One Night in Christmas

by Debbie Mason

  Adam clenched and unclenched his fingers on the steering wheel. He’d had no idea Bryce had told her what he’d said that night. Their mother and Logan had reacted as badly, albeit for different reasons. Unlike him, they’d had no problem sharing their opinion with Sophia. His mother had tried to buy her off the next day. Adam had heard about it secondhand. He’d headed back to California the night they got engaged.

  “I’m sorry Bryce told you what I said.” Sorrier than she’d ever know. When his brother had taken his own life, it had felt like the ultimate betrayal; this came a close second. At least he’d been able to protect her from learning Bryce’s death hadn’t been an accident.

  From the moment his grandfather had called to break the news of Bryce’s fatal accident, Adam had begun searching for answers. It didn’t make sense to him. He couldn’t understand how his brother, a world-class skier, could die on Blue Mountain. A mountain he knew like the back of his hand.

  As soon as Adam made it back to Christmas, he headed for the mountain to check out the scene for himself. There’d been no reason for Bryce to be up there after midnight or to crash into a tree. The conditions had been good that night and the runs were clearly marked.

  Some people would also say there’d been no reason for Adam to visit the coroner, an old friend from high school, a few hours later. Though the people who knew him best wouldn’t be surprised at his need for answers, his need for the truth.

  The toxicology report confirmed his suspicions: his brother’s blood alcohol was three times over the legal limit, and opioids were found in his system. Still, with no additional evidence and no suicide note, Adam’s old friend the coroner ruled it an accident and agreed to keep the findings from the family as a favor to him. Adam spent the days leading up to the funeral digging into Bryce’s life, uncovering evidence that served to confirm his suspicions.

  Afraid Sophia would blame herself for his brother’s suicide, and even if she didn’t, his family might blame her, Adam had kept the truth to himself. It was an easy decision to justify. He was protecting Sophia, his family, and his brother’s memory. He owed him that at least. After Bryce married Sophia, Adam hadn’t been much of a big brother. As a result of his investigation, he’d learned that Bryce had needed him more than he’d ever let on.

  It was easier to push back the guilt and regret that accompanied the memories knowing that Bryce had told Sophia what he’d said that night. “I didn’t mean for you to hear what I said. Bryce had no business telling you something he had to know would hurt you. I was angry at him, not you.”

  “You said I would make a terrible wife.”

  “No. I said you were too young to get married. You both were.”

  “You said I was a ski bunny and only wanted him for his money and our marriage would never last.”

  Logan had called her a ski bunny. His mother had called her a gold digger. “I did. I said your marriage wouldn’t last.”

  “Because I was an attention-seeking party girl who couldn’t be trusted.” Her eyes flashed, and her accent thickened.

  “You liked attention, and my brother didn’t like sharing the limelight. You liked to dance and have fun, but Bryce was focused on his career. Nothing was more important to him than winning Olympic gold. You were friendly and flirty, but Bryce was jealous and had a temper. You two were a powder keg, one party away from going off.”

  “I didn’t go to parties. I was too busy helping manage Bryce’s career. I was a good wife. He was happy. He loved me.”

  Bryce was far from happy, but it wasn’t her fault. And Adam would bet Sophia hadn’t been happy either. She’d given up on her hopes and dreams so that Bryce could go after his, only his brother’s had ended when he’d shattered his leg and pelvis. Injuries Adam knew without a doubt had contributed to his death. “My brother couldn’t have asked for a better wife. He loved you.”

  “Your family didn’t think he did,” she murmured, and turned her head to look out the window.

  “Who cares what anyone else thinks? All that matters is you know that he did.” Adam checked his rearview mirror, turning off his hazards before pulling onto the road. “Have you been to the lodge since…?” He’d been about to say since Bryce died, but he didn’t want to talk about his brother anymore. There was nothing freeing about rehashing the past. He was still as angry at Bryce as he had been when he’d pulled to the side of the road. Maybe more so. “The renovation?” he said instead.

  “No. I can’t remember the last time I was here. It was a mistake to come tonight.”

