Page 318 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

“Lee is the most lost of any of them,” she said with a sigh, patting her lilac hair. “Which only means he’ll need the most help.”

They got into the car, Maisie trying to process what Dottie was saying.

“How are you going to help him, Dottie? He lives in Manhattan, and he works right under his father’s thumb.”

“Oh, the universe has its ways.” She made a swatting gesture, as if to hasten it along.

They started the drive back to the gates, the view pleasant even in the winter, if less stunning than in the other seasons.

“Well,” Maisie said after a short silence. “Lee sounds like a dick. He’s making Jack feel like he doesn’t belong.”

Dottie made a little humming sound under her breath. “So often we displace our own feelings onto others.”

Maisie snorted. “You sound like Yoda, except without the weird speech pattern.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She paused. “Still, if everyone at the party is distracted, and you and Jack find yourselves able to slip away, you might want to stop by the restaurant. At seven-thirty, say. I don’t plan on talking about anything of importance untilafterthe meal. The food is quite good. Lurch gave me your schedule, and I believe you’ll be at Libations Brewing at that time. A short walk to Shebeen. I reserved a table for Prescott and me right behind the bar. There are some bushes that would separate us, but I don’t imagine they’d block out any sound. It might be prudent to record the conversation, if you feel so inclined. I’ve heard it’s easy to do that sort of thing these days.”

“Dottie,” Maisie said in disbelief, “did you just invite us to eavesdrop?”

“Well, my dear, if you need me to spell it out, you should hone your intuition. I have a friend who can help you with that.”

Of course she did.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Any other time, Jack would have loved watchingThe Big Lebowskifor the umpteenth time, but he was distracted by a half dozen things, none of them good. No, that wasn’t true. Tyrion hadn’t left his side. He’d even followed him into the bathroom and watched him send Maisie a text.

Is it six yet?

She hadn’t answered by the time he finished up and checked his phone.

“I hope that means she’s having a better time than I am,” he mumbled.

Tyrion released a small whine and rubbed his head against Jack’s leg.

“Sorry, buddy,” Jack said, squatting next to him and scratching both sides of his face. “It’s not you. You know I love hanging out with you. In fact, I’m not sure I could have gotten through this afternoon without you.”

Tyrion licked his face, and Jack laughed as he got to his feet. “Love you too, but we can’t hide in here any longer. We better head back out there.”

So he had. Finn had looked relieved to see him at least, like he’d thought Jack might have tried climbing out of thehigh, narrow window in the bathroom and pulling Tyrion through with him. They’d paused the movie for him, and the awkwardness was such a presence, it was like another guest. Poor River. It wasn’t much of a party so far, and it probably wouldn’t be as long as Little Lord Fauntleroy hung around. Finn was doing his best, talking about real estate in an animated manner that didn’t match the subject matter, but not even Finn could add life to this party.

They finished the movie and Jack nearly groaned in agony when he realized they had over an hour to kill before Maisie and Lurch were supposed to show up for the brewery tour. It felt like he’d died and gotten stuck in the inner circle of Dante’s inferno.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for several seconds before Lee pushed himself out of his chair. “I’m going to head to the bathroom.”

As soon as he was out of the room, Finn and River exchanged a look. They were clearly dying to talk, but River cast Jack a sideways glance.

“I could use some fresh air,” Jack said as he got to his feet. “I’ll take Tyrion out to pee.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Finn said, a guilty look washing over his face. “He’s my responsibility.”

“Nah,” Jack said as he grabbed his coat off the rack and shoved his arms into the sleeves. “I take him out all the time. We’re pals.”

“Well, you don’t need to walk him,” Finn said as he and River started toward the kitchen. “Addy and I took him on a three-mile hike this morning. He’s good.”

“Okay,” Jack said as he opened the front door. Once they were on the porch, he glanced down at Tyrion. “Don’t worry. We’ll be out here for a while, so you’ll have plenty of time to sniff around.” Could he get away with spending the next hour outside?

Tyrion was eager to check out the front yard, so Jack trailed behind, giving him plenty of slack on his retractable leash. He considered taking it off since Tyrion hadn’t run off in over a month, but he didn’t want to chance it.

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