Page 100 of Forbidden Flame

“What are your plans for tomorrow?” I asked everyone at the table.

Teddy finished chewing, then said, “We’re hitting the slopes every day. I don’t have any interest in going downtown unless we hit a bar one night.”

Jameson and Weston all nodded in agreement, and I breathed a sigh of relief that it could be our safe place where we didn’t have to worry about being seen.

“Doesn’t Izzy have her first lesson tomorrow?” Dad asked me.

“I think she goes on her own with the instructor. I’ll probably get some hot chocolate and watch from the lodge.” I didn’t want any one coming because I wanted to see Cole.

“Hopefully, she’ll be confident to go down a green afterward, and we can ski together,” Teddy said.

“If she likes it, I might sign her up for more lessons. I think they had a package deal if we did one a day, her lift ticket is included.” Secretly, I wanted to stay apart from my family as much as possible so I could spend the time with Cole.

A man in a suit stopped at the end of the table. I assumed he was a manager of some sort.

“Eli.” Teddy stood and gave a man hug where they slapped each other on the back. “It’s good to see you.”

I remembered that my brothers came to this resort because they had some connection to the family from college. I assumed it was his parents who ran the place, not him.

Eli looked around the table. “Your family is here?”

“This is my younger sister, Daphne, and her daughter, Izzy,” Teddy gestured at our side of the table.

I stood and was surprised when Eli hugged me. “Thanks for visiting our resort. If you need anything, anything at all, let me know.”

“Izzy’s taking her first ski lesson tomorrow.”

“I’ll make sure my brother Xander is teaching her lesson. He’s the best with kids.”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Eli had already met the rest of the family from the last time they visited. “I hope we’ll have some time to catch up. Text me when you want to hit the bar.”

“We’ll do that,” Teddy said as he returned to his seat.

“Dinner’s on me, and there will be a package waiting for you at the spa whenever you want to use it,” Eli said to me.

“Thank you. That sounds amazing.” I hadn’t even considered going to the spa. I figured I’d be with Izzy most of the time.

When Eli walked away, I asked, “Does he own this place?”

“He runs it with his brothers. He’s the manager. Xander is in charge of lessons and recreational activities. Oliver handles the books, and Killian’s a famous snowboarder. You don’t see him here often.”

“Is Eli the one you used to visit on breaks?”

Teddy nodded. “We met in college, and this is where we’d go. We always had a good time. The brothers are more responsible now.”

It felt good to be somewhere that wasn’t the farm. I was so busy these last few years, raising Izzy and getting my business off the ground, I hadn’t taken the time to enjoy life. Izzy wouldn’t be little forever, but I needed to take time to consider what I wanted.

Was it selfish to want Cole when it could cause a fracture in his family and mine?

Chapter 22

Cole

I went out to dinner with my cousins and their significant others. I had a good time with them, joked and laughed when appropriate, but my mind was on Daphne and Izzy. I wondered what they were doing or if we’d run into them.

I couldn’t see a way around my cousins’ dislike of the Calloways. There was no way Emmett would accept our relationship, and I didn’t want to break up with Daphne. That’s why I kept putting it off, even though it wasn’t tenable anymore.

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