Chapter Thirteen

A snowball flew toward Lyssa, hit her arm, and exploded.

Tommy exploded, too, into laughter at having such good aim.

“Oh, this means war,” she threatened, scooping up a handful of snow and loosely packing it.

The snowball fight had been Tommy’s idea.

It was Nick who had come to her in the kitchen after lunch and asked her thoughts about taking the kids outside for a while. She had been grateful to him, first because he’d consulted her before mentioning it to the kids, and second because she needed to get out of the house as much as they did.

She was starting to get cabin fever. And she desperately wanted to do something that would keeping her moving, that would prevent her from sitting and thinking too much. About Nick.

She tossed her snowball at Tommy, and even she had to laugh when he shrieked and pretended to be knocked off his feet. Flailing his arms, he deliberately tumbled backward to sit in a snowdrift.

“Angels!” Mollie yelled. “Let’s make snow angels!”

“That’s for girls,” Tommy objected.

“It is not.”

“Is, too. Isn’t it, Mr. Nick?”

Nick tilted his head, pretending to consider. “I’d say it’s for whoever wants to be one. But if someone doesn’t want to be a snow angel, they could do something else.”

“Like what?”

“Like…be a snow vampire.”

“A vampire? Show me how!”

“All right.” Nick crunched his way to an unbroken expanse, dropped to a seated position, then lay against the snow. She was glad his ankle seemed to be back to normal and equally happy he had agreed to wear the ski suit she had found in Michael’s closet.

At lunchtime, Nick and Mollie had been much more talkative than at breakfast.

She had been the quiet one at the table. She would force herself to focus on the conversations, then her mind would wander from one worry to the next. Her fear after she had discovered she couldn’t find Tommy. Her unease about Mollie and the reason for her moods. Her concern about how the kids would react when, tonight, they would hang up their stockings for Santa and it would hit them, once and for all, that they would be spending Christmas Day here at the lodge and not with their families.

And, most often, her worries had run to her confused and conflicting and uncontrollable thoughts about Nick.

Tommy watched as Nick demonstrated making a snow vampire by putting his hands on his shoulders, then sweeping his arms out wide and not quite completely down to his sides.

Nick stood. “That’s the vampire in his cape, see?”

“Yes, I see. Me, too!” Tommy cried.

Nick moved to another smooth patch of snow. “All right, turn around, hold your arms out to your sides, and fall back. I’ll catch you.”

Without hesitation, the little boy did as instructed.

Seeing how much trust Tommy put in Nick made her doubt her convictions. So had overhearing what he had said to Tommy about giving gifts to make people happy. Maybe she had read Nick wrong. Maybe he was simply what he wanted her to believe him to be: a good man who cared more about people and less about possessions and making money than she had thought.

Maybe she hadn’t been wrong to get caught up in the magic of him when they had met at Christmastime a year ago.

To her surprise, as she was beginning to see, there were many more layers to him than she had thought possible. And she had already fallen in love with more than a few of them.

“What are you making, Miss Lyssa?” Tommy asked.

She started, bringing her attention back to her surroundings. She hadn’t given a snow figure much thought. “I don’t know yet.”

“What can Miss Lyssa be, Mr. Nick?”

“Anything she wants to,” he said promptly, brushing loose snow from his dark hair.

She smiled at him for the kids’ sake. And maybe for her own.

All right, definitely for her own. And for the sheer pleasure of watching him smile in return.

“You should be a princess,” Tommy decided for her. “In a princess dress.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I know how to do that.”

“Mr. Nick will show you.”

Automatically, her gaze flew to Nick. The little boy had put such faith in him. Why couldn’t she?

“You’ll need a little help,” he said.

She hesitated, then floundered through the deep snow until she reached his side.

He took her by the hand and walked to another patch of pristine snow a yard or two away. “Now, same as Tommy, turn around, fall back, and let me catch you.”

“I don’t know…”

“You have to, Miss Lyssa. I wanna see the snow princess.”

“Me, too,” Brent said. He looked at her, blank-faced, but she could see the smile tugging at his lips.

Even Mollie, a few yards away, paused in the act of making another angel to see what would happen next.

Nick stared at her, his dark gaze meeting hers, his arms held out steadily, and still she wasn’t sure she could trust herself to take that free-falling plunge.

“Maybe Miss Lyssa’s a ’fraidy-cat,” Mollie said smugly.

Lyssa couldn’t help but laugh and, after a moment, Mollie did, too.

“Well, I’m glad I borrowed Miss Amber’s ski suit. All right. Here goes.” She turned her back to Nick, closed her eyes, and let herself fall.

He caught her firmly beneath her arms and lowered her to the snow. “Okay, don’t move,” he ordered. He walked away from her, out of her range of vision overhead.

She craned her neck, trying to see what he was up to.

“No moving,” he cautioned. “You’ll mess things up.” Keeping a wide expanse of snow between them, he moved in a half circle around her, ending up a few yards from her feet. Then he walked in a straight line toward her, knelt down with his knees straddling hers, and placed his hands at her waist.

Frowning, she shot a glance toward the kids, then back at Nick.

