Page 117 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

Regret lodged deep in his heart that he’d let her walk out without a fight. Even if he left now, it would be impossible to catch up with her, not to mention more dangerous as the temperatures dropped toward freezing, and the roads became less manageable. “Are either of you planning to tell Grandmother what’s going on?”

Silence.

Gabe shifted in his seat. “Not yet.”

“What does that mean?” Jonas snapped.

“It means we’re not going to tell her just yet,” Chase said, shaking his head. “We won’t tell her until you’re ready.”

“But?” Jonas could hear the unspoken word in his brother’s comment.

“We know it’s been a lot to handle, after everything that’s happened since she announced her diagnosis at Thanksgiving,” Chase looked at Gabe, who flushed.

“And our own stupid behavior,” Gabe added.

“So you’ve got a week. Don’t keep secrets from her too long, Jonas. She—” Chase looked away, and Jonas’s stomach twisted.

Another long silence took over the office. The computer hummed in the background, and Jonas felt the way he had after they’d heard the news their parents were dead.Adrift.

“Have you eaten?” Gabe asked.

“What?” Jonas was bewildered by the question.

“Did you have dinner?” Gabe rubbed a hand over his face. His concern came a little too late. Not to mention that if he was so concerned, then he shouldn’t have butted in at all. Rachel had driven away, and nothing was bringing her back. “You can’t work all night. It’s not good for a person.”

The last thing Jonas wanted was to go to dinner with his brothers and act like there wasn’t anything wrong. But the computer screen glared at him, taunting him with emails that he’d read three times but couldn’t make sense of, there was still the proposal he had to put together for the other ski resort, and Anna had sent him a list of ideas for using social media to generate more interest in the resort.

There was a strange pit in his stomach.Hunger. Except it wasn’t food he wanted. He wanted Rachel.

“I haven’t had dinner.” He stood up from his desk and switched off the monitor. “I’m going down to the restaurant to eat and if you’re coming with me, I don’t want to talk about this. And try not to make fools of yourselves.”

* * *

Rachel

Scott had been fussy since they pulled away from Elk Lodge. Rachel knew it was her fault. They’d left past his bedtime, and he didn’t want to be in the car seat. She’d passed back toy after toy but had run out only thirty minutes into the drive.

Scott started screaming. Apparently, dropping his stuffed elk was the last straw. Her head hurt from the intensity of his sobbing complaints. “Hey, buddy.” He wasn’t paying her the least bit of attention, but she had to try. “I’ll get you your elk as soon as I can find a place to stop.” There was no way she would stop on a remote roadside in the dark and with the snow coming down way heavier than it had been when she first left the lodge.

Why was it still snowing? It was as if even Mother Nature didn’t want them leaving the lodge. Well, too damn bad. She’d gone just far enough that it made no sense to turn back. Especially given the tension and situation she’d left behind. Her only hope was to drive slowly.

Scott’s screams dissolved into furious howls. Rachel turned on the radio, hoping to find a station that would soothe him.Just get through the drive—one mile at a time.Rachel tried to focus on something other than Scott.

Something like her future. She still had her photography business and her son, and that would be enough to keep her going for years. What she didn’t have was Jonas. What she didn’t have was a concrete plan for keeping her son’s father in his life.

She let out a laugh that sounded more like a cry. Had it felt this anguished to drive away from Montana, where she’d grown up? Rachel couldn’t remember. The future loomed ahead of her in the dark—more like ahead and behind. In front of her was a mother, disapproving and wanting her to be someone she wasn’t. And her studio. Behind her was Jonas and all hope of a family and a normal life—something she’d begun to crave while staying at Elk Lodge.

Scott had started to wear out from his incessant cries.

A love song came on. “Ugh.” Flipping to the next station, she nodded. Hard rock wasn’t her favorite, but it would do. Except the hard rock disagreed with Scott, who started screaming again, pained and shrill.

Her phone rang on the center console, vibrating crazily. The call could wait. The call wouldhaveto wait. She couldn’t help Scott calm down and answer the call, and anyway, she had no interest in talking to anyone right now.

Rachel patted behind her, trying to find the elk. It was huge. How could it be so difficult to find right now? She finally grasped one of its legs. “Here you go, buddy,” she said, putting it in Scott’s lap. He quieted down instantly. Rachel pulled her arm forward, the awkward position causing her to cramp. She stretched and massaged the muscles, trying to get relief, accidentally bumping her phone in the process.

“Hello?”her mother’s voice burst from the phone’s speaker.

Why me?If Rachel had been parked, she’d have put her head down on the steering wheel and had a good cry.

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