by Liz Isaacson
“Oh, we’re not to picture level yet, Mister,” she said, surprised at how flirtatious she sounded. “Let’s start with basics. You’re Colton’s brother.”
“Yes,” Wes said. “The oldest.”
“I’m the oldest too,” she said, and she couldn’t believe she’d voluntarily brought up her family.
“Siblings?” he asked.
“Just one. Well.” She ground her voice through her throat, so many doors about to fly open. Doors Bree had worked for years to close and keep closed.
The snow in front of her blinded her, and a shiver ran down her arms despite her warm coat. She blinked, and she could see Bronson’s face.
“Well?” Wes asked. “I have four brothers, as I’m sure Colton’s told you.”
“He mentioned some brothers,” Bree said, hoping they’d move on to something else.
“Yeah,” Wes said. “I’m hoping to get everyone here for the New Year. My parents are getting older.”
“They’re not there?”
“Just me and my next youngest brother, Gray. Well, and his son. Colton’s up there. Ames is doing something with some charity or something this year.” Wes sighed as if working with a charity was just so taxing. “And Cy’s in California, probably sleeping on the beach.”
“Oh, wow,” Bree said, glancing around at the frosty landscape surrounding her. “I gotta be honest, Wes, I could go for a beach right now. It’s freezing up here.”
“Here too,” he said. “Been snowing for a few hours.”
“I think it’s tapered off here,” she said. “Colton should be able to get out of here on time.”
“Good,” Wes said. “Good.”
The conversation lulled again, but Bree did not want to go back to the cabin yet. “Tell me, Wes,” she said. “What do you do?”
“Yeah, I think we’ll save that for another day,” he said. “I called to hear your voice.”
“Oh, okay.” Bree laughed, but she didn’t really have anything to say to him. He was being cute though, and she did like that about him.
“So you tell me, Bree. What do you do? Tell me about the lodge. The Tetons. All of it.”
“Have you ever been up here?” she asked, automatically turning toward the mountains.
“Maybe once, when I was a little boy,” he said. “I don’t remember it.”
“Well, the mountains are amazing,” she said. “Simply stunning. They have snow on them year-round, and if you’ve never been here, you should come, and we’ll go on the Jenny Lake boat tour. It has the best views of the Grand Teton.”
“Wow,” he said, his voice lower and softer. “Keep going.”
So Bree did, telling him about the amazing pine forests, the hiking trails, and the gondola they could ride to the top of the world. “I mean it’s not really the top of the world,” she said. “But it feels like it. It’s incredible.”
“Incredible,” he repeated.
“And then, you can take me to dinner at Magic Moose. They have the best elk poutine in the entire universe.”
Wes laughed, but Bree knew that elk poutine was no laughing matter. She sure did like the sound of his laugh, though and she determined that Wes Hammond put off a very good air.
“Magic Moose,” he said. “It’s a date.”
“Yeah,” Bree said, twirling right there on the sidewalk. “It’s a date.” The call ended a couple of seconds after that, and Bree stared down at her device.
“Did that just happen?” she wondered aloud. She started walking toward the cabin where she lived, her legs and feet a bit numb. She told herself it was because of the cold, but she knew it wasn’t. No, her mind barely functioned and every appendage tingled, because Wes Hammond had called her.
Strange, she thought as the cabin came into view, and a steady stream of white smoke came out of the chimney. It would be toasty warm inside, and Bree needed the extra warmth.
She hadn’t been able to get herself to swipe right on any of the men on Singles Spark, though four had swiped on her. But one conversation with Wes had her hormones twittering about taking another chance.
It made no sense. Bree didn’t take chances. Not since she’d tried to skate across the frozen lake with Bronson, and he’d ended up in the icy water where she couldn’t save him.
She slammed the door on that memory, steeling herself to enter her cabin, somewhere she’d always felt safe and protected. If Colton asked her about her family, she’d just say she didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t have to tell him anything.
She opened the door and stepped inside.
“So?” Colton asked, bolting to his feet from the couch. “How was it? What did he say?”
“First of all,” Bree said, pressing into the closed door behind her. “He’s your brother, and I don’t want you texting him stuff about me.”
Colton looked like she’d said something scandalous. “I won’t.”
“Good.” She held up two fingers. “Second, it was kind of weird. He just wanted to hear my voice?” She shook her head. “That wasn’t a question. But I just told him about the mountains and Jenny Lake and stuff.”
Horror struck her right between the ribs. She was so stupid. Why had she prattled on about such dumb things? Surely that wasn’t what Wes had wanted to hear.
“He’s a big outdoors guy,” Colton said. “Though he hasn’t done much for a while. Day job and all.”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t talk about being CEO.” She cocked her eyebrows at Colton. “Is that because of the family business transfer or whatever?”
“Probably,” Colton said. “Wes...plays things close to the vest, you could say.”
Bree pushed away from the door and walked further into the cabin. “As long as Wes is his real name, he can keep whatever else he wants right up against that vest.” She paused and looked at Colton, only a couple of steps from him now. “Wes is his real name, right?”
