by Jo McNally
Off-limits. Was that what Matt thought of her these days?
“Jillie? You okay?”
She smiled. “Yeah. Fine. How’s Matt doing? I hear he’s busy.”
“You haven’t talked to him?” Bryce frowned. “What’s going on with you two?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, I’m afraid.” Sophie came to lean against her, and Jillie looked down, scratching the dog’s ears absently. “We had a...a falling out, I guess. He wanted me to go to Lake Louise with him, which just wasn’t possible. He was upset. I was upset. Things were said. We decided to take a break...but we didn’t really define what that meant or how long it might last.” She looked back to Bryce. “He’s kept me posted on how busy he is, so I get it.”
“So...you have talked?”
“He texts.”
Bryce stared. “And you answer those texts?”
“Well...no. He doesn’t ask for responses of any kind. He just sends daily news bulletins. Like he did when you guys were in Canada.”
“Let me get this straight. My brother has been texting you daily for two weeks, and you haven’t responded once?”
Her mouth dropped open, but she didn’t know what to say. They stared at each other in silence, before Bryce shook his head with a low laugh.
“I’ve been on Matt’s case for days about how he’s handling this, but it’s clear now that it really does take two to tango. You guys are seriously dysfunctional, and you need to figure your sh...” He hesitated. “Your stuff out. I’m no relationship expert, but I’m pretty sure that means actual communication. He didn’t tell you about the fence?”
She shook her head.
“And did he tell you what he did in the lodge? Adding shutters to all the new windows facing your place, so they can be closed up tight to block the view? Or that he’s not coming to the Worlds next month because he needs to talk to Brittany Doyle about some old houses she wants to flip?”
She shook her head again, but her heart began to warm at the reason he might be doing these things.
“Did he tell you...?” He straightened and shuffled his skis around to point back toward the slope. “You know what? Never mind. He’s probably thinking he’s going to surprise you with some grand gesture or something, but...” Bryce stopped abruptly, then closed his eyes tightly. “Oh, damn. He probably is doing that, and I blew it.”
“No! I’m the one who found the fence.”
“But you didn’t know about the other things, like the job or...oh, shut up, Bryce!” He slapped the side of his head with the palm of his hand. “Look...act surprised, okay? Whatever it is he has planned...act surprised.” He looked around, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to them at the edge of the woods. “And we never had this conversation, got it?”
She laughed—her first real laugh in two weeks—and nodded.
“Got it. And, Bryce? I’m really happy that you’re back on skis and able to travel the circuit with your friends.” She couldn’t resist adding a bit of self-pity. “I’m sure Matt enjoys all the travel, too.”
“Now that he approves of my new manager, I think Matt will be backing off on the traveling.” He gave her a pointed look. “A lot. Oh, in case you’re wondering, see that section right there?” He gestured a few yards down the mountain. “That’s where the gate’s going.”
With a swish of snow, he was gone, flying down the slope toward the lodge. She turned to look at where the gate was going to be. There was a big difference between a fence, and a fence with a gate.
She dug her phone out of her pocket as she and Sophie headed back to her house, recalling something that Mack had said. Jillie had ignored it at the time,but now it was tapping at her brain. Mack Adams answered on the first ring.
“Hi, girlfriend!” She sounded out of breath. “I’m finishing up the new window display with all the stuff skiers like to fill their flasks with. Schnapps. Fireball. Cognac. Irish whiskey. I figure if Mel’s displaying all those Irish sweaters in her windows, I’d better tag along, right? So what’s up?”
“Didn’t you say something the other day about Dan telling you that Matt and Bryce were going to Lake Placid?” Dead silence. “Mack? Are you there?”
“Why do you want to know about Lake Placid?”
Jillie kicked at a clump of snow and Sophie chased after it. “Why did you tell me about Lake Placid if you didn’t want me to know about it?”
