Snow Crystal Trilogy: Sleigh Bells in the Snow / Suddenly Last Summer / Maybe This Christmas. Sarah Morgan
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have plans tomorrow.”
“Fine, I’ll do it. At least, I can do the guide part. Not so sure about cheerful if they want an early start. Smiles are extra at that hour of the morning.”
“They’re paying us extra, so you’ll smile.” Brenna slipped her phone into her pocket and picked up her drink. “By the way, Jess asked if I’d ski Devil’s Gully with her someday this week. Says you banned her from doing that run.”
“I banned her for a reason.” Tyler’s fingers tightened on the bottle and his eyes glittered dangerously. “And that reason is she’s way too young and inexperienced.”
Brenna lifted her brows. “You and I skied that run when we were half her age.”
“And were grounded for a week as a result.” Tyler gave a laugh and then remembered he was trying to be a responsible father and glared at her. “That’s different. You and I skied more than we walked. Jess has been living in a city. Nearest she’s been to mountains is a picture on her wall.”
“She’s your daughter,” Brenna said softly. “She’s inherited your natural aptitude.”
“She’s twelve.”
“It isn’t about age, it’s about ability, and she’s got it, Tyler. Talent. She feels the slope. She knows the mountain. Call it whatever you will, you need to let her do this.”
“Kill herself?” Stubborn, Tyler shook his head. “Not on my watch.”
Remembering their conversation earlier, Jackson felt a twinge of sympathy for his brother. It had taken long enough for him to have the opportunity to prove he could be a good father to Jess. He didn’t want to blow it in the first month.
Tyler was frowning at Brenna. “How come you know so much about what she wants anyway? I can’t get more than five words out of the girl.”
“She often stops by my cabin.” Brenna took a sip of her drink. “Yesterday we had lunch.”
“Lunch? Why don’t I know any of this?”
“Maybe she’s afraid you’d say no. For a guy who never understood the meaning of the word, you sure as hell use it a lot now.” Brenna slid off the stool. “I see our chief of police enjoying a quiet few minutes. Think I’ll just interrupt that. I need to talk to him about our Emergency Response Plan.”
“Wait, Brenna—” Jackson caught her arm before she could walk away, “don’t you keep a supply of spare ski clothes in case someone needs them?”
“What size?”
“About your size. Maybe a little smaller. Not that I’m saying you’re big,” he added hastily, “but you’re strong because of the skiing and—”
“You pick up many women with that line, Jackson?”
He cursed himself and then saw that her eyes were bright with laughter. “Brenna—”
“Shut up, before you fall into that hole you just dug for yourself. What do you need? Apart from a spade to dig your foot out of your mouth?”
“Whatever you’ve got.”
“I assume this is for the woman from New York? Is she going to be able to help us?” Anxiety shadowed her eyes, and Jackson wondered how many of the Snow Crystal team were worrying about their jobs.
“She’ll help us.”
“In that case I’ll drop off what I have at her cabin on my way to the slopes tomorrow morning. If any of it fits, she’s welcome to it.” Ignoring Tyler, she flashed Jackson a smile and then turned and walked across the room, unzipping her coat as she went.
“How come she smiles at you and not me?” Tyler watched her. “If I’d made that remark about her being strong, she would have felled me, and not just to prove me right. And what is up with Jess? Why didn’t she just ask me again if she could ski Devil’s Gully?”
“Would you have changed your mind?”
“No.”
“Probably why she didn’t ask you.”
“That makes no sense.”
Jackson sighed. “When you were twelve, if there was something you wanted to do and Dad said no, what did you do?”
“I did it anyway. Most of the time I didn’t bother asking.”
“Right. And Jess is your daughter, so I’m guessing that, along with your ski talent, she also inherited a dose of the stubborn. Just saying.” Jackson eased himself away from the bar. “At least she’s crazy about skiing. In my book that’s better than drugs or boys.”
“Talking of boys, have you noticed Brenna’s hair is longer than it used to be?” Tyler watched as Brenna slid into a booth next to Josh, the chief of police.
“I assume you know Brenna isn’t a boy?”
“Can’t help thinking of her that way. Back when we were growing up she hung out and did what we did. She was a fourth brother to us.”
Jackson wondered whether decking his brother would bring him to his senses or just add to his problems. “I never saw her that way.”
Tyler wasn’t listening. “Think I should warn her about Josh? Guy’s got a reputation.”
“And you haven’t?”
“I’m not the one looking at Brenna as if I’d like to strip her naked.”
Jackson was fairly sure if he did then Brenna wouldn’t object, but he decided that was something Tyler had to work out for himself. “Brenna can handle herself.”
“So when the two of you went out—” Tyler’s voice was casual “—it was like a guy’s night, yes? You shared a few beers. Shot a few rounds of pool?”
Jackson decided this definitely wasn’t the moment to mention that Brenna had worn a tight black dress and they’d shared a candlelit dinner. “She drank beer, yes.”
“Maybe I’ll see if she wants to spend a day skiing sometime, like we used to.” Taylor scowled across the room. “She’s smiling. What the hell is funny about an emergency response plan? Is she seeing Josh?”
Jackson glanced over his shoulder to where Brenna was laughing with the chief of police. “Looks like she’s seeing him now.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“I know. But I don’t insist on knowing the detail of the love life of my employees.”
“Maybe you should. The last thing we need is the law hanging around Snow Crystal. Folks will think we’ve got trouble here.”
“We went to school with Josh. He drinks here. Skis here. He’s a member of the mountain rescue team.”
“So he doesn’t need to date the staff, too. Talking of business, I assume your plans for tomorrow involve a certain slick city girl with blond hair and great legs.”
“She came here for the Snow Crystal experience. It starts tomorrow.”
“It started this evening—” Tyler winked at a pretty blonde who walked into the bar with a group of friends “—when she was swallowed whole by the O’Neil family. I’d say that’s a pretty standard Snow Crystal experience.”
Jackson stared at the bottle in his hand, anger mingling with frustration. “Gramps didn’t give her a chance.”
“Yeah, well you know how he hates anyone messing with his toys.”
“She looked shell-shocked.”
“Probably the sight of Gram’s knitting. That shade of green didn’t do it for me, either. Please tell me that’s not my Christmas present.” Tyler shuddered and Jackson