Second Chance Christmas

* * *

NINE O’CLOCK FOUND Justin sitting on his black leather couch, eyeing his cell phone as if it were a prairie rattlesnake. Earlier in the evening, he’d ignored a text from Lina asking if he’d made the promised call to her sister yet. She’d followed it up with another text reading, “You don’t want to be on my bad side. I’m the evil twin.”

He could dismiss Lina if she were his only motivating factor for contacting Elisabeth. But even though he’d told Arden that Elisabeth had happily moved on, he hadn’t seen evidence of that happiness last night. If she were over Justin and in love with someone else, shouldn’t she have been more philosophical about their breakup, less prickly? And, as hard as he’d tried, he couldn’t shake the memory of Kaylee’s wide brown eyes, far too solemn for a child that age. Justin, is my momma gonna die?

In his mind, he saw Kaylee’s face but it was four-year-old Arden’s voice he heard all over again. He hadn’t been able to help Kaylee Truitt cope with the loss of her mother. Was there still a chance that he could do something useful for the kid? Elisabeth would resent the hell out of his questioning her decision, but since she seemed to hate him anyway, what did he have to lose?

Decision made, he picked up his phone and scrolled through the contact list. But he couldn’t find Elisabeth or the Donnelly Ski Lodge, which puzzled him. He rarely bothered to update contact information and kept every number entered, including one for a take-out restaurant that had gone out of business two years ago and another simply marked G. Had he deleted Elisabeth?

The week after he’d left her—and simultaneously left his job—was hazy in recollection.

During the spring, Justin had worked at her family’s lodge as a hiking guide. The Donnellys had been inescapable, woven into all corners of his life. Elisabeth’s mother had made a huge fuss over his birthday. Mr. Donnelly, outnumbered by the women in his family, constantly expressed gratitude that he finally had an ally. It was disorienting. Fathers in Cielo Peak had always preferred Justin stay away from their daughters.

Had the Donnellys been quick to extend their approval to the new man in Elisabeth’s life, or had they learned their lesson?

Justin reached for the phone book on the bottom ledge of his coffee table. As he dialed her number, he wondered if she’d even pick up when she saw who was calling.

Surprisingly, she did. “Hello?”

“Hey. It’s Justin.” Now what? He kicked his feet up onto the table, searching for the words that would make her agree to see him. The Cade charm was more effective in person—not that it had done much good last night. “Our conversation in the bar has been bothering me. If you’re leaving Cielo Peak, that’s not the way I want to end things between us.”

“Justin, things between us ended long before last night.”

Their relationship had ended when she told him she loved him and he’d told her goodbye. He’d wanted to apologize for the way it had happened dozens of times. But how could he when he knew that, under the same circumstances, he’d make the same decision again?

He stifled thoughts of the bittersweet past. “I should have offered my congratulations. How about I buy you lunch tomorrow?”

“To congratulate me on my engagement?” Her tone was heavy with skepticism.

“That, and to give us a chance to talk.”

“What are we doing now?”

Hell if I know. But before he could come up with a better answer than “please meet me, or I’ll need a restraining order against your sister,” she inexplicably agreed.

“Actually,” Elisabeth said, “I do have something I want to speak with you about.”

“Really?” He couldn’t imagine what. Despite Lina’s crazy predictions, he doubted his opinions would carry any weight with Elisabeth. Not anymore.

“If you don’t mind an early lunch,” she said, “I can make a little time in my schedule. Eleven-thirty? At the lodge?”

“Your family’s lodge?” He’d managed to avoid setting foot inside since they’d stopped dating.

“Is that a problem?”

“No.” But it gave her a whopping home-field advantage. “Meet you at the front desk.” The words rolled off his tongue from force of habit. How many times had he said that exact phrase during the months when they’d worked together? Some of his most unforgettable romantic encounters had started with her smiling from the other side of that reception desk. An avalanche of memories threatened to bury him.

“R-right, front desk.” For the first time since answering her phone, she sounded hesitant. “See you then.”

* * *

IT WAS DIFFICULT for Justin to fall asleep Wednesday night—his head was too full of female voices. Lina’s, dripping accusation; Arden’s, predicting that love was lying in wait for him around some dark corner; Elisabeth’s, vibrating with the hint of unshed tears when he’d told her they should stop seeing each other. And in the background of his cluttered thoughts, his mom’s voice lingered, singing off-key Christmas carols.

