Silence fell for a brief second. “What brought you two here?” Gideon asked, his gaze bouncing between his two former friends.
Vance didn’t seem interested in answering, but Maya shrugged. “I have some personal things to work out, and this seemed like the perfect place to do it. Revisit the happy place of my childhood and teen years.”
Gideon nodded. “Same.”
Vance raised a brow. “The three musketeers back together again?” he asked, his momentary embarrassment over his episode seemingly gone.
“For sure,” Gideon said. It was still weird. “How long has it been since we were all here?” he asked, wanting to put Vance at ease with some small talk.
“I don’t know,” the man said. “A while.” Vance shifted like he was ready to bolt once more.
“Senior year of college,” Maya said, “just before we all went off and joined the army.”
At the mention of the army, Gideon tensed and Vance’s nostrils flared. “Where are you living now, Vance?” Gideon asked, needing to change the subject.
After a brief hesitation, Vance’s jaw loosened. “Ellie and I moved back to Whitestone about six months ago. We live in townin the old general store. We renovated the upstairs into a living area, and the downstairs is our office. Ellie’s an interior designer and I have a security consulting business.” He frowned. “Where’ve you been since—”
“Since I got out?” Gideon wasn’t sure what Vance knew about his departure from the army and his life since, but he didn’t need him saying too much in front of Maya. Not that he should care. But he did. “Bouncing around from town to town trying to figure out some things. Which is how I ended up here. What about you, Maya?”
“I’m back living on Gramps’s ranch. Grandma still lives there, of course, and I commute to a hospital in Nashville where I’m a part-time surgeon.”
“Part-time?”
She shrugged. “For now.”
“And you’re here because ... ?”
“At the moment, I’m helping in the clinic.” She hesitated. “Why not meet for dinner? Take some time to catch up before I have to go relieve Del?”
“Del?” Vance asked.
“One of the resort docs who’s stranded here with the rest of us. She and I and some of the others have been taking shifts to care for those who need medical attention.”
“I’m going to be helping try to dig out the medical clinic and do whatever else needs to be done,” Gideon said. At the flash of disappointment in her eyes, he found himself adding, “But we all have to eat. Sure. That sounds nice. Vance?”
Vance hesitated, then nodded. “All right. I’ll let Ellie know.”
“It’ll be good to see her again,” Maya said.
The man paused, then walked over to Gideon and embraced him in a bro hug. “It really is good to see you. I’ve missed you.” He stepped back and looked at Maya. “And you, Maya. I’m sorry about the tackle. I just—”
“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
He gave her a short nod. “Thanks. See you at dinner.”
Then he was heading back down the path, pulling the ski mask back over his face. Gideon shivered. The cold this morning was biting. He wouldn’t mind a ski mask himself. Or at least a scarf.
“You headed to the lodge?” he asked Maya.
“Yes, I’m starving.”
“Same. Do you mind if I walk with you?”
She shot him a smile, and her fingers played with the small cross she’d worn ever since he’d met her. “Don’t mind at all,” she said. “You can tell me how you’ve been.”
Talking about himself wasn’t going to happen. “How’d you know he was having a PTSD moment?”
She raised a brow at him. “Seriously?”