  “So why did you?” he asked as he turned into the packed parking lot.

  “Autumn and Logan. Did you know they’re dating?”

  Clearly, from the look on her face and from the earlier exchange in the SUV, Sophia was not on board with the couple reuniting. Since Adam was on board with Autumn and Logan getting back together, he thought it best to play dumb. “Uh, I might have heard something about it.”

  “And…?” She motioned for him to keep talking.

  “I’m not sure what you want me to say, Dimples.” The nickname slipped out, the way it had earlier. He’d been surprised to see her. Surprised at how little she’d changed. The thing she’d just done with her hands was familiar too. She had beautiful hands—her nails always painted and long. He used to wonder what it would feel like to have her nails dig into his shoulders, score his back…“I don’t have an opinion on it one way or another.”

  At least not one she’d want to hear. And since she wasn’t giving him the cold shoulder or yelling at him, it felt like maybe she didn’t hate him quite so much after their talk on the side of the road. The last thing he wanted was to give her a reason to.

  But before Logan had reunited with Autumn, he’d been making noises about putting out feelers for other job opportunities. His brother had wanderlust and didn’t like to stay in one place for long. If he left, it would fall on Adam to manage the lodge. He had no idea how to run a business and no desire to. But he also didn’t want his family to lose the lodge.

  A few months back, his grandfather had laid down the law. Either one of them stepped up to the plate, or the lodge would fall into the hands of their second cousin, Rick Dane. Years before, Rick had kidnapped Christmas’s sheriff. He’d pleaded temporary insanity and received five years in a mental institution in Pueblo. His five years were up.

  “Well, I have an opinion, and your brother, he will hear it tonight,” Sophia said as Logan managed to find a parking spot a fair distance from the lodge.

  He was going to offer to drop her off at the entrance but decided the walk might do her good. “Come on, it’s New Year’s Eve. Let it go for tonight and enjoy yourself.”

  “Enjoy myself? How am I supposed to enjoy myself when my best friend is about to have her heart broken again?”

  He pulled into the parking spot and turned off the engine. “I understand where you’re coming from. The divorce was hard on both of them. But Logan—”

  “Is an asshat.”

  He laughed. “No, he’s…” She lifted a perfectly arched dark eyebrow. “Okay, I’ll give you that. Sometimes he can be a jerk. But he’s had a tough couple of years. Roxanne, his wife, was sick for a long time before she passed away. He took care of her and the kids. Now he’s trying to be both mother and father. He’s a great dad. He deserves a little happiness. They both do, don’t they?”

  “Autumn was happy. We were happy. We have a wonderful life together, and now your brother is going to ruin it.”

  “It sounds like this is more about you losing Autumn than it is about Logan breaking her heart.”

  “You don’t know what you are talking about.” She opened the truck’s door.

  He knew exactly what he was talking about. She just wouldn’t admit it or didn’t see it herself. “Hang on a minute. I’ll help you out.”

  “You know what they say about men who drive big trucks?” she asked when he reached her side.

  “We have big egos?” His ego was m
ore healthy than big. And his truck was well suited to back-country driving, where he spent most of his days off.

  “No, that you’re overcompensating for…you know.” She put a hand on his shoulder, and he put one at her waist, or where he imagined her waist would be if she weren’t bundled up in an ankle-length fake-fur coat that matched her hat and hid any sign of the lush curves he remembered.

  She jumped down, stumbling as she landed. He brought her close to steady her. Looking into eyes the color of melted chocolate, he said, “What do you think I’m overcompensating for, Dimples?”

  She stared up at him, her glossy red lips slightly parted, and he thought he should let her go before he forgot she was off-limits and that he had a woman waiting for him back home.

  She lowered her eyes and moved away. “I didn’t say you were. Other people did.”

  He decided not to tease her any further, for his own sake as much as hers. “Be careful you don’t slip,” he warned when she headed for the lodge with a determined, sexy stride. “Your boots aren’t exactly made for winter weather.”

