jackson had already given her the job before I came home, and because I hate organization almost as much as I hate shopping and cooking. I’m only interested in the skiing part. And Brenna is a great teacher. She’s patient and kind, whereas I want to dump people in a snowdrift if they don’t get it right the first time.” He glanced briefly in his rearview mirror. “Are you going to sleep over with Grandma tonight?”

“Do you want me to? Are you planning on having sex or something?”

Tyler almost swerved into the ditch. “Jess—”

“What? You said I could talk to you about anything.”

He steadied the car. Focused on the road. “You can’t ask me if I’m planning on having sex.”

“Why? I don’t want to get in the way, that’s all.”

“You don’t get in the way.” He wondered why this conversation had to come up while he was driving in difficult conditions. “You never get in the way.”

“Dad, I’m not stupid. You used to have a lot of sex. I know. I read about it on the internet. This one article said you could get a woman in bed faster than you could make it to the bottom of the slope in the downhill.”

Feeling as if he’d been hit by another avalanche of awkward, Tyler slowed right down as he approached the village. Lights twinkled in store windows, and a large Christmas tree stood proudly at the end of Main Street. “You don’t want to believe everything you read on the internet.”

“All I’m saying is, you don’t have to give up sex just because I’m living with you. You need to get out there again.”

Speechless, he pulled into a parking space by the village store. “I’m not having this conversation with my thirteen-year-old daughter.”

“I’m nearly fourteen. You need to keep up.”

“Whatever. My sex life is off-limits.”

“Did you ever have sex with Brenna? Was she one of the ones you had a relationship with?”

How was it possible to sweat when the air temperature was below freezing? “That is personal, Jess.”

“So you did have sex with her?”

“No! I never had sex with Brenna.” Sex with Brenna was something he didn’t allow himself to think about. Ever. He didn’t think about those abs. He didn’t think about those legs. “And this conversation is over and done.”

“Because it would be fine with me. I think she really likes you. Do you like her?”

Realizing he’d just been given permission to have sex by his teenage daughter, Tyler raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, of course I do. I’ve known her since we were kids. We’ve hung around together for most of our lives. She’s a good friend.”

And he wasn’t going to do anything to damage that. Nothing. Not a damn thing.

He’d messed up every relationship he’d ever had. His friendship with Brenna was the one thing that was still intact, and he intended to keep it that way.

Jess unclipped her seat belt. “I like Brenna. She’s not all gooey eyed about you like some women are. And she talks to me like a grown-up. If you could give me some money, I’ll go and buy what I need. I’ll buy some stuff for the fridge, too, so if Grandma drops by she’ll be impressed by your housekeeping.”

“Gooey eyed?” Tyler pulled his wallet out of his pocket. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Jess shrugged. “Like some of the moms at school. They all wear makeup and tight clothes, in case you’re picking me up. The other day when Kayla picked me up, there was almost a riot. Sometimes the other girls want to know if you’re coming or not. I guess their moms don’t want to bother with the whole lipstick thing if you’re not going to show up.”

Tyler stared at her. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay.” Jess tugged her coat around her skinny frame. “I’m cool with the fact my dad is a national sex symbol. But if you’re going to pick someone I have to live with and call Mom, I’d like you to pick someone like Brenna, that’s all. She doesn’t flick her hair all the time and look at you with a dopey smile.”

“No one is coming to live with us, you won’t be calling anyone Mom and, for the final time, I’m not going to have sex with Brenna.” Tyler spoke through clenched teeth. “Now go buy whatever it is you need.”

Jess slid down in her seat. “I can’t.” Her voice was strangled. “Mr. Turner has just gone in there with his son, who is in my class. I want to die.”

Tyler breathed deeply and then rummaged in the mess in his car until he found an old restaurant bill and a pen. “Make me a list.”

“I’ll wait until they’ve gone.” It was dark in the car, but he could see she was scarlet again.

“Jess, we need to do this before we both die of hypothermia.”

She hesitated and then snatched the pen and scribbled.

“Wait here.” Tyler took the bill from her and walked into the store. If he could ski Austria’s notorious Hahnenkamm at a speed of 90 mph, he could buy girl stuff.

TEN MINUTES LATER, Brenna Daniels walked into the store, relieved to be out of the bitter cold.

Ellen Kelly came out from the room behind the counter, carrying three large boxes. “Brenna! Your mother was in here earlier today. Told me she hadn’t seen you for a month.”

“I’ve been busy. Can I help you with those, Ellen?” Brenna took the boxes from her and stacked them on the floor. “You shouldn’t carry so many at once. The doctor told you to be careful lifting.”

“I’m careful. Storm’s coming, and people like to stock up in case they’re snowed in for a month. We’re all hoping it’s not going to be as bad as 2007. Remember Valentine’s Day?”

“I was in Europe, Ellen.”

“That’s right, you were. I forgot. No snow at all in January, and then three feet in twenty-four hours. Ned Morris lost some of his cows when the barn roof fell in.” Ellen rubbed her back. “By the way, you just missed him.”

“Ned Morris?”

“Tyler.” Ellen bent and opened one of the boxes. “And he had Jess with him. I swear she’s grown a foot over the summer.”

“Tyler was here?” Brenna’s heart pounded a little harder. “We have a meeting back at the resort in an hour.”

“I’m guessing they had an emergency. Jess stayed in the car, and he came in and bought everything she needed. And I do mean everything.” Ellen Kelly winked knowingly and started unpacking the boxes and transferring the contents to the shelves. “I never thought I’d see Tyler O’Neil in here shopping for a teenage girl. I remember people had nothing but bad to say about him when Janet Carpenter announced she was pregnant, but he’s proved them all wrong. That Janet is as cold as a Vermont winter, but Tyler—” she arranged cans on the shelf “—he may be a bad boy with the women, but no one can say he hasn’t done right by that child.”

“She’s almost fourteen.”

“And looking like a different person from the one who arrived here last winter, all skinny and pale. Can you imagine? What sort of mother sends a child away like that?” Ellen clucked her disapproval and bent to open another box, this one packed with Christmas decorations. “Disgraceful.”

Brenna was careful to keep her opinion on that to herself. “Janet had a new baby.”

“So she gave up the old one? All the more reason to keep Jess close, in my opinion.” Ellen hung long garlands of tinsel on hooks. “She could have been scarred for life. Lucky she has Tyler and the rest of the O’Neils. Would you like decorations, honey? I have a big selection this year.”

“No thanks, Ellen. I don’t decorate. And Jess isn’t scarred. She’s a lovely girl.” Loyal and discreet, Brenna tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. She didn’t mention the insecurities or any of the problems she knew Jess had suffered settling in. “Did you know she made the school ski team? She has real talent.”

“She’s her father’s daughter all right. I still remember that winter when Tyler skied down old Mitch Sommerville’s roof.” Smiling, Ellen sat an oversize smiling Santa on a shelf. “He was arrested of course, but my George always said he’d never seen a person so fearless on the mountain. Except you, perhaps. The two of you were inseparable. Used to watch you sneaking out when you should have been in class.”

“Me? You’ve got the wrong person, Ellen.” Brenna grinned at her. “I never sneaked out of school in my life.”

“Must be a real blow for Tyler, losing his career like that. Especially when he was right at the top.”

Brenna, who would rather jump naked into a freezing lake than talk about another person’s private business, made a desperate attempt to change the subject. “There’s plenty to keep him busy up at Snow Crystal. Bookings are up. Looks like it might be a busy winter.”

“That’s good to hear. That family deserves it. No one was more shocked than me to hear the place was in trouble. The O’Neils have lived at Snow Crystal since before I was born. Still, Jackson seems to have turned it around. There were people around here who thought he’d made a mistake when he spent all that money building fancy log cabins with hot tubs, but turns out he knew what he was doing.”

“Yes.” Brenna picked up the few things she needed, wondering if there was such a thing as private business living in a small town. “He’s a clever businessman.”

“He’s always known his own mind. And that girl of his—”

“Kayla?”

“Her heart is in the right place even if she does walk in here with those shiny shoes looking all New York City.”

Brenna added milk to her basket. “She’s British.”

“You wouldn’t know it until she opens her mouth. Take some of those chocolate cookies while you’re there. They’re delicious. Not that you’re short of good things to eat at Snow Crystal, with Élise in charge of the kitchen. Now that Jackson and Sean are settled, it will be Tyler’s turn next.”

Brenna dropped the jar she was holding, and it smashed, spreading the contents across the floor. Crap. “Oh, Ellen, I’m so sorry. I’ll clean it up. Do you have a mop?” Annoyed with herself, she stooped to pick up the pieces, but Ellen waved her aside.

“Leave it. I don’t want you cutting your fingers. There was a time when I thought the two of you might end up together. You couldn’t be separated.”

Double crap.

“We were friends, Ellen.” This conversation was the last thing she needed. “And we’re still friends.”

By the time she left the store, she was exhausted from dodging gossip and thinking about Tyler.

She drove straight back to Snow Crystal and parked outside the Outdoor Center next to Sean’s flashy red sports car. The snow was falling steadily, the path already covered with half a foot of white powder. The temperature had dropped, and there was the promise of more snow in the air, which was good news for Snow Crystal because snow cover was directly related to the number of Christmas bookings.

And they needed those bookings.

Despite what she’d said to Ellen, she knew the resort was still struggling to stay afloat. The log cabins, each with its own hot tub and private view of the lake and forest, had been expensive to build. For the past two years they’d had more cabins empty than occupied. Things were slowly improving, but they still had too many vacancies.

Brenna stamped the snow off her boots, pushed open the door and was enveloped by a welcome rush of warm air. She walked through to the peace and tranquility of the spa. The lighting was muted, the walls a soothing shade of ocean-blue. Soft music played in the background, and the air was filled with the scent of aromatherapy oils. It tickled her nose, but then she’d never been one to lie around and let someone she didn’t know rub oil into her skin. It seemed intimate to her. Something a lover might do, not a stranger.

Not that lovers played much of a part in her life.

Christy, who had joined them in the summer to run the spa, glanced up from behind the desk. A mini Christmas tree twinkled from the corner of her desk. “Still snowing out there?” She was a cool blonde, a qualified physiotherapist who had added massage and aromatherapy to her already impressive list of qualifications. “You’ve had a long day. Is it always as crazy as this at the beginning of a winter season?”

“There’s a lot of planning and preparation, that’s for sure.” Brenna pulled her hat off her head, sending another flurry of snowflakes to the floor. “Is everyone here already?”

“We’re still waiting for Élise, and—”

“Merde, I am late.” Élise, the head chef, sped past her like a whirlwind. “We are full in the restaurant tonight and also there is a party of thirty who booked out the Boathouse for an anniversary dinner. I don’t have time for this. And I know already my plan for the winter season, which is to give people the best food they ‘ave ever tasted. I will see you in the gym first thing tomorrow, Brenna. I’m sorry I missed this morning. It is the first time for months but we were crazy in the kitchen.”

“It’s Christmas, and your restaurant is the one part of this resort that has never been in trouble.” Brenna pushed her hat into her pocket. “You’re stressed. You only ever drop the h when you’re stressed.”

“Of course I am stressed. I am doing the work of eight people, and now I am expected to sit in a meeting.” Disgusted, Élise strode off, as light on her feet as a dancer, her shiny cap of dark hair swinging around her jaw.