After a restless night of fragmented dreams, he gave up and climbed out of bed Thursday morning an hour before his alarm clock would have blared. With the extra time, maybe he could stop at the Cielo Café bakery counter, pick up a few dozen bagels and muffins for the patrol team. But once he got behind the wheel of his SUV, he found himself driving in the wrong direction. Ten minutes later, he parked at the cemetery, not quite sure what he was doing there.

It had been a long time since he’d visited. Colin refused to come here, and Arden had been so busy with the pregnancy and the new baby.

Jamming his gloved hands in the pockets of his coat, Justin crunched across the layer of snow frosting the walkway. There was a stark beauty in how the rising sun illuminated the headstones. Parts of the cemetery were still in shadow, but other patches, beginning to catch the dawn, shone brilliantly. He tried to appreciate the sight rather than think about how row after row symbolized people who had once been loved and were now gone.

A grandfather he’d never known had purchased family plots here, but Justin had no intention of being buried. He’d told Arden that when the time came, he wanted to be cremated, his ashes scattered on the wind. She’d made morbid jokes. “So even after you die, you refuse to settle down? Sounds about right.”

As he reached his parents’ joint marker, he suddenly felt sheepish, as if he’d tracked mud into his mother’s clean kitchen. “I should have brought flowers.” Something seasonal, like poinsettias. “I know you loved Christmas, Mom, but it hasn’t been the same since you died.”

That first year, his father had been too devastated to remember the holiday. If it weren’t for the gentle interference of their aunts, the Cade children wouldn’t have had anything to unwrap Christmas morning. Then they lost their dad, too. Throughout Justin’s adolescence, they’d occasionally accepted invitations to join well-meaning families in the community, but it was awkward, being the gloomy thundercloud that hung over someone else’s festivities. They got in the habit of staying home, where Colin microwaved dinner and the two brothers taught Arden how to play cards. That’s what the holiday season had become for Justin—rubbery lasagna and explaining blackjack to his sister.

Now, he survived November to January by hoping for good ski conditions and ignoring the hectic whirl of shopping, decorating and televised specials.

His mind slipped to the Donnellys. While he’d never been inside their house around Christmas, he imagined it was thoroughly decorated. After all, Mrs. Donnelly had gone to great efforts simply for his birthday—streamers and humorous miniposters, balloons on the mailbox and an elaborate home-cooked meal. They were a close-knit family who liked to celebrate together.

Yet Elisabeth was choosing to move away. Brushing his hand over the smooth, cold edge of his parents’ gravestone, he couldn’t help but wonder, did she have any idea what she was giving up?

Chapter Four

Elisabeth finished drying her hands and consulted her watch. 11:28 a.m. She should hurry back out to the lobby and—

No. No hurrying. She wasn’t some sixteen-year-old eager to see her boyfriend. She was a grown woman who was doing Justin a favor by meeting him. Frankly, her schedule was already full. The lodge was doing brisk holiday business, and Steven was arriving tonight. She’d shuffled several tasks to squeeze in this lunch. It might do Justin some good to wait a few minutes.

Taking her time, she pulled her brush and lipstick out of her purse, but then stopped. She might not want to rush on Justin Cade’s behalf, but she wasn’t about to primp for him, either. He was not the reason she’d dressed that morning in formfitting black jeans and a gold sweater that was both festive and complemented her coloring. No, if she’d put any extra care into her appearance, it was for her fiancé.

She pushed open the door to the ladies’ room and made her way through the evergreen-scented lobby. In addition to the fourteen-foot tree the staff had helped decorate, Elisabeth and her father had hung a dozen wreaths throughout the main building. Currently, her dad was working a shift as ski lift operator, and she hoped he’d stay out of the main building while Justin was here. For a month after the breakup, Graham Donnelly had threatened daily to “give that bounder a piece of my mind.”

Elisabeth had also gently maneuvered her mother, Patti, into leaving the premises. The school system’s two-week winter break kicked off today with an early release for students. Patti was picking up Kaylee from school and taking her to lunch. As difficult as the past few months had been for Kaylee, the one bright spot had been watching a girl who’d never had an extended family blossom under the attention of doting grandparents and a conspiratorial aunt.

