Second Chance Christmas. Tanya Michaels

kept her voice calm and low. One might even say detached. “You stopped having influence on my life the day you broke up with me.” Well, later that same week, anyway. There may have been a weepy, seventy-two hour period of hoping he’d come to his senses that she didn’t like to recall.

      “Good.” He gave her a relieved smile. “Glad to hear it. Please be sure to tell your sister.”

      “Oh, trust me, she’ll be getting an earful.” Elisabeth would already be headed up to the third floor for a sisterly chat if Lina weren’t with a client right now. It had been Lina’s idea to offer some limited day-spa services, which helped them generate income even after the snows melted for the year. Her hot stone massages were proving to be a big hit.

      Instead of a waitress, Javier himself came to the table for their orders. “Your usual salad, Señorita Donnelly?” He waited for her nod, then glowered at Justin. “And what do you want?”

      It was an excellent question, in Elisabeth’s opinion. What on earth did Justin want? Even if Lina’s crazy suspicion had been true and Elisabeth was rebounding, why would he care? He’d walked away from Elisabeth—and by extension, Kaylee—without a backward glance. Was he feeling some sort of belated guilt? Maybe it was one of those Dickensian situations, where he’d been visited by three ghosts who’d made it clear what a cad he was.

      None of that was her problem. She had Steven and a bright, sensible future awaiting her.

      Once Javier had gone, Justin leaned forward, his eyes earnest. “Obviously, Lina has some of her wires crossed, but just because she was wrong about your reasons for going to California doesn’t mean she’s wrong about everything. She’s afraid you might regret this move, and she could be right. You’ve never been so far from your family.”

      After this week, she wasn’t sure California was far enough from her meddling sister. Maybe I should ask Steven more about his company’s European offices.

      “And you’ve got Kaylee to consider,” he added.

      Despite her constant self-reassurance that she would not let Justin get to her, her temper flared. “You think I don’t know that? You think that’s not on my mind when I fall asleep at night and still there when I wake up in the morning? Raising a daughter is a massive responsibility. She needs structure in her life and as much security as I can possibly give her, which is why I’m lucky to have met a man like Steven Miller.”

      “I wasn’t implying that you take your responsibilities lightly.” Justin held up his hands in a placating gesture. “But, since you’ve never actually been away from your family, you might not understand how hard it will be. On both of you. Wait, his last name is Miller? Like The Steve Miller Band?”

      Before she could respond, a child’s excited squeal interrupted. “Justin!”

      Elisabeth whipped her head around, dismay pooling inside her. Oh, no. She’s not supposed to be here. Kaylee, showing more enthusiasm than she’d exhibited for anything since the monkeys at the Albuquerque Zoo, was hurtling toward them, joy lighting her small face.

      Trailing behind was Elisabeth’s mother. At fifty-four, Patti Donnelly’s red hair was faded and her figure was slightly plumper than in her younger years, but she was as lively as when she’d taught her girls how to hokeypokey on roller skates two decades ago. Her round, cherubic face, which usually made her look younger than her age, was crinkled in agitation. Although she didn’t question Elisabeth outright on Justin’s presence, her raised eyebrows spoke volumes.

      “I haven’t seen you in forever and ever,” Kaylee declared, scrambling into Justin’s lap.

      When the little girl had first met him, he’d earned her eternal affection with humorous impressions of every major character on SpongeBob SquarePants. Kaylee still asked when he’d come visit her but, mercifully, those requests had become less frequent. The last thing Elisabeth wanted was for the child to get attached to him all over again. She needed to explain that this lunch was for adult conversation.

      “Kaylee—”

      “Elisabeth, dear, might I have a word with you?” her mom interjected. “Lodge business. Should only take a moment.”

      Lodge business, huh? Elisabeth suspected that was code for maternal interrogation. Nonetheless she followed her mother to an unoccupied corner of the dining room. “I thought you and Kaylee were having lunch in town,” she said pointedly.

      “I told her she could pick any place she wanted, but you know how much she adores Chef Bates.”

      Elisabeth would never forget the first night she and Kaylee had arrived home after the funeral in Denver. Worrying that Kaylee had barely eaten in days, Elisabeth had been anxious to get some food into her. But the kid-friendly suggestions she’d offered—everything from grilled cheese to chocolate cake—had reminded Kaylee of things her mother used to cook. The girl had dissolved into body-wracking sobs. In a fit of desperation, Elisabeth had pulled out a container of leftover black ink risotto that she’d brought home from a fancy event at the lodge.

      Kaylee had been intrigued enough to try a bite. Even though she hadn’t immediately loved it, she wanted to know what else Elisabeth had in her fridge that came from Chef Bates. The six-year-old plowed through some lobster ravioli, then fell into an exhausted sleep on Elisabeth’s sofa. After that, finding exotic foods for her to try had become a coping mechanism for them. There would be no chicken nuggets like her mom used to serve for lunch or chocolate chip pancakes that Michelle cooked on her birthday. Luckily, lots of meals were exotic to a young child who’d never been outside of Colorado.

      Patti’s hazel eyes narrowed. “Maybe I would have done a better job of keeping her away from Justin if I’d known he was going to be on the premises. Why on earth is he here?”

      Because your other daughter is a lunatic. “We just had a few things to discuss. You know his sister, Arden, is a photographer? I’d like to do an engagement photo with Steven while he’s here this weekend. We might even hire her for the wedding.”

      “You want your ex-boyfriend’s sister to take your wedding pictures?”

      “Possibly. But I figured the courteous approach was to ask him first. So you see, our having lunch together isn’t noteworthy. I would have preferred keeping Kaylee away, though. Once the shock of losing Michelle started to wear off, she was crushed to realize Justin wouldn’t be part of our lives. I don’t want her to suffer that disappointment again.”

      Patti reached out and smoothed a strand of Elisabeth’s hair. “I know exactly how you feel. I’ve...never seen you so lost over a boy as you were when he walked away.”

      Boy? Elisabeth stole a glance back at their table. Justin Cade—thirty years old, sexy as sin and the best skier she’d ever met in her life—was no boy.

      “I don’t want him to hurt you again,” Patti insisted. “Are you sure you’re all right with his being here? Say the word, and I’ll have Javier throw him out on his ass.”

      Elisabeth covered her mouth with her hand to smother a giggle. “That won’t be necessary, Mom. All I need you to do is pry Kaylee away from him. Don’t worry, Justin can’t hurt me.”

      Dating him had been like a cruel vaccine. He’d done so much damage the first time around that now she was immune.

      * * *

      JUSTIN HAD ALWAYS been fond of Kaylee Truitt. Yet he couldn’t help wishing that Elisabeth and her mother would finish their discussion and rescue him. The pixie-faced girl with her corkscrew curls and glittery purple sweatshirt looked harmless, but she had an uncanny knack for mixing the trivial and the tragic, always finding the cracks in his armor.

      She’d gone from telling him why the orange crayon at school was better than the blue one to demanding to know why he hadn’t come over to play since she’d moved to Cielo Peak. Feeling like slime, he’d stammered something about being busy and recently becoming an uncle, relieved when she moved on to asking if he’d ever eaten squid and