Page 25 of A Bear Ski Instructor Christmas

“Elena? I was just with Reba. She gave me a tour of the museum. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk with you.” Elena descended the steps, folding her arms across her chest. “It’s about Michael.”

The hair on Rachel’s forearms rose to attention at those words. What did this woman have to say about him?

“Yes?”

“He lost his memory years ago and never regained parts of it. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. You’ve been trying to get him to remember you.”

Rachel nodded. What was she getting at? “That’s right.”

“Why don’t you just give up?”

Now it was Rachel’s turn to scowl. “What did you just say?” She had to be kidding, right?

“It’s been weeks, Rachel,” Elena said. The woman took a step closer, her gaze locked on her eyes. “No, it’s beenyears, and he still doesn’t remember you. What makes you think you can change that?”

Defensiveness clawed its way up from Rachel’s stomach. “Well, he’s my boyfriend.”

She felt like some high schooler in love, but she didn’t care. Michaelwashers. He’d taken her out on all those dates years ago. He’d given her the necklace. He’d told her how much he loved her while planting a trail of hot, wet kisses along her spine…

“Is he? He doesn’t seem to remember anything like that.” Elena’s lips curved into a smirk.

“What are you getting at?” Rachel asked, bristling.

“Look, I’ve known him ever since he arrived here three years ago. I took care of him while he tried to recover his memories. If you were any bit as important to him as you want to believe, maybe he’d have remembered you along with everything else.”

Her words cut into Rachel like a razor blade. The scowl deepened. An emotion she couldn’t identify fluttered in her belly. Was there something going on between Michael and Elena? From the first day they’d met, Rachel thought the woman didn’t like her. Her “mean girl” aura was visible from a mile away. Elena was the sort of person Rachel would’ve discussed with Diane until the therapist told her to take a breather. Heck,Samwould’ve been throwing hands at the woman by now.

But it hadn’t really dawned on Rachel that Elena might have feelings for Michael until now.

Possibilities flickered through her mind. Had anything happened between him and Elena in the past? Maybe Michael had feelings for the woman. The thought made her stomach churn.

“You expect me to give up on Michael?” It wasn’t much different from what Reba had told her back at the museum, but hearing it from Elena was a hundred times worse.

“I expect you to move out of the way,” replied the woman. “Nothing you do is going to make him remember you. You’re only confusing him with memories he can’t relate to.”

Rachel bit back the urge to hurl a slew of insults at her. “He’s my boyfriend,” she said again. “He’s the man I love. I’m not giving up on him.”Not again.“Michael is mine.”

Elena simply chuckled. “With his memory gone, I guess we’ll find out just how true that is.”

Chapter Ten

The Two-Legged Table

“Aw, crap,” Michael muttered, dropping the hammer. “That’s not good.”

The table he’d been working on was missing a leg. How hadn’t he noticed it before? He’d been trying to put together a three-legged table for one of the villagers ahead of Christmas. So far, the thing had onlytwoof them. Not enough for it to stand on its own. What was worse, he’d fixed both legs opposite each other. He’d have to add two more if he wanted to keep the table from toppling over.

Now, I’ve got to start all over.

The night was colder than usual, and he was working alone in the workshop. Andrew had left for home earlier. Working alone certainly had its perks. For one, he had no one to distract him. The problem was that distractions didn’t always appear in the form of friends. Sometimes, they were his own thoughts. He wouldn’t have made such a silly mistake with this table if his mind hadn’t been so preoccupied with the memory of the other night.

He hadn’t seen Elena since she tried to kiss him by the lake, mostly because he’d been actively avoiding her. Still, the memory pricked the back of his mind. It had all happened so fast. One second, they’d been talking, and the next, he’d nearly stumbled into a rock trying to get away from her.

It had been so sudden. Not as sudden and unexpected as when Rachel had thrown her arms around him and kissed him the day they met. But Elena was not Rachel. Even now, Michael wasn’t sure there was anything thing he wouldn’t do to feel the elf woman’s lips on his again. At the same time, he’d give anything to keep from bumping into Elena in the next week or so.

But they’d cross paths again eventually. Melinor was too small a village for him to avoid her forever. For now, at least…

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