Mack chuckled. “O-kay. Bryce is going to an event at Whiteface Mountain in a few weeks. It’s a big winter sports competition for university teams, and his clothing sponsor wants him there showing off their latest winter wear. Mel said Shane arranged for Bryce to ski down the slopes like a flagbearer or something before the big race, wearing his gold medal.” She hesitated. “I’m not sure if Matt is going or not.”
Jillie smiled, remembering the weekend she spent in Lake Placid ten years ago. “Oh, he’s going. Thanks, Mack. I need to give Shane Brannigan a call.”
Chapter Fifteen
The resistance fighters stood in awe as the Shadows rolled back from Stoneroot Mountain. The shadows they’d created. It turned out the monsters were their own fears, manifested through an ancient spell. Once Monica trusted the Wise One enough to learn that, they’d all worked together. Conquering their fears. Bringing peace. It hadn’t been easy. There was still danger lurking. But they knew how to fight it now.
Matt wasn’t sure when he’d ever been more exhausted. The junior event at Gallant Lake Ski Resort had been a smashing success, considering how last-minute it was. Bryce’s name was a big part of that success. Now that people outside Gallant Lake knew Bryce was involved with the lodge, Matt had a feeling they’d be seeing a lot more business. And that was good news for everyone.
As if to confirm, Dan Adams, parked on a bar stool next to Matt in the nearly empty lodge, slid his phone into his pocket with a wide grin.
“Mack said this was one of her best weekends ever for business. That seems to be a universal opinion on Main Street. Nora said she almost ran out of coffee. Mel Brannigan said she did sell out of sweaters and hats. Even Asher got some business out of it—not just small stuff but two or three custom-furniture orders to build. Nate said the hardware store was wall-to-wall people once word got out about that parrot of his.”
Hank the Foul-mouthed Parrot was well-known in town, although Nate tried to keep the bird’s cursing to a minimum. Those plans went out the window once all the teens in town discovered that if they said just one blue word, Hank would go off on a rant. A couple of videos had already gone viral. Bad for Nate’s training efforts with Hank, but good for Nate’s bottom line. His fiancée, Brittany, suggested they start selling T-shirts and other items featuring Hank, and as much as Nate protested how “tacky” that would be, they’d sold out of T-shirts that week. Dan slapped Matt on the shoulder as he stood.
“You did good, man. If anyone had told me a year ago that this old place would be open, much less help put Gallant Lake on the map for winter vacations, I’d have given them a breathalyzer test. But you pulled it off.”
Matt shook his head, and the effort was almost too much for him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. “Don’t think I’ve ever been this tired. I need to lock up and get my ass home to bed.”
Dan replied with a distracted “Mmm-hmm. Maybe you should stay here a while longer. You’re probably too tired to drive.”
“It’s five miles to the rental house. And it’s all downhill. I’ll be fine, Mr. Police Chief, sir.”
Dan glanced at his watch. That was the third time he’d done that in the past half hour or so. His phone buzzed again, and he turned away from Matt to look at it. When he turned back, he had a big grin on his face.
“I gotta head out. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Dan seemed in a hurry all of a sudden. “You might want to hang out here and have a cup of coffee so your head’s cl
ear. You’re going to need it.”
And he was gone. After an hour of hanging out over a beer once Matt had closed up, Dan hadn’t seemed in any kind of hurry. At least not until that last text came through. He stretched, staring at what looked like tar in the bottom of the coffeepot. Dan probably got a booty call invitation from Mack. Or maybe his daughter had needed something. Matt poured black coffee into a mug and sipped it, cringing at the bitterness. That would wake him up long enough to get to the house. In the morning, he was meeting with Brittany Doyle about their plans to flip properties together. She wanted to start with the old bakery, saying the town needed someone to come in and reopen it, and that wouldn’t happen the way it looked now.
