The Mills & Boon Christmas Wishes Collection. Maisey Yates
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than Louis Vuitton himself, though he tries to hide that behind that saucy smile of his. He’s really on the rebound, if you ask me. The split from his wife is pretty recent, and I kind of can’t forget he married her about two seconds after I left town.”
“Ancient history, everyone changes. And you can cry busy your entire life and end up alone. When anyone mentions Kai, however, your eyes light up like that Rudolf figurine over there.”
I really was busy! And while Timothy had made it clear he was interested, I still wasn’t sure. In my heart of hearts, I was hoping things would change with Kai, but would I be brave enough to say anything? Probably not, because the moment we’d shared hadn’t come up between us. It must have been that forgettable. At my age, when everyone was scrambling for love, commitment, their version of happy ever after, shouldn’t I be acting more proactively about my future? It was easier to dither along, and hope the sun would shine one day soon and make it blindingly obvious.
I hesitated, Amory reading my facial expressions as well as if they were her own. “Start with hello.” She grabbed my shoulders and marched me to the door.
When Kai caught sight of me, he gave me a slow smile that lit up the bright blue of his eyes. It was enough to make my heart pound. Really, I was a bundle of nerves. “Clio…” He held out a hand.
Behind me Amory hissed, “Ughay imhay!”
I turned and shushed her, whispering, “Pig Latin, Amory, really? Am I a child?”
She giggled. “Sometimes. Hug-the-damn-man!”
I blanked my face and trudged over, grabbing his outstretched hand, and pulling him in for a hug. Happy now, Amory? I was so focused on shutting her up that it took a moment to realize I was lost in the comfort of his arms – too long, I stood there, possibly murmuring to myself. He smelled so good, like hopes and dreams, and… Get a hold of yourself!
I extricated myself, apologizing profusely.
I glanced at Amory and she rolled her eyes again before reaching past me to shake Kai’s hand.
“Hi, Kai, so great to meet you properly at last. I hope you got in OK.” She smiled and then turned to Micah. “Sorry to bug you as soon as you’re back, Micah, but can I get a hand for a minute? I need some help moving one of the tables into the salon…” She didn’t make eye contact with me, the little minx. There was zero need to move any table, and she knew that full well.
“Sure,” Micah said affably. “Chat later, Kai.” They shook hands and Micah jogged up the porch, to move a table that didn’t need moving.
We stood awkwardly, our eyes cast to the snow-covered ground. Words suddenly escaped me. How ridiculous, acting like a dumbstruck teenager at thirty-three years of age. It’s not like we’d even seen each other naked, or had anything to be shy about. So, we’d locked lips. Big deal! I stared him full in the face, forcing myself not to look away, proving I could be the mature adult I was. I did my best I’m totally together impression and hoped he’d read my true feelings.
“Are you OK, Clio?” he frowned, concern clouding his eyes.
“Yes, why?”
“You haven’t blinked once.”
My lips twitched with laughter. Maybe my totally together impression needed a little work.
He gave me a bemused smile, or at least I think it was bemused – he might have been searching for an escape route. I certainly was.
“Shall we go inside?” He wiped a thick layer of snow from my shoulder. God, the poor Australian in him was probably freezing to death.
“Yes, let’s get you warmed up by the fire. Get those wet clothes off you.”
This time he really laughed, a full-bellied sort and said, “Have you been drinking?”
“No, why?” Scatterbrained fool!
“Nothing, let’s go inside. I can dust off my coat on the edge of the porch.”
Oh, he thought I’d meant get all of his clothes off! Did he? I wanted to die.
“Yes, of course.”
I led him inside, and he hung his jacket on the coat rack in the mudroom, before joining me in the front parlor. “Wow, Clio, look at this place now.” When he’d left, the lodge had been finished but not fully furnished, and most of our décor had still been in transit. He hadn’t seen any of the completed rooms except the ballroom, which we’d done for Imelda and Edgar’s party.
“Wait until you see the chapel. It’s glorious. The pews are all set up and the pulpit – with the stained-glass windows funneling in light and the fire glowing in the grate – it’s one of the prettiest spaces I’ve ever seen.”
Whenever we discussed the lodge, Kai’s face changed, like he’d found a pot of gold. He was always interested to know every little detail, when most people’s eyes would have glazed over by then. I think it was a mixture of rapture about the expansive grounds, the beauty of nature, and the idea of providing accommodation in such a place, with old-school activities and lots of adventure. And let’s not forget the mountain range he virtually ran up. For fun.
“You’re amazing, Clio. To have so much happening. It’s only been a month or so since the lodge got a makeover and already you’ve held an expo and locked in some guests and weddings.”
Had Kai worried that no one would visit? Evergreen wasn’t like other New Hampshire towns with big populations and tourist attractions galore. Unless you were a nature lover and happy to find your way around unmarked tracks, there wasn’t much more to do in Evergreen. But that was kind of a joy in itself. It wasn’t full to bursting with people, and when you went for a hike seeking solitude, you soon found it.
“It’s not just me, Kai. I’ve had so much help from so many people. And now I have Amory here – the dream team, she calls us.”
“A force to be reckoned with,” he grinned.
“If you’re getting married…” I stopped short. “Not you, but…” Kill me.
“Speaking of which, we’d better go over to see Ned. May as well see what can be done.”
“Let me get the paperwork.”
My head was suddenly clear. We needed this to go without a hitch so I could assure our brides the chapel was ready for their weddings. We needed their deposits too, to go forward with the renovations on the chalets, giving us another income stream for spring when the holiday season would truly begin.
After two hours of back and forth with Ned, me biting my tongue to prevent me speaking out of turn, and Kai keeping his cool and patiently explaining each improvement down to the type of nuts and bolts that were used, Ned agreed to approve the chapel at Cedarwood pending a visit to inspect the structure properly, before the year was out. We had a February wedding to organize, so it had to be done as soon as possible in case Ned found any problems and we needed to fix them. It was a weight off my mind, but I wouldn’t fully relax until he put pen to paper and signed the document.
As we drove sedately back to Cedarwood, the silence weighed a little heavier. It was like we were tongue-tied and I missed our usual affable chats about every little thing.
Kai must have sensed my unease and finally said, “What are you thinking about? You’re doing that squinty, hunchy thing of yours again, like you can’t see.”
“What squinty hunchy thing?”
He squinted and hunched over, letting the steering wheel go and hugging himself tight. “Like that. You always do that same thing when you’re worried.”
I peeked down at my body and found he was right. The Hunchback of Notre Dame had nothing on me. “Talk about bad posture, oh upright one.”
His shiny white teeth shone under the soft sunlight, and he let the teasing go