Christy raised her eyebrows. “Is she caffeinated?”

“No, she’s French.” Brenna glanced out the window. “I saw Sean’s car, so I guess that means everyone is here?”

“Everyone but Tyler. He’s late. I texted him but he hasn’t replied.”

“He’s probably turned the ringer off on his phone. He does that a lot. He used to have to change his number once a month because women kept calling him.”

“I’m not surprised. The man is so insanely hot, I disconnect the smoke alarm whenever he walks through that door. I saw him in the gym this morning, which was a special treat given he usually uses the one in his house. The guy can bench press the weight of a car.” Christy fanned herself with her fingers. “I’m thinking of adding his name to the list of attractions at Snow Crystal.”

“He’s already on the list. Kayla has talked him into doing a few motivational talks, and he occasionally acts as a guide for experienced skiers who are willing to pay a price to ski with Tyler O’Neil.” And she knew he hated it. He wasn’t interested in fame or adulation, just in skiing down a mountain as fast as possible. He didn’t want to talk about what he did; he just wanted to do it. Other people didn’t seem to understand that, but she did. She understood the love of the snow and the speed. “He’ll turn up when he’s ready, as he always does. He operates in his own way, in his own time.”

“I love that about him. It’s a very sexy trait. I guess you don’t notice. You’ve known the O’Neils your whole life. They’re probably like brothers to you.”

How was she supposed to answer that? Two out of the three O’Neils were like brothers, that was true. As for the third—she’d long since reconciled herself to the fact Tyler O’Neil didn’t return her feelings, and she’d learned the hard way that dreaming made things worse. As children they’d been inseparable. As adults—well, things hadn’t turned out the way she’d once hoped they might, but she’d learned to live with it. She knew better than to wish for something that was never going to happen. She had her feet firmly on the ground, and if her brain ever wandered in that direction then she pulled it back fast.

“You’re lucky—” Christy fed a fresh stack of paper into the printer “—you get to work with the guy every day.”

And that probably should have been hard. When she’d accepted Jackson’s offer of a job running the outdoor program for Snow Crystal Resort, she hadn’t known she’d be working with Tyler.

But it wasn’t hard.

Working with Tyler was one of the things she loved most about her job. She got to spend most days with the man of her dreams.

She’d tried curing herself. She’d tried dating other men; she’d even worked abroad, but Tyler was wedged in her heart, and she’d long since accepted that wasn’t going to change.

And if over the years it had hurt her to see him with women, she consoled herself with the fact that the women in his life came and went, whereas their friendship had lasted forever.

“How is the spa doing? Are you going to be busy over Christmas?”

“It’s looking that way.” Christy keyed something into the computer, her perfectly manicured nails tapping the keyboard, her shiny blond hair curving around her smooth cheeks. “I’m fully booked for the Christmas week.”

“You’re doing a good job, Christy.” Brenna wondered how many hours it took to look as polished as Christy. As a child, she’d barely sat still long enough for her mother to drag a brush through her hair. She’d hated ribbons and bows and shiny shoes, which had come as a disappointment to a woman who had longed for a little girl who would wear pink and play quietly with dolls. All Brenna had wanted to do was climb trees and play in the dirt along with the three O’Neil boys. She’d envied them the freedom of their lives and envied their close family, so accepting and supportive.

The O’Neil boys weren’t expected to be a certain way or satisfy a set of rules before they were loved.

She’d wanted to do everything they did, whether it was climbing trees or skiing steep slopes. She didn’t care how messy or dirty she was; she didn’t care if she came home with scraped knees and torn clothes. With them, she’d felt accepted in a way she never was at home or at school.

“So is Tyler seeing anyone at the moment?” Christy’s voice was casual. “I guess there’s a line.”

“He’s not known for long-term relationships.”

“Sounds like my type of guy.” Christy inputted some figures into the spreadsheet. “I love them wild. All the more fun when you tame them.”

“I’m not sure Tyler can be tamed.” And she didn’t want Tyler tamed. She didn’t want a different version of him. She wanted him the way he was.

“So what’s a guy like him doing here? I mean, Snow Crystal is lovely, but it’s more of a family resort than a hive for the rich and famous.”

“Tyler loves Snow Crystal. He grew up here. And this is a family business. He does what he can to help.” And she knew it half killed him to no longer be competing. “If we get another fall of snow in the next few days, it might tempt a few more people to book. I know Kayla is putting together some packages.”

“Yes, I’ve been working on a nonskier program with her. And talking of Kayla—” Christy rummaged in the drawer of her desk “—can you give this to her? It came in this morning, and I forgot to tell her. It’s nail polish. The shade is Ice Crystal. She’s going to use it in a promotion she’s doing. Has she mentioned her plans for an ice party to you?”

“No.”

“She’s planning a pre-Christmas event here for locals as well as guests. An ice party. Fire pit, ice sculpture, sled dogs, hot food, fireworks—it sounds fabulous.”

“I can’t wait to hear more. Aren’t you joining us for the meeting?”

“No. There are only two of us in today. Angie has the flu so I’m covering the phones, and anyway I’m not sure I can cope with all that O’Neil testosterone in one room. What do you think of the nail polish? It’s pretty, don’t you think? Perfect for the holiday party season.”

Brenna turned the bottle over in her hand, watching it sparkle in the light. “I spend most of my day with my hands in thick mittens, or else I’m chipping my nails hauling skis all over the resort, so I can’t honestly say Ice Crystal is going to have much of a place in my life, but yes, it’s very sparkly.”

It was the sort of thing her mother would have liked her to wear.

“You should come in and have a spa morning before we get busy. My treat. I could massage away all those skiing aches. And you must tell me what you do to your hair. It’s so shiny. I want a bottle of whatever you’re using.” Christy’s expression changed from friendly to feline as the door opened, letting in a blast of cold air. She smoothed her already smooth sheet of blond hair and smiled. “Hi!”

Brenna didn’t need to turn her head to see who had walked in. Any one of the three O’Neil brothers might have caused a woman to sit up straighter and moisten her lips, but given that two out of the three were already in the meeting room, she knew exactly who was standing behind her.

Her heart lifted along with her mood as it always did when Tyler walked into a room.

“Hi, Bren.” Tyler slapped her on the shoulders with the same casual affection he showed his brothers, his attention focused on Christy, whose eyelashes were working overtime.

“You’re late, Tyler. Everyone else is here.”

“Saving the best until last.” He winked at her. “So how’s it going here in Beauty Central?”

Brenna watched as Christy’s cheeks turned a little pinker. The same thing happened every time Tyler O’Neil smiled at a woman. He radiated energy, and the combination of dark good looks, masculine vitality and casual charm proved an irresistible combination.

“It’s going great.” Christy leaned forward, giving him the full benefit of her green eyes and cleavage. “We’re busier than last year, and Kayla and I have been working out some great ski/spa promotions. Anytime you fancy a massage, let me know.” She flirted easily, naturally, as most women did when they were around Tyler.

Brenna was hopeless at flirting. She didn’t have that way of looking, that way of smiling—but most of all, she didn’t have the clever words.

Christy used words like a rope, throwing them out, using them to draw him in like a wild horse being broken.

Watching the show, Brenna felt as if her heart were being squeezed in someone’s hands.

She was about to melt away quietly to the meeting room when Tyler caught her arm.

“Did you hear the forecast?” His eyes gleamed with anticipation and she nodded, reading his mind.

“Heavy snow. Good for business.”

“Powder day. Good for us. What about it? Deep snow, backcountry and just the two of us making tracks the way we used to when we were kids.” His voice was a soft, sexy purr and she felt her knees weaken as they always did when she was this close to him.

She consoled herself with the fact that this was something she shared with him that Christy couldn’t. She might not be able to flirt, but she could ski. And she skied well. She was one of the few people who could almost keep up with him.

Ellen was right that they’d skipped classes.

On one occasion, her mother had been called down to the school, but the tense atmosphere at home in the aftermath of that confrontation had been worth it for those few blissful hours spent alone with Tyler doing what they both loved best.

But there was no skipping anything now.

They both had responsibilities. “I’ll have to get in line. We have a waiting list of people willing to pay good money to ski powder with you.”

His smile faded. “Lucky me.” He let his hand drop and turned back to Christy, who had somehow managed to apply another layer of gloss to her lips in the short time Tyler’s head had been turned.

She smiled, giving him the full effect. “I expect you’re looking forward to skiing the hell out of those slopes. I watched a replay of your medal-winning run the other day on TV. You were unbelievably fast.”

Knowing it was a sensitive subject, Brenna glanced quickly at Tyler, but his expression didn’t change. There was nothing in that wickedly handsome face to suggest this situation was difficult for him.

But she knew it was. It had to be, because Tyler O’Neil had lived to race.

From the moment he’d strapped on his first set of skis, he’d been addicted to the speed and adrenaline of downhill. It had been a passion. Some might have said an addiction.

And then he’d fallen.

Thinking about that day made her stomach turn. She could still remember the gut-wrenching terror of waiting to hear if he was dead or alive.

The whole family had been there to support him while he raced, and because she’d been working for Jackson in Europe, she’d been there, too. They’d stood in the grandstand, watching skiers hurtle down at brutal speeds, waiting for Tyler. Instead of beating them all and ending the season triumphant, he’d fallen and ended his downhill career for good. He’d spun, twisted and crashed heavily before sliding down the near vertical run and slamming into the netting. Like all skiers, he’d had falls before, but this one was different.

There had been screams from the crowd and then the murmur of anticipation followed by the dreaded stillness and the breathless agony of waiting.

Trapped in the crowd, Brenna had been unable to do anything but watch helplessly as he’d been lifted, seriously injured, into the helicopter. There had been blood on the snow, and she’d closed her eyes, breathed in the freezing air and begged whoever might be listening, please let him live. And she’d promised herself that as long as he survived, she’d stop wanting the impossible.

She’d stop wanting what she couldn’t have.

She’d stop hoping he’d return her feelings.

She’d stop hoping he’d fall in love with her.

She’d never complain about anything ever again.

As she’d waited for news along with the rest of his family, she’d told herself she didn’t care who he was with, as long as he was alive.

But of course that promise, made in the scalding heat of fear, hadn’t been easy to keep. Even less so now, when they worked alongside each other every day.

She’d witnessed his frustration at being forced to give up the racing career he loved. He hid his feelings under layers of bad-boy attitude, but she knew it hurt him. She knew he ached to be back racing.

He was a gifted athlete, and it made her sad to see him standing on the sidelines or coaching a group of kids. It was like watching an injured racehorse trapped in a riding school when the only place he wanted to be was on the track, winning.

She hadn’t made a sound, but he turned his head and looked at her.

He had the O’Neil eyes, that vivid, intense blue that reminded her of the sky on the most perfect skiing day. A knot of tension formed in her stomach. A dangerous lethargy spread through her body. Neither Jackson nor Sean had this effect on her. Only Tyler. For a moment she thought she saw something flicker in those blue depths, and then he gave her a slow, lazy smile.

“You ready, Bren? If I’m going to die of boredom, I don’t want to do it alone.”

No matter how bad the day, Tyler always made her laugh. She loved his wicked sense of humor and his indifference to authority. If he did something, then it was because it made sense to him, because he believed in it, not because it was laid out in a rulebook.