  “Yes, they are.” She stopped and hiked up the bottom of her coat to show him a pair of knee-high butterscotch leather boots with gold high heels and decorative gold chains around each ankle.

  He dropped his gaze to his rust-colored Timberlands because looking at her in those boots was putting some really bad ideas in his head. “No, these are what you call winter boots.”

  “No, they are ugly boots, and they are the reason I still have racks of beautiful clothes left.” She flounced off, muttering, “You and your boots.”

  A snowball hit him on the back of the head. “Ow.” He raised his hand to check for damage and brush off the frozen flakes. “What the…?” Looking around, he spotted his brother half-hidden behind a fir tree decorated in multicolored lights. Logan waved him over.

  Sophia turned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Ah, nothing. I forgot something in my truck. You okay to get there on your own?”

  “No. I’m a helpless woman who needs a big strong man to—”

  He held up his hands. “Sorry. Forget I asked.”

  Her huffed breath crystalized in a small cloud. “No. I’m sorry.” She gestured at the lodge with its peaked rooflines, the deck crowded with laughing people, lights ablaze from the antler chandeliers that were visible through the main floor windows. “I’m just…I didn’t expect it to be this hard. I don’t come here during ski season. I try not to come at all.”

  “Come on, we’ll find Ty and Autumn, and get you a drink,” he said as he walked toward her. He took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Sometimes running away from the pain makes it worse. It lasts a lot longer than it has to, Soph. Sometimes you just have to lean into it.”

  They didn’t get more than a couple feet before Ty and Autumn arrived to take Sophia away. His brother’s handiwork, no doubt.

  “All right, you can come out of hiding,” Adam said when the three of them disappeared behind the wooden doors.

  His brother came out from behind the tree. He wore a denim jacket lined with sheepskin over a red plaid shirt. The last few years had taken a toll. Logan could stand to put at least ten pounds on his lean six-foot frame. His dark hair was prematurely streaked with silver, the crow’s-feet at the corners of his gray eyes more pronounced. “You had the perfect opportunity to send her back to town, but oh no, my big brother has to play Mr. Nice Guy.”

  Adam tugged his brother out of the light from the lodge and lowered his voice. “I don’t get you. What did she ever do to you?” He held up his hand when the first word out of Logan’s mouth was their brother’s name. “Don’t even go there.”

  “Whatever. I should know better. You always were her biggest champion. I used to think you loved her more than Bryce did.”

  Adam kept his face blank. “At least you’re finally admitting Bryce loved her. Took you long enough. Then again, you always were a hard head.”

  “Yeah, well, all I know is I want a second chance with Autumn, and if Sophia has her way, she’ll ruin it for me.” He glanced at his watch and then at the mountain. “The show’s about to begin. Once it’s over, Nell’s going to take the kids home for me. I’ve got plans for Autumn and me. Plans that don’t include Sophia dogging our every move. And since you’re the one who brought her here, you have to help me.”

  Since he wanted Logan and Autumn back together, he didn’t argue against his brother’s misguided logic. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

  “Keep Sophia busy until after midnight.”

  “After midnight? That’s hours away. How am I supposed to keep her busy for that long?”

  “I don’t care how you do it. Just do it or you might as well pack your bags for Christmas.”

  “Sophia’s right—you are an asshat.”

  “Whatever. And speaking of the lodge, guess who I saw hanging around today? Rick. He moved into a halfway house just outside of town.”

  More bad news. But he shouldn’t be surprised. It happened every time he came home to Christmas.

  Chapter Four

  Sophia stood on the deck surrounded by people she routinely hung out with at the Penalty Box, attended book club with at the mystery bookstore, had a skinny latte and cupcake with at the Sugar Plum Bakery, and lunched with at the tea shop.

  These were her people. She knew them and liked them, and they liked her. So why was she searching the crowd for a man she hadn’t thought about in years? Okay, so maybe she had thought about him. But whenever he dropped into her brain uninvited, she’d push him out because it hurt too much to think about him. His betrayal had wounded her almost as much as his brother’s, and despite Adam apologizing and saying all the right words in the truck tonight, she wasn’t ready to forgive him.

