CHAPTER TWELVE
“IT’S BEEN SO long since we managed Sunday breakfast together. We love it when you girls find time to join us, don’t we, Alice?” Elizabeth, the boys’ mother, slid a stack of freshly cooked pancakes onto a plate and put them in the center of the scrubbed kitchen table. “Sit down, the three of you. What a wonderful party. I haven’t enjoyed myself that much for years. Élise, you did us proud, sweetheart. You must be exhausted after all that work and excitement. Did you sleep at all last night?”
“Yes.” And she’d woken in her own bed even though she knew that wasn’t where she’d fallen asleep.
Sean must have carried her.
If she hadn’t been so stressed about it she would have smiled because she knew he would have struggled to do it without banging his head.
Why had he bothered to come to her lodge when he could have just walked away?
And why had he asked all those questions? All he’d needed to know was that she didn’t want a relationship. He didn’t need to know the reasons why.
“It was a great party.” Kayla had brought Maple with her and she cuddled the dog as she sat down at the table. “I talked to a million people and my face hurts from smiling. It’s going to be great for the business. Is there anything I can do to help with breakfast, Elizabeth? Can I cook something?”
Brenna pulled a face and Elizabeth smiled nervously. “You just sit there, dear. I love cooking and we all know it’s not your favorite thing.”
“What she means is you are truly terrible at cooking.” Élise poured coffee into mugs and set them on the table. “What? Why are you all looking at me?”
Brenna grinned. “Because you don’t know the meaning of the word tact.”
“I speak the truth so none of us is poisoned. At cooking, Kayla is truly terrible but at organization and marketing—” She lifted her mug in a toast. “She is a genius. To Kayla.”
“To Kayla,” Brenna said and Kayla grinned as she lifted her mug.
“To us and to teamwork. The summer hasn’t been awful. We’re still in business. Here’s to a brilliant winter with masses of snow and more bookings than we can handle.”
“Talking of winter, I spent some time with Josh last night.” Brenna added maple syrup to her pancakes, missing the look Kayla sent Élise.
“He’s a nice boy,” Alice murmured. “His grandmother is in my knitting group.”
“He’s thirty-something, Alice.” Brenna smiled. “Not exactly a boy.”
“A man.” Elizabeth topped up the pancakes. “A very handsome man. I’ve always liked him, even though his father once arrested Tyler for skiing off Mitch Sommerville’s garage roof. What were you talking about, dear?”
“We’re thinking about doing a course on winter safety.” Brenna picked up her fork. If the mention of Tyler had unsettled her, she wasn’t showing it. “We’re both members of the Mountain Rescue Team so it makes sense.”
“Tyler’s a member of the Mountain Rescue Team.” Alice reached across and stroked Maple’s soft, springy fur. “You could do it with him.”
Élise winced. “Alice—”
“I just think the two of them would work well together, that’s all. Isn’t Maple looking well, Elizabeth? I remember when Jackson found her in the forest—she was skin and bone. It’s done her so much good living with the family. She loves it here.”
Élise felt a lump in her throat. She loved it here, too. Who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t love living here, with the O’Neils?
Aware that Kayla was watching her, she helped herself to a pancake.
Merde, she was losing it. Now she was empathizing with Maple and what she should be doing was thinking of Brenna’s feelings.
“I think it would be good for Brenna to work with Josh.” For one thing it might be the wake-up call Tyler needed. “I like him.”
The door opened and Jackson walked in. Maple sprang from Kayla’s lap, hurtled across the room like a bullet and jumped up like a spring, deliriously happy to see him.
He scooped her up. “Any of those pancakes left?”
“Of course.” Elizabeth slid pancakes onto a plate and placed it on the table. “Sit down. Are Tyler and Sean coming, too?”
“Tyler is on his way.” Jackson sat down and slid his hand over Kayla’s knee. “Sean has gone back to Boston. He texted me.”
“He dropped in to say goodbye.” Alice picked up her knitting. “He said he’d be back next week to take Walter to his hospital appointment.”
Élise kept her eyes on her plate.
She should be relieved he’d gone. It was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it?