As someone who had grown up with the rulebook stuck in her face, she envied his cool determination to live life on his terms. He had a wild streak, but his downhill skiing career had fed his desire to duel with danger and provided an outlet for that excess energy. How he would have used that wild streak had he not been a skier had been the subject of endless speculation both in the village and on the world-cup circuit.

He threw a final smile in Christy’s direction and strolled toward the meeting room, six foot three inches of raw sex appeal and lethal charm.

Brenna followed more slowly, giving herself a lecture.

It was the beginning of the season. She had to start as she meant to go on—being realistic about her relationship with Tyler.

He saw her as “one of the boys.” A ski buddy. Even on the rare occasion she dressed up and wore heels and a tight dress, he didn’t look in her direction. Which might not have been quite so galling had it not been for the fact he looked at almost every other female who crossed his path.

She had the distinction of being the one girl in Vermont Tyler O’Neil hadn’t kissed.

In the background she heard the phone ring. Heard Christy pick it up and answer in her pitch-perfect professional voice. “Snow Crystal Spa, Christy speaking, how may I help you?”

You can’t, Brenna thought miserably. No one can help me.

She’d been in love with Tyler her whole life, and nothing she did, or he did, had ever changed that. Not even when he’d got Janet Carpenter pregnant, and she’d felt as if her heart had been sliced in two.

She’d taken a job on another continent in the hope of curing herself. She’d dated other men in the hope that one of them would do the job, before coming to the conclusion there was no cure. Her feelings were deep and permanent.

She was doomed to love Tyler O’Neil forever.

CHAPTER TWO

TYLER SPRAWLED IN A chair at the edge of the room, only half listening as Jackson and Kayla gave a presentation on plans for the winter season. It was his least favorite way to spend an evening, and he had to force himself to concentrate as they flicked through slide after slide showing projected figures, visitor numbers, repeat business versus new business until after a while everything blurred, and he stopped listening, bored out of his skull.

If he never heard the words cash flow again, it would be too soon.

He should have been in Europe, studying videos with his team or discussing plans with Chas, his ski technician, whose expertise and magic with edges, overlays, wax and finishes had sliced seconds from Tyler’s time. They’d been a winning team, but it wasn’t just the winning he missed. It was the anticipation, the rush of speed, the one hundred seconds when you were right on the edge between control and out of control hurtling down the slope at speeds most people wouldn’t even reach in a car.

It had been his life, and that life had changed in an instant.

Fortunately, the news that his leg wouldn’t be able to withstand the forces placed on it by competitive skiing had coincided with the news that Jess was coming to live with him, so he had something else to focus on at least.

His thoughts drifted to his daughter and the conversation they’d had earlier.

There was no escaping the fact she wasn’t a kid anymore.

She was a teenager.

Everything was changing. Exactly how much did she know about his sex life? How much did she know about sex in general?

Sweat broke out on the back of his neck, and he shifted in his chair, the discomfort almost physical.

At what age were you supposed to have that talk? He had no idea. He had no idea about any of it.

And what was going on with school? He didn’t know, but it was obvious that something wasn’t right.

He needed to spend more time with her, and the easiest way to do that was to focus on her skiing.

Thinking about skiing helped him to relax. With that, at least, he was in his comfort zone.

She was good, but having grown up in Chicago with a mother who hated everything about skiing, she lacked experience. Somehow he had to cram that experience in while still fulfilling his obligations to the family business. What she needed was more hours on the mountain with someone who had the ability to coach her.

He knew he had the ability, if not the patience.

Still, the prospect of training her lifted his mood. He might not be able to ski competitively anymore, but he could ski with his daughter. He saw a lot of himself in her, which was probably why her mother had all but kicked her out the winter before. Janet had tried everything in an attempt to stamp the O’Neil out of Jess, but nothing had worked.

Pride mingled with the slow simmer of anger.

The Carpenter family had paid a fortune to slick lawyers to make sure Janet had custody of Jess. For twelve years he’d had to put up with only seeing her in the summer and at Christmas, but then Janet had become pregnant again. The combination of a new baby and Jess hitting her teenage years had culminated in her sending Jess to live with him.

Tyler had vacillated between relief and happiness that his daughter was finally where he’d wanted her all along, and fury and disbelief that Janet had sent the child away.

As far as he was concerned, family was family, and they stayed that way even when the going got tough. You couldn’t sign off or resign. Walking away wasn’t an option. He’d been eighteen when Janet had told him that their single encounter had left her pregnant, and no matter what emotions had rippled through the O’Neil family at the time, he’d never doubted that he’d had their support.

The Carpenter family had been less accepting, and Janet had never forgiven him for making her pregnant. She blamed him for the whole thing, as if she hadn’t been the one who had walked into the barn that day wearing nothing but a smile. And that blame had permeated her relationship with her daughter. It was no wonder Jess had arrived at Snow Crystal feeling insecure, unwanted and vulnerable.

“What do you think, Tyler?”

Realizing he’d been asked a question he hadn’t heard, Tyler woke up and looked at his brother. “Yeah, go for it. Great idea.”

“You have no idea what I said.” Jackson folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. “This is important. You could try paying attention.”

Tyler suppressed a yawn. “You could try being less boring.”

“The high school ski team is a coach down. The team is losing more than they’re winning. They want our help.”

“I said less boring.”

His brother ignored him. “I said we’d help out at the school for a couple of sessions. We can talk theory and give a waxing demonstration.”

“Waxing?” Kayla’s eyebrows rose. “We’re still talking skiing, yes? Not grooming?”

Tyler gave her a look. “How long have you lived here?”

“Long enough to know exactly how to wind you up.” Smiling, Kayla made a note on her phone. “Helping the high school team will be good publicity. I can do something with that locally.”

Tyler stared moodily at his feet and waited for them to ask him to do it.

Once, he’d skied alongside the best in the world.

Now he was going to be coaching a losing high school ski team.

Regret ripped through him along with sick disappointment and a yearning that made no sense. What was done was done.

He was about to make a flippant comment about how he’d finally made it to the top, when Jackson said, “We thought Brenna might do it.”

Brenna was the obvious person. She was a PSIA level three coach and a gifted teacher. She was patient with kids and adventurous with expert skiers.

Glancing at her, Tyler noticed the change in her expression and the stiffness of her shoulders. You didn’t have to be an expert in body language to see she didn’t want to do it.

And he knew why.

He waited for her to refuse, but instead she gave a tense smile.

“Of course. Kayla’s right. It will be good publicity and good for our reputation.” She gave the answer Jackson wanted and listened while he outlined details, but there was no sign of the smile that had been evident a few moments earlier. Instead she stared hard out the window and across the snow-dusted forest to the peaks beyond.

Tyler wondered why his brother hadn’t noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her response and decided Jackson was too caught up with the pressures of keeping the family business afloat to notice small things. Like the rigid set of her shoulders.

He felt a rush of exasperation.

Why didn’t she speak up and say how she felt?

He knew she didn’t want to do it. Unlike most of the women he’d met, he found Brenna easy to read. The expression on her face matched her mood. He knew when she was happy; he knew when she was excited about something; he knew when she was tired and cranky. And he knew when she was unhappy. And she was unhappy now, at the news she’d be coaching the high school team.

And he knew why.

She’d hated school. Like him, she’d considered the whole thing a waste of time. All she’d wanted to do was get out on the mountains and ski as fast as she could. Lessons had got in the way of that. Tyler had felt the same, which was why he sympathized with Jess. He knew exactly how it had felt to be trapped indoors in a classroom, sweating over books that made no sense and were as heavy and dull as old bricks.

But in Brenna’s case, it hadn’t been a love of the mountains or a dislike of algebra that had driven her loathing of school, but something far more insidious and ugly.

She’d been bullied.

On more than one occasion, he and his brothers had tried to find out which kids were making Brenna’s life a misery, but she’d refused to talk about it, and none of them had witnessed anything that had given them clues. It hadn’t helped that she was younger, which meant that they rarely saw her during the school day.

Tyler had wanted to fix it, and it had driven him crazy that she wouldn’t let him.

If it had been one of his brothers, he would have sorted the problem, so he couldn’t see why she wouldn’t let him help.

On one occasion, she’d walked back from school with grazed knees and a cut on her face, her schoolbooks damaged from her encounter with whoever had pushed her in the ditch.

“I don’t need you to fight my battles, Tyler O’Neil.” She’d dragged her filthy, muddy schoolbag onto her skinny shoulder, and he remembered thinking that if he ever found out who was doing this to her, he was going to push them off the top of Scream, one of the most dangerous runs in the area.

He never had found out.

And presumably the person, or persons, responsible were now long gone from Snow Crystal, leaving only the memory.

Was she thinking of it now?

He ran his hand over his jaw and cursed under his breath. He didn’t want to think of Brenna as vulnerable. He wanted to think of her as one of the boys. He’d disciplined himself not to notice those sleek curves under the fitted ski pants. He’d trained himself not to notice the sweet curve of her mouth when she laughed. She was a colleague. A friend.

His best friend. He was never, ever going to do anything to jeopardize that.

Shit.

“I’ll go into school. I’ll coach the race training camp and whatever else needs doing.” Even as he said the words, part of his brain was yelling at him to shut up. “Brenna has enough to do around here.”

Jackson’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You?”

“Yeah, me. Why not?”

“The question is more ‘why would you?’”

He waited for Brenna to admit how she felt, and when she didn’t, he searched his brain for an explanation. “They are the stars of tomorrow.” He regurgitated something he’d read at the top of Jess’s school report and then decided he needed something more plausible. “And there’s no feeling quite like basking in the adulation of teenage girls. I don’t get anywhere near enough adulation around here, so I’ll do it.”

“No.” Brenna finally found her voice. “We all know it’s not your thing. I’ll do it.”

“I’m making it my thing. I’m doing it, and that’s final.”

Kayla gave a delighted chortle. “I can see the headline now—downhill champion coaches losing high school team. Great story.” She started to pace, her enthusiasm and excitement visible in every tap of her heels. “I could see if it would interest someone as a documentary. Could I do that?”

Tyler, who loathed the press after a particularly nasty piece about his alleged involvement with a stunning Austrian snowboarder, felt the hairs on the back of his neck lift. “Not if you want me to do the coaching.”

Jackson was frowning. “Are you sure you want to do it?”

“I’m sure.” Tyler thought of what he’d just committed himself to and decided Friday was now officially his worst day of the week. “Are we about done? Because staring at all those lines on the spreadsheet is making me feel as if I’m behind bars. I have work to do on some of the equipment. Proper work, I mean, not the sort that means giving presentations.”

It was fun to wind his brother up, and it took his mind off the fact Brenna was hurting, a thought that made him restless and uncomfortable.

“We’re nearly done.” Jackson refused to be rushed. “As you know, they’re predicting a big statewide snowstorm. A winter storm watch is up. According to the forecast, the storm will be right down the New England coast, which puts us in the sweet spot for snow, good news given that the snow pack is twenty percent down on the average for this time of year.”

“Hey, it’s winter in Vermont. One minute you’re skiing on grass, then you’re slithering on ice, and if you get really lucky, you’re up to your neck in powder.” But the mention of snow roused Tyler from his state of boredom. “How much snow, exactly?”

“Between twelve and fourteen inches. Possibly more.”

“That is the best news I’ve had in a long time. I love a good powder day.”