“Just trust me, Lyssa,” he murmured. “I’m only doing what Tommy asked for. Giving you a dress fit for a princess.” From her waistline, he swept his arms out and down in two wide swaths, ending with a flip of his hands in the snow. “Done.” He took her hands and stood, pulling her upright with him. Then he reached around her and lifted her into his arms. “Fewer footprints this way,” he said with a grin.

Slowly, he backed away, retracing his footsteps in the snow. A few yards from the figure, he set her on her feet again. He left his arm draped around her shoulders and turned her to see what he had done.

The snow near her head had been brushed aside when she had turned to search for him. “You told me I would mess things up,” she said, “but with a bit of squinting, that looks like I’m wearing a crown.”

“It does, doesn’t it? That just shows you what amazing things can happen when people compromise.”

She stared at him for a long moment, feeling as though she might get lost in the depths of his dark eyes. Tommy rushed up to stand beside them, breaking the spell. She looked back at the figure.

The outline of her arms and shoulders made a crisp indentation in the snow. The broad sweeps he had made, beginning at her waist and ending with the fancy flips on either side of her feet, flowed softly around her like the gown of an antebellum miss—or the dress of a regal princess.

Tommy clapped his hands. “Good job, Mr. Nick!”

“Yes, good job,” Lyssa said, looking up at him. “It’s beautiful.”

“So are you.” He squeezed her shoulders, smiled, and stared down at her, his dark eyes now twinkling like Saint Nick’s.

Their playtime outside called for more hot chocolate by the fire. Lyssa filled mugs and transferred the leftover chocolate into a large carafe that she left on the breakfast bar for Nick to carry. In the living room, all three kids settled down to play cards at the coffee table. Until she handed out the mugs and turned to give Nick his, she hadn’t realized he had stayed behind in the kitchen.

After making sure the kids were still intent on their game of War, Lyssa slipped away.

Nick stood at the sink, rinsing the pot and spoon she had used to make the chocolate.

Outside earlier, standing with his arm wrapped around her, she hadn’t felt a bit cold. Watching him at the sink now, doing something so homey and sweet, made her feel all warm and fuzzy.

But simply looking at him left her with the best feelings of all. Of being in love and in lust and very sure of what she planned to do.

This was Christmas Eve, wasn’t it? This was the season of magic and miracles.

She took a deep breath and walked to Nick’s side. “I could have taken care of that,” she said quietly.

Smiling, he looked down at her. “I like to feel I’m carrying my weight around here.”

“And mine, too?” As she had hoped, he laughed. He was thinking of when he’d held her outside, too.

“Sweetheart,” he drawled, “trust me, you’re a lightweight.” He moved to stand in front of her, resting his hips against the sink and placing his hands at her waist.

Without the bulk of her borrowed ski suit, she could feel the warmth of his fingers through the weave of her sweater.

He tightened his grip slightly. “I could lift you up, as easily as I’m standing here.”

“Could you?”

“I could. But I could also think of something much more fun. I could stand here and hold you.” He slipped his arms around her. “Pull you close.” He tugged gently until just a few inches separated them. “I could do what I’ve been wanting to do all day.” He lowered his head and brushed her mouth with his.

The warmth spreading through her went up a degree or ten. Her heart thumped. Her pulse raced. All this, even before he had kissed her thoroughly.

His idea of a thorough kiss shook her clear down to her slippers.

It brought back memories. Memories of the days they had dated…the dreams she had built around them both…the months they had been apart.

The time they had wasted.

She pulled back slightly to meet his eyes. They looked darker and more devastating than she had ever seen them, and the sight made her more certain of what she wanted to say.

Before she could speak, he pulled her closer again. Well…magic and miracles wouldn’t disappear in the space of a heartbeat. She closed her eyes and lost herself in his kiss.

“Mr. Nick…”

Her eyes flew open again in surprise. She jerked away from Nick, barely registering the startled look on his face before she turned to the kitchen doorway.

Mollie stood there, open-mouthed, staring back at them. She held a mug brimming with hot chocolate, and her cheeks blushed bright red.

“Mollie—” Lyssa began.

But the girl set the mug on the counter beside her, sloshing chocolate onto the surface, and ran from the room.

“Oh great.” She started forward.

Nick put his hand on her arm. “Let’s wait a few minutes. Give her some time to herself. She’s embarrassed for walking in on us.”

She shook her head. “No, she’s upset because she walked in and you were kissing me. She’s crushing on you, and we’ve just broken her heart.”

“Come on, she’s a kid. Maybe she’s got a case of hero-worship, like Tommy does, because she thinks I’m Santa, but—”

“No, she knows you’re not Santa. She’s known it all along. It’s a crush.” She laughed, feeling her cheeks flush the way Mollie’s had. “I ought to recognize the signs. I’ve been there, done that with you.” She took a deep breath and released it. “Nick, I’ve also done a lot of thinking about what you’ve said about compromise. And you’re right. There’s no reason we can’t work together. No reason we can’t have a relationship, if we’re willing to meet halfway. I am, if you are.”