The intensity of what had happened the night before had shocked her.
It had shocked him, too.
She wondered if he’d spoken to his grandfather before he’d left, or whether he’d just left the topic of the row simmering between them.
“More to eat, Élise?” Elizabeth hovered, the pan in her hand. Élise shook her head.
“Non, merci. I am not hungry.”
“I ate so much last night I may never eat again.” Jackson gave her a smile as he reached for the maple syrup. “The food was incredible. Everyone was talking about it. You’re a genius and we’re lucky to have you. I probably don’t tell you that enough.”
“I am the one who is lucky.” Living here. With them.
She looked up and met his gaze.
He was the best friend she’d ever had.
Without him...
She swallowed. She didn’t even want to think about where she would have been without him.
Jackson stuck his fork into a pancake. “So is this a good moment to ask you another favor? Kayla and I have had a new business idea. We’re going to offer corporate team-building events. We need help with the food.”
“Pas de problème, I will book them a table in the restaurant.” It was a relief to think about work again. “Just tell me how many.”
“Not the restaurant. They’re going to hike and camp overnight on the Long Trail. If that doesn’t help them bond, nothing will.”
“You are taking a group of senior executives camping?”
“Genius, don’t you think?” Kayla sneaked some food to Maple who was still nestled on Jackson’s lap. “It will be a real test for them. You’re responsible for providing them with delicious food to take their mind off blisters and insect bites.”
“Who is going to put the tent up?”
“They are. With a little help from Tyler. He’s going to add in the whole gold-medallist-elite-sportsman-motivational-talk thing he does. All part of our unique offering.”
“Tyler will be driven mad spending two days trapped with office types. How did you persuade him to do it?”
“Two of the first group are women. I showed him photographs. So could you design a menu? Something they can cook with limited equipment.”
“Of course.” Élise pondered the options. “It will have to be light to carry and easy to cook. You need to give me the equipment they will have and I will see what I can cook on it.”
“I can go one better than that.” Jackson helped himself to more pancakes. “You can do the trip yourself. Tyler is going to plan the route and pick the best camping spot. You can go together. There’s the O’Neil Cabin high up on the trail but he thinks that’s too far for just two days of hiking with city folk who usually just walk to a cab or a subway so he’s going to find somewhere closer. Keep next weekend free.”
“I have to be in the restaurant.”
“Poppy and I can cope.” Elizabeth wiped her hands on her apron. “And Antony, the boy who’s just joined, is turning out very well. He’s a hard worker. He just needs a little more confidence. We’ll be fine. It will be good for us to manage without you. You can’t carry on working this hard.”
“I love working hard and it is important for the business that we bring in as many guests as possible.”
She owed Jackson a debt. A debt she was determined to repay in full.
And now that Sean had gone and Walter was improving by the day, life could get back to normal.
* * *
“THEY’RE PLEASED WITH your progress, Gramps.” Sean drove out of the hospital car park, determined that this time he was going to find a moment to bring up the topic of their row. He didn’t know what he was going to say, but maybe they could clear the air a little. “I checked the results myself. You’re a walking miracle. They want to know what your secret is.”
“No secret. All it takes is Snow Crystal air and having your family around you. You were looking better yourself after spending time at home. Now after a week in the city you’re back to wearing the stress along with the suit.”
Sean knew his stress had nothing to do with his week in Boston and everything to do with what had happened the night of the party.
Élise had wanted him to leave, so he’d left. That should have been it. With his grandfather recovering, he’d expected to return to his life in Boston and pick up where he left off.
Instead, he found himself missing certain things. He missed the long days working on the deck. He missed the smell of summer rain on the trees and the slap of water against the deck as he worked. He missed exchanging banter with his brothers.
But most of all he missed her. The smile. The dimple. That mouth.
Shit.
He tightened his grip on the wheel. What the hell was wrong with him?
All right, so it had been good sex, but good sex didn’t usually affect his concentration. And the fact she hadn’t wanted to make any of it personal shouldn’t worry him, either. No one understood that better than him.
“I’m not stressed, Gramps.”