“So do our guests, and they’ll pay for a guide so you’ll be busy.”

“Trust you to ruin good news. Do you ever think of anything other than work?”

“Not with our busiest time of the year approaching, no. We’re a winter sports resort.”

Kayla glanced up from her laptop. “And you’re our USP.”

“I’m your what?”

“Our unique selling point. No other resort has a gold-medal-winning downhill skier available for hire.”

“I’m not for hire.”

Ignoring his dangerous tone, Kayla smiled. “You are for a price. A good price, I might add. You’re not cheap. Have you taken a look at our new website? There is a whole page devoted to you. Ski with the best in the world.”

Tyler suppressed a yawn. “Can’t I give them a map and let them find their own way?”

Jackson ignored that. “People will pay good money to lay down tracks in fresh snow and enjoy the silence.”

“And with all those people enjoying it, there won’t be any silence,” Tyler pointed out, but Jackson wasn’t listening.

“The snow will be fun on the slopes, less fun on the roads.” As usual, his brother focused on the implications for the business. “If it happens, we’ll need to find rooms for as many staff as possible because the snowplows will have trouble keeping up.”

Deciding that logistics weren’t his problem, Tyler rose to his feet. “My bed is big enough for two. Three if they’re blonde.” He kept his eyes away from Brenna’s shiny dark hair. “I’m going now before I die of boredom and you have to remove my rotting corpse. Not that I know anything about marketing, but I’m guessing that wouldn’t be good for business.”

TRYING TO ERASE an image of Tyler sharing his bed with two blondes, Brenna zipped up her jacket and stepped out into the freezing night. Tyler was already striding ahead, and she looked at those broad, powerful shoulders, thinking that meetings never lasted long when he was involved. He drove things forward, impatient to be out in the fresh air, incapable of sitting still for any length of time.

Trapping Tyler O’Neil in a meeting room was like trying to cage a tiger.

Her feet brushed through a light dusting of fresh snow, and she knew without any help from the weather forecast that they were going to have more before the week was out. She could smell it in the air. The temperature had plummeted, and the sky was heavy with it.

As far as she was concerned, there was no place on earth more perfect than Snow Crystal. She loved the stillness and peace of the lake in the summer, the burst of fall color that turned the dense leaves of the forest to flame, but most of all she loved the frozen beauty of winter.

“Brenna, wait.” Kayla hurried across to her, her laptop bag banging against her hip, her blond hair sliding over her stylish berry-red coat. Like Christy, her hair was smooth and perfect. Like Christy, she could have walked into any boardroom in New York and not looked out of place.

“Everything all right?”

“Yes, but I haven’t seen you for a couple of days. It’s been crazy. Are you using the gym tomorrow?” Kayla’s phone beeped, and she checked it quickly. “Text from my ex-boss in New York, offering me a promotion if I go back. Hilarious. He’s sending me one a week at the moment. They’ve won a big account, and they’re desperate for staff.”

“Would you go back?”

“Not in a million years. Manhattan at Christmas is my nightmare. Give me fir trees and forest every time. I’d rather hug a moose than visit Santa.”

“And most of all, you’d rather hug Jackson.”

Kayla gave a wicked smile. “True enough. That man makes it hard to get up in the morning, that’s for sure.” She slipped her phone back into her pocket. “I love it here. And this winter I’m determined to get better at skiing so I’m not left behind. I’m done with Tyler’s derogatory comments about my lack of ability.” She followed Brenna’s gaze and saw him striding away. “He doesn’t hang around, does he? I wanted to persuade him to run a master class for advanced skiers, but he ran off before we’d finished.”

“I suspect the prospect of coaching the high school team and guiding was enough of a challenge for one meeting.”

“I don’t get the problem. He loves skiing. He finds it fun. What’s wrong with skiing with guests?”

“Because he’s the best. And fun for him is skiing places that would give any other person a heart attack.”

“All of it gives me a heart attack. The idea of launching myself down a vertical slope is terrifying.”

“That’s because this is only your second season.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m always going to find it terrifying. I’m a coward, and it isn’t natural to put myself in a position where I could kill myself. How do you do it? I mean, you hurl yourself down slopes that would make me cry. Jackson said the other day he thought you could have made the U.S. ski team if you’d had more encouragement from your parents.”

It was something Brenna didn’t let herself think about. “They wanted me to get a proper job.”

“You run the Outdoor Center. That isn’t a proper job?”

“Not to them.” Brenna tilted her face and felt flakes of snow flutter onto her cheeks. “I guess I’m a disappointment.”

“How can you be a disappointment? You’re such a talented teacher, equally good with wimps and daredevils.” Kayla’s eyes gleamed. “Hey, that is a great idea. We should name a class daredevils.”

“Not if you want me to take it. Kids don’t need any encouragement to act crazy on the slopes.” Brenna pulled her hat out of her pocket. “I’ll catch him up. See if I can persuade him to do your master class.”

“Perfect. Then he can kill you and not me. All we need now is snow.” Kayla turned as Jackson joined them. “Ready for dinner? Your mom texted. She’s made pot roast. Although what her text actually said was pit rot, so you might want to order takeout.”

“I’m not sure I’m in the mood for a family gathering. How does pizza in bed sound?” Jackson slid his arm around her shoulder. “Are you joining us, Brenna?”

“For pizza in bed? I don’t think so.” She pulled her hat onto her head and smoothed her hair away from her face. “I have to finish working on plans for the race series.”

“We can’t have pizza in bed,” Kayla murmured. “I promised Elizabeth we’d be there. It’s family night. Sean and Élise are coming, too, and Jess is already there.”

“I love my family, but there are days when I could happily move to California.” Jackson lowered his head, kissed her and then gave Brenna an apologetic look. “Everything all right in Forest Lodge? You’re comfortable?”

“It’s perfect. I love it. Forest Lodge is my dream home. And it’s convenient. Thanks for letting me stay again this season.”

“It helps us out having you here on-site, and we have empty cabins so it makes sense. Good night, Brenna.”

“Good night.” She watched as the two of them walked toward the main house, their arms looped around each other as they picked their way over the snow. She felt a pang of envy and stood for a moment, her emotions tangled. She was pleased for them. Happy they were happy, but somehow their happiness and what they shared made her conscious of what was missing in her own life.

Feeling tired and cross with herself, she made her way down the snowy path that led from the Outdoor Center to the lakeside trail and Forest Lodge. It was one of the first log cabins Jackson had built when he’d taken over the running of Snow Crystal, and Brenna loved it. All the cabins were beautiful, but Forest was special.

The resort had been in the O’Neil family for four generations, but it wasn’t until Jackson’s father had died that the truth had emerged. The business had been at risk, and it was Jackson who had walked away from a successful ski business in Europe to come home and run the family business, helped by Tyler, whose own career had crashed and burned in spectacular fashion.

She walked along the path, breathing in the smell of pine and the crisp night air. The sounds of the forest calmed her. The snow cover was still thin, but they were all hoping that was about to change.

She was so deep in thought, she almost walked straight into Tyler, who was waiting for her.

In her flat snow boots she barely reached his shoulder. “I thought you were long gone.”

“There is only so much corporate boredom I can take at a time.”

“So why are you still here?”

“You were upset in that meeting. Why do you never speak up?” He reached out and pulled her hat farther down over her ears. “You should have told my brother no when he asked you to coach the high school team.”

He’d always been able to read her, which made his apparent lack of awareness about her feelings for him all the more surprising. Over the years she’d come to the conclusion that the fact he knew her so well was the very reason he hadn’t guessed the truth. They’d been best friends for so long it hadn’t ever occurred to him to question that relationship or see her in any way other than the girl he’d grown up with.

And she preferred it that way.

It was easier for both of them if he didn’t know.

She didn’t want the awkwardness that would inevitably come should such an imbalance in the relationship be revealed.

“I was going to do it, until you volunteered.”

The silence of the forest wrapped itself around them. They stood on the intersection between the path that led to the Outdoor Center and the path that led through the forest to the lake.

“Someone had to do it, and I didn’t want it to be you.” The collar of his jacket brushed against the dark shadow of his jaw, and his eyes glittered impatiently. “You should have said no.”

“This is my job. Jackson asked me to do it.”

“And he shouldn’t have, but when it comes to Snow Crystal, my brother has tunnel vision.”

“I guess that happens when you’re fighting to save a business. You didn’t have to volunteer. I would have done it.”

“But only because doing it was preferable to having a difficult conversation.”

“Excuse me?”

“You do anything to avoid confrontation.”

“That isn’t true.” She looked away, embarrassed and frustrated because she knew it was true. “What did you expect me to do? Tell my boss no?”

“Why not? You hated everything about that school. You couldn’t wait to leave. We both know you don’t want to go back there.”

Her stomach curled into a tight, uncomfortable knot.

There were so many things she wished she’d said and done differently. Things her grown-up self would have told her teenage self as well as her tormenters.

“I wasn’t that interested in studying.”

“We both know that wasn’t why you hated the place.”

She flushed, unsettled that he knew her so well. Her school days had been a miserable time. That whole period of her life would have been miserable had it not been for the O’Neil brothers, Tyler in particular.

“Why are we talking about this? It’s long since over and done with.”

“There you go again—avoidance. When it’s something difficult, you duck. Hide. Who was it? I want to know.”

“Who was what?”

“Who gave you a hard time?”

He’d asked her the same question repeatedly over the years, and she’d never given him an answer. “Why are you bringing that up now? It was a long time ago.”

“Exactly. So you might as well tell me.”

His persistence exasperated her. “It was no one.”

“You fell in the ditch by yourself?” He put his fingers under her chin and tilted her face to him. “Jackson and I had a few suspicions. Was it Mark Webster? Tina Robson? Those two caused most of the trouble in your grade.”

“It wasn’t them.” She tried to ignore the way his hand felt against her skin. “I was clumsy, that’s all.”

“Honey, you skied with me, and most of the time you kept up. There were moments when you were almost better on that hill than I was.”

“Almost? Arrogance isn’t attractive, Tyler.” But she’d seen the gleam in his eyes and knew he was playing with her.

“Neither is evasion.” A smile that was altogether too attractive flickered at the corner of his mouth. “You’re never going to tell me, are you?”

“No. It’s behind me and anyway, I don’t need you protecting me.”

“Cameron Foster?”

“Tyler, stop!”

“If you’d told me who it was, I would have pushed them in the ditch.”

She knew that was the truth. Tyler O’Neil had spent more time in the principal’s office than he had in the classroom. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. You were in enough trouble without me being responsible for more. Look, I appreciate you volunteering to take that class, but you don’t need to. I can do it. We both know you’d hate it. Why would you want to put yourself through that?”

“Because it’s you.”

Her heart pumped a little faster. Hope, that thing she kept ruthlessly suppressed, flickered to life inside her. “What’s that supposed to mean? Why would you do it for me?”

He frowned, as if he thought it was a strange question. “Because I care about you. Because we’ve been friends since you could walk.”

Friends.

She felt a thud of something inside her and recognized it as disappointment.

How could she possibly be disappointed about something that had been her reality forever? She should be grateful for his friendship. It was greedy of her to want more, but still she did want more. She wanted it all. She wanted the whole fantasy.

But that was all it was ever going to be, of course.

A fantasy.

Tyler gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Stop looking so sick. I’m taking that class and that’s final. If it makes you feel better, you can buy me a bottle of whiskey for Christmas to numb the agony.”

