Page 103 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

I stiffen my back, wipe my cheeks, and pretend right back.

“Thank you,sir,” I say, looking into his eyes. “I was really worried about him, but I can see that he’s doing just fine without me.”

Then I scoop up my dog and turn my back on Rowan.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ROWAN

They’re waiting for me in the living room when I open the door to my house. Holly and Bryn. Ivy. Harry and Oliver, who gives me a nod. I guess my sisters felt bad enough for me that they left their gooey other halves home.

“An all hands on deck meeting, huh?” I ask, walking past them to get to the fridge. I’d hook myself up to a beer IV if I could. What started as the best night of my life quickly devolved into one of the worst. Then again, that’s always been the way my luck has swung—one side of the pendulum to the other.

They let me get a beer and pop it, then Holly clears her throat and says, “Take a seat.”

“Is this an intervention?” I ask dryly, “because, last I checked, I don’t have a drug problem, and I’m pretty sure anyone would have a beer after the day I had.”

“You walked away from Kennedy,” Harry accuses. Oliver gives me an apologetic look over his shoulder.

“You were a contributing cause to a fire that wiped out a multi-million-dollar house,” I shoot back. The Labelles’ house is totaled. It’s gone. The roof crashed in. The damage is so complete no one other than squirrels will be living there anytimesoon. “I hope they had some good fucking insurance…the show too.”

“The show insurance is airtight,” Harry says. He waves a hand. “Apparently, there were some trust issues involving your grandmother, so they locked into the highest plan possible.”

If regret tickles at my throat, then it’s because I’m a selfish asshole. I guess part of me was hoping this meant the show would definitively end. Because earlier, when Kennedy was weeping, trying to push her way to me and Jester, it killed me—absolutely killed me—to act like she meant nothing to me. Like I hadn’t stomped into that burning house, knowing it might be the last thing I did because the puppy she loved was shut up in her bedroom. Like she wasn’t the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, something I didn’t know I was capable of wanting until I let her in.

I scratch my throat, cringing at the pain it causes. My whole face is pink from the fire, although I avoided getting burned any worse. The medics wanted me to go to the hospital for smoke inhalation, but I refused. I’ve needed treatment before, but I feel fine. Chalk it up to a Christmas miracle, I guess. Kennedy probably would.

Okay, Idon’tfeel fine. That’s a damn lie. But it’s not the smoke that’s making me feel shitty—it’s only a contributing cause.

“Where’s Kennedy?” I blurt. “What happened with the dog?”

“You did good, man,” Oliver says, and there are a couple of nods around the room.

“He needs to stay at the vet to get oxygen for a couple days,” Ivy says. “But he’s fine. You rescued him.”

“Kennedy’s at the inn with the rest of the cast and crew,” Harry says. “They kicked out all the people staying there so they could maintain secrecy.”

I huff out a laugh as I lower into the only empty chair with my beer. “Good fucking luck with that. That fire’s all anyone’s going to talk about for months.Years. The Labelles might try to sue.” Either that, or they’ll be secretly thrilled. They’d been trying to unload that house on the downlow for at least two years, but no one wants a bizarre mansion with themed bedrooms, shocker of all shockers. This way, they’ll get the insurance payout and they’ll get to move. Win–win for them and for the town, I guess, if a fire that almost killed people can be called a win.

It strikes me that Zach and Tina have probably already heard about the fire. Shit. Are they worried? I’m surprised Zach hasn’t barged in here demanding the full story. Unless…

“Do Zach and Tina know about this?”

Harry nods. “They were here earlier. They already know everything. Zach said he needed a stiff drink, and they went to Ziggy’s.”

“You think he’d know by now they only serve beer,” Holly says. “But on the plus side, Cole keeps a bottle of whiskey behind the bar. I texted him and asked him to hook Zach up.”

“I wasn’t a contributing cause to the fire,” Harry adds.

At first, I think he’s just being defensive, but there’s something almost victorious about the way he says it.

“We have something to show you,” Holly says, twitchy in the way she always gets when she has a particularly good secret to share. She grabs her laptop from the coffee table and cues it up, then gestures for me to come closer. I don’t particularly want to see whatever it is or do anything besides obliterate this emptiness I feel inside. But they all seem eager for me to look, so I head over to join them.

It’s a camera feed from the pool room. It’s paused, but it very clearly shows two figures: my grandmother and Jonah. My gaze instantly lifts to Harry, who’s leaning over the computer, Oliver beside him. “You got something.”

“We got something,” he says excitedly.

Holly makes adun-dun-dunsound, Bryn gives her a nudge, and then the footage is playing.

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