“Lucy, I heated up some cocoa for us,” Jane pointed to the mug on the coffee table.
I joined her on the sofa, cuddling the mug and breathing in the sweet scent.
“I like him,” she blurted.
“Braxton,” I surmised. Saying his name made her blush. “I know.”
She stared at her mug. “I’m not very good at this.”
“Very good at what?” I gently prompted.
“Relationships. I want to be careful after what happened with James. I don’t know if I can trust that Braxton likes me,” Jane ruefully reflected.
“He keeps inventing reasons to carry things for you. He volunteered for a week of fixing steps. He can’t take his eyes off you. I think that means Braxton is falling for you,” I dryly mentioned. I didn’t push about James. Something had happened there that Jane didn’t speak about. In the past, if I tried to bring the subject up, she closed herself off from me.
“Men don’t tend to like me,” Jane whispered.
My chest squeezed and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Oh, Jane. I really think Braxton does like you. I’m not the only one who has noticed his behavior.”
Jan leaned against my shoulder. “Don’t tell Mom. You know what a nightmare she can be about matchmaking.”
“I will take your secret to the grave,” I solemnly promised. “Now, let’s get some rest.”
All too soon we were woken by the alarm. We stumbled down the stairs, Jane towards the kitchen to help with any last minute details before dinner and I to the foyer to see where we were at with renovations. It was starting to darken outside and I could see my dad with Dex trying to fix the shutter that had been hanging sideways when I first arrived.
Grabbing my coat, I headed outside to watch. Dex gave me a distracted smile that I felt all the way to my toes. I was about to greet them when headlights swung into the lane.
Knowing that we didn’t have any more guests checking in today, I walked to the front of the inn to watch a sleek car ease to a stop. The driver’s door opened and a woman stepped out, tall in a cream coat belted at the waist, and fashionable heeled boots. She took in the porch with a practiced scan that felt like a verdict.
“Hello,” she called, bright and confident. “I am looking for Dex Fitzwilliam.”
I felt the heat in my cheeks drop straight through me to the snow. Beside me, Dex’s posture changed by barely a breath.
“Carly,” he said, and the name felt like a pebble tossed into a still pool, the ripples heading straight for us. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled like she had arrived exactly where she meant to be. “I thought I would surprise you.”
The wind lifted, a soft white hush. Inside, someone laughed inside the inn. On the porch, I tried very hard to remember how to breathe. This was the woman who was in all the celebrity magazine photos I had perused while bored at my desk when working for Dex and she was now giving him a kiss on the cheek while taking his arm in hers.
Chapter Ten: The Ice Queen
Dex.
Carly’s perfume hit before her voice did. It was something expensive, sharp, and faintly floral. She smiled as if the world was her stage and I had been caught off script.
“Surprise,” she said, then leaned in to kiss my cheek and thread her arm through mine. The gesture was practiced, polished, and entirely deliberate.
Lucy stood a few feet away, half turned toward the door as if escape were still an option. Her smile was steady, but the muscles in her jaw gave her away. She wasn't impressed.
“Hello,,” Carly said, her smile all warmth on the surface and frost beneath. “You must be the Lucy I have heard all about.”
“You must be Carly,” Lucy cooly returned.
“Guilty. I was checking on the ski-lodge investment up the ridge. The investors wanted a progress review, and when I realized I was so close to the little project Braxton had told me about, I thought I would surprise the both of you by coming to have a look,” Carly happily told me as she kept hold of my arm.
“You could have called,” I said, keeping my tone even.
She looked up at me, lashes fluttering just so. “Where would be the fun in that?”
