Page 32 of Ensnared
“Listen,” Jack says. “I was going to talk to you later, but I might as well tell you now. Skye will be staying with me over the winter. That cabin is too cold for her and the dog. It’s no big deal, because she’ll be sleeping in my room, but I just wanted to let you know.”
No surprise there.
“Fine.” I pause, then ask, “Have you spoken to Ty about this?”
Jack’s expression turns hard. “No.”
O-kay. I’m not getting in the middle of that. Yet. Unless they let their feelings interfere with their work, Jack and Ty can handle things on their own. I just hope this situation with Skye won’t cost them their friendship.
I lift my hand in farewell. I don’t want to be here to listen to Jack and Skye’s happy reunion. In fact, it might be better to insulate one of the other guest cabins for the winter so I don’t have to stay at the Lodge with them. I’ll poke around our tool shed to see if we have anything on hand that I can use.
It’s nothing personal, but I might go insane if I smell her excitement, and I bet there’s going to be plenty of that happening over the long winter nights.
With that happy thought, I leave, wondering whether I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life when I brought Skye to Amber Bay.
Twelve
Skye
“Of all the stupid,impossible assholes, why did I have to get Aiden as my…my…”
I stomp up the stairs to Jack’s room, then stop midway and return downstairs. I want to avoid Ty, so going into the kitchen is risky business, but I need food. There’s an empty hole in my stomach that needs filling. Maybe Jack is hungry, too. I sneak inside and grab a pair of bananas from the fruit bowl, then open the fridge and sniff around.
There’s a stack of salmon fillets, pink and ready to be broiled, four cartons of eggs, and…
“Jackpot,” I whisper, stealing the leftovers of the delicious sausage hash Ty served us last night.
The dinner had been a miserable affair during which everyone focused on their food. Conversation had been stilted and almost non-existent, and even Miss Georgia was quieter than usual. I tried not to let it get to me, but I could tell it hurt Jack a lot.
Maybe I need to have a chat with Ty. Even if he doesn’t like me, he and Jack were friends long before they ever met me. The thought is painful, a knife twisting in my gut. I’d hoped Ty would be a part of our relationship, and not just because of the sex. I’d fallen for his easy charm, even though I’d known from the start that he wasn’t as serious as Jack.
I guess that was the problem. Maybe it was that his idea of a relationship was casual hookups, so when he realized Jack and I were in it for the long haul, he got spooked.
Or maybe he hates you because you’re a lying witch.
Well, that was also a distinct possibility.
I load a tray with the food and a bottle of kombucha from the fridge and make my slow way back up the stairs. Coordinated, I am not, so I tread carefully and push the door to Jack’s room open with my butt.
Then I turn and nearly drop the tray.
Ty is sitting on Jack’s bed, staring at me. He opens his mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. He stands quickly.
I hear the footsteps a moment later. Jack is bounding up the stairs. He comes up behind me and stops.
“I-I made you cinnamon rolls,” Ty stutters, pointing behind him, where a pan of fresh pastries waits on a pretty checkered kitchen towel. “I know it’s not enough, but I wanted to say sorry for how I…”
Jack gently pushes past me, steps toward Ty, and pulls him into an embrace. Ty falters for a second, then his arms go around Jack, holding him tight. He fists his fingers in Jack’s shirt, and his face scrunches up tight like he’s trying not to cry.
I put down the tray of food and press my fingers to my cheeks. The guys cling to each other silently. There’s no way I’m intruding on that. I tiptoe out the room. I’ll go find more food in the kitchen and return to my cabin. They have a lot to talk about, and it’s better that I’m not here.
“No, Skye, wait!” Ty appears at the door, his eyes bright. “Don’t go.”
Jack pokes his head out from around him. “Yeah, come back. We have cinnamon rolls.”
Ty glowers at him. “How did you even manage to eat two already? It’s like eating is your superpower.”
I tentatively enter Jack’s room and close the door behind me. “Are you two sure you want me here for this? I mean, maybe you should chat first, and I’ll…” I point toward the door. “I need to walk Princess Penny.”