She hadn’t told anyone about Jay, and the real reason she’d broken up with him. Not even Elise. The last thing she needed was sympathy and everyone looking at her like, Poor, poor Bree.
“Wesley,” Colton said. “But yeah.”
“Good.” She patted his chest, something sobering between them. “Thanks for bringing out my presents, Colton. Really.”
“Thanks for answering my brother’s phone call.”
Bree thought Wes must be terribly lonely, and she’d always heard it was hard to be the boss. Hard to be at the top, because the only place to go was down. Her heart bled for Wes, and she found herself wanting to talk to him again.
She stepped into Colton and gave him a hug. “I’m glad you stumbled upon Whiskey Mountain Lodge,” she said.
“Me too,” he whispered.
“Knock, knock,” someone said behind her, and Bree twisted in Colton’s arms as Annie entered the cabin.
“Oh, hey.” Bree cleared her throat and practically jumped away from the other woman’s boyfriend. She started shrugging out of her coat. “What brings you out here?”
Annie didn’t speak, and when Bree finally stopped fiddling with her coat for long enough to look at her, she plainly saw anger in Annie’s features.
“Talk to you later, Bree,” Colton said, heading for the door.
She wanted to call after him that nothing had happened. That she didn’t like Colton as more than a friend. Annie should know that.
But he stepped past her, and Annie glared her into silence, and then they were both gone.
Bree finally took another breath, tired from all the ups and downs of the last twenty minutes.
Maybe she could call Wes again, as he alone seemed to be able to soothe her. No, she told herself. After all, she didn’t want to come off as desperate.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Annie closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose, trying to get the image of Bree standing in Colton’s arms out of her head.
All the way out.
“Hey,” Colton said, reaching for her hand. “Were you looking
for me?”
“Yes.” Her eyes flew open, and she pulled her hand away from his. “I texted you five times.”
He held up his phone. “I just got them. Sorry, I was...dealing with something.”
“Yeah, looked like it.” Now that Annie was with Colton, she didn’t want to be. But he’d disappeared for most of the morning, and she’d only seen him briefly during the tree lighting. Then he’d flitted away again. She’d had to ask around until she got to Vi, who said she’d seen him leave with Elise and Bree, laden with their boxes.
He was just being nice, she told herself again. She’d repeated the sentence during the ten-minute walk out to Bree’s and Elise’s cabin.
“It’s not what you think,” Colton said.
Annie brushed by him and went down the steps. The afternoon of puzzling and talking together fizzled in her mind. The family always had a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner, but Annie had considered skipping it to go to dinner with Colton. Leaving her daughters behind to go out with a man.
Stupidity flowed through her, all that existed in the world coming to Wyoming to fill her from top to bottom.
“Annie, come on,” he said, coming after her.
“Tell me what it is then,” she said, not slowing down at all.
“It was just loud in the lodge today,” he said. “And I went out to Bree’s, and we got talking. That’s it.”
“Talking.” He must think her the world’s biggest fool. “Didn’t look like talking, Colton.” She cut a glare at him. “It looked like hugging.”
“Well, yeah,” he said. “Because we’re friends, and she’d just gotten off the phone with my brother, and—”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling. Actually smiling. Annie’s fury bubbled and boiled, and her fists clenched. “I kind of set them up.”
“Who?”
“My brother and Bree.”
Annie’s step slowed. “You set up your brother and Bree.”
“Yeah.” Colton smiled. “See? Not what you think.”
Annie wanted to believe him. Every cell in her body begged her to believe him. “If you wanted a quiet morning, why couldn’t we have gone to breakfast?”
“I didn’t see you when I came upstairs.”
“So you run off with the first woman you see?”
“No. Come on.” He sounded frustrated, and Annie hated that. She hated this barrier between them, and she knew what was at the root of it. Her jealousy.
“It was nothing,” he said. “Her place is quiet. She feeds me eggs and coffee. And that’s it.”
Annie’s chest stung, and she picked up the pace again. She had no idea what to say. She only knew she didn’t want Colton to eat Bree’s food or go out to her cabin. But Annie didn’t have a quiet, out of the way cabin where they could escape for a little down time.
“Annie.” He caught up to her again and took her hand in his. This time, she didn’t pull away. “Don’t be mad,” he said. “Please. It’s Christmas Eve, and I don’t want you to be mad.”
She didn’t want to be mad either, and the closer to the lodge they got, the more her anger ebbed away. “I just...it feels like you’re dating both of us.”
“Absolutely not true,” he said. “I haven’t held her hand. I haven’t kissed her. I haven’t even thought about doing those things. I don’t even want to. There’s no spark with me and Bree. None.”
“None?” Annie hated that she needed this reassurance. She didn’t remember being so needy in her relationship with Ryan. She’d been much younger, and their romance had been a whirlwind, with her meeting him on a Thursday afternoon when he came into the restaurant where she worked, and him proposing exactly six weeks later, in the same restaurant. They’d gotten married another three months after that, and just like that, within five months Annie’s whole life had changed.
“Absolutely none,” Colton said. “Do you want to call my brother and ask him? He literally just talked to Bree. I think they’re starting something.”
“That doesn’t really sound like Bree,” Annie said.