“I already bought your Christmas present.”

“You did? What is it?”

“A box set of chick flicks for you to watch with Jess. I thought it would help you bond.”

He groaned. “You had better be joking. But talking of Jess, I need your help. She is desperate to ski.”

Like father, like daughter.

It was bittersweet, because she’d longed for that very thing—the man and the child. Home. Family. Snow Crystal. Officially being an O’Neil. She didn’t know if it was because she was old-fashioned, or because she’d known right from the start that the only man she wanted in her life was Tyler. She hadn’t needed to meet hundreds of other men to know he was the one.

But he didn’t want that. And he certainly didn’t want it with her.

She forced herself to focus on the topic of Jess. “She skis with you. There is no better training than that.”

“It’s all she wants to do. She’s falling behind with her schoolwork. Not concentrating in class.” He dragged his hand over his jaw. “How am I supposed to handle that? I try and tell her to do her homework, but I never did mine, so does that make me a hypocrite? Do I tell her to do as I say or do as I did? I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about last winter when I tried holding her back. Look how that turned out.”

“She was pushing you. Testing you. You worked through it.”

“She ran away!”

“You found her almost right away.”

“But not before she’d given us all a heart attack.”

Brenna thought about the night Jess had gone missing. “I suppose you have to set boundaries.”

“You ignored the boundaries. So did I. How do I enforce them with my daughter?”

Seeing him question himself was a novel experience. Tyler was fearless and confident. Both qualities were an essential part of a sport that demanded total precision. He’d never had any doubts about what he wanted out of life, and she found his attempts to adapt to living with a teenage daughter endearing. Suspecting that endearing wasn’t an adjective he’d thank her for, she kept it to herself.

“Why would you be messing it up? You made it clear from the moment Janet sent her here that she was loved and wanted. That’s the most important thing.”

Jess hadn’t revealed much about the years she’d spent with her mother in Chicago, but she’d said enough to make Brenna, who had always considered herself to be even-tempered, hope she never came face-to-face with Janet ever again.

“Loving her isn’t enough though, is it? I’m worried I’m a lousy father. That’s the truth.” He took a deep breath and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. “I haven’t admitted that to anyone but you.”

Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed. “You’re a good father. How can you doubt that?”

“I didn’t manage to keep her when she was born, did I?”

“Not because you didn’t try.” She knew how hard the O’Neils had fought to keep baby Jess. Knew what losing had done to them. “Why are you thinking about that now when it was all so long ago?”

“Because she mentioned it earlier.”

“The custody battle?”

“The fact she was an accident. Janet obviously said something to her. I’m worried we’ve screwed her up.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s screwed up, but if she’s been affected by her childhood then you’re not responsible for that. You weren’t the one telling her those things.”

“I’m responsible for what happens from now on though, and that responsibility scares me.”

“I can’t imagine you feeling scared.” Of all the words people might have applied to Tyler O’Neil, fear definitely wasn’t one of them. “You’re not scared of anything or anyone.”

“I’m scared of this.” He stopped walking and turned to look at her. For once there was no hint of humor in those blue eyes. “I don’t want to mess this up, Bren.”

His sincerity brought a lump to her throat, and she reached out and put her hand on his arm, her fingers closing around brutally hard biceps. Tyler O’Neil was everything male, but she tried not to think of him that way. Tried not to notice the wide shoulders, the thickness of muscle under his jacket or the telltale shadow on his jaw. She tried to think of him as a friend first and a man second. Today, for some reason, that wasn’t working out so well, and the jolt to her senses woke her up.

For her own sanity, she normally made a point of not touching him, but today she’d broken that rule.

She was hyperaware of him. Shivers ran up and down her spine. Her nerve endings buzzed. The impulsive urge to stand on tiptoe and kiss the sensual curve of his mouth was almost overpowering.

If she did that, how would he react?

He’d die of shock.

And then he’d make some stammered excuse about how he didn’t think it was a good idea because they worked together, whereas what he’d really be thinking was that she wasn’t his type, and he didn’t find her attractive.

She was careful never to cross the line between friendship and something more intimate because she knew once they’d crossed it, they could never go back. Her feelings were her problem. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable or do anything to risk damaging their friendship.

She removed her hand, turned her head and studied the tall trees of the forest, trying to block out the image of that mouth, those sexy blue eyes and that gorgeous hair ruffled by the wind.

He seemed tense, too, but she knew that was because he was thinking about Jess, not her.

He thought of her as a friend first and second. She doubted he was even aware of her as a woman. She was genderless, one of the few people he could trust in a life filled with sycophants, hangers-on and people who wanted something from him, greedy for crumbs of secondhand fame. The downhill circuit had been crazy, she knew that. And through it all, they’d maintained their friendship.

“I think you need to relax. Follow your instincts and do what feels right. There’s no one right way to be a parent.”

“There are plenty of wrong ways.”

Don’t I know it. “You love who she is, and that’s the most important thing for any child. You don’t wish she were someone different.”

“Are we talking about you here?” His gaze sympathetic, he lifted a hand and brushed snow out of her hair. “How is your mom? Have you entered the dragon’s lair lately?”

The fact he knew instantly what was going through her head was another indication of how well they knew each other.

“I haven’t seen her in a month. I’m due a visit, but I keep putting it off.” Brenna forced a smile. “I have to brace myself to get through an hour of being scolded about how I’m wasting my life here.”

“They’re lucky to have you, Bren.”

No, they weren’t. “I don’t think they’d agree. I’m a disappointment to them. I’m not the way they wanted me to be.” She’d given up trying to change the facts. Some families, like the O’Neils, were a team, and others stumbled along like a band of misfits, as if they’d been thrown together by an unhappy accident.

“You’re you.” He frowned. “They should want you to be you.”

He had a way of simplifying things.

She knew that many people saw Tyler as a sports-obsessed, superficial bad boy. But that was the surface. Beneath the veneer of carelessness, he was astute and perceptive. “It’s because you understand that, and believe that, I know you’re a great dad. You accept Jess as she is. That’s the best thing a parent can do.”

“She’s crazy about skiing. I’m trying to encourage a little balance in her life.”

She smiled. “Did we have balance at that age?”

“No. We spent every moment outdoors.”

Brenna stooped and picked up a pinecone. “So let her do the same. If you’re caught in a strong current, you don’t try and swim against it. Let her ski in every spare moment, and perhaps if you don’t hold her back, she’ll be more willing to spend a little time on other things. Steer her gradually.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

“By the way, you ran off before Kayla could ask if you’d consider running a ski master class.”

“Offering to help out with ski school was enough of a shock to my system for one day.” He checked the time on his phone. “What are you doing now? Are you busy?”

“I was going back to my lodge, and you have family night.” The O’Neils tried to be together one night a month for a meal. It was something she both envied and admired. She had no idea how a family achieved that level of closeness. Hers certainly hadn’t.

“You’re welcome to join us, you know that. I wish you would. I need moral support to face the sight of my two brothers slobbering over their women.”

“They’re in love.”

Tyler shuddered. “That’s why I need you there. We’re the only sane people left.”

“Not tonight.” She pushed the pinecone into her pocket and started to walk again, her feet crunching on the thin layer of snow. If the forecasters were right, she’d be knee deep soon enough. “I have paperwork.” And she needed some space from Tyler to pull herself together.

“Your life is so exciting. It must be hard to sleep at night.”

She breathed in the scent of snow and forest. “I happen to like my life, although I prefer the outdoor part to the indoor part.”

“Do you fancy a quick drink? I need to talk about sex.”

“You—what?” She stumbled, and he shot out a hand and steadied her, his grip hard and strong.

“Careful. I take it back. Maybe you are a little clumsy when you’re not concentrating.” He let go of her arm. “I realized I have no idea how to talk to Jess about sex, and I want to work out what I’m going to say before I have to say it. I don’t want to fumble like I did tonight over the other stuff.”

Jess.

He wanted to talk about Jess.

Her knees felt as if she’d downed a bottle of vodka. “What other stuff?”

“It doesn’t matter, but it got me thinking.”

She was thinking, too, and she wished she wasn’t because those thoughts revolved around him naked. “Thinking about what?”

“For a start, at what age are you supposed to talk to a kid about sex? What age were you when you talked to your mom?”

I still don’t talk to my mom.

“We didn’t talk about stuff like that.”

“Never? So how did you—?”

“I can’t remember!” Feeling as if she was being strangled, she unzipped her jacket. She and Tyler had talked about everything over the years, but never this. As far as she was concerned, he couldn’t have picked a more uncomfortable subject. “Other kids? Books?”

“But other kids say all sorts of stuff that’s wrong. I don’t want to tell her more than she needs to know, but I have no idea how to find out what she already knows. This is what I mean about parenting being a nightmare. I need a book or something. I’d use the internet, but I’m afraid to type sex and teenagers into a search engine in case I’m arrested.”

It was impossible not to laugh, but she was grateful for the dark and the biting cold of the winter air because she knew her face was burning. Emotions churned inside her; feelings she’d tried to ignore rose to the surface. She wished she were more like Élise, who viewed sex as a physical act as simple and straightforward as eating or drinking.

Élise would have simply told Tyler how she felt, stripped him naked, had sex with him and then moved on as if all they’d done was enjoy a meal together.

“Tyler, you don’t need a book. You know plenty about sex.” More than plenty, if rumor was to be believed. There had been times when she’d wished she could walk around wearing noise-reducing headphones to block out the gossip.

“Doing it, yes, but not talking about it with teenagers. And to make it worse, she keeps finding all this stuff that’s been written about me, and most of it’s crap. I already have parental control on her laptop, but that’s not going to stop her reading all sorts of stuff that isn’t true.”

Brenna thought about all the stuff she’d read about him and wondered which bits weren’t true.

The night after he’d won a World Cup downhill in Lake Louise when it had been rumored he’d spent several hours in a hot tub with four members of the French women’s team? Or the night he supposedly skied seminaked on part of the Hahnenkamm, one of the most notorious runs in Europe, with a whiskey bottle in his hand instead of a ski pole?

Oblivious to her train of thought, he ran his hand over his jaw. “Any ideas? Can you remember being thirteen? What did you think about when you were that age?”

Him. She’d thought about him. Tyler O’Neil had played a starring role in every dream and adolescent fantasy.

“She probably already knows everything. They teach them pretty young at school.”

“Yeah, but how much do they teach them? I want her to be fully informed, that’s all. I don’t want some guy with a libido on overdrive taking advantage of her.”

“She’s not even fourteen, and all she thinks about is skiing. I don’t think you need to worry about that quite yet.”

“I want to be ahead of the game.” He glanced up at the sky. “It’s snowing again. You’ll freeze standing here. Have a drink with me, and you can tell me what sounds right and what doesn’t.”

She wasn’t freezing. She was boiling hot. She was pretty sure her face was scarlet. “You want to talk about sex?”

“You were a teenage girl once. Help me out here, Bren.”

Should she confess that sex wasn’t exactly her specialist subject? “You’re supposed to be at family night.”

“All the more reason to have a drink. A meeting followed by an evening of O’Neil family togetherness is too much for any man.”

He took it for granted, the closeness of his family, the fact that they were always there in the background supporting each other.

He’d never known anything different.

“If we go to the bar, you’ll be accosted by guests.”

