Page 30 of A Very Titan Christmas
“We’ll come up with a great theme.” Bryce looked over Eloise’s shoulder. “Ready to order?”
They ordered drinks. Bryce and Rachel returned to the sitting area before the fireplace while Eloise chatted with the barista.
“She has just as much energy as she did when we were in school,” Bryce said.
Rachel nodded. “It feels like even more because I’m not used to it.” She laughed to herself. “Living with Eloise day in, day out, you become immune to her. She’s…” Rachel pursed her lips and tried to find a word that wasn’t unkind but fully acknowledged her mother’s overwhelming presence. Nothing came to mind, so she settled on “a lot.”
“A lot is right.” Bryce leaned back against the couch. “You’re here all month, huh?”
“Yup. You are too?”
He nodded.
“What’s the summit?”
“You know what summits are.” He raised a shoulder. “It’s a summit. Even if I knew the players, I can’t share the information until it’s released publicly. There are no known threats. You won’t notice a thing except when everyone and their security details show up.”
“Right before Christmas, huh? I’m sure there’ll be some appropriate name like the Silent Night Peace Accord. A little cliché, if you ask me.”
“Tell me more about your article.” Bryce studied her closely.
“Hopefully, a cover article.” She knitted her fingers with a bashful nervousness. “It would be my first.”
“High school Rachel would be very proud of herself for becoming a journalist.”
“I mean, I’m covering cookie decorating and tree lightings. So I’m not sure if we should call it journalism.”
Those intense hazel eyes narrowed, and his lips parted, but whatever he was about to say fell by the wayside. “What else are you going to include? I remember the tree lighting. Everyone loved ice skating and ordering sugar on snow.”
Excitement bled into her. “Youdoremember Silverberry Ridge.”
“Honey, there’s not much I forgot.”
She blushed at the way he said those words. Her gaze skittered toward the fireplace. “You can’t forget the annual teddy bear tea party.”
He laughed. “I don’t remember that.”
“Well, I guess you didn’t move here until you were past the teddy bear stage.”
“I never had a teddy bear stage.”
She snickered. “All right, tough guy.”
Bryce pushed his sweater up his forearms, crossed his arms, and smirked. “I might’ve had a stuffed gorilla.”
“I mean, that’s all kinds of manly. Way more acceptable than a teddy bear.”
The corners of his lips crooked and melted her insides. Her gaze lingered on his lips until she stole it away. Eloise, trailed by the barista, found them. Rachel wanted to scoot away from Bryce, as if her mother had caught them flirting. They hadn’t been, but that hadn’t kept her from noticing so many things about the guy who had broken her heart.
“I had an idea.” Eloise set her mug on the end table, which was adorned with a ceramic snowman glazed with white glitter. “And before you say no, this is one of those things where I’m asking, but it’s much closer to a demand.”
Bryce snickered behind his coffee mug. “At least she’s honest.”
“One of my redeeming qualities,” Eloise agreed.
A man close to her mother’s age in a button-down shirt walked toward their group with a smile one might wear into an interview, and Rachel’s stomach plummeted.
“Eloise.” He held out his hand. “So nice to see you.”
