The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance. Carol Marinelli
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he liked the feel of her next to him a little too much. It felt warm and companionable. Just like Mira herself.
The woman didn’t talk nonstop, like he’d been expecting. And he found himself wishing she did. He liked the sound of her voice.
How the hell did he even know what her voice sounded like?
He did, though. He could hear it in his head. Hear the words they’d exchanged since their first meeting less than a week ago.
Was that all it had been?
“We should be good here,” she murmured.
“Good?”
She nodded at something next to them. A signpost with rustic hand-painted arrows pointed in various directions. The top arrow said, “Sleigh Ride Pick-up Point Here.”
“How long has your dad owned this place?”
“He built it. He inherited the land from his grandfather and decided to do something with it. He and my mom lived in a little cabin a mile or two down the road before he decided to build the resort. He’s tried to preserve the natural beauty and disturb the surrounding area as little as possible.” She let go of his arm and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her long coat, shifting her weight slightly away from him.
“I’d say he succeeded. It’s a restful place. Did you spend your childhood here?”
“Until I got out of high school.”
She didn’t offer any other explanation than that, but her voice had hardened slightly. Better not to press her for anything more on that subject.
A musical chink-chink-chink-chink sounded in the distance, growing closer. A minute or two later a large cream-colored horse came into view, pulling a sleigh that looked like it had come straight out of a Christmas song, complete with sleigh bells. With shiny black side panels, the sled sat atop gracefully curved silver runners. The interior was lined in red velvet and the whole vehicle gave the impression of an “S” that had been tilted onto its side—the driver sitting up front on a high plush bench, while a second seat sat further back and much lower to the ground. The passenger area had a very private appearance that didn’t do anything for his already taut nerves. And true to Mira’s words, a pile of folded blankets sat next to the driver.
The horse snorted and shook its head, making the bells attached to his harness jingle again. Mira moved over to the animal and stroked its neck. “How are you doing, Patsy?”
Patsy? The huge animal looked nothing like its name.
The driver tied the reins to a bar on the front of the sleigh and clambered down from his seat. “Hello, Mira. It’s been a while since you’ve ridden with us. Patsy’s missed you.”
“I know. I’ve missed her too. And you.” She glanced back at Jack. “This is Norman, our driver. Norm, this is Jack Perry, one of the resort’s guests. He’s never ridden on a sleigh before. In fact, there are quite a few things he hasn’t done before.”
Jack’s neck and face grew hot at the way she’d said it, as if he were an inexperienced teenager being let out into the world for the first time.
Actually, that might not be too far from the truth. It had been a while since he’d let himself out into the world. And that hadn’t even been his idea. He had his coach to thank for this awkward little mountaintop excursion.
“Nice to meet you.” Norm—an older man with a close-cropped silver beard and matching hair—reached out to shake his hand. His top hat and black wool coat gave him a formal air that went well with the sleigh. “If you two are ready...? Patsy’s glad to be out of that barn and is raring to go.”
The man then reached up to his seat, snagged two thick plaid blankets and handed them to Jack. “It gets chilly back there—better bundle up.” He smiled. “Mira used to look like a baby polar bear when she was young, she’d wrap up in so many layers. She’d fall asleep in the back and let us pull her and Ellory all over the place.”
Perfect. He’d been hoping to ignore the whole hunker-beneath-the-blanket thing. He covered it up by asking, “Ellory?”
Mira came over to stand beside them. “The woman who stopped by our table at dinner. She’s a good friend of mine.”
That’s why her name sounded familiar.
Giving the harness a quick check, Norm said, “Ellory came out to say hello to me a few days ago. I didn’t realize she was back in town.”
“She’s here for a visit. I’m trying to talk her into staying.”
Jack shifted the blankets to the other hand. “She’s also the one who gestured she’d meet you in five minutes when we were in the bar, right?”
“Five...?”
Jack couldn’t be sure if it was just a trick of the old-fashioned gas streetlamp, but her face seemed to grow pink, the tip of her nose taking on a warm glow. “Yes, that was her.”
Before he had a chance to wonder if something was wrong, the driver gestured to the back seat. “Climb aboard.” He tweaked Mira on the nose. “You want me to take the scenic route up by the silver mines?”
“Would you? I’m sure Jack’ll want to see them.”
“For you? Anything. I’ll let you point out the sights, since you know them as well as I do by now.”
The scenic route. He had no idea what that meant, but had a feeling it was a whole lot longer than the traditional route.
The snow had let up as he climbed into the back of the sleigh and then held out a hand to Mira and helped her up. The velvet seats were warm and inviting against the chill of the air. “Are these heated?”
Mira took the blankets from him and shook them out, placing them over their laps. “Mmm-hmm. Norm installed them. They’re powered with a rechargeable battery pack beneath the seat.” She snuggled deep, pulling one of the blankets up to her chin. “Comfortable?”
With the seats or with the company? At the moment he couldn’t really answer that. Despite his misgivings about coming on this little outing, he felt himself relax in a way he hadn’t in quite a while. It could be the lack of sleep, or it could just be from having a pretty woman sitting next to him. He could just glimpse a patch of stars through a break in the heavy cloud cover, and although the little pinpoints didn’t throw off much light, the streetlamps made up for them, providing a nice glow that ran down the path as far as he could see.
Norm clucked to the horse and turned her around in the small cul-de-sac, and then they were on their way, the metal runners making a slicing sound as they cut across the frozen earth.
The back of the vehicle was clearly built for romance and late nights under the stars. The walls surrounding them forced them close enough together that their shoulders touched.
Mira rested her head against the back of the seat with a sigh. “It’s been ages since I’ve been out on the sleigh. It always used to put me to sleep.”
Funny, because, despite his earlier thoughts, the last thing Jack felt like doing right now was sleeping. “How’s he going to find his way in the dark?”
“The paths are all lit, even the back ones, and the resort has its own plow to keep the snow from getting too deep on these throughways.” She angled her head to the side so she was facing him. “Thanks for letting me tag along.”
A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “I should be thanking you again for bailing me out of an awkward situation.”
Not that the one he was in now was any less awkward.
“Mmm, well, you saved me from dining alone with my dad. Once you get him talking about football, that’s all he wants to discuss. That lets me off the hook.”
That surprised him. The two of them had seemed close. “Do you not get along?”