A Magical Christmas. Elizabeth Rolls

of the tension in his shoulders eased.

      “Forest Lodge has a great view, but my place is better. You’re going to love it. I’ve put you in the back bedroom. It faces the forest. Jess made the room up for you while I was teaching my final class.”

      He glanced at Jess for confirmation, but she wasn’t looking at him.

      Had she forgotten?

      “Jess?”

      “Mmm?”

      “You made up the room, right? Because if you forgot, I am selling your skis and enrolling you in after-school history club.”

      “I made up the room! Come on, Luna, let’s take Brenna to her new home.”

      Brenna picked up her jacket and slid her feet into her boots. “This must be so inconvenient for you so close to Christmas. Don’t let me stop you doing any of the stuff you’d normally do.”

      “Last year was my first proper, permanent Christmas here so we’re still making stuff up. I want lots of decorations but Dad says the house is already a mess, so I’m still working on that.” Jess dragged a wriggling, writhing Ash toward the door. “We’re having a real tree, though. We’re going to choose it soon. You can come. We could go after race training.”

      “If there’s enough light.” Tyler opened the door and pushed the dogs out into the cold. Jess followed, and he was about to step after her when Brenna put a hand on his arm.

      “Are you sure this is all right? Would you be honest?”

      “I’m always honest.” But that wasn’t true, was it? Right now, staring down into those soft dark eyes, he wanted to say things that he knew would change their relationship forever. Because of that, he stepped back. “What are friends for? Maybe we’ll watch a movie tonight or something.” He knew he had to do something to take her mind off the way she was feeling, because seeing her this upset was killing him. “After you’ve cooked me dinner.” He chose his words to goad her, and was relieved to see misery replaced by a dangerous gleam.

      “You think I’m cooking you dinner?”

      “Of course. You’re the girl. I’m the boy. I get to sit down and watch football with a beer. You get to cook. You and Jess can decide between you who cleans up the kitchen.” His words had the desired effect. Roused from her state of inertia, she stooped and scooped up snow.

      “I have one thing to say to that, Tyler O’Neil.”

      He told himself that a snowball in the face was worth it to hear her laughing. But of course it didn’t stop at that because both dogs decided to join in as well as Jess, and before he could put a stop to it they were all soaking wet and covered in snow.

      Ash hurled himself at Brenna, and she went down on her back, pushing the dog as he tried to lick her face. “Get him off me!”

      “Sorry about that.” Tyler hauled the dog off by his collar and then dragged her to her feet. “Dana is going to help Jess train Ash.”

      “I wish her luck with that.” But Brenna was still laughing as she brushed away clumps of snow from her jacket. “I might need a shower before dinner which, by the way, I’m not cooking unless you want to be poisoned.”

      “I was kidding. Élise promised to send food over, although her exact words were something like ‘don’t get used to it.’” The scent of Brenna’s hair reminded him of summer flowers, and he had to work extra hard not to look at the soft curve of her mouth. Fighting a tug of lust, he stowed her case in the trunk.

      She was his friend. He was going to help her out, and helping out didn’t involve pushing their relationship into something he’d been careful to avoid. This was one relationship he was determined not to mess up, and the only way he could be sure of not messing it up was to leave it alone.

      “THIS IS YOUR BEDROOM.” Jess pushed open the door. “It looks over the forest and the lake, and it’s next to Dad’s.”

      Something in the way she said that made Brenna turn her head, but Jess was trying to stop Luna from scrambling onto the bed. “The dogs aren’t supposed to be upstairs so we have to be quiet about it.”

      Brenna put her case down. “I thought your dad said I was having a room at the back.”

      “Did he?” Jess sounded vague. “I’m sure he said this one. It has the best view.”

      Brenna looked at the wall of the bedroom and imagined Tyler sleeping on the other side. Ideally, she would have preferred a little more distance, but she wasn’t in a position to complain, was she?

      “This bedroom is lovely.”

      Huge windows stretched up to the vaulted ceiling, and ahead of her stretched the lake, the forest and beyond that the mountains. The large bed was draped in warm green and cool cream, and a rug covered part of the hardwood floor. Not masculine, exactly, but unfussy. The way she preferred things.

      Lake House had stood abandoned and uninhabited on the Snow Crystal land for decades until Tyler had decided one day that despite his nomadic lifestyle, he needed a permanent base of his own.

      Secluded and set on the most remote part of the resort, Lake House had been the obvious choice and he’d set about restoring it whenever he was home, with occasional help from his family.

      Never one to deprive himself, Tyler had installed a large wraparound deck, the same outdoor hot tub as the lodges and added a private dock where he kept a couple of kayaks in the summer.

      Downstairs, the living room had the same soaring ceilings and stone fireplace as the lodges, but the floor space was considerably bigger. He’d taken advantage of that space to build a state-of-the-art media room and he’d converted the basement into a well-equipped gym.

      “How was school today?” Brenna opened her case and transferred the contents to the drawers by the bed. The exception was a dress, her only dress, which she hung up carefully in the wardrobe.

      It was black and made of a stretchy fabric she knew flattered her shape. She wore it every time she needed something smarter than ski pants or sweats, which fortunately wasn’t very often.

      “I like that dress, but black is for a funeral.” Jess forced Ash to sit. “You should wear blue. The same blue as your hat. You look pretty in blue.”

      “I hardly ever wear the black dress, so I can’t justify a blue one and anyway, I don’t want to accumulate more luggage. It’s easier this way.” Easier to move on when she had to, and she was fairly sure now that she was going to have to. This idyll couldn’t last for long, especially now she was living in such close quarters with Tyler. She sensed it was going to get awkward pretty quickly. “So which is your room?”

      “I’m at the back of the house. I look over the forest.” As Luna lay down on the floor, Jess sprang onto the bed and crossed her legs. “I like it. There’s a tree right outside my window. I can climb out if I want to.”

      Like father, like daughter.

      Brenna, who had climbed out of her bedroom window at home more times than she cared to remember, decided that a lecture would be hypocritical. Beginning to understand Tyler’s dilemma, she tried a different approach. “Your dad is pretty easygoing. If you want to leave the house, you could use the front door. He’s not going to stop you, and you’re less likely to break a bone that way.”

      “I like climbing trees. Mom would never let me do anything like that because she thought it wasn’t ladylike.”

      Brenna pushed ski socks into a drawer. Talking about Janet Carpenter was one way of turning a bright day dark. “Do you speak to your mom often?”

      “Every few weeks. It’s a pretty awkward conversation.” Jess wrapped her arms around her legs. “She isn’t interested in hearing about my skiing, and she hates everything to do with Snow Crystal so I can’t talk about that. If I mention Dad she almost