After another deep breath, a shaky one this time, she smiled softly. “I love you, and I have almost since the day I met you. You have to know that. And I want us to have a second chance.”

Before he could respond or she could continue, a loud banging noise erupted from the front of the house. Out in the living room, Tommy shrieked.

Lyssa gasped. “What—?”

Nick laughed. “Either Santa came early and forgot about the chimney, or there’s someone pounding on the front door.”

Nick had been right—again.

Lyssa had followed him into the living room, where they discovered the knock at the door had been her sister Callie’s, announcing the arrival of Snowflake Valley’s emergency rescue team and the snowmobiles that would take them all safely down the mountain.

“We’re going to get you out of here,” Callie told them.

“Good,” Tommy said. “I want to go home. Now.”

Lyssa nodded. “You will, sweetie. In just a few minutes.”

Though she returned Callie’s enthusiastic hug, she had never before had such mixed feelings about seeing a member of her family. Or about being rescued.

The team had arrived at a terrible time.

Nick hadn’t responded to the proposition she had made to him in the kitchen. Not one word about the offer she had made to try again. Granted, they hadn’t had any time alone together since then. But to her dismay, even before they had left the kitchen, she had lost his attention. She had almost seen his mind ticking away as he switched into fixer mode, focusing on their return to their everyday—and separate—worlds.

“I’m counting heads based on what Amber told me,” Callie said. “Aren’t we missing someone? I thought Mollie was here with you.”

“She went upstairs,” Brent said.

“She was ma-a-a-d,” Tommy added. “My mommy would yell at her, ’cause she stomped up the stairs and slammed the door.”

Callie’s eyebrows rose. The two men on the rescue team exchanged a glance.

“Don’t worry. It’s fine,” Lyssa said. “She was just a little upset about something. I’ll talk to her.” She looked at Nick. “Why don’t you go with the first run? Your ankle’s fine. You could take Tommy on one of the snowmobiles.”

She forced a smile, hoping no one could tell, but Callie, who stood beyond Nick, shifted abruptly. In a quick glance, Lyssa saw her sister’s eyes narrow. Callie knew something was wrong.

Resolutely, Lyssa focused on Nick again. “Once you get down into the valley, you’ll have phone service again and can make your phone call to your client. Maybe you’ll even still be able to get to San Diego to help save him from himself.”

He shook his head. “That’s okay. I’ll stick around and talk to Mollie.”

For a moment, surprise stunned her into silence. She had been so sure he would jump at the chance to leave. “I don’t know if that’s a good—”

“Miss Lyssa, I want to go with you. And I want to go now.”

“You take Tommy home,” Nick said. “I’ll stay.”

“Me, too,” Brent said. “I’ll wait with Nick.”

“That’s a good plan,” Callie said. She gestured toward her two team members. “Lyssa, you and Tommy can go with them. Then, when they come back, we’ll have transportation for three. I’ll stay here in case Mollie needs another female to talk to.”

Lyssa wanted to object. Now that Nick had shown he didn’t plan to leave Snowflake Valley at his first chance possible, she longed to hear him say that he had chosen to stay for her. She wanted to hear his response to the proposition she had made.

But she couldn’t argue with her sister in front of everyone. Besides, knowing how Mollie must feel about catching Nick kissing her, she would be the last person Mollie would want to talk to. And considering Callie was Mollie’s teacher, it only made sense for Callie to stay.

“All right,” she said. “Let me just run and get a few things.” She hurried upstairs and hesitated outside her bedroom long enough to glance toward the closed door down the hall. The slammed door, according to Tommy’s report, backed up by Brent’s affirmative nod. No, it truly didn’t make sense for her to stay with Mollie or even for her to check in on her now.

She quickly grabbed her purse. In a few days, she would come back to wash the clothes and linens they had used and to straighten up the rest of the house. She couldn’t leave all that for Amber to do.

At the top of the stairs, she saw Nick below, making his way up. She froze, one hand clutching her purse and the other holding onto the banister.

Nick came to the top of the stairs and stopped beside her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind?” she asked. “Callie can talk to Mollie. She’s Mollie’s teacher, you know that.”

I love you… You have to know that.

He hadn’t responded to her declaration, either, before jumping into fixer mode in the kitchen.

She blinked and mentally shoved the memory away.

“I’m fine,” he said. “You go ahead with them. Then you’ll still have time to get to your shop before it closes. After three days away, and with this being Christmas Eve, you must want to check up on things.”

She froze. She had wanted to believe she was wrong about him. But this proved just how right she’d been.

They had come close…so close…to an understanding. Or so she had thought. But again, she had been right the first time. Of course at this moment Nick would think of her job. He would always think first of work and money. Nothing had changed between them. And despite all her hopes and dreams, nothing ever would.

“What happened to compromise?” she asked sadly.

“I am compromising.” He smiled. “I’m thinking of you.”

“No, you’re not. All you’re doing is reverting to your problem-solving mode.”

“Well, yeah. I’m being logical and practical. It’s what I do.”

She sighed. “Right. You’re logical and practical. I believe in magic and Christmas miracles. No wonder we can’t meet in the middle.”