A Magical Christmas. Elizabeth Rolls

has been very patient.” Elizabeth took a sip of tea, paused, swallowed and pulled a face. “I confess I didn’t find it easy after Michael died. But Tom has been a good friend to me, and friendship is the best basis for any relationship, isn’t it?”

      “This is true,” Élise said, “but you are never too old for good sex, as Alice is always telling us. And now you might as well pour away that tea because I can see you all exchanging looks and forcing it down. And next time ask me for coffee.”

      “GUESS WHAT?” JESS BOUNCED into the kitchen the following morning. “School is shut again. Snow day! Can we ski powder? Dad? Are you listening? Why are you staring out the window?”

      Tyler stirred. “What are you doing here? I thought Grandma was dropping you at school.”

      “I just told you, snow day!” Jess frowned and dumped her bag on the floor. “What’s wrong?”

      Guilt mingled with thoughts that threatened to set his brain on fire.

      He’d texted Brenna twice, and she hadn’t answered.

      He had no idea where she was.

      “Nothing is wrong.” Restless, Tyler grabbed his jacket. Maybe it would help to be out in the mountains. “Get dressed, we’re going skiing.”

      Jess tugged on her boots. “Are we inviting Brenna?”

      “She’s teaching.”

      “Dad, what’s going on?” Jess stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at her. “Something has happened, hasn’t it?”

      “No. Get your coat.” He was out of the door before she could ask any more questions.

      They skied a few runs together, then Tyler coached her, making her do the same run over and over again, repeating turns until he was satisfied. And she didn’t complain, not even when she caught an edge, fell and tumbled down the slope toward him.

      She lay, winded, staring up at the sky. “I guess I messed that one up.”

      He stooped and hauled her to her feet, rescuing her skis. “Your weight was wrong on the inside ski. You’re spraying snow, which means you’re sliding not carving, but aside from that little lapse, you’re doing good. Really good.”

      And Brenna was right. He was enjoying teaching her. Far more than he’d ever anticipated he would.

      Jess emptied snow out of her gloves and scraped it from the front of her ski. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

      “Go on.”

      “You’ll think I’m a wimp.”

      “Tell me.”

      Jess shrugged and shifted her gaze to the top of the slope. “When I’m up there looking down, before I start, I’m scared.”

      “Of course you are.” Tyler reached out and brushed snow from her jacket. “We all are.”

      Her eyes widened. “Even you?”

      “Oh, yeah. You ask any racer, and he’ll say the same. If he doesn’t, he’s lying. Most of us know how it feels to fall, and in that moment before you start when you’re looking down the hill, you start to see the worst that could happen. And let’s face it, when you’re flying down at those speeds, it doesn’t take much to make you crash—you hook an edge or take a wrong turn—” he shrugged, not wanting to dwell on the chilling options “—it’s not that you don’t feel fear, but you control it. And that takes discipline. What people don’t realize is that it’s not only a physical challenge out there, it’s an emotional challenge.”

      “I thought maybe the fact that I’m scared might mean I can’t do this.”

      “No. It’s not feeling fear that’s the problem, it’s how you manage it. You can learn.” He reached out and fastened her helmet. “You could do this. You have what it takes.”

      “Do you think one day I might even have my own crystal globe?”

      “If you work hard, who knows? Do you want to?”

      “Will you help me?”

      He felt a rush of adrenaline and elation that he hadn’t felt since his accident. He knew he could help, and he knew he’d enjoy doing it. “All the way.”

      “Then let’s do it.” Excitement burned in her eyes, and she knocked the snow from her boots and stamped her feet into her skis. “Let’s take it from the top.”

      BRENNA FINISHED HER last lesson and drove back to Lake House. It had been a long day, and all she wanted was to relax in a deep bath and stare through the window at the snow falling.

      What she didn’t want was an embarrassing, uncomfortable moment with Tyler.

      What was she supposed to say?

      Forget it, Tyler. It was just one night. Plenty of people do it.

      But she didn’t. And he knew she didn’t.

      Let’s pretend nothing has changed.

      How could she say that when it was obvious to both of them that everything had changed?

      She should never have said the L word.

      Exasperated, and cringing with embarrassment, she was relieved to see no sign of his car. At least she could go straight to her room.

      She opened the door, made a fuss of Ash and Luna and then saw the package lying on the floor with her name on it.

      Luna whined and pressed her nose against Brenna’s leg.

      “I messed up, Luna.” Brenna stroked her gently and then opened the package.

      A flimsy wisp of black tulle and lace fell into her hand and she stared at it, and then at the note from her friends, in disbelief.

      Maybe this is the day you have a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny. Coco Chanel (with some tweaks from Élise and Kayla xxxx)

      “You have to be kidding me.”

      Luna whined, and she shook her head at the dog. “I cannot wear this. I can’t.”

      She turned it over in her hands and then held it up.

      She didn’t need to try it on to know it was going to reveal far more than it covered.

      She heard the slam of a car door and listened for the sound of voices, but a quick glance through the window told her Tyler was on his own.

      Without bothering to take off her coat, she sprinted upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door, the offending package still in her hand.

      Heart pounding, she put the garment on the bed and checked the label.

      French, of course. And expensive. Sheer, sexy and something she wouldn’t wear in a million years.

      Except—

      Heart thumping, she took off her coat and hung it up, feeling as if the underwear was watching her, blaming her for being a coward.

      Did Élise really wear that sort of thing? No wonder Sean was always walking around with a smile on his face.

      What was to stop her doing the same thing?

      From downstairs she heard a clash of pans in the kitchen and relaxed slightly. One thing she was sure of—there was no way Tyler would come looking for her. He was obviously as uncomfortable about the whole thing as she was.

      After stripping off her clothes, she ran herself a deep bath and sank into the water.

      She thought about the underwear lying on the bed.

      It wouldn’t hurt to try it on, would it? Then she could at least thank Élise and Kayla, tell them it was a lovely thought but that it hadn’t fitted.