Sarah Morgan - Snow Crystal Trilogy

“Once or twice. I live in town, but if the weather is bad I sometimes sleep over at the lodge and if Jackson is feeling generous he lets me use one of the cabins. Any excuse to sample Elizabeth’s cooking. Cooking isn’t really my thing. Apart from bacon. I’m good with bacon.” Brenna picked up the mug and nursed it, leaning her hips against the counter. “How was your welcome meal?”

“Welcome meal?” The mention of the night before was enough to make her feel as if she was rolling in snow naked.

“The pot roast. Elizabeth thought it would be the perfect meal to welcome you. She’s been planning it for days.”

“I didn’t stay to eat.” The revelation that the dinner had been especially to welcome her sharpened her guilt. “I had work to do. And I really should get on and do some more.”

“If you worked all last night you deserve a break. And talking of eating—” Brenna glanced around the kitchen. “Do you have any food?”

Kayla stared at her in desperation. “Food?”

“Breakfast?” Brenna lifted her eyebrows. “First meal of the day?”

“Oh—I—No, I don’t eat breakfast. I suppose there might be something in the cupboards, but really I should be getting on and—”

“You don’t eat breakfast?” Brenna sipped her coffee. “That will change when you’ve been here awhile. Breakfast is an important meal in the O’Neil household.”

When she’d been here awhile?

“I’m just here for a few days. Then I’m going back to New York.”

Brenna shuddered. “In that case, all the more reason to make the most of breakfast while you can. You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted Elizabeth’s pancakes with maple syrup. Did you know they make their own maple syrup here? Come back in February and you can see them tapping the trees. They have a working sugarhouse.” She chatted away, open and friendly, apparently oblivious to Kayla’s discomfort.

“I won’t be coming back in February. I’m just here until Christmas.”

“You’ll be back. Everyone who visits Snow Crystal wants to come back. You’ll book a vacation.”

Kayla didn’t point out that if that were the case, Jackson wouldn’t need her help. “I don’t take vacations.” She cast a desperate glance at her laptop. “I should probably get dressed and I expect you’ll have finished your coffee by the time I’m done, so I’ll say goodbye and—”

“I’ll wait while you try it on. If nothing fits, we can sort something else out.”

Realizing that the sooner she did this the sooner she’d be allowed to get back to work, Kayla grabbed the box of clothes and retreated to the bedroom.

Guilt pulled at her.

Elizabeth O’Neil had spent all day in the kitchen preparing a meal to welcome her, and she’d rejected their hospitality and walked out.

How on earth was she was going to recover this situation?

Jackson had told her he was having trouble getting them to support his ideas. They were already suspicious of her as an outsider. Even more so since she’d acted like one.

Her head started to pound, and she rummaged through the box and found a pair of black ski pants. They fitted perfectly, as did the fleece zip sweater and ski jacket. Socks in her hand, she walked back into the living room.

“This is all great, thanks.”

“Wow.” Brenna whistled. “Ski pants make most people look fat. Not you. I might have to hate you.”

Join the rest of the O’Neils .

“Don’t bother. People will know I’m a fraud the moment I step onto the snow. Horizontal and soaking wet isn’t a good look.”

Brenna studied her over the rim of her coffee mug. “You don’t ski?”

“No. In fact I suspect I don’t do anything that is going to endear me to the O’Neil family.”

“They’re a sporty family but they’re not employing you for your ability to ski a double-diamond-black trail.”

Kayla felt a rush of despair. “I don’t even know what that is.”

“It’s a difficult one that makes you want to throw up your breakfast. Hey—cheer up.” Brenna grinned. “We’re all expert at different things. I don’t know anything about public relations or whatever it is you do.”

Right at that moment Kayla didn’t feel as if she knew much about anything. Her confidence was at rock bottom. She sank down onto the sofa. “But you know Snow Crystal.”

“Grew up here. Went to school with the O’Neil boys, although they were a few years ahead of me. I skied with them. Followed them wherever they went.”

“Even down those—what did you call them?—diamond-black trails?”

“Those, too. Gave my mother panic attacks. Whatever they did, I had to do it, too, and they never once slowed down for me.” She grinned. “Bastards.”

Kayla remembered what she’d read about the O’Neil brothers. “And you run the ski program?”

“Yes. Although now Tyler’s back I guess that could change.” Brenna finished her coffee, strolled to the kitchen and rinsed her mug.

“What do you mean, now he’s back? Has he only just come back?”

“Tyler’s never been one to hang around Snow Crystal for long. Too wild.” Brenna bent to straighten her socks. “Came back for the funeral and then flew off again. He and Walter drive each other crazy. The more Walter tries to control him, the more Tyler rebels. It was the same when he was a kid. If Walter says white, Tyler says black. In many ways they’re alike but neither of them can see it.”

“So what made him come back?”

“Jess—that’s his daughter—announced she was coming to live with him.”

“Oh.” She remembered the brief glimpse she’d had of the girl before the puppy had trampled her shoes.

“She has spent Christmas here for the past twelve years, but now she’s here for good. Her Mom just had a baby.” Brenna’s voice changed. Hardened. “I don’t know the truth, but I’m guessing she and that guy she picked instead of Tyler don’t want poor Jess around. I can’t even imagine how bad she feels.”

Kayla sat still, staring straight ahead.

She didn’t have to imagine it.

She knew .

“It’s a mess,” Brenna said, “but she won’t really talk about it. And Tyler isn’t really helping. For some reason he’s being really strict with her, and it’s driving her crazy.”

“But he’s here.” Somehow Kayla formed the words. “He didn’t send her away.”

“I guess not.” Brenna looked thoughtful. Then she smiled. “I brought you some snow boots. They should be fine for walking around the resort. When you’re ready to ski, we’ll kit you out. I’d offer to give you a lesson, but I’m guessing Jackson wants to be the one to do that. You’ll be okay with him. Unlike Tyler, he slows down for beginners.”

Kayla was relieved by the change of subject. “Tell me a bit about Jackson. He handed over the running of his business to someone else and came home. That must have been hard.”

“Jackson has always been the responsible one. More controlled. Tyler is impulsive, but Jackson—” Brenna frowned. “He’s different. He weighs up all the options and then picks the best way, and once he’s picked it, he won’t deviate. He has total faith in himself. I saw it when he was younger. When we were skiing backcountry, Jackson would pause at the top of a slope and take a minute to pick his route. It was as if his brain was computing all the dangers. Tyler would just hurl himself off and trust his ability to get himself out of trouble.”

“And did that work?”

“Most of the time. He’s very gifted. Has strong instincts.” Brenna stooped to pick up her boots, her dark hair swinging forward and obscuring her features. “Trouble has always followed Tyler, and he’s never been one to run from it. Now Jackson—” straightening, she pushed her feet into fleece and warmth “—he treats trouble like a puzzle to be solved. When they were young, he was the one who refereed the fights between Sean and Tyler.”