Page 65 of Snow Going Back

Sarah waved it off with a grin. ‘Long story, but he lost. Here, honey…’ She walked over to Kate and handed her the picture. ‘You can keep this one.’

She held Kate’s gaze for a long, loaded moment, then moved away. Kate frowned and looked down at the photo in her hand. It was of her in this beautiful wedding dress looking softly into the mirror. But as she followed her eyes, her heart jumped. Because it wasn’t herself she was staring at with such a mesmerised look.

It was Sam.

THIRTY-FIVE

By the twenty-third of December, Kate had successfully organised, listed and legally bound all parts of Cora’s estate. The only thing left to do was officially note who it would be going to, but Kate wasn’t able to do that until at leastaftershe’d met with Edward Moreaux. Frustratingly, Kate knew as little about him now as when she’d arrived. She’d found it odd that no one ever seemed to mention him in the small town that was so greatly centred around his brother’s life’s work, but she’d not been able to bring him up.

Everyone knew who Kate was and why she was here, and they all also knew the details of the contract, thanks to Aubrey. Legally she had to be very careful. She wasn’t allowed to share any details yet and had to beespeciallycareful that she didn’t accidentally share something about one interested party with another. Aubrey had made her interest public and linked herself to Kate before she’d even arrived, so there’d been no harm in asking questions about her. But Edward was another story.

Having done all the work she could for now, Kate had taken the day off and was now laid back under a blanket in the lounge armchair thinking about life. There was a lot to be said about just lying there. She’d always felt guilty taking time to do thisback home, like she should be doing something else. Something worthwhile. Lance detested the act of lying about. He said it was lazy. But she didn’t agree, and she’d now decided to let herself rest like this a whole lot more, going forward.

The front door opened in the hall behind her, then closed again. She heard Sam stamp his boots, then he paused by the door. Kate craned her neck to look backwards over the arm of the chair.

‘Hey, how’s things?’ she asked.

‘Good. And you?’ Sam came in and sat in one of the other chairs.

‘Fine. I was just contemplating life,’ she said simply.

‘That bad, huh?’ he joked. ‘What particular part of life are you contemplating?’

‘All of it,’ Kate answered with a shrug.

‘That’s a lot to process in one go – no wonder you needed to lie down.’ Sam laughed and ran his hand back through his dark salt-streaked hair, releasing a long breath. ‘Actually, it’s not a bad idea. I’ll join you.’

Kate watched him close his eyes for a moment, wondering how often he just sat and did nothing.

‘Did you know they call stress the silent killer?’ she asked him, recalling a warning her father had given her years before.

Sam opened his eyes and looked at her with a tired flicker of amusement. ‘I did. My uncle drummed it into me when I was younger. Made me promise to take time to rest and for myself in life. Not take it too seriously.’

Kate smiled broadly. ‘My dad did, too!’

‘Yeah?’ Sam grinned. ‘Well, they can’tbothbe wrong.’

‘No.’ Kate’s smile lingered as she looked up at the ceiling.

Her phone rang, and she glanced at the screen. It was Lance. Her heart dropped, and the little buzz of worry he incited in her these days awoke in the pit of her stomach. It continued ringing,and she bit her top lip anxiously. Sheshouldanswer. But she didn’t. It rang off, and she relaxed again, looking back up to the ceiling.

She could see Sam watching her from the corner of her eye and was aware he’d have seen the screen.

‘Everything alright?’ he asked carefully.

Kate nodded. ‘I’m just busy right now. Relaxing is important.’

‘It is,’ he agreed. ‘It’s good to have time to do that with no distractions. Very healthy.’

‘Yep,’ she replied simply. She tapped her fingers together with a slight frown, and there was a short silence.

‘Still…’ Sam murmured.

‘Yes?’ Kate prompted eagerly.

Sam looked sideways at her, a slow grin creeping over his face and deepening his chiselled dimples. ‘I do haveoneother idea…’

Two hours later, Kate threw her head back, laughing maniacally, her hair whipping back and forth across her face as she spun in circles and hurtled down the steep hill in a slick circular sledge.

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