Thoughts of Kaylee’s lunch plans scattered when Elisabeth locked eyes with her own lunch date. Justin leaned against the corner of the reception desk. Though his body language was relaxed, he had that intense, hyperalert gaze that had so often caused her stomach to flutter. Of all her reasons to be angry with him, that gaze topped the list.

Elisabeth wasn’t naive—she’d heard rumors about Justin before dating him. But since she didn’t let gossip make her decisions for her, she’d gone out with him, prepared to make up her own mind. In spite of his flirtatious, skirt-chasing reputation, he’d never looked at another female when he was with Elisabeth. He’d smiled absently when a cute waitress fawned over him without ever taking his eyes off his date.

When he’d unceremoniously dumped her, he’d reminded her, “I told you I wasn’t looking for anything serious. I didn’t lie.” But he had. Not verbally, but with his actions. He’d made her feel adored and singularly special.

While she and Kaylee were in New Mexico visiting Steven, he’d apologized for being preoccupied with the software update his company was about to release. Frankly, Elisabeth found it a relief to be with someone who didn’t constantly make her feel like the center of his universe. The heady euphoria wasn’t worth the harsh disillusionment.

She didn’t realize how reluctant her steps had become until Justin gave up waiting on her and met her halfway, moving with that unconscious swagger of his. Damn it. Even the way the man walked was irritating.

He took her hand between both of his. “Beth. You look great.” There was a raspy quality to his deep voice that always made his words sound more intimate than they should.

“Elisabeth,” she corrected, withdrawing her hand. “No one calls me Beth.” She wasn’t the type of person who inspired nicknames. As a child, she’d been shy and serious—the worrier on the sidelines who did her best to keep her reckless twin out of trouble. As an adult, Elisabeth only revealed her fun-loving side to a select few. She commanded a sizable staff and sometimes had to deal with difficult guests. People needed to take her seriously.

She ignored the undignified memory of shrieking with laughter as Justin tickled her one morning. Justin didn’t do “serious.” At least, not in his personal life.

“I asked the restaurant manager to have a table ready.” She was proud of her casual tone. No reason to get emotional about this. “I can spare about half an hour.”

He nodded. “Same here. Lead the way.”

In the evenings, a hostess seated diners, but during the slower day shifts while many guests were on the slopes, restaurant manager Javier Ortiz did double duty. Javier, a slim man with salt-and-pepper hair, had started as a busboy when Elisabeth was in sixth grade. When he saw her with Justin, he did an almost comical double take.

“Señor Cade. It has been a long time.” He cut his dark eyes toward Elisabeth, as if seeking guidance on whether he should be happy to see Justin. Whatever Javier glimpsed in her posture or face led him to instruct, “This way, Señor” in a clipped tone he never would have used with a guest.

After they were seated, Justin shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. “I think it’s safe to say I’m no longer on Javier’s Christmas card list.” He tapped his napkin-wrapped silverware. “In fact, I kind of got the feeling he might come at me with one of these knives.”

She unrolled her own cloth napkin and studied the butter knife. “If it makes you feel better, I doubt these would do much damage.” She paused a beat. “But I suppose he could always grab one from the kitchen.”

“He wouldn’t be the first to ambush me this week. Do you know your sister recently threatened to tear me limb from limb?”

“Lina?” It was a dumb response—she had only one sister. One highly confusing and increasingly erratic sister. When Elisabeth had announced her engagement, Lina seemed to take the news as a personal affront. Next she’d overcompensated by acting as if they were teenage BFFs who should be together or be texting every waking second. Finally, and most bizarrely, Lina had thrown herself at Justin on the dance floor with all the subtlety of a brick.

Then again, a case could be made for throwing bricks at Justin.

While Elisabeth momentarily indulged in that fantasy, he’d begun speaking again. “Lina and I saw each other at the sporting goods shop. She was pretty angry, ranting at me that your engagement is...might be emotional fallout from... There’s no way to say this without sounding like a deluded egomaniac.”

“You’ve never let that stop you before,” she said sweetly.

“Does your moving away have anything to do with me?”

The question shocked her into silence. Is that what he thought? Justin and Lina considered Elisabeth so pathetic she’d let an ex-boyfriend run her out of town?