“Of course you are and that’s hardly surprising with the life you lead, cooped up in that box under artificial lights.”
“You mean the operating room?”
“That’s what I mean. Unhealthy. You need air. And people. A job is all well and good but it’s marriage to a good woman that makes a man happy and content.” Walter stared straight ahead. “You should try it.”
Sean almost drove the car into the ditch. Marriage? “I can tell you now that isn’t going to happen so you can let that drop right now.”
“A man can’t fool around forever.”
“I’m not fooling around. I love my work. I’m not prepared to compromise that for a relationship and no sane, self-respecting woman would put up with my hours.”
His grandfather ignored him. “I worked long hours. Your grandmother was very understanding. We’re a team. Always have been, right from day one.”
“Grams is a saint, we all know that.”
“It was a good party. Shame you had to leave so early the next day. Still, at least you came. Élise is a good dancer, isn’t she?”
Sean gritted his teeth.
His grandfather knew. Somehow, his grandfather knew.
Sweat pricked the back of his neck. He thought of Élise, her legs tangled with his, her mouth on his as the rain dripped through the canopy of the trees. “I had to leave. I’d fixed the deck and it was time to fix some patients.”
“If you’re fixing them on a Sunday morning I hope you’re charging them a lot. I guess you are or you wouldn’t be driving a car like this one.” His grandfather stroked his hand over the seat. “It’s not big enough for a family.”
“I don’t have a family.”
“Yet. When you do, you’re going to need to buy something bigger.”
“I don’t need anything bigger.” Remembering why he’d chosen to live in Boston, Sean punched the gas and headed toward Snow Crystal. “So the hospital doesn’t want to see you for another six weeks. That’s great news.”
It meant he had no reason to come back for six weeks. Six weeks was plenty of time to get back into the rhythm of his life.
“The doctors here are good. As good as any you’ll find in Boston. You should work here. Then you’d be closer to home. Maybe the hours wouldn’t be so long.”
It never ended. No matter how old he was, the pressure was always there. It was like being trapped under someone’s boot.
It had been like this for his father and he’d had it all the time with no respite.
His stomach felt hollow.
The desire to bring up the topic of the row fled. How could he talk about it when he was still angry inside? When the resentment was still there?
Instead, he kept to the subject of work. “You don’t understand anything about what I do.”
“So tell me.”
Sean was thrown because his grandfather so rarely asked for details about his life. The conversation was only ever about Snow Crystal. The business. The family. What he wasn’t doing.
He decided that anything was better than a conversation about marriage. “My department is at the forefront of innovation in ACL surgery.” Knowing that his grandfather, an experienced skier, would understand exactly what that meant, he didn’t bother simplifying it. Instead, he explained his research, his interests, what excited him. And his grandfather listened.
“So you’re stabilizing the knee and getting the patient active again. That’s good. Rewarding work.”
Sean relaxed slightly. “Yes.”
“So if you’re the one running it, you could run it from here.” His grandfather’s tone was innocent. “I don’t see why Boston should benefit from your skills. There are plenty of folks around here that would be happy to have you fix them when they’ve broken something and we have more skiing injuries than people in Boston. Last time I looked they didn’t have mountains there.”
They’d come full circle. “I deal with top athletes. They travel from all over to see me.”
“No reason why they couldn’t travel here. And they’d have the views, good food and fresh mountain air thrown in for nothing. If you worked here, you’d be able to live at Snow Crystal, help your brothers and see plenty of Élise.”
“Jesus, Gramps—” Sean slammed on the brakes and pulled the car into the entrance of the Carpenters’ apple farm, narrowly avoiding a deep rut in the road.
“Don’t use bad language. It upsets your grandmother.”
“Grams isn’t here. And I’ll use whatever language I choose to use, just as I’ll live where I want to live and do the job I want to do.”
“And kiss the girl you want to kiss.”
“Yes.” Sean narrowed his eyes, wondering just how much his eagle-eyed grandfather had seen the night of the party. “That, too.”
“Just make sure you’re not so busy kissing every pretty girl you meet, you lose the one you’d like to kiss for the rest of your life.”
