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At the end she gave them all a high five, making out that the last child had done it with such a force as to make her fall onto her back into a snowdrift, causing further peals of laughter from the children.

Sam smiled, watching her easy way with them. She had always excelled at engaging the kids and making them giggle. Though she was skilled at making everyone laugh, including him in the past. They’d forged a strong bond over that time they’d worked together aged eighteen, or at least it’d felt that way to him. During that couple of months, he’d been convinced that he’d had her previous, aloof manner all wrong. She’d known what to say to have him in stitches, a welcome relief when he’d been adjusting to life without his dad around. It had been one such joking-around session alone in the boot room that had morphed into a make-out session.

Sam shook his head to dispel those memories, and turned to complete his walk into the building. The ride into work with Maya had been stressful. He’d walked over to hers because he hadn’t wanted to inconvenience her any further by having her pick him up. Plus, Cat was being weird about him getting a lift, so he’d figured it best to keep some distance between the two women. Him associating with any women consistently caused friction with Cat, but she seemed particularly pissed off.

Most of the ride had been spent in prickly silence. He’d commented on his surprise at her taking the job, and she’d seemed put out. But it was a surprise, him having assumed she wouldn’t be interested when she was searching for a “real job” in accountancy. She’d then become defensive, admitting that she’d worked every winter at Glencoe. That had been a shock to him. He’d assumed she’d left this world behind when she left for university. The stony silence had then ensued until their arrival, and he’d thanked her for the lift. She’d made a pointed comment that she’d do anything for Liv. As if he needed reminding that Maya was only doing him any favors for his sister’s sake.

Deciding to stop by Ben’s office, he knocked on the door and entered. “How’s it going?”

Ben sighed. “All right. Come in and take a load off.”

Sam sat heavily onto a chair. “I take it you’re no further forward with the accounts thing?”

Ben shook his head. “They aren’t replying to my e-mails, and I get voice mail whenever I call.”

He rubbed his chest in an attempt to rid the heavy feeling. “Can’t we switch accountants?”

“It’s too late in the tax year.” Ben rubbed his forehead, then gave Sam a weak smile. “I’ll sort it. Don’t worry.”

Sam nodded, staring through the window toward the whiteout and feeling as if the swirling in his gut matched that of the snow being spun by the wind outside.

“At least there’s some good news, with Maya back on board?” Ben ventured. “Gets you off the hook with the kids’ class.”

Sam’s pulse picked up at the sound of her name. He tried to keep his voice even and emotionless. “Yeah. Great news.”

Ben shot him a frown, so Sam forced a smile onto his face. After all, it was good news that he didn’t have to cover the children’s classes any longer. It was just a shame that it was Maya who was doing it rather than someone who didn’t dislike him, or that he hadn’t gotten to second base with in the boot room.

Maya’s other, non-making-out-related skills crossed his mind, and he eyed Ben for a moment, wondering if they should ask her to look at the accounts. But Sam didn’t feel he could approach Maya for any more favors, and he doubted she’d be interested in helping. Teaching here was merely a distraction from the bigger fish she was no doubt frying.

Ben would sort it, and everything would be fine.

The coziness of the fireside table caught Sam’s eye as he waited in the queue to grab coffees for him and Ben. That was his favorite seat in the place, half-hidden in a small alcove near the big window that looked out onto the tree line at the edge of the slopes. A couple was sitting on one of the sofas, cuddled in together as they warmed up. For a moment the image of him and Maya snuggled by that fireside came to mind, and he shook his head to dispel it.

Ben appeared round the corner just as their order was ready.

“I was going to bring it up to you,” Sam told him as Ben grabbed the drinks and gestured for Sam to sit at a nearby table.

“Thanks,” Ben said. “But I just felt like I needed to get out of that damned office, you know?”

Sam did know. Being cooped up inside was not his cup of tea. And Ben had his head buried in the books more and more nowadays.

“Brilliant, here comes Maya,” Ben said, causing Sam’s pulse to pick up.

She approached their table, newly changed out of her ski gear and looking all fresh-faced, rosy cheeked, and utterly gorgeous. For fuck’s sake. How come the passage of time made his ex even more attractive to him? Life wasn’t fair.

She smiled at Ben, and Sam practically fucking melted at the sight of it. God help me. Then her smile dropped a little as she turned her gaze to him, and his jaw tightened. Even though they didn’t get along, he liked putting a smile on her face. Not removing it.

“Hi, guys,” she said in a neutral tone as she took a seat at the table. “Good day?”

Ben avoided looking at her. “Great, thanks.” He shifted his eyes onto her with a smile. “And how was your first day?”

There it was. Her full-monty, megawatt smile. The one that told him she was genuinely full of joy and gave him joy in return. “It was so good!” Her voice was bright with enthusiasm, almost tinkling with it as if her vocal cords had been infused with Christmas bells. “I loved it.” She sighed in a contented manner, leaning back. “It’s amazing to be here again.”

“And it’s great to have you,” Ben replied. “By the way, could you stay back a little before you head home? I need to run through some stuff with you. There are a few health and safety boxes we need to check off, including those related to the new facilities that weren’t here during your previous employment.”

The smile fell from her face, and Sam mourned its departure. “I, er . . .” She hesitated, seeming to wrestle for what she wanted to say. Clearly, it was “no” but Maya had always had an issue with that word. Funny, he’d assumed she would have gotten past her conflict-avoidant tendencies after she had the mother of all conflicts with him and then flounced off to university without a backward glance.

“The only thing is, I told my parents I’d be back for a certain time, and . . .” She trailed off, probably taking in the look of confusion on Ben’s face as he wondered why a grown woman needed to be home to her parents by a deadline.