Page 26 of A Bear Ski Instructor Christmas

He flipped the table over, gazing at it in the soft moonlight streaking in through the open door. He’d have to take it apart and be more careful reattaching the legs. Maybe if he could—

“Working late?” said a voice, drawing his attention to the door.

Speak of the devil.

“It’s not my first time,” Michael said, feeling his spine stiffen all of a sudden. “What are you doing here?”

Elena remained in the doorway, the moonlight casting a long shadow across the floor of the workshop. “I figured I’d drop by to see you. You weren’t in your cabin. And here you are.”

“I’m busy, Elena.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Of course you are. You’re always too busy to talk to me. Never too busy for her.”

“Rachel?” he wondered.

At the mention of the name, Elena seemed to recoil. “I’ve seen the way you look at her. Like she’s the only woman you’ve ever known. But you don’t even remember her.”

“Elena, maybe we should talk about this some other time—”

“I want to have it out now, Michael,” she snapped. For a second, she was silent, then asked, “Don’t you like me?”

He breathed an exasperated sigh. “Is this about what happened the other night?”

“Are you going to answer my question or not?”

There was no point letting this conversation drag on any further. Michael turned away from the table and faced her, hands folded across his chest. “No, Elena.”

“What,” she scoffed, “you think she’s the better choice?”

His jaw clenched slightly. “I don’t…like you. At least, not in the way you expect. I can’t give you what you want.”

Her stony expression seemed to waver for a second, and then it was back. “I see. So Rachel…”

“I want Rachel, and I’m starting to think that we were together in the past before I got here.” That wasn’t entirely true. As much as he wanted to believe it, he still didn’t remember enough to be fully convinced. “That’s it. Is that what you wanted to hear, Elena?”

The look in her eyes answered his question. “Well, I hope it works out for you two. I…guess I’ll see you later, Michael.”

She turned to leave. Michael thought he heard a sob before her shadow disappeared.

With another sigh, he turned back to the table, wondering if he should’ve said something else. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Elena’s feelings—or anyone else’s, for that matter. In his defense, she hadn’t given him much choice.

He forced the thoughts from his mind and continued to work on the table. It wasn’t long before the distractions resumed, this time in the form of someone else. A smile tugged at his lips as thoughts of Rachel filled his mind. Now, if she’d been the one who showed up at the workshop instead…

A series of footfalls in the snow outside pulled him out of his reverie, and he turned just in time to see a figure appear in the doorway.

“Elena,” he began. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

He froze. It wasn’t Elena who stood in the doorway.

It was Andrew.

“I came back because I forgot to leave this.” He held up a hammer, frowning at Michael. “Whatexactlyhappened while I was gone?”

Michael regarded his friend for a moment. Then he told him everything that had happened, from Elena’s attempted kiss by the lake to their brief chat tonight.

By the time he was done, Andrew’s eyed him with amazement. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me she tried to kiss you.” He held up a hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not annoyed about that. But you don’t need to feel so bad for telling her the truth. You’ve never had feelings for Elena. Nothing she says or does can change that.”

Michael ran his fingers through his hair. “I feel like this would all be so much easier if I could just recover the rest of my memories. That’s what I was trying to do by the lake. It’s hard, knowing there’s something there, just out of my reach.” Ever since the other day, when that image flashed in his mind, he’d known it without a doubt. “It’s confusing.”

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