Suddenly all he could think of was the generous curve of Élise’s mouth, that dimple, and he gritted his teeth.
“My focus is my job.”
“A job doesn’t keep you warm at night. I loved my job, too, but the moment I met your grandmother, I knew. So did she. Maybe you have to get to a certain age to know what’s important in life. Health and people you love around you. That’s it.”
Sean leaned his head back against the seat. “Are you about done with the lecture?”
“Not lecturing. Just passing on my wisdom. It’s been easier on your brothers, you being home more the last few weeks. It’s because of you the Boathouse is opening. If you were closer, you could do more of that. And you could use some of that expertise people pay good money for to help Brenna develop a pre-conditioning program before the ski season. Now get out of here. The Carpenters aren’t my favorite people and I don’t want to be parked on their land.”
Afraid that if he answered he’d say something he regretted, Sean was about to pull back onto the road when he saw a flash of long red hair far in the distance. Someone was walking in the Carpenters’ apple orchards.
He squinted, trying to get a clearer look but whoever it was vanished out of sight.
Feeling uneasy, Sean turned his head to see if his grandfather had noticed anything but Walter was concentrating on the road.
“This car is too low down.”
Sean glanced back at the farm but there was no one in sight.
Telling himself that there were plenty of women with long red hair, he pulled back onto the road and flattened his foot to the floor, deciding that the sooner he dropped his grandfather back, the better.
“I’ll be back to take you to your next hospital appointment, not before.”
Churned up inside, he dropped off his grandfather, reassured his grandmother that Walter was making miraculous progress and went to find his brothers.
He found Tyler outside the Outdoor Center, sprawled in the dirt, fixing a mountain bike.
His brother took one look at his face and sat up. “You look happy. Gramps is obviously back on form. Don’t tell me, he wants you to move back home and run a private clinic right here at Snow Crystal.”
“Something like that.”
Tyler wiped his forearm over his forehead. “Haven’t seen you since the party. I noticed you disappeared early.”
“I was tired.”
“Yeah, right. So tired you had to lie down in a nice big bed. I’ve been that tired a few times in my life.”
Irritated by the conversation with his grandfather, Sean sent his brother a look. “Why is everyone suddenly so interested in my love life? What about you? Did you dance with Brenna at the party?”
“No, but I noticed you did.” Tyler’s expression darkened. “So what was that about? One woman isn’t enough for you?”
“For your information I can’t imagine kissing one woman for the rest of my life.”
“You kissed her?” Tyler jumped to his feet and the bike crashed to the ground. “You kissed Brenna?”
Sean, who had been thinking about Élise, was startled to find himself pinned against the fence. “Hey, this is my favorite suit. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You have to ask me that? You kissed Brenna!”
“I did not kiss Brenna.”
Tyler’s hold relaxed slightly. “You just said you did.”
“I did not. I said my idea of a nightmare was kissing the same woman for the rest of my life. I did not say I kissed Brenna.” Sean shoved his brother and smoothed his creased shirt, battling sibling irritation and other emotions he didn’t want to examine more closely. “I’ve known her since she was four years old. She’s like a sister to me.”
“Right. Good.” Tyler’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Your shirt needs ironing. Your standards are slipping since you arrived home.”
Sean decided revenge didn’t have to involve ruining a perfectly good set of clothing. “Of course, just because I’ve known her since she was four years old doesn’t stop me from noticing that she’s looking good.” His shirt was already creased so he decided he might as well go for it. “Now you mention it, maybe I should kiss her. Why not?” He decided to stir a bit harder. “Although I might have competition.”
“Competition?”
“Yeah. I saw her talking to Josh. Judging from the look on his face, he definitely doesn’t think she’s four years old. Women love Josh.”
“They’re friends.” From the way Tyler spoke through his teeth it was obvious the relationship didn’t thrill him.
“He sat next to me in biology and English, which means he’s known her as long as I have. I don’t see you creasing his shirt.”
“If I creased his shirt I could end up in handcuffs for assaulting an officer of the law.”
“So it doesn’t bother you that she’s with him?”