“Which is why we’re going to drink the beer from your fridge. I promise to replenish it tomorrow.”

“My fridge?” Her heart bumped a little harder. “You want to come back to my lodge?”

“Why not? You do have beer?” He slipped his arm around her shoulders, and she was conscious of the weight of his arm, of the power of his body as it brushed against hers.

His touch was casual.

The way she was feeling was anything but. It would have been safer for her pulse rate and her blood pressure if she pulled away, but that would have raised questions she didn’t want to answer, so she decided her cardiovascular system was going to have to take the hit.

“Jess has talent,” she croaked. “You’re too busy to ski with her all the time, so I was thinking that maybe she should join the under-14 class. I’m focusing on mountain free-skiing, bumps, gate training, gate drills and freeski skills. We’ll mix up the fun with the work. She might enjoy it, and it would be good for building confidence. What do you think?”

“I think she’ll be bored out of her mind. That’s fine for most of the kids, but not Jess. She needs to be stretched.”

“Are you saying my lessons are boring?”

“No. You’re a gifted teacher, but Jess is different. She has something.”

“She’s her father’s daughter.”

Tyler gave a grim smile. “Which is probably why Janet kicked her out.”

They’d reached the steps to her lodge. A single light glowed in the window. “I agree she needs to be stretched, but if you’re going to make the most of that something, it’s important to get the basics right. To focus on style.”

“Style is irrelevant. Speed is what’s important.”

Brenna rolled her eyes and delved for her keys. It was an argument they’d had more times than she could count. “Good style comes before speed.”

“Nothing comes before speed. You want to be the fastest, not the prettiest.” He tugged her hat down over her eyes. Then he stooped and scooped up a handful of snow from the steps and she backed away, her keys still in her hand.

“Don’t you dare! Tyler O’Neil if you so much as—crap.” She ducked too late as snow hit her on the chest and exploded into her face. “I am soaking!”

“You shouldn’t have unzipped your jacket.”

“I hate you, you know that, don’t you?”

“No, you don’t. You love me, really.” He was smiling as he scooped up more snow, but this time she was quicker, and the snow in her hand hit him full in the face.

She did love him. That was the problem.

She really loved him, but there was no way she was going to let him know that.

She made the most of her temporary advantage and let herself into the lodge, reasoning that even Tyler wouldn’t dare throw snow indoors.

The lodges were the pride of Snow Crystal. Set in the forest and overlooking the lake, each one felt private and intimate, but Forest was her favorite. “I’d forgotten what good aim you have. I have snow blindness.” Still laughing, Tyler wiped snow out of his eyes, tugged off his boots and coat and left them by the door.

“You’re neat and tidy all of a sudden.”

“I’m trying to set a good example. I’m working on being a responsible parent. It’s exhausting.” He sprawled on one of the sofas, his powerful frame dominating even this large, spacious room. The fabric of his jeans clung to hard, muscular thighs, a legacy of years of downhill skiing.

Brenna pulled off her hat and hung up her coat. It was only when she noticed Tyler taking a leisurely look at her body that she realized her soaked, roll-neck sweater was clinging to her breasts.

Alternatively freezing and then burning, she turned away, but it was impossible to ignore his presence or the fact they were alone.

It felt strangely intimate. The lodge was at the far end of the lake, wrapped by the forest that showed itself as dark shapes through acres of glass.

The only other property partially visible through the trees was his.

If she knelt on her bed high on the sleeping shelf, she could just glimpse his bedroom.

Trying not to think about his bedroom, she pulled open the fridge and took out two beers. She opened them both and handed him one.

“I’ll be back in a second. Thanks to you, I need to change my sweater.”

His gaze collided with hers briefly, and then she backed away and took refuge in the bedroom.

When had he ever looked at her before?

She pulled on a dry sweater, took a deep breath and rejoined him in the living room.

“About that thing you were asking me—”

“What thing?”

She curled up in the chair opposite him. “Sex. Jess.”

“Are you blushing?” His eyes narrowed on her face. “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed, do you know that?”

“You’re never cute. You’re a pain in the ass the whole time.”

“I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He winked at her. “Go on. How do I deal with it?”

“Honestly? I think you should wait for her to bring it up. I would have died of embarrassment if my parents had tried to talk to me about sex.”

“What if she doesn’t like to ask? What if she turns around in a few years and tells me she’s pregnant?”

“I think you need to chill.” Brenna sipped her beer. “Make sure she knows she can talk to you about anything. Create an atmosphere where she is comfortable to say whatever she wants.”

“Judging from the conversation earlier, I think we’ve already got that atmosphere. Can you believe she was actually trying to fix me up?”

Brenna almost choked on her beer. “Who with?”

Christy. It had to be Christy with the smooth blond hair. Or maybe pretty, bubbly Poppy, who worked closely with Élise in the restaurant.

There was a brief pause. His eyes met hers and then slid away again. “No one in particular, but she thinks I should have a sex life.”

Definitely Christy.

She was always flirting with Tyler.

Brenna wasn’t good at flirting. And anyway, how did you flirt with someone you’d known all your life? Tyler had seen her soaked to the skin and exhausted after a day in the mountains. He’d dragged her out of ditches and picked her up when she’d wiped out on her skis. He knew everything about her. They had no secrets. She could imagine his reaction if she’d fluttered her eyelashes or made a sexual comment. He’d either laugh or run for the hills.

The reason they were able to be friends was because he didn’t think of her like that.

Women came and went from his life, but their friendship was constant.

And Brenna realized the reason the past year had been so blissful, the reason she’d been able to enjoy his company and his friendship, was because he’d been focusing on Jess. For once in his life he’d mastered his short attention span and put aside his urge to sample the charms of every female who crossed his path. The only woman who’d had his attention was his daughter. He’d put his own needs on hold.

Knowing what he was like, how physical and sexual he was, Brenna had often wondered if he was seeing someone discreetly, but she’d never asked. Instead she’d made the most of her time with him and occasionally, when they’d been out on the mountain guiding or teaching, it had almost felt like being kids again.

Their friendship was stronger than ever.

Was that about to change?

If Jess was actively encouraging him to date then no doubt it would.

And Brenna knew it would take Tyler O’Neil less than thirty seconds in the company of a woman to resurrect his sex life.

How was she going to feel about that?

CHAPTER THREE

TRYING TO DELETE the image of Brenna with her snow-soaked sweater plastered to her breasts from his memory, Tyler strolled up the snowy path to the main house.

In no hurry to face the overwhelming reality of family night, he paused and breathed in the freezing air, watching the forest transform before his eyes. Snow layered on snow until all traces of green vanished and the trees were draped in a mantle of white. As a child it had been his favorite sight. He’d kneel in his bedroom window and watch the first of the flakes fall, hoping it would continue until the snow was up to his waist. The first winter snowfall had been the cause of great excitement in the O’Neil household.

The mountains had been his playground; the adrenaline rush of downhill skiing his drug of choice.

Now he greeted snow with mixed feelings.

It was good for business, and he knew how badly Snow Crystal needed that.

He was enjoying the silence when his phone rang.

Irritated by the disturbance, he dragged it out of his pocket intending to switch the ringer off and then saw the name.

Burying his emotions deep, he lifted the phone to his ear. “Chas? How’s it going?”

He didn’t ask where his friend was. He didn’t have to. Chas was one of the finest ski techs in the racing world. The fact that Tyler was no longer racing meant that Chas was available for another member of the U.S. Ski Team, which meant right now he had to be in Val Gardena, Italy, on the World Cup circuit.

If it hadn’t been for the accident, Tyler would have been there, too.

They would have been discussing strategy, the course, the snow conditions, in an effort to come up with the perfect plan. Chas’s job had been to use his skill and experience to make Tyler the fastest skier down the mountain. Over the years they’d shared beers, hotel rooms, victory and defeat. Chas had been more than just another member of the machine behind the ski team. He’d been Tyler’s wingman and close friend.

Along with his brother Sean, Chas had been the first person he’d seen after his accident.

Tyler tightened his hand on the phone and stared blindly at the trees and mountains.

“How was today?”

“Didn’t you watch?”

“Things are busy around here.” He didn’t say that he hadn’t watched skiing since his accident. Instead he listened while Chas outlined the U.S. triumph in the giant slalom.

“He clinched his fourth World Cup GS title.”

“That’s great. Buy him a beer from me.”

“Why don’t you come out? The team would love to see you.”

And sit in the bar or the stands watching others do what he used to do himself?

It would be like twisting a knife in a raw wound.

The season stretched ahead. There would be a short break over Christmas before it all started again in Bormio, Italy, and then on to Wengen, Switzerland, and Kitzbuhel and the notorious Lauberhorn. Beaver Creek, Lake Louise, another day, another country, another mountain, another race. That had been his life.

Until the race that had ended it all.

“I’m not going to be able to make it. We’re busy here.”

“Great! From what you told me, this time last year busy didn’t exist so I’m pleased to hear things are going well. Has Jackson tied you to the resort? What are you doing?”

Coaching the high school ski team.

Trying not to think about my old life.

Tyler looked up at the sky. Snow was still falling steadily, big fat flakes that rested on his shoulders and dampened his hair.

“I’m helping Brenna run the outdoor program.”

“Right. Well, that sounds—” there was a pause “—that sounds great.”

They both knew that what he really meant was that sounds like a pile of crap.

Tyler agreed.

Not that he didn’t love Snow Crystal, but they both knew he’d rather be racing.

He realized now how much he’d taken it for granted. He’d treated it as a right rather than a gift.

He half listened while Chas updated him on the individuals and their performances on the slopes, made the right noises and a vague commitment to watch the next race if he had the opportunity, then hung up feeling worse than he had before.

The conversation had left him keenly aware of what he’d lost.

It didn’t help that the one person who would have understood, his father, had been dead for almost two and a half years.

Shaking off his black mood, he paced to the door of the main house where he and his brothers had grown up and where his mother still lived.

It still gave him a pang to know that when he walked into the kitchen that had been the hub of the household growing up, his father wouldn’t be there.

His mother loved to decorate for Christmas, and the evidence of that love was everywhere. Tiny lights were strung across the windows, and decorations sparkled through the glass. A festive wreath hung on the door, as it had every year for as long as he could remember. As a child he’d sat on the kitchen floor waxing his skis while his mother had worked magic from the tangle of forest greenery spread over the kitchen table. She’d snipped, weaved and pulled it all together into a wreath.

Tyler pushed open the door. Sleigh bells jangled, announcing his arrival, and he blinked as he saw the number of people already seated around the table. Those numbers had increased over the past year. First Jess had joined them, then Kayla and finally Élise. She was often too busy running the successful restaurants at the resort to join them for family nights but tonight, perhaps because it was close to Christmas, she’d found the time.

There were at least three different conversations going on around the table and Maple, Jackson and Kayla’s miniature poodle, greeted Tyler ecstatically, leaping up and down on the spot as if she had springs in her paws.

Tyler stooped to make a fuss of her and then hung up his coat.

His mother was busy at the stove while Jess was seated at the large scrubbed table, listening, rapt, while his grandfather, Walter, told a story about how he’d once met a moose when he was skiing. It was a story Tyler had heard a hundred times but it was new to Jess.

“And did it move, Gramps, or did you have to ski around it?”

“It stood there and glared at me, and I glared right back. I’m telling you, that animal was as big as a house.”