Once they toured the place and set a budget, she was going to show him the apartment over the former bakery. The vacation rental was nearing the end of his lease, and he couldn’t assume Jillie would welcome him into her home with open arms. He wasn’t sure she’d welcome him at all, but he had to try. He just needed to get his plans lined up. The fence was done. The shutters were up. He’d walled off one side of the rooftop deck. He wanted her to see how serious he was about giving her what she needed.
He realized he hadn’t texted yet tonight. He finished drinking the coffee—ew—and pulled his phone out of his pocket. She’d yet to answer his texts, but he could see she was opening every one he sent. And she hadn’t blocked him yet, which gave him hope.
Just drank the gross stuff that’s been congealing at the bottom of the coffeepot all day. That’s how tired I am. Heading home, but wow, what a weekend. Everyone seems happy.
He stared like he always did, hoping this would be the time she answered. No floating dots appeared. He sighed. Once he got some rest and had some work lined up here in town, he’d go to Jillie and plead his case. But not tonight. Even the worst coffee in the world wasn’t going to be able to keep him awake for long. He couldn’t resist sending one more text.
I miss you, babe.
Still nothing. It wasn’t until he was sliding the phone back into his pocket that a ripple of awareness went through him. Whether he’d heard something or just felt a presence, he knew he wasn’t alone. The surge of adrenaline did far more than the coffee had to make him alert. Did he need a weapon? Did he have one within easy reach?
“I miss you, too.”
He was hallucinating, probably from the exhaustion. He was hearing things. Hearing Jillie. His brain was torturing him. He slowly turned, knowing the room would be empty.
Except it wasn’t.
Jillie stood there, just inside the door. Sophie was at her side, watching him with cautious interest. Jillie was bundled in a puffy yellow jacket and fur-topped snow boots, and was tugging off a yellow knit hat when he turned. Her dark hair fell like satin on her shoulders. Her dark eyes were wide, focused only on him. Jillie. Was here. In the ski lodge. His breath came out long and slow. She was here.
And she said she’d missed him. Should he go to her? Should he stay where he was? He wanted to hold her so badly. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. Which she found amusing. Her mouth slanted up into a crooked grin.
“Nothing to say?”
“I... Jillie... What...what are you doing here? How...?”
“Dan made sure you’d be here alone with an unlocked door. I drove over, because the snow is a little deep and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get through the gate.”
“You know about the gate.” He was stating the obvious. Had she been watching the fence going up? Had she heard it? “Did the hammering disturb your writing? I’m sorry...”
She shook her head, her smile deepening. “It didn’t disturb me, although I was curious about why you’d do something like that.”
“The gate?”
“The fence.”
“To protect you. I didn’t want anyone getting nosy about who or what was beyond those trees.”
“And the gate?”
His heart and lungs were beginning to function normally again, which helped his brain tremendously. He managed a crooked smile of his own.
“The gate is for my protection.” Her brows lowered in confusion, so he explained. “There is no way I’d ever be able to put a wall between us that I couldn’t get through somehow.”
Silence stretched between them, but there was nothing negative about it. He felt at ease for the first time in weeks. And damned if Jillie didn’t seem relaxed. Inside the ski lodge she’d never visited. She hadn’t moved more than a step or two from the door. And now that he studied her more closely, he noticed her gaze flicker around the mostly dark space at regular intervals, checking her safety. This was her. Her insecurity. Her phobias. Her anxiety. He cleared his throat.
“I’m so proud of you for having the strength to do this. Shocked. And proud. If you don’t want to be here, it’s okay. We can go anywhere you...”
“No.” Her voice was firm. “I’m okay here. It’s just you and I.” She glanced around. “Right?”
“Yeah, babe. Just you and I.” He took a step toward her. “And your hellhound.” As if Sophie knew she was being discussed, her butt started wiggling as her tail wagged. He took another step. “Is this... Can I...?” Jillie nodded. She was still glued to her spot inside the door. The closer he got, the more he recognized the tension humming just under her skin. This wasn’t as easy for her as she was trying to make it look. “Jillie...” He stopped in front of her. He wanted so badly to touch her. “I have so much to say. I don’t even know where to begin...”