She kept her voice calm and low. One might even say detached. “You stopped having influence on my life the day you broke up with me.” Well, later that same week, anyway. There may have been a weepy, seventy-two hour period of hoping he’d come to his senses that she didn’t like to recall.

“Good.” He gave her a relieved smile. “Glad to hear it. Please be sure to tell your sister.”

“Oh, trust me, she’ll be getting an earful.” Elisabeth would already be headed up to the third floor for a sisterly chat if Lina weren’t with a client right now. It had been Lina’s idea to offer some limited day-spa services, which helped them generate income even after the snows melted for the year. Her hot stone massages were proving to be a big hit.

Instead of a waitress, Javier himself came to the table for their orders. “Your usual salad, Señorita Donnelly?” He waited for her nod, then glowered at Justin. “And what do you want?”

It was an excellent question, in Elisabeth’s opinion. What on earth did Justin want? Even if Lina’s crazy suspicion had been true and Elisabeth was rebounding, why would he care? He’d walked away from Elisabeth—and by extension, Kaylee—without a backward glance. Was he feeling some sort of belated guilt? Maybe it was one of those Dickensian situations, where he’d been visited by three ghosts who’d made it clear what a cad he was.

None of that was her problem. She had Steven and a bright, sensible future awaiting her.

Once Javier had gone, Justin leaned forward, his eyes earnest. “Obviously, Lina has some of her wires crossed, but just because she was wrong about your reasons for going to California doesn’t mean she’s wrong about everything. She’s afraid you might regret this move, and she could be right. You’ve never been so far from your family.”

After this week, she wasn’t sure California was far enough from her meddling sister. Maybe I should ask Steven more about his company’s European offices.

“And you’ve got Kaylee to consider,” he added.

Despite her constant self-reassurance that she would not let Justin get to her, her temper flared. “You think I don’t know that? You think that’s not on my mind when I fall asleep at night and still there when I wake up in the morning? Raising a daughter is a massive responsibility. She needs structure in her life and as much security as I can possibly give her, which is why I’m lucky to have met a man like Steven Miller.”

“I wasn’t implying that you take your responsibilities lightly.” Justin held up his hands in a placating gesture. “But, since you’ve never actually been away from your family, you might not understand how hard it will be. On both of you. Wait, his last name is Miller? Like The Steve Miller Band?”

Before she could respond, a child’s excited squeal interrupted. “Justin!”

Elisabeth whipped her head around, dismay pooling inside her. Oh, no. She’s not supposed to be here. Kaylee, showing more enthusiasm than she’d exhibited for anything since the monkeys at the Albuquerque Zoo, was hurtling toward them, joy lighting her small face.

Trailing behind was Elisabeth’s mother. At fifty-four, Patti Donnelly’s red hair was faded and her figure was slightly plumper than in her younger years, but she was as lively as when she’d taught her girls how to hokeypokey on roller skates two decades ago. Her round, cherubic face, which usually made her look younger than her age, was crinkled in agitation. Although she didn’t question Elisabeth outright on Justin’s presence, her raised eyebrows spoke volumes.

“I haven’t seen you in forever and ever,” Kaylee declared, scrambling into Justin’s lap.

When the little girl had first met him, he’d earned her eternal affection with humorous impressions of every major character on SpongeBob SquarePants. Kaylee still asked when he’d come visit her but, mercifully, those requests had become less frequent. The last thing Elisabeth wanted was for the child to get attached to him all over again. She needed to explain that this lunch was for adult conversation.

“Kaylee—”

“Elisabeth, dear, might I have a word with you?” her mom interjected. “Lodge business. Should only take a moment.”

Lodge business, huh? Elisabeth suspected that was code for maternal interrogation. Nonetheless she followed her mother to an unoccupied corner of the dining room. “I thought you and Kaylee were having lunch in town,” she said pointedly.

“I told her she could pick any place she wanted, but you know how much she adores Chef Bates.”

Elisabeth would never forget the first night she and Kaylee had arrived home after the funeral in Denver. Worrying that Kaylee had barely eaten in days, Elisabeth had been anxious to get some food into her. But the kid-friendly suggestions she’d offered—everything from grilled cheese to chocolate cake—had reminded Kaylee of things her mother used to cook. The girl had dissolved into body-wracking sobs. In a fit of desperation, Elisabeth had pulled out a container of leftover black ink risotto that she’d brought home from a fancy event at the lodge.