Jess laughed, and Tyler noticed how her eyes sparkled as she listened to her great-grandfather. She soaked up every story about Snow Crystal, every morsel of information, as if trying to fill in the gaps and make up for the parts she’d missed by living so far away.

His mood lifted slightly.

If he’d still been skiing the World Cup circuit, he wouldn’t have been here when Jess had needed him.

“You’re exaggerating, Walter.” Alice, his grandmother, slipped her glasses into her purse. “He always exaggerates. Ignore him, Jess.”

“I am not exaggerating! Were you there?” Walter grunted. “This was in the days before ski runs and grooming machines. There were no chair lifts.”

Jess leaned closer, her long hair sliding forward over her shoulder. “How did you get to the top of the slopes, Gramps?”

“We walked! We attached skins to our skis, and we walked. We didn’t need machines to haul us to the top like you wimps do today. We used muscle.”

Tyler saw his mother lift a large blue casserole out of the oven. “Let me get that for you. Apparently, I need to build muscle.” He crossed the room in a couple of strides, but she shook her head and placed the casserole in the center of the large table.

“I lift heavier things than that in the restaurant every day, and if you build any more muscle, I’ll be sewing up your jeans even more frequently than I do already.”

Kayla reached for her wine. “What happens to your jeans?”

“Occupational hazard of being a downhill skier. I have muscles like Thor.” Tyler pulled out a chair and winked at her. “Starting to think you’ve picked the wrong brother?”

“No.” Kayla looked him in the eye. “Muscles or not, I’d kill you.”

“Only if I hadn’t killed you first.” The normality of the exchange lifted his dark mood, and Tyler took a beer from his brother. “Thanks.”

“What took you so long?” His mother removed the lid, and delicious smells of cooking mingled with the scent of cinnamon and pine. “I was about to send out a search party! The others said you’d gone on ahead and then you never appeared.” She handed him a stack of plates, and soon the food and the conversation were flowing and the question of where he’d been vanished in the chaos.

“I just spoke to Chas.” He didn’t mention the twenty minutes he’d stood in the forest, watching the snow fall and trying to pull himself together. He didn’t mention the sick feeling that came from knowing that the Ski World Cup was underway. He should have been traveling the world, skiing in a different country every week in his pursuit of the coveted crystal ball that came with winning what many believed to be the most prestigious title of all.

He felt as if he’d been forced off a moving train and was watching while it carried on without him, leaving him stranded on a deserted platform.

Except it wasn’t deserted.

He had the business to think of. Responsibility. His family. Jess.

His grandfather’s eyes brightened. “Chas is still the best tech on the circuit.”

“Yeah.” Tyler sat down and moved a bowl of pinecones out of the way so he could reach the food.

The house was always the same at Christmas. Vases were filled with branches of forest greenery, candles flickered on shelves next to handmade decorations. It was a home. Lived in and loved.

Boots lay abandoned near the doorway, magazines stacked in an untidy heap on the table under the window. Since his mother had started working in the restaurant with Élise, she’d been spending less and less time in the house, something that Tyler and both his brothers had greeted with relief.

Over the past year, she’d regained some of her old energy and enthusiasm for life.

It also hadn’t escaped his notice that Tom Anderson, who owned a farm a couple of miles away, was a more frequent visitor than his role as a local supplier to the restaurant warranted.

Tyler wondered if he was the only one who had noticed Tom’s visits were becoming increasingly regular.

Jackson was seated across from him, his arm across the back of Kayla’s chair. “So where’s Chas right now?”

“Italy. Val Gardena.”

“Molto bene.” His older brother grinned. “You must be missing all the—er—pizza.”

Tyler ignored the innuendo and pushed the bowl of fluffy mashed potatoes toward his grandfather. “The food is pretty good here.”

“So what were you talking about for over an hour?”

“I wasn’t talking to Chas the whole time. I encountered a moose the size of a house.”

“Seriously?” Kayla put her glass down. “Because if that’s the truth, I want to know exactly where so I don’t walk that way.”

“The moose would be more scared of you than you would be of him.” Jackson reached across the table for the salt. “You’ve lived here a year. You know that.”

“I do not know that. The only moose I feel safe with is the chocolate variety Élise serves in the restaurant.”

Jess giggled. “That’s a different spelling. Was there really a moose?”

“Sure.” Tyler never missed an opportunity to tease Kayla. “It was hoping for an encounter with a city-loving Brit so I gave it directions to Kayla’s barn. It should be snuggled up waiting for her when she gets home. I might have mentioned that Jackson wants antlers for the wall. He looked pretty annoyed.”

“You’re not funny. Carry on like that and I’ll move back to New York.” Kayla glowered at him, and Jackson curved his arm round her shoulders in a protective gesture.

“I’ve got your back, sweetheart.”

“What about the rest of me?”

Jackson dropped his eyes, and a smile flickered in the corner of his mouth. “I’ve got that, too. I promise to come between you and the moose from this day forward, for better for worse…”

“Stop it! You’re freaking me out.” But Kayla leaned across to kiss him, and Tyler shuddered.

“You’re freaking me out, too. I can only take so much romance on an empty stomach and anyway, we have children present. Keep it clean, people.”

Jess straightened defensively. “I’m not a child.”

“I know, but I’m using you as an excuse to stop this disgusting public display of affection, so if you could look shocked, that would be great.”

Jess helped herself to potatoes. “I’m not shocked. They’re always kissing. You should be used to it by now.”

“I’ll never get used to it. I’d rather watch ice dancing on TV.”

“You hate watching ice dancing. Dad, can I have new skis?”

He opened his mouth, caught his mother’s eye and remembered that he had to suppress the overwhelming urge to overcompensate for a less than perfect childhood and give Jess everything she wanted. “You already have skis.”

“One pair.”

“So? You have one pair of legs.”

“How many pairs of skis did you have when you were racing?”

“Sixty.”

“Sixty?” Jess’s eyes were round. “No wonder you needed Chas.”

His mother shook her head. “I remember days when I couldn’t move around this place for skis. Between your father and you three boys, we could have supplied the whole village.”

The conversation turned to skiing as it so often did, and from skiing it moved on to the business.

“Brenna should have joined us tonight. That girl is working too hard.” Elizabeth O’Neil checked that everyone’s plates were full. “I hate to think of her all alone in that cabin. You should have invited her.”

“I saw you talking to her.” Across the table, Kayla sent him a look. “Did she mention my idea for offering a master class?”

“She might have done.”

“Great. So will you do it?”

“Go easy on him.” Jackson picked up his fork. “He’s agreed to coach the high school ski team. There’s only so much bad news he can take in one day.”

“I invited Brenna,” Tyler said, deliberately switching the subject as he heaped vegetables onto his plate. “She said she had things to do.”

“You should have insisted.” His grandmother passed him a napkin. “She probably wanted to join us but was worried she might be intruding.”

“That’s nonsense.” Walter gave a grunt. “That girl virtually grew up here. Why would she think she’s intruding? You can’t intrude when you’ve known someone for a lifetime.”

“Then why isn’t she here?” Alice picked at the food on her plate. “Are you going to let her use Forest Lodge for the whole season, Jackson?”

“Providing we don’t suddenly have a flood of bookings. And I invited her to join us, too, by the way. She said she was busy.”

Distracted by images of Brenna in a wet, clinging sweater, Tyler turned his attention to his plate. “And if we do have a flood of bookings? You can’t kick her out.”

“No. But we’d have to find somewhere else for her to sleep. Don’t worry. I doubt it will happen.”

Kayla looked at him thoughtfully and then exchanged glances with Élise. “Don’t her parents live in the village? Couldn’t Brenna stay with them in an emergency?”

“No way! She’d hate that,” Jess blurted out. “Her mom is a total neat freak. She wouldn’t let her have a dog or anything, because of the mess.”

Tyler looked up from his food. “She told you that?”

“We talk.” Jess fiddled with the food on her plate. “What? So she doesn’t treat me as if I’m six. Why is this news to everyone?”

“I don’t treat you as if you’re six. And you’re right that Brenna wouldn’t want to live at home.” Brenna’s mother liked everything pristine. Maura Daniels would be out polishing windows while there was a foot of ice on the ground and most other folk were sheltering indoors.

He used to joke with his brothers that she didn’t need a home-security system because her house was surrounded by an impenetrable wall of disapproval.

“She’s not close to her parents.” Tyler wondered if he was the only one who really knew her. “Staying with them would drive her nuts.”

“I bumped into her mother in the store last week,” Elizabeth murmured. “She barely acknowledged me. I swear you’d think we’d known each other three minutes, not thirty years.”

“Cold as fish is Maura Daniels, and the husband’s almost as bad, although living with her, it’s not surprising. She’s frozen enough there are days a person could skate on her without risk of falling through the ice on the surface.” Walter slipped Maple some food under the table. “Don’t know how the pair of them produced someone as warm as Brenna.”

“Is that why she spent all her time over here when she was young?” Jess asked, and Tyler saw his mother exchange looks with his grandmother.

“She was an only child, and I expect she liked the company.” Closing down that line of conversation, Elizabeth started talking about plans for Christmas. “When will you be able to fetch me a tree, Jackson? I want one exactly like the one you found me last year.”

Tyler pushed his chair away from the table and stretched out his legs. “I’m taking a trip into the forest tomorrow to look at one of the trails. I’ll pick one up for you.”

“We need a tree, too.” Jess sat up straighter. “Can I come? Please? I want to help choose it.”

“You’ll be at school.”

“You could wait until I’m home.”

“Then it will be dark, and I’ll risk chopping off vital parts of my anatomy along with the tree.” He saw her expression change from excitement to disappointment. “We’ll go on Saturday, after skiing. We have a vaulted ceiling. We can have a bigger one than Grandma.”

His mother smiled, and Jackson picked up his beer.

“If you’re picking up a tree for Mom, can you choose one for Moose Lodge, too? It’s booked from this weekend for a week and then the Stephens family is having it after that.”

Tyler raised his eyebrows. “They’re back?”

“Well, of course they’re back.” His grandfather gave a grunt. “That’s what Snow Crystal is about. Families returning over and over again. Making memories. The Stephenses have been coming here summer and winter for the past five years. Or is it six?”

Jackson glanced up. “It’s six. And they’ve booked two weeks. Good to know what happened in the summer didn’t put them off.”

Kayla shuddered. “Can we not talk about it? I still get flashbacks.”

“You have flashbacks?” Cool and calm, Sean reached across the table for a knife. “You weren’t the one covered in the kid’s blood.”

Catching sight of his mother’s white face, Tyler decided it was time to change the subject. “You may have fixed the boy, but I fixed the bike. I deserve some of the hero worship.”

“Last time I talked to his dad, everything was fine.” Sean helped himself to more food. “No ill effects and the kid’s still riding that red bike of his, so I guess the whole incident scared us more than it scared him.”

Tyler doubted his brother had been scared. Even as a child, Sean hadn’t been bothered by the sight of blood or bone. On the contrary, it had fascinated him, a factor that had no doubt influenced his decision to become a surgeon.

“You called him?” Jackson reached for his beer. “That was nice of you.”

“All part of the service.”

Walter glanced at his grandson. “How is the new job working out? Are you missing Boston?”

“I’m not missing the traffic. And it’s good to be closer to here.”

