Page 81 of One Chance to Stay
“Sounds unexpected.” I sprayed enough whipped cream that he’d have to eat his way to the chocolate. “How are you holding up?”
“We got here this morning. I expected our first vacation together to be magical. Then— the audacity. He couldn’t cancel beforehand? So, now I’m sharing a room with my ex? There isn’t even another room available.”
I had been away from Valhalla all day and hadn’t met any of the new folks checking in. Was it wrong that I wanted to slap his ex? Who created such a tense situation? I already didn’t like the guy.
“He blind?”
Nick raised his eyebrow. “Huh?”
“Must be if he let somebody this handsome get away.” I shot him a wink. I’m sure they didn’t teach therapeutic flirting in Psychology 101. “His loss will be a gentleman’s gain.”
He let out a huff, but the smirk broke through. “You’re just being?—”
“I’m new to the man-on-man world, but if I wasn’t taken…” My eyes widened. “Oh. Here, take the key to my room.”
“Uhm. That’s sudden.”
My head tipped back as I laughed. I hadn’t talked to Seamus, and I risked sleeping in my car tonight. Taking a leap of faith, I assumed I wouldn’t be spending the night at Valhalla.
“I’m staying with afriendtonight. You shouldn’t have to deal with drama on Solstice. I’ll ask Evelyn to grab my stuff, and you can sleep there.” I held out the key. “But, there’s a catch.”
With his head cocked to the side, he pulled his hand back. Yes, this could be the start of a torrid love affair. But I only had eyes for one member of the fuzzy community. In the distance, I spotted the catch of the evening, hands in his pocket as he watched a group of kids chucking snowballs at one another.
“Have fun tonight.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. If there’s a reconciliation—” The snarl in his lip said that wouldn’t be happening. “Enjoy the bonfire. Enjoy the charm of these crazy people. Tomorrow you can figure things out.”
I dropped the key in his hand. “Thanks.”
He stared at the key, as if it were the first nice thing anybody had done for him. As his storm brewed, I hoped that key offered a light in the darkness. Sometimes, one small gesture was all it took, much like somebody inviting me in from the cold. When Nick turned to leave, I caught Seamus’s eye across the green. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask, “What did you just do?” Hopefully, I had just opened the door and invited Nick in from the cold.
The door to the shack swung open, and I snapped out of the memory. “I ran as fast as I could.”
“Mabel?”
“They’re coming!”
Between her red leggings and Santa jacket, she appeared like a North Pole Vixen. Her bosom heaved, making the fur lining take on a life of its own. That might have been shocking, but not for Mabel, nor were the thigh-high black boots with heels. Only she would dare a stiletto in the snow.
“The Quilting Guild.”
“I hear there’s a party!”
Gloria.
I looked up to see a gaggle of elderly women making their way toward the shack. They were less like Nana and more like a gang of deviants.
“Where’s the drink list?” Mabel had helped behind the bar in the past. Not as fancy, but she knew how to make a cocktail. “Screw it. There’s no time. Just give them shots.”
I wanted to laugh at the fear in her voice, but I had seen them first-hand at the tasting. The rowdy ladies of Firefly were looking for a good time, and that started with a cocktail in hand.
“If we don’t survive,” I said. “Burn my laptop.”
“Done.”
NO WISHES TO MAKE
