A Magical Christmas. Elizabeth Rolls

and blew her nose. “It was the single most amazing night of my life. It was—oh, my God—almost worth blowing a whole friendship for.” But not quite.

      “Right,” Kayla said slowly, “so why is this bad?”

      “Because he woke up this morning and he said it was all a big mistake, he wished it hadn’t happened and he wanted things to be the same as they were before.”

      Kayla sat back in her chair with a sigh. “Oh, Tyler, you fool.”

      “I will fillet him, yes?” Élise kept her hand on Brenna’s leg. “I will serve him up medium-rare or well-done. Your choice. Then he will learn to be better at communicating.”

      “I don’t want you to do anything.” Brenna blew her nose. “Or say anything. I don’t want anyone knowing or talking about it. He can’t help the way he feels.”

      Kayla pulled a face. “He’s crazy about you, Bren.”

      “Obviously not.” Brenna stuffed the mangled tissue up her sleeve. “I woke up this morning to an empty bed. He was in the bathroom having a panic attack. I saw it in his eyes.”

      Élise made a disparaging noise. “Men, they are such wimps.”

      “I told him I loved him.” She blew her nose again. “I thought I’d try being honest and speaking my mind, and I’m so tired of trying to hide my feelings. And he seemed fine, it didn’t change anything—but he didn’t say it back. At the time—”

      “At the time you were focused on the moment.”

      “Yes, but this morning—I saw it in his eyes.”

      “He is scared.” Élise gave Brenna a brief hug and stood up. “He is terrified, and the terror it is making him stupid. This we can solve. He will calm down. So now you will stop crying and eat pancakes while we come up with a plan.” She walked back around the table, turned the heat up under the pan and started again.

      Brenna shook her head. “No plan. No more meddling. No more telling me to speak up. No more throwing us together.” She glanced at Kayla, who blushed.

      “I’m really sorry.” She sounded contrite. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Bren. You were so unhappy, and I love you and wanted to fix it, and I thought if the two of you were together then maybe things might work out.”

      “Well, they didn’t, and they won’t, and now we don’t even have our friendship anymore.” She tried to control her breathing. “Whenever anything was bad in my life, when things were hard at school or at home, he was the one I turned to. He was my best friend. So who do I talk to now he’s the problem?”

      “You talk to us.” Kayla touched her arm gently. “You have us.”

      “So you give up?” Élise poured the mixture into the pan and tilted it. “You are a strong, determined woman. This is not like you.”

      “It has nothing to do with strength or determination. I told him how I felt. I did that. And I wish I hadn’t. I gambled and lost.”

      “You really believe he doesn’t have feelings for you?”

      Brenna thought about the night before. About his mouth, his touch, the way he’d looked at her, how gentle he’d been, how caring and tender.

      “I think he has feelings. But you’re right that those feelings terrify him. He hasn’t been serious about a woman since Janet.”

      “He wasn’t serious about Janet.” Elizabeth walked back into the room. “I’m sorry, dear. I know you feel uncomfortable talking about this with me, but you shouldn’t. You’ve been part of this family since you were a little girl. I love you as if you were my own.”

      Brenna’s eyes filled again, and Kayla sniffed.

      “Stop it, Elizabeth.”

      Elizabeth sat down in the chair vacated by Élise. “He didn’t love Janet, you know he didn’t. That wasn’t how it was.”

      Brenna wondered if Elizabeth knew more about Janet than she was letting on. “But the whole thing freaked him out. Losing Jess. He felt like a failure for not being able to keep her, and it tore him in shreds, I know it did. He hasn’t been seriously involved with a woman since.”

      “Ever.” Elizabeth took the plate Élise handed her. “He hasn’t been seriously involved with a woman ever. And of course that is why it has taken him so long to finally admit how he feels about you.”

      “He hasn’t admitted it.”

      “He finally shifted the nature of your relationship.” Elizabeth was tactful in her phraseology. “And that is a step closer to admitting it. You need to be patient. Don’t back off.”

      “There’s nothing I can do. I saw his face.”

      “It is an insanely handsome face,” Élise murmured, “but sometimes what goes on in the brain behind that face is screwed up. He is scared, freaked out as you say, so you must unfreak him.”

      Brenna looked at the pancake without seeing it. “How?”

      Élise eyed Elizabeth, who gave a half smile. “Don’t mind me, dear. If you have a suggestion, out with it.”

      “My suggestion is that you walk into his room wearing very sexy underwear and nothing else.” Aware that they were all gaping at her, Élise shrugged. “You are not only a friend, you are a woman. Show him.”

      “I could never do that!”

      “You had sex with your clothes on?”

      Brenna felt her cheeks heat. “No, but—I’m not like you.”

      “Which is probably just as well or Tyler would be chopped to pieces by now,” Kayla muttered. “I’m not sure Elizabeth should be listening to this.”

      Elizabeth stirred. “I happen to think it’s an excellent plan. I will keep Jess for another night. She can help me stock the freezer for Christmas. She’s turning out to be a natural chef. And talking of food—” Elizabeth leaned across, cut a slice of pancake and fed it to Brenna. “You need to keep your strength up, dear.”

      “Wait a minute!” Brenna almost choked. “For a start, I don’t own any sexy underwear.”

      “Vraiment?” Élise looked appalled. “Not a single piece of silk or lace? Please tell me this is a terrible joke.”

      “No.” Her face was burning, and she saw Élise glance at Kayla and then back at her.

      “So instead be naked.”

      “He’ll turn me down.” The possibility of rejection made her shrink. “And then what?”

      “You are no worse off.”

      “I don’t think I can do that.” Brenna shook her head. Despite what had happened the night before, Janet’s words were still wedged in her brain. “If he doesn’t want me, that’s the end of it. I won’t push myself on him. That isn’t how I want our relationship to be. It’s finished, and now we somehow have to get our friendship back to where it was.” But what if they couldn’t do that? What if it wasn’t possible? “Can we talk about something else?”

      “Of course. In fact, I have some news of my own,” Elizabeth said casually, putting the fork down on the plate. “Tom has asked me to dinner, and I’ve said yes.”

      Kayla stopped with her fork poised in midair. “Tom? Tom who?”

      Élise rolled her eyes. “You should try looking up from your phone occasionally. There is a whole world going on out here.” She beamed at Elizabeth. “Me, I like Tom very much, and he grows the best tomatoes. He has good hands, I think, and I love a man with good hands. Sean, he is the same.”

      “Tomatoes?” Kayla’s face cleared. “Oh, that Tom.”