“We love having you close by.” Elizabeth sneaked more potatoes onto Jess’s plate. “You need to keep your strength up. We have a lot of baking to do on Sunday, sweetheart. You’ll need to come over early. And if you want to spend the night on Saturday, that’s fine.”

“I’m skiing. It’s race training. Dad’s coming.” Jess’s whole face lit up like a Christmas tree, and Tyler put his fork down.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Will Brenna be there, too?”

“Yeah, she should be.”

“That’s good. She’s a good teacher.”

Jackson lifted his beer. “Which is why I suggested she coach the high school team. But you had to interfere.”

“That’s right. I did.”

“Mind telling me why?”

“Because it’s Brenna’s idea of a nightmare. You shouldn’t have put her in that position.”

“What position?”

“Asking her to do something that’s hard for her when she already does so much for you.”

“Why is it hard?” Jackson looked blank. “She’s the obvious choice. She teaches that age all the time.”

His temper started to simmer. “But not the high school team. You’re asking her to go into the school. That place doesn’t have good memories for her.” He wondered how Jackson could possibly have forgotten, and then realized his brother had barely come up for air since the shocking discovery that Snow Crystal Resort was in serious trouble.

As if to confirm that, Jackson stared at him for a moment, eyes blank and unfocused as if he’d suddenly walked into the light after a decade underground. “That was a long time ago.” He thought for a moment and then cursed under his breath, earning himself a reproving look from his grandmother. “It was thoughtless of me. So why didn’t she refuse?”

“Because she hates confrontation, you know that. And she wants to please you. You’re her boss.”

“I’ve known her since kindergarten.”

“Doesn’t change the fact you’re her boss.”

“So how did you know?”

“I took a look at her face.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Since when have you been Mr. Sensitive?”

“You don’t have to be sensitive to read Brenna.” Tyler finished his beer. “Everything she’s feeling is written right there on her face. All you have to do is look. Brenna is an open book. Always has been. She doesn’t have secrets.”

Kayla gave him a long look. “Every woman has secrets.”

“Not Brenna. I’ve known her all my life. There is nothing she thinks that I don’t know about.”

The conversation moved on, and by the time he and Jess finally left, the snow had increased in intensity.

Jess zipped up her jacket and pulled her hood over her hair. “You should invite Brenna over for dinner or something one night.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Tyler strode through the snow. “It’s enough trouble cooking for you without adding another person. And no woman in her right mind would want to set foot over the threshold of our house. If they didn’t break a limb in the hall, they’d drown or be attacked by dogs.”

“We could tidy up, and Brenna loves Ash and Luna. She’s always saying she’d love a dog, but she’s too busy working to have one.” She jogged alongside him to keep up with his long stride.

“Seems like the two of you have talked about more than school.”

“She’s cool.”

He scooped up snow and threw it at her, and she squealed and ducked. “Dad! Behave.”

“I’ve been cooped up with family night. I need to have a little fun.”

“You should start dating. It’s not natural for you to spend your evenings with me.”

Tyler thought of all the years he hadn’t had his daughter with him and looped his arm around her shoulder. “I like spending evenings with you when you’re not being a pain in the a—neck.”

“You were going to say ass.”

“I was not. And I don’t need to be fixed up by a—a—how old are you again?”

“Thirteen!”

“I don’t need to be fixed up by a thirteen-year-old.”

CHAPTER FOUR

THE ANTICIPATED SNOWSTORM hit during the early hours of the morning, bringing the worst weather locals had seen for years. Across the state there were power outages and havoc on the roads. Branches snapped and windshield wipers struggled to keep up with the intensity of the snowfall. The Highways Department plowed and sanded, and schools were closed.

Snow Crystal escaped all but the much longed for snowfall, which coated the mountains, the forest and the trails in a deep, thick layer of white.

The resort’s efficient snow-clearing operation had been underway for a few hours by the time Brenna left her lodge. The path that led through the forest to the Outdoor Center had already been cleared, and she trudged through the winter-white, her feet sinking into the snow, grateful for her warm clothing as she felt the sting of cold on her cheeks. She breathed in the smell of pine and paused for a moment, savoring the muffled silence that always followed a heavy fall of snow.

It wasn’t even seven o’clock but Élise was already in the gym, pounding on the treadmill while music shook the walls of the room that had been built as part of Jackson’s development of the spa. Glass walls overlooked the forest, and the trees loomed, ghostly white, out of the darkness.

Brenna winced at the throbbing beat and dropped her bag on the door. “Is this French? I don’t know what she’s singing about, but I’m really sorry it happened to her, and I think she needs therapy.”

Élise didn’t slow her pace. “She is angry because a man has treated her badly. Me, if a man did that to me I would—” She made a throat-slitting gesture, and Brenna shook her head as she peeled off her jacket.

“How does Sean sleep at night with you next to him? Does he hide all the sharp knives?”

“He is a surgeon. He is very skilled with a knife. If I chose to kill him, that would not be my way.”

“Good to know.” Brenna stepped onto the elliptical machine. “Did he make it to the hospital this morning? The roads must be in chaos with all this snow.”

“He stayed last night. He had a full operating list today and didn’t want to risk being snowed in. I slept alone.”

“Ah—” Brenna hit start “—so that explains your mood and the pounding music.”

“There is nothing wrong with my mood. My mood is as good as it ever is before the sun rises.” Élise ran as if she were being chased by a bear. “And you know I hate the gym. Me, I would always rather be running outdoors. I feel like a rodent on this treadmill. When I lived in Paris, always I ran outdoors.”

“I can’t imagine running in a city.” Brenna scooped her hair into a ponytail. “You’d be breathing in fumes and dodging traffic.”

“Who is breathing in fumes?” A sleepy-looking Kayla walked into the gym, her gaze fixed on her phone as she scrolled through her emails. Her blond hair was bunched untidily on top of her head, and her oversize sweater slid off her shoulder. “Who decided this was a good time to exercise? It’s barbaric.”

Brenna adjusted the controls. “It’s the same time we met every day in the summer to run around the lake.”

“But it was daylight. Now it’s dark, and I hate the dark. Any chance we could start this an hour later?”

Élise glanced across at her. “What time did you start work when you were working for that fancy company in New York?”

“5:00 a.m., but I was in my own apartment at the time. Back then I worked with reasonable people. No one expected me to show up at a gym and exhaust myself physically before my day started.”

Élise lifted her eyebrows. “As if you haven’t been exhausting yourself physically all night with Jackson.”

Kayla gave a smug smile. “That’s different.”

“Isn’t that his sweater?”

“It might be.” Her phone rang, and she checked the number. “It’s Lissa in Reception. Excuse me, fellow morning masochists, I need to take this. Hi, Liss, how’s it going?” Still listening, she dropped her bag on the floor. “Wow—that’s great news. Yes, I know it’s a lot—don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Leave it to me.” She hung up, and Brenna increased her pace.

“What’s great news? What are you handling now?”

“A run of bookings!” Kayla did a pirouette. “We’ve had another twenty since last night. The snow is bringing them in like wasps to a honeypot.” She typed an email quickly. “This storm is exactly what we needed. I’m starting to think there’s a possibility we could even be full.”

Élise wiped her brow with her forearm. “And this news is enough to make you dance? I will never understand you.”

“That’s fine, because I don’t understand you, either. Or je ne comprends pas vous, as you would say.”

Élise winced. “That is not what I would say. Your French is truly terrible. I beg you, please speak only English.”

“I have to tell Jackson. God, I love my job.” Grinning, Kayla dialed, tapped her foot impatiently and then pulled a face. “His phone is switching to voice mail. Where is he?”

“Probably looking for his sweater.”

Brenna intervened. “Knowing Jackson, he’s already somewhere in the resort sorting out a problem.” She thought about the year before, when they’d all been worried that the business might go under. Jackson had been gray and exhausted with the pressure of keeping the family business going and handling sensitive family issues. “What you’ve done is an incredible achievement, Kayla. Great job.”

“Team effort. I get them here, Élise gives them food they’ll never forget and you show them the best time on the slopes so they want to come back. We should do a staff gathering, open champagne or something. Make a fuss. Get some excitement going. It would be motivational for everyone after all the uncertainty. I’ll suggest it to Jackson.” Kayla pressed Send on her email. “I need to talk to him because if we’re full, that puts pressure on the whole resort. Not only accommodation, but ski rental, classes, snowmobile hire—all the usual stuff.”

“If you’re accommodating extra people then they need to eat!” Scowling, Élise increased the speed on the treadmill. “Which means thanks to you, I am going to be working twice as hard this Christmas. I don’t know why I even bother with this treadmill when I spend so much time running around the kitchen.”

“You love being busy.” Kayla stepped onto the machine next to her, her phone still in her other hand.

Brenna exchanged a glance with Élise, who simply raised her eyes to the ceiling and gave a Gallic shrug.

“She was born with the phone attached to her hand. Sometimes I think for Kayla, her phone is more important than her heart. It keeps the blood flowing. If she puts it down, part of her dies.”

“Put the phone away, Kayla,” Brenna said mildly, “or you’ll have a horrible accident.”

“And then blood would truly be flowing.” Élise slowed her pace and reached for her water. “And my Sean, he is very busy today already, so he will not have time to put your bones back together if they are crunched by a treadmill.”

Kayla shuddered. “That is disgusting.”

“It is his job.”

“I know what his job is. I don’t need details.”

“Sometimes I think our jobs have many similarities.” Élise put the water bottle down. “We both spend our day dealing with bones and raw meat.”

“Oh, please.” Kayla turned green, and Brenna smiled.

“She’s doing it on purpose to wind you up. She’s laughing at you.”

“She won’t be laughing when I lose my breakfast over her feet. I am so glad I don’t live in your house, Élise. I wouldn’t want to be present for your end of workday conversations.”

“You think we waste our time together talking about work? We are both passionate about what we do, but when we finish, that is it. Sometimes we don’t talk at all. We just have sex.”

“Too much information.” Kayla grabbed the remote and turned up the music then realized it was French and turned it down with a disgusted sound.

Élise turned it up again. “You are so uptight. What is wrong with sex?”

“I never said there was anything wrong with it. I just don’t understand your need to talk about it all the time.”

“Why not? Sex is a perfectly normal, healthy thing. And the O’Neil men are all very physical, sexual men. The moment Sean walks through that door, he stops thinking about his day.” Élise gave a naughty smile. “Last night we—”

“No!” Kayla covered her ears with her hands. “Brenna, stop her! She listens to you.”

Brenna glanced at Élise, envying the ease with which she talked about sex, and envying her relationship with Sean. How would it feel to come home to someone you loved at night instead of an empty house? How must it feel to know that the person you loved, loved you back? You wouldn’t have to hide it, or hold it in. You wouldn’t have to dig your nails into your palms to stop you from reaching out and touching.

Kayla was clearly still in work mode. “Élise, I know you were thinking of closing the Boathouse for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but if we’re full, I think you might need to keep it open.”

Élise was running fast again, her dark hair brushing her jaw. “Are you telling me how to manage my restaurants?”

“I’m telling you our guest numbers have doubled.” Strolling on the treadmill, Kayla was still checking emails on her phone. “They’re going to need to be fed. I see an opportunity.”

“I see a nervous breakdown.” Out of breath, Élise stabbed a button on the machine and slowed down. “I will need to hire extra staff for the Christmas week.”

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