Devoted to the Blizzard: A romantic winter thriller (Tellure Hollow Book 3) (15 page)

I nodded, sensing she wasn’t telling the entire truth. “City?”

“State.”

“Ah.” I layered thick pieces of turkey on top of the bread and gestured to a tomato. She shook her head indicating she didn’t want it.

“So, do you ski?” I asked, trying a different direction.

“I board.” She picked the black nail polish off her nails, flecks of it scattering across the counter.

“Of course, young girl like you. Snowboarding is much cooler.” At this point, I was grasping at straws, anything to keep her talking, keep her from focusing on whatever horrible stuff had just happened to her. A part of me considered that she could be lying.
Maybe she’s actually some expert con-artist
, I thought.
I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, though…

A small smile spread across her lips. “I’m not
that
young. I’m old enough to remember when those photos of you came out.”

A blush rose in my cheeks. I hadn’t thought about those photos in years, and I certainly hadn’t expected her to bring them up. “Ancient history,” I laughed nervously.

Paige leaned forward on her elbows, her attention completely on me. “What was the story with those again? I just remