by Chant, Zoe
“I’d love to,” he said.
Chapter 3
Glancing at Garrett out of the corner of her eye, Georgia almost had to pinch her arm to convince herself he was real.
It had taken every bit of courage she had to ask him to come down with them, though she wasn’t sure why, since Garrett had been nothing but lovely to both her and Logan – not to mention Freddy.
Maybe that’s the problem, though, she thought, as she watched Logan and Freddy marching down the snowy path ahead of them. He’s been so… so nice. If he’d said no, I would’ve been twice as disappointed.
She had to remind herself that in fact Garrett hadn’t said no at all. He was here by her side as they made their way down the mountain to Lake Smithson, and the resort area nestled on its edge.
I am going to be really annoyed if I do pinch myself and find out this is all a dream.
“You don’t skate yourself?” Garrett asked her as they rounded a corner and the resort, laid out in all its Christmas finery, came into view.
Georgia shook her head, laughing. “No, not much – I used to, but I suppose when you’re a kid you’re not so scared of falling over. And if you do, you’re having so much fun you just pick yourself up again and keep going.” She shrugged. “Besides, someone’s got to watch Freddy while Logan’s out on the lake.”
“I could do that, if you wanted to go with him,” Garrett said immediately. “If you think he won’t try to run from me.”
“Oh, no,” Georgia replied. “Freddy’s clearly taken to you – he ran right to you yesterday! But I don’t need to give everyone a spectacle by falling on my ass. It’s been years since I skated. I don’t think I can remember how.”
“Still, the offer stands,” Garrett said, turning to her with a small smile. “I’m sure it’d come back to you, if you gave it a try.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Georgia said. Usually, she wouldn’t consider it. But now, she felt a slight flutter of excitement in her chest.
To be honest, though, she wasn’t sure whether it was from the idea of going skating for the first time since she was a teenager, or from how close Garrett was standing to her. She’d been like this all morning, from the moment he’d shown up on their doorstep with her missing mitten.
And speaking of…
Without really meaning to, Georgia glanced down at her hand – inside the bright red mitten – and wiggled her fingertips.
It must have been just my imagination.
It had seemed real at the time, though – the jolt of electricity that had run through her when her fingers had brushed against Garrett’s as he’d passed her her mitten. She’d had to spend a few moments in her bedroom composing herself afterwards, before she felt ready to come out and continue their conversation. Her heart had been thumping, and when she’d looked in the mirror, her cheeks had been flushed, her pupils dilated.
Garrett was an attractive man, of course, and it’d been a while since she’d been touched – but still! Such a reaction was just ridiculous. She’d been around attractive men before, even if none of them could hold a candle to Garrett’s rugged, masculine beauty. And she’d only met him yesterday! Was that really enough time to build up so much chemistry?
With a sudden jolt, Georgia recalled what Emilia had once told her about when she’d met Rowan. How she’d felt an immediate spark between them, and how comfortable she’d felt around him right away. How she’d just known that he was someone she could trust, even though they’d met under extremely unusual circumstances.
Of course, I didn’t know what that was all about until later, when he explained about shifters and mated bonds, Emilia had told her. Then it all fell into place.
Georgia blinked, turning to Garrett with wide eyes.
Could it be…? Could he be…?
She squashed the thought as quickly as it came. She couldn’t afford to think like that. Rowan had already told her that bonds between humans and shifters were rare. Thinking that Garrett might be a shifter, and that they might share a mated bond was only setting herself up for disappointment.
A fairy tale like that wasn’t for people like her.
Biting her lip, Georgia realized that in any case, the alternative – that Garrett was just a really nice, incredibly handsome guy who’d agreed to come out for the day with her and Logan – was not exactly a bad consolation prize.
“I bet you must have been a champion skater when you were a kid,” she said, realizing she’d been quiet for a while. The silence had been companionable rather than awkward, though. The sound of their boots in the snow had been enough for them both.
Garrett laughed, soft and low, the sound sending a pleasant shiver straight up Georgia’s spine.
“Well, I was pretty good at most outdoors things,” Garrett said, confirming her suspicion without boasting. “Skating was never really my thing – I played hockey with my brothers, but that was about the extent of it. I liked camping more, I guess.”
“Oh, you have brothers?” Georgia smiled to think of them all roughhousing on a frozen lake. She’d have loved for Logan to have some siblings to play with, but things hadn’t worked out that way.
“Five of them,” Garrett said. “I’m the youngest. So you can imagine who got made to play goalie, and who ended up covered in bruises from the puck hitting them in the ass all day long. We didn’t exactly use padding.”
Georgia couldn’t hold back her laughter. The idea that Garrett ever could have been smaller or weaker than anyone seemed impossible!
“Do you have brothers or sisters?” Garrett asked.
Georgia shook her head. “Nope, just me. My mom died when I was twelve – cancer. My dad never remarried, so it was just him and me.”
She licked her lips, swallowing. She didn’t need to tell Garrett her life story. She usually kept these things to herself. When she glanced up at him though, she found his eyes full of sympathy.
“That must have been hard. I’m sorry.”
Georgia sucked in a quick, deep breath.
“I guess it was, but things happen, you know? It meant that my dad and I were close, and we still have a really good relationship. You take what good you can from the situation, and you try to move on.” She gestured ahead of them, to where Logan was waiting by the gate that led into the resort. “Like Logan. Even if things with his dad didn’t work out, I wouldn’t change things. Changing things means I might not have had him.”
She meant what she said. As difficult and painful as Logan’s father walking out on them had been, she couldn’t bring herself to regret their relationship, since it had given her their son.
“You’re an amazing woman, Georgia.”
She looked up in surprise to find Garrett’s deep, sea-blue eyes upon her. Looking into them now, they seemed as depthless as the ocean – and she felt she could just as easily sink into them. She felt breathless, too, like she was underwater. Her heart turned over in her chest, and she had to force herself to look away from him.
“I – I’m not, really,” she managed to get out when she found her voice again. “I just do what I have to do.”
Garrett shook his head. “That might be true, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. Sometimes just doing what you need to do can be the hardest thing. Raising a kid all by yourself… that can’t be easy. But you’re doing it. And you’re doing a great job. You clearly love Logan, and he loves you. You’re giving him a great childhood. You can’t say that’s not amazing.”
Georgia wasn’t sure what to say to that. She didn’t think of herself as amazing at all – but the way Garrett said it warmed her heart. Feeling herself becoming flustered, she decided to change the subject.
“Doing what you do – now that’s amazing. Tracking down criminals and bringing them to justice.” She laughed, a little shakily. “I suppose that must sound naïve, like I think you’re an action hero or something.”
“There’s… sometimes some action involved,” Garrett said. “And it can get a little dangero
us at times. But if you know what you’re doing… well, okay, it doesn’t necessarily get any less dangerous.” He paused, looking away. “That’s maybe why I’ve always been a little hesitant to start a family. I didn’t even know if I wanted one.”
A strange, almost painful shock ran through Georgia’s chest at the words. He doesn’t want a family?
“Why not?” she asked, managing, for the most part, to keep her voice even.
Garrett was silent for a long moment. Georgia caught her breath, about to apologize for being so nosy and tell him it was none of her business, when Garrett spoke up again.
“I suppose, being in my line of work… I was concerned about putting my partner or any children we had through that kind of worry. Like I said, it can be dangerous. I wouldn’t ask any woman to put up with that kind of uncertainty.”
Georgia understood what he was saying, but she couldn’t really say she agreed with his reasoning.
“What if… what if she decided it was worth it? What if she accepted the uncertainty, and knew that what she was getting in return made up for it?” she asked, turning to look at him. “I mean, there’s uncertainty in every situation, isn’t there? But you can’t deny yourself the things you want – especially when it comes to things like family – just because of that. The rewards hugely outweigh the risks, don’t you think?”
Garrett looked at her, his eyes wide. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Georgia felt caught in the endless blue of his eyes once more. His gaze was so open, so utterly unguarded that somehow, she felt she was looking directly into the deepest part of him. Into his heart, or his soul…
“Mooooom!”
Logan’s voice broke into her reverie like a wave crashing against the shore. Georgia shook her head, breaking free of the last of the trance she’d drifted into, forcing herself to look away from Garrett’s mesmerizing eyes.
“What is it, honey?” she asked, keeping her own eyes carefully focused on where Logan was waiting impatiently by the gate, Freddy sitting by his feet. Even though she wasn’t looking at Garrett, she remained incredibly… aware of his presence by her side. She almost felt like she could feel the heat of his body radiating against her skin, even through the thick layers of their winter clothes.
“If you don’t hurry up, the lake’ll be too full of other people.” Logan pushed at the gate as they approached. “Or they won’t have any skates left in my size.”
“Okay, okay,” Georgia said, laughing lightly, though she supposed Logan did have a point. And to be honest, it was good to see him impatient to get out and do something, especially if that something meant being around other kids.
The three of them together made their way quickly down the hill into the resort. Georgia hadn’t been certain that even a place that advertised itself as a Christmas resort would be able to outdo Fairhill in terms of its festive decorations, but she now saw that she’d underestimated it by a long shot. Fairhill might have prided itself on its Christmas cheer, but Lake Smithson was on another level entirely.
Sparkling lights hung in the windows of every shop and café, while holly wreaths adorned every door. Georgia assumed at first they were plastic – but when she took a closer look as they passed by, she saw that the holly was in fact one hundred per cent genuine, the dark green leaves woven together, along with pinecones and sprigs of dried flowers. Each one was unique, made with masterful craftsmanship, like a small piece of art. The icicles that hung from the eaves, too, were real – Georgia didn’t need to take a second glance to know that, at least. They reflected the Christmas lights, shimmering in the morning sunlight.
The buildings themselves had a rustic look to them, built from rough-hewn cedar and fir. They were decked out in Christmas finery, but it was clear that they had been made with a simple log cabin look in mind, and Georgia found it completely charming. Candles flickered invitingly in their windows, their ledges set with figurines of Santa and small nativity sets. A jingling of tiny bells alerted her to the passing of a real silver sleigh, pulled by four horses with red, green and white ribbons plaited through their manes.
The smell of cinnamon and spices wafted through the street, and Georgia joyfully took in a deep breath, allowing the scent to transport her. It smelled like her very early childhood, when her mother had baked gingerbread cookies every Christmas morning, and then spoiled her by letting her eat them before her breakfast – the one day of the year when she’d let her get away with something like that!
“This place sure is incredible,” Garrett murmured, looking around them as if he was amazed. “Is Christmas really such a big deal?”
Georgia couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “A big deal? Where are you from? Mars?”
The look Garrett shot her was a little abashed. “I’m sorry, that’s… uh, I mean, it’s not quite what I meant,” he said. “I guess my family wasn’t that big into Christmas. And so I just never really thought about it much myself.”
Laughing, Georgia shook her head. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll accept that as an excuse. Where I’m from, Christmas is a huge deal, so I guess I didn’t know any different. Please tell me you at least sat under the Christmas tree and gave all five of your brothers gag gifts?”
Garrett shook his head, face serious. “Sorry, no. Honestly, we barely knew what Christmas was.” He hesitated slightly. “It might be a… a cultural thing, I guess you’d call it.”
“Oh,” Georgia said, immediately feeling a little embarrassed. Of course, there were plenty of people who didn’t celebrate Christmas for religious and cultural reasons. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
“No, you weren’t,” Garrett assured her. “Just growing up in the middle of nowhere meant we didn’t see so much of, well, this.” He gestured almost helplessly to the twinkling lights, the candy canes propped up in the snow, the massive statue of Santa Claus that stood beside a restaurant door.
“Christmas just wasn’t really part of our… community,” Garrett finished. “I knew it existed, of course, but it always felt like something I wasn’t really a part of. Being here now, though… I can definitely see the appeal.”
“Well, if you like, I can definitely catch you up on all the Christmas cheer you’ve been missing out on all these years,” Georgia laughed. “Let’s just get Logan sorted out with some skates, and then we can enjoy a cinnamon spiced hot chocolate, a hot roasted potato and some glazed ham, and all the kugelhopf you can eat.”
“Sounds amazing,” Garrett said, smiling warmly.
As is turned out, Emilia hadn’t been kidding when she’d told Georgia that the raffle prize was all-inclusive – when she approached a member of the resort staff to get skates for Logan, he asked her what room they were staying in, and when she told him he simply nodded, saying it was all taken care of.
“We have supervisors on the lake, so you can relax and have a sit while your little boy is on the lake,” the staff member told her with a warm smile, as Logan sat on the step lacing his skates up. “We want everyone to have fun, so please don’t worry about a thing.”
Georgia nodded, glancing at Logan, who just seemed to be impatient to get skating. He turned to look at her. “I’ll be fine, Mom, I promise.”
“I know, honey,” she said. “But… be careful, all right?”
“I will.”
Georgia let out the tense breath she’d been holding as Logan stood, and the staff member opened the gate to let him join the other skaters out on the lake. The supervisors, in their bright red vests, were clearly visible.
There was no doubt that Logan’s skating had improved from last year, too, Georgia thought as she watched him glide out over the ice. He was already good at physical things – when he got older, she was pretty sure he’d be a good athlete. He loved taking Freddy for walks – or, more often, jogs – and climbing trees, even though it’d given Georgia more than one heart attack to come outside and find him twenty feet up in the branches of one of the fir trees that grew jus
t beyond their yard. More than once, his school’s sports coach had asked Georgia if he’d be interested in signing up for after-school soccer or baseball games, but when she’d asked Logan he’d simply shrugged, and Georgia had had to tell the coach that team sports just weren’t Logan’s thing.
“C’mon Freddy, let’s not be overbearing,” she murmured, tugging on Freddy’s lead. Freddy looked mournfully out after Logan for a moment longer, before following Georgia to an outside table at one of the lakeside restaurants. It was still cold, but the restaurant had standing heaters set up, radiating warmth, and thick blankets on the chairs.
“Logan’s a pretty good skater,” Garrett observed as she sat down next to him. “Faster than the other kids his age.”
Georgia nodded, then frowned. “There aren’t as many kids out there as I thought there’d be,” she said. “In fact, things are a little emptier in general than I expected. I really thought this place would be packed.”
Garrett looked around. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “There weren’t that many people on the street as we walked down, either. Seems strange.”
“I guess it’s still pretty early in the morning, though. Maybe people are just enjoying lazing around in their rooms. If all the accommodation here is as beautiful as the chalets, I can’t say I blame them.”
“You might be right,” Garrett agreed, though Georgia noticed he hadn’t stopped frowning, and his eyes were still scanning over the sparse crowd. “Well. I suppose at least that means there won’t be any hanging around in line for activities.”
“Or any waiting for table service,” Georgia said, as a smiling waitress approached them, menus in hand.
“You order for me,” Garrett said after a moment of perusing the menu. “Didn’t you tell me you were going to show me what Christmas was all about?”
Georgia looked up, the beginnings of a smile breaking across her face. “You sure about that?”