“You left me.” It wasn’t as much an accusation as a statement. He nodded.
“You told me to leave.”
She nodded in return, and he slowly smiled. “So now that we have that sorted, let me start with this—I love you, Jillie Coleman. I was an idiot to ever make you doubt that, or to think it wasn’t enough. You don’t have to change one thing for me. Nothing at all. I don’t want you to. You’re perfect the way you are.”
She snorted at that. “Far from perfect. I’m a mess.”
“Not a mess.” He reached out and took her hands in his. “You have anxiety. You have agoraphobia. That’s all part of the Jillie package. It’s...” He fumbled for words. “It’s part of you, but it doesn’t define you. And it sure as hell doesn’t define us.”
She looked up at him with shimmering dark eyes. “Is there still an us?”
“God, I hope so.” He squeezed her fingers. “I hope I haven’t blown it. I...I wanted to give you space. I’d pushed so hard before the trip. I was a selfish jerk. And I’m sorry. You didn’t answer my calls, but then you didn’t block my texts, so I was holding out hope that we were still okay. Battered, but okay. I needed that hope.” He looked around the lodge. “I didn’t know what to do, and we had this event to plan for. Maybe it’s selfish again—you may find that’s my thing—but I thought if I waited until after this weekend, things would be calmer and I’d be able to think of the right things to say.” He chuckled. “Except now it’s over and you’re here and all I can think to say is that I love you.”
Jillie smiled. “A few weeks ago you weren’t sure if love was enough.”
“I’m sure now. Very sure. I’ve already told Bryce he’ll only see me at a couple of the biggest races next year. I can watch him on television or online. I’m staying here.”
She drew in a sharp breath, then shook her head. “You’ve never stayed anywhere for long. Do you really think you can...?”
Matt tugged gently, pulling her into his embrace, where she belonged. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. Sophie laid down on the floor with a bored sigh. He felt whole again. Complete. Content. Loved. He kissed her hair, rubbing his cheek against her scalp.
“I can do anything for you. If this is the place you have to be, then it’s the place I have to be, too. I’ve got the lodge, and I’m going into partnership with Brittany Doyle to flip s
ome properties. I’ve got work, I’ve got you and I really don’t care if I ever leave.” It was true. He could stand like this forever, holding her tight. She shook her head, still close but wiggling to fish in her jacket pocket for something.
“I don’t want you chained to Gallant Lake. I don’t want to be chained to Gallant Lake. You were right about me hiding here. I’ve got a new therapist and...” She pulled what looked like a folded ticket of some sort out of her pocket and handed it to him. “I’m trying new things. Because of you.”
Baffled, he took the ticket and opened it behind her back, unwilling to release her. He read it over her shoulder. It was a sponsor’s pass to the university games at Lake Placid next month. Was she saying she wanted him to go?
“Babe, I was already planning to go to this one. I have my pass...”
“That’s not your pass.” She took a deep breath. “It’s mine.”
He looked again. Sure enough, her name was printed on it—Jillie Coleman. It was a platinum elite ticket, meaning she’d have access to the private bungalow the sponsors were leasing for patrons to warm up in and enjoy free food and drinks. It also gave her access to a reserve area to watch the races, off to the side of the main grandstands. It would be less crowded, but still compact. He looked from the ticket to her.
“I...I don’t mean to sound dense, but...I don’t get it.”
Her smile was warm, and a little nervous.
“Shane got the pass for me. Mel and I are going to drive up together—it’s only three or four hours. Shane has arranged for me to have as much space as possible, and he’ll make sure I know the layout of all the sponsor areas. If I can’t stay, we’ll turn around and come back. I have to at least try.” Her smile deepened. “And if I can handle it, with some help from my new medication and a few more weeks of therapy, then I thought maybe we could share a room, and Mel and I will drive home the next day. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
