Page 49 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

“No, you fool,” my grandmother snaps. Someone switches off the overhead light in the other room. “Then we’d be stuck. Come with me. The children used to break into this house through a window. We’ll break out the same way.”

Kennedy shoots me a glance, and I’m guessing she’s as surprised as I am. My grandmother’s going to climb out a fucking window?

I’d be impressed if I weren’t so disgusted.

There’s some complaining from Jonah, but I can very clearly hear the window opening, some scuffling, then the window closing.

Kennedy turns to me on the floor of the changing room, her arm slipping off my back. “Rowan…”

I run my hands through my hair. I curse. “I’m traumatized for life,” I tell her. “I…I have no words.”

There’s a keening sound from her, and I swivel on my ass to look at her, worried that I’ve offended or upset her, but she’s laughing. Laughing so hard, in fact, that I’m surprised she can also breathe.

Then the light switches back on in the adjoining room, and I only have a few seconds to get myself—and Kennedy—to our feet before the door swings open.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ROWAN

My sister Holly is standing in the doorway, gaping at me. Harry is next to her with a flashlight that he obviously doesn’t need in the bright room, only he’s holding it by the base like a weapon. To be fair, I’m pretty sure it’s my Maglite from home, and if you bashed someone over the head with it hard enough, it would absolutely do damage.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” I ask in bafflement. I’d expected it to be one of the guys coming to check out the noise.

“What areyoudoing without a shirt on?” Holly asks archly, her eyebrows rising as she looks behind me at Kennedy. I hadn’t even realized I’d stepped in front of her, which was sort of pointless since I’m the half-naked one. “Ah,” Holly adds. “Eeenteresting.”

“It’s not what it looks like,” I say, which we all probably know isn’t true. “Kennedy and I thought we’d go for a swim, but the Labelles must have drained the pool before they left. We heard someone coming, so we ducked into the changing room because we didn’t want her to get caught.”

“Get caught doing nothing?” Holly says, lifting her eyebrows. I don’t care for the amount of insinuation she’s pouring into her voice.

“Maybe she was worried about getting caught out of bed,” Harry says, giving Kennedy a look that’s part worried, part pissed. “Because she’s supposed to have aggressive food poisoning.”

“Yeah, thank you for that,” Kennedy says as she steps out from behind me. “All the guys seemed to think I was having non-stop diarrhea, and it’s obvious they’re making it a plot point for the show.”

“Was that not a good idea?” Harry asks, flustered. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“You didn’t like it when someone thoughtyouhad an upset stomach,” Kennedy says significantly.

I have no fucking clue what she’s talking about, butheclearly does, because his cheeks turn pink. “Yes, well, but Ididhave an upset stomach. Yours was just pretend.” She doesn’t respond to this with anything more than a look, but he bunches his lips to the side and says, “Yes, I see your point.”

There’s a lull in the conversation, and Holly doesn’t miss the opportunity to step in. “Do you realize how worried we’ve been, you prick?” she asks me. “You went off grid after telling us Jay had a heart attack. You should have checked your phone.”

“It’s been a hell of a day,”I concede. “How’d you find me?”

Holly shrugs. “I tracked your phone. I’d apologize for turning on your find my friends app—”

“You did what?”

“—but I’m not actually sorry,” she continues as if I hadn't spoken. “I did it after you went off hiking that one time anddidn’t come back until after dark. You need to call our sisters. They’re all worried.”

Of course they are. A feeling of dread courses over me, but I don’t need to tell them what Jay told me. Not yet. I don’t want to believe it, but somewhere inside, I know it’s true. I guess maybe he did too because he was always taking me places when I was a kid—bringing me hiking or to the river to fish. He hung out with the other kids too, but it felt like our bond was special…until it didn’t.

“Yeah, okay,” I say. “Can you give us a minute?”

“Who, you and Harry?” Holly asks, but the hint of slyness on her face tells me she knows exactly who I’m talking about.

“Me and Kennedy, smartass.”

“Sure,” she says, waving at the changing room door. “Your love nest awaits.”

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