“She isn’t with him. They’re just friends. And sure it bothers me. But not as much as the thought of you and her together.”
“Thanks. I love you, too. You always were my favorite brother.”
Tyler didn’t even raise a smile. “Brenna is straightforward and uncomplicated.”
“She’s a woman,” Sean drawled. “No woman is ever straightforward and uncomplicated.”
“She is not your type. You’d break her.”
Sean frowned. “I don’t seem to recall you being exactly careful with female hearts.”
“I never laid a finger on Brenna.”
And that, Sean thought wearily, was his brother’s main problem. “Why not?”
“I don’t think of her like that.” Tyler’s scowl deepened. “And you’re not going to think of her like that, either.”
“But if you’re not interested—”
“I’ve been looking for you, Tyler.” Suddenly Jackson was between them, calm and solid. “Should have guessed you’d be hiding out here. I’ve got a problem.”
“So have I.” Tyler was glaring at Sean. “It shares your DNA and I’m going to break a bone in its body in a moment.”
Sean rubbed at a smudge on his jacket. “Broken bones are my specialty, remember?”
Jackson ignored both of them. “Kayla has arranged a corporate team-building event. Overnight hike on the Long Trail.”
“I know. You told me about it.” Looking grumpy, Tyler lifted the bike out of the dust. “I have to take a bunch of out-of-condition office types hiking. It will be the highlight of my life.”
“I need you to do a trial run next weekend.”
“I don’t need to do a trial run. I know that trail like the back of my hand. I could walk it in the dark in my sleep with both legs tied together and still be back in half the time you’re giving them.”
“It’s not for your benefit. It’s for Élise.”
Stirred out of thoughts of his conversation with his grandfather, Sean frowned. “What does Élise have to do with it? She’s not doing a trip with Tyler.”
“Élise is preparing the food and she wants to be sure her menu will work with the equipment out in the wild. She’s arranged cover in the restaurant next weekend.”
“You want me to camp overnight with Élise? That sounds cozy.” Tyler glanced at Sean and his scowl turned to a smile.
Sean ground his teeth. “Is that supposed to bother me?”
“I don’t know. Does it?”
It did, but there was no way he was going to admit it. “Poor Élise,” he said smoothly. “Someone had better warn her you snore.”
“We probably won’t sleep much. We’ll be too busy keeping each other warm and staring into each other’s eyes.”
Jackson glanced between them in exasperation. “Are you two ever going to grow out of this?”
“Grow out of what?” Sean resisted the temptation to grab his younger brother by the throat. “If he wants to jump on Élise he can go right ahead. I hope he has fun. While he’s eating boil-in-the-bag food and being bitten by bugs, I just might take Brenna to dinner. She’s been working her butt off and deserves a little relaxation.”
Seeing Tyler’s expression blacken, Jackson swore under his breath. “I’ve got enough to do without pulling you two apart every two minutes.”
Tyler had his eyes fixed on Sean. “Brenna has more sense than to say yes to dinner with you.”
“Why? She went out to dinner with Jackson a few times last winter.”
“That’s different. Jackson doesn’t try and sleep with every woman he takes to dinner.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Are you about done?”
“I’m done.” Tyler flashed a furious look at Sean and strode into the Outdoor Center, hauling the bike with him.
Jackson watched him go. “What the hell are you playing at?”
“Just conducting an experiment. Seeing how things are.”
“We both know how things are and I’m happy for them to stay that way.” Jackson glanced at the group of children cycling behind Brenna toward the Outdoor Center. “Tyler and Brenna are both essential to the running of this place. I don’t want anything messing with that. Running this place is still a balance between swimming and drowning. It won’t take much to push us under.”
Sean glanced down at his shirt. “He wrecked a perfectly good shirt.”
“Makes a change that it wasn’t one of mine.”
“He’s crazy about her.”
“Maybe.” Jackson lifted a hand and acknowledged Brenna. “But he’s also very protective of her. You should probably keep that in mind next time you’re trying to goad him. And for God’s sake don’t take her to dinner. We had fireworks on the Fourth of July. We don’t need any more right now.”
“You took her to dinner.”
“It was just dinner.”