  Yet as she stood around the wood-burning fire pit drinking a dirty snowman and gazing up at Blue Mountain, she was fighting a desperate urge to find him.

  It was like she’d reverted back to the girl she used to be. The one who didn’t have to worry about guys hitting on her when she danced her heart out at parties because Adam would be there watching out for her. The girl whose heart felt like it would burst if she made him smile or, even better, laugh.

  “You were a silly girl,” she murmured, deciding she needed something stronger than Baileys with vanilla ice cream, hot chocolate, and whipped cream.

  “Where are you going?” Ty called from where he sat on the arm of an Adirondack chair. She’d thought he was too busy with the IT guy from Denver to notice her leave. She raised her empty glass.

  “Okay, but hurry up. The show’s about to begin.”

  She’d forgotten about the show. She shivered despite wearing as much fur as a polar bear. That hers wasn’t real was probably the reason the cold mountain air cut through the coat, or maybe it wasn’t the wind at all.

  She went up on her toes, searching for Autumn’s pink knit hat with the double faux-fur pom-poms, and spotted her where she’d last seen her, standing at the rail talking to Nell McBride, who wore a tiny Santa hat on a sparkly headband that held back her youthfully cut, dyed red hair. Logan’s children were with them, but their daddy wasn’t. Sophia said a prayer to the Virgin Mother. Maybe he’d be too busy to join them tonight. She was about to call to Autumn when several other members of the McBride family joined them with their toddlers in tow.

  They had the best vantage point for the show. So not much chance she’d be able to convince Autumn to join her by the stone fireplace on the main floor.

  Or the bar, Sophia thought, nibbling the chocolate that rimmed her empty glass as she headed for the double doors. Two men walked onto the deck at the exact moment she licked the chocolate from her lips. Logan looked from her to Adam, lifting an eyebrow before turning to walk away.

  “Nice to see you too, Logan!” she called to his back. People on the deck stopped talking to turn and stare, including Autumn. Sophia didn’t care. It wasn’t right for Logan to treat her this way. Though she suppos
ed she was partially to blame. She’d let Bryce’s family get away with treating her like crap for far too long.

  Logan turned and walked back to her. “Nice to see you, Sophia.” His smile was as fake as her fur coat, and he nodded at her glass. “It looks like you got a head start on the night. You might want to slow down.”

  “I’m just getting started, mi hermano.” She called him my brother because she knew he didn’t like it. “But you, you should slow down with mi hermana. You broke her—”

  “Okay, nice to see nothing has changed between you two. Logan, you go to your corner, and, Soph, you’re coming with me.”

  Adam turned to open the door at the same time music came through the outdoor speakers, signaling the parade was about to begin. A cheer went up from the crowd as everyone turned to look up at the top of Blue Mountain. She hurried though the door Adam held open, relieved at her narrow escape. But just as she was about to walk toward the stairs leading down to the main floor, Adam took her hand.

  “Come on, you get a better view of the parade from over here than down there.” He drew her toward a bank of windows to the left of the deck.

  She opened her mouth to make an excuse about needing a drink, but the ski instructors and ski patrol had already begun weaving down the mountain with lit torches held aloft. From where she stood, it looked like a ribbon of fire undulating its way around and down the mountain in time to this year’s top pop songs pumping through the outdoor speakers.

  “Doesn’t get old, does it?” Adam said, obviously mistaking her open mouth as an expression of awe.

  She pressed her lips together, afraid the sob building in the back of her throat would escape.

  “Jeez, Bryce loved this. It was his favorite holiday tradition, even as a kid. As soon as he was old enough to take the lift by himself, he started bugging our grandparents to let him lead the parade. Probably the only thing he hated about being on the circuit was missing out on…Aw, Soph, I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

  She flicked the tear from her cheek. “He led the parade that last year. You weren’t here. Everyone said he shouldn’t do it. They thought I should stop him, could stop him, but there was no stopping Bryce once his mind was made up.”