Gracie stayed frozen in the shadows across the path, hidden by a giant pine tree, able to watch and hear them as long as they stayed outside. If they went in together, well, then, all bets were off.
Bianca wrapped herself around Marshall, still shrieking about a bear. Gracie could hear him mutter something and Bianca actually laughed—another inside joke? Another memory?
Whatever it was, the exchange was enough for him to back inside and—oh,no. Bianca followed, obviously invited.
No! Was he that dumb, desperate, or dense? Didn’t he see what she was up to?
For an instant, Gracie considered telling him—right now. She should just storm up there, pound on the door, demand Bianca come clean, force the issue out into the open, and…and…and look entirely unhinged.
No. She had to trust him. Alone with his warm and willing ex-wife, who’d come to Park City for the sole purpose of seducing him. Her plan could never work—Marshall wasn’t dumb.
But he had a soft, good heart and that’s what Bianca was counting on.
Gracie took a deep, painful breath, turned, and walked away. She put one foot in front of the other and found herself on the long wooded trail that snaked through the woods.
It would get her home—the long way.
That was fine, because she needed a minute to breathe, to think, to keep herself from falling apart in the snow. Was Marshall not the man she’d hoped he’d be—the man she’d started to believe he was?
Certainly not a man who’d take what Bianca was offering, but then…he was a man. Flawed, human, and tender-hearted.
Her boots crunched softly. The world was quiet again until she heard a rustle in the distance, and a thump, and a…breath?
Gracie froze.
A twig cracked and some leaves crunched. Then she heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps and more labored breaths. Her heart leapt into her throat as it got closer and closer.
She threw a look over her shoulder just in time to catch a massive silhouette emerging from the trees. Huge, hulking, and covered in shaggy fur. That was either Benny or a bear or…
“Bigfoot,” she croaked the word as she started to run, her boots slipping wildly on the snowy incline.
She stumbled, slid, and pitched sideways into a deep drift, snow exploding around her as cold crystals rushed over her coat and into her hood.
Footsteps pounded behind her. The breathing got louder.
She covered her head with both arms, squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed she wouldn’t get mauled and murdered on Christmas Eve in the woods.
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
She opened her mouth and sucked in a breath to let out a blood-curdling?—
“Gracie?” a familiar voice said. “For heaven’s sake, honey. It’s me. Bertie.”
She cracked one eye open.
Bertie Kessler stood over her, bundled in a monstrous puffer jacket, enormous fur hat perched on her head. Her breath puffed steadily, as if she’d been out walking for hours.
“Oh, my gosh.” Gracie sagged into the snow. “Bertie! You scared me half to death.”
“Well, you look half dead,” Bertie said matter-of-factly, offering her a hand. “Get up. You’re going to freeze in that snow pile.”
Gracie managed to get to her feet. Snow cascaded off her coat and down her legs. “Why are you out here? It’s almost four in the morning.”
“Oh, I can’t sleep past three, sometimes four if I’m lucky,” Bertie huffed. “So I get my steps in. Body burns best in a fasted state. Ask Red. I taught him that.”
Gracie let out a slightly off-key little laugh. “Did you…did you see anything strange? Like…a bear?”
“Only strange thing out here is you acting like you’re being kidnapped.” Bertie clicked her tongue. “I saw Bianca running down the lodge road earlier. Thought she was having some sort of fit.”