“I’m sure he loves Brenna.”
“Yeah, well maybe he does, but we all know that business with Janet Carpenter messed with his head.”
Sean hesitated, wondering whether to say something or not. “I pulled into the Carpenters’ place a little while ago.”
Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you do that?”
“I was considering killing Gramps and I needed both hands. The thing is—” he paused “—I thought I saw Janet.”
“You’re kidding me. That isn’t possible. She’s in Chicago.”
“It was from a distance. I could have been wrong.”
“You were wrong.” Jackson’s mouth tightened. “Whatever she thinks of Tyler, she’s Jess’s mother. She wouldn’t come back to see her folks and not tell her own daughter.”
“Wouldn’t she?” Sean wiped dust from his sleeve. “Last Christmas she sent that same daughter here to live permanently without giving a single thought to what was right for Jess. Didn’t seem to bother her much. Think we should mention it to Tyler?”
“No. Because you could have been wrong. Shit.” Jackson dragged his hand over the back of his neck. “I hope you are wrong. The last thing we need around here is Janet Carpenter mixing things up. Jess is settled and happy. Tyler is steadier than he’s been in years.”
“I’m probably wrong. There are plenty of women with long red hair. And why would she be here? She fell out with her folks and she hates Snow Crystal almost as much as she hates Tyler.”
“And Jess is stuck in the middle of that. From what I can gather they don’t even speak that often, but it doesn’t seem to bother Jess much. Since that incident at Christmas, everything has calmed down. She adores Tyler, so whatever Janet has tried to do to kill that hasn’t worked. Let’s just forget it and if it is her and she’s come back without telling her own daughter, all the more reason not to mention it. Jess doesn’t need the hurt and Tyler doesn’t need the hassle.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. And talking of causing Tyler hassle, about this camping trip—” Sean bent and brushed dust from his shoe. “I’ll do it.”
“You?” Jackson looked at him in astonishment. “You’ll be in Boston.”
“I was planning to come home next weekend, anyway. Just to check on Gramps.” The six weeks away from Snow Crystal he’d been planning suddenly felt like too long. “I’ll be here so I’ll do it.”
“So not only are you planning on coming home again, you want to go camping?” Jackson didn’t even bother to try and hide the smile. “Has someone suddenly invented a five-star tent with private facilities that I don’t know about?”
“I was brought up here, same as you. I know those trails as well as you. My wilderness survival techniques are as good as yours.”
“Since when did wilderness survival equipment include walking in handmade Italian shoes?” Jackson’s gaze slid from his shirt to his feet. “They’re going to look good after a day hiking on the trail. Is that your idea of dressing casually? Because you wouldn’t look out of place in a box at the opera.”
“That shows how many times you’ve taken a box at the opera. And for your information I just took Gramps to the hospital.”
“Right. That explains why your mood is so cozy and warm. That hike is tough. That’s why we’ve chosen it.”
“I can do tough. Try standing on your feet for twelve hours operating and then get up in the night for an emergency, then you’ll know tough.”
“You want to give up two days of your time to nursemaid a load of quarreling businessmen?”
“No. Tyler can do that part. I want to do the practice session.”
Jackson swatted a fly. “You’re really willing to go to these lengths just so Tyler doesn’t get to spend a night in a tent with Élise?”
“It’s got nothing to do with Élise. I’m doing my bit to help with the family business. It will get Gramps off my back. I just thought I could help out, that’s all. Visitor numbers are up. You can’t employ more staff until the numbers are healthier so I’m guessing you’re all stretched to the limit.”
“We are. But we’ve been stretched to the limit before and I didn’t see you throwing down your scalpel and running to our rescue. Which is fine, because you’re doing what you’re trained to do and we’re all proud of you.” Jackson’s gaze was steady. “So do us both a favor, cut the bullshit and tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Like I said, I’m helping out.”
Jackson sighed. “Fine, do it. As you say, we’re short of staff. It will free up Tyler to take that family on a mountain bike trip. But you do anything to Élise, you bring even one tiny tear to her eye, and I’ll be the one breaking your bones, not Tyler.”