“Not exactly sure.”
The wipers go back and forth, silently knocking snow out of the way as his headlights illuminate a million flakes.
Conditions are bad. Getting worse. No one else is on the road.
I sit up more in my seat, unsure if I feel dread or…excitement? “They’re not making it tonight, are they?”
He looks pained. “No.”
“Who else is at the resort?”
Spence scratches the back of his head. “Maybe some Christmas elves.”
When I laugh, he finally loosens up, and his killer, dimpled grin makes an appearance for the first time tonight. “Is that what you call your teammates now?”
“Nope.”
“Are you talking about Elf-on-a-shelf?”
He’s nearly grinning. “Who knows if they have one. There’s too much to catalog it all. They’ve decked the place out. And the fridge, my god, wait til you see what’s in there.”
The ease with which he’s speaking to me is a first. Warm and open. This isn’t the Spence I’ve met before. And I love it so much that my eyes sting.
“It takes a lot of food for this crew,” I say, imagining the resort’s commercial kitchen loaded for feasting.
Spence reaches for my hand, and I startle when he folds my fingers inside of his. “Liberty, I need to tell you something.”
CHAPTER 5
No use beating around the bush anymore. In less than twenty minutes, we’re going to arrive at the resort to an empty parking deck.
“Everyone got delayed. It’s just going to be us for the first two days.”
Feels like I just tossed a grenade. This is the moment when everything could explode.
“They’re not going to make it for Christmas?” She asks, quietly, as if speaking too loud right now would somehow make the situation worse.
I shake my head.
She blows out a breath as she looks at our clasped hands. “Wow. I started to worry about that when the man at the store said the roads were closed. So, just me and you?”
“Looks that way.”
When she’s silent for another minute, I dare to ask, “Are you okay with that? I know about what happened. I mean—not everything—just that you were in an abusive relationship. You’re safe with me.”
She squeezes my hand back, the intimate motion momentarily making my head spin.
But what she says has even more impact.
“You’re one of my brother’s closest friends. I know I’m in good hands with you. I mean, look…”
She waves toward the snowy road in front of us. “You came out in this to get me.”
The enormity of her trust crushes me back against the seat. “Good. That makes me feel better.”
“Guess there are some perks. We get our pick of guest rooms?”
I can think of some other perks that I prefer much more, but I keep that to myself.