Kaylee had been intrigued enough to try a bite. Even though she hadn’t immediately loved it, she wanted to know what else Elisabeth had in her fridge that came from Chef Bates. The six-year-old plowed through some lobster ravioli, then fell into an exhausted sleep on Elisabeth’s sofa. After that, finding exotic foods for her to try had become a coping mechanism for them. There would be no chicken nuggets like her mom used to serve for lunch or chocolate chip pancakes that Michelle cooked on her birthday. Luckily, lots of meals were exotic to a young child who’d never been outside of Colorado.

Patti’s hazel eyes narrowed. “Maybe I would have done a better job of keeping her away from Justin if I’d known he was going to be on the premises. Why on earth is he here?”

Because your other daughter is a lunatic. “We just had a few things to discuss. You know his sister, Arden, is a photographer? I’d like to do an engagement photo with Steven while he’s here this weekend. We might even hire her for the wedding.”

“You want your ex-boyfriend’s sister to take your wedding pictures?”

“Possibly. But I figured the courteous approach was to ask him first. So you see, our having lunch together isn’t noteworthy. I would have preferred keeping Kaylee away, though. Once the shock of losing Michelle started to wear off, she was crushed to realize Justin wouldn’t be part of our lives. I don’t want her to suffer that disappointment again.”

Patti reached out and smoothed a strand of Elisabeth’s hair. “I know exactly how you feel. I’ve...never seen you so lost over a boy as you were when he walked away.”

Boy? Elisabeth stole a glance back at their table. Justin Cade—thirty years old, sexy as sin and the best skier she’d ever met in her life—was no boy.

“I don’t want him to hurt you again,” Patti insisted. “Are you sure you’re all right with his being here? Say the word, and I’ll have Javier throw him out on his ass.”

Elisabeth covered her mouth with her hand to smother a giggle. “That won’t be necessary, Mom. All I need you to do is pry Kaylee away from him. Don’t worry, Justin can’t hurt me.”

Dating him had been like a cruel vaccine. He’d done so much damage the first time around that now she was immune.

* * *

JUSTIN HAD ALWAYS been fond of Kaylee Truitt. Yet he couldn’t help wishing that Elisabeth and her mother would finish their discussion and rescue him. The pixie-faced girl with her corkscrew curls and glittery purple sweatshirt looked harmless, but she had an uncanny knack for mixing the trivial and the tragic, always finding the cracks in his armor.

She’d gone from telling him why the orange crayon at school was better than the blue one to demanding to know why he hadn’t come over to play since she’d moved to Cielo Peak. Feeling like slime, he’d stammered something about being busy and recently becoming an uncle, relieved when she moved on to asking if he’d ever eaten squid and if he knew the difference between squid and octopus.

Then she looked him square in the eye and asked, “Do you think Santa can do anything to bring my mom back?”

His lungs burned with the sudden difficulty of breathing, and his arms squeezed around her in a quick, reflexive hug. “No. I’m sorry, kiddo, but not even the big guy from the North Pole can help you with this one.” He was jolted through time to that first December without his mom. That year, he’d been ashamed of every toy he’d ever asked for—none of them mattered. He would’ve given up toys and video games and candy for the rest of his life to have her back.

“I’m sorry about your mother.” He touched his forehead to Kaylee’s. “Mine’s gone, too, and I miss her. But your mom knew that Beth—Elisabeth—is going to take really good care of you. And that Elisabeth loves you. Just remember you’re not alone, okay?”

The damp sparkle in her eyes was like a punch in the stomach. Don’t cry, kid. He didn’t think he could take it.

He began babbling, trying to stave off her tears. “It’s not just Elisabeth who loves you but her whole family. Her parents, the employees here at the lodge, your crazy aunt Lina. And I hear your family’s going to get bigger soon, when Elisabeth gets married. I bet you’ll have a really pretty dress to wear to the ceremony.”

Kaylee wrinkled her nose. “She’s marrying Steven. He doesn’t like me.”

“What? That can’t be true.” He pulled back to study her expression and gauge her sincerity.