“Which part?”
“The long-distance relationship part.” Annie’s throat closed, because such a relationship wasn’t really something she wanted either. She knew things were up in the air with Colton, and she didn’t want to try to get him to tether things down right now. Soon, but not right now.
“Yeah, those are hard,” Colton said, his voice a touch cooler than before. Or maybe she was imagining things. With him, her imagination seemed to run on overdrive, conjuring up amazing fantasies, but also giving life to terrible fears too.
“I’m sorry,” she said when they stepped onto the back patio. “I shouldn’t have made assumptions.”
“It’s fine,” he said, flashing her a smile. “Do you think we can get down the canyon for lunch?”
A glow filled her whole soul. “Yes,” she said. “Let’s go to lunch.”
Getting away from the lodge was exactly what Annie needed. She hadn’t even realized how trapped she felt inside those walls, because the place was so big. But the moment she and Colton snuck away in his monster-sized SUV, the dark cloud that had been following her since that morning lifted.
The snow still stuck to the road, but Colton handled it like a pro. “You must be used to driving in the snow.”
“A little,” he said, glancing at her. “My parents live northwest of Denver, up in some hills. It’s a little town called Ivory Peaks.”
“Sounds quaint,” she said, smiling. She ran her right hand through her hair, feeling silly, and sexy, and so free.
“It’s quaint,” he said. “That sounds about right. Has a cute little town square, the red-and-white barbershop pole, all of that.”
“Did you spend much time in town?” she asked. “Here in Coral Canyon?”
“Not much,” he said.
“The town is growing,” she said. “But it still has a small-town feel.” Annie loved Coral Canyon, and she knew every street. Once, she’d known every resident, but the town was simply too big for that now.
She chattered on about the town, and where her house was, and some of her clients. Colton seemed interested in anything and everything she said, and he held her hand on the way into the restaurant and on the way back out.
“I’ve never had bison before,” he said. “And that was amazing.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” She waited for him to reach past her and open her door, the wind slipping down the collar of her coat. Colton did just that, and after she’d climbed into the truck, he crowded into the doorway.
“Thanks for coming to lunch with me.” He leaned forward and touched his lips to hers, and Annie tried not to melt into him. She tried, and she failed. She turned to butter the moment he touched her, and she wondered if he knew it.
He kept the kiss sweet, and it didn’t go on too long. When he backed up and closed her door, Annie finally opened her eyes. “Wow,” she whispered to herself, feeling a bit detached from her body.
“The roads are better,” he said as he climbed behind the wheel. “And hopefully we didn’t miss too much at the lodge.”
“We didn’t miss anything,” Annie said. “Unless you’re dying to get that fairy garden finished before Christmas.”
“I honestly haven’t even thought about it,” he said, and Annie laughed.
By the time they got back to the lodge, she felt like herself again, and she wore a big smile when she and Colton entered the lodge. She almost expected her girls to be standing there, tapping their toes and waiting for her to return. They weren’t.
A couple of people loitered in the living room, and Rose and Vi and Lily had their kids playing on the floor near the Christmas tree.
“How was lunch?” Lily asked as Annie came into the living room.
“Really great.”
“Where’d you go?” Vi asked. She reached down and took a wrapper from one of her girls.
“King Carver’s,” Annie said.
&n
bsp; “Oh, nice,” Lily said with a smile. She glanced at Colton. “You’re really trying hard.”
He blinked, his smile sliding onto his face a moment later, and Annie saw the marketing director shine through him. She knew, because she’d seen Andrew do the same thing whenever he had to talk to the press. Colton must have to do the same, because he wore a media mask right now as he looked at Lily.
“Am I?” he asked.
Lily blinked, and she cut a look at Annie. “I just meant it’s an expensive place.”
“Ah.” Colton nodded and pressed his palms together. “Yeah, it was expensive, but the bison bolognaise was really good.”
“I’ve had that,” Rose said. “It is delicious.”
“I’m not really a fan of the game meats,” Lily said.
Colton went around the couch and sat down on the opposite end from Lily. “Do you three still sing?”
The sisters exchanged a glance, and Vi said, “We aren’t recording right now. But we work on things from time to time.”
“Yeah, chasing toddlers,” Rose said, lunging for something one of her triplets tried to put in his mouth. “Not in your mouth, Collin.” She sighed as she tucked the ballpoint pen behind her ear. “Not much music-making for me.” She actually sounded sad about it.
“My mother loves your stuff,” Colton said. “She’ll die when I tell her I got to spend Christmas with the three of you.” The smile he gave them now seemed genuine. He looked up at Annie and patted the sofa cushion next to him, a clear invitation for her to join him on the couch.
They hadn’t made any plans to do anything that afternoon, and Annie figured visiting with the Everett sisters was as good of an idea as anything else they could do.
“Are your parents coming up tonight?” she asked.
“Not until morning,” Rose said. “The beds here hurt my dad’s back.”
“I know what he feels like,” Colton said.
“Your bed isn’t comfortable?” Annie asked, settling next to him.
He took her hand in his and said, “It’s okay. I’m kind of a diva when it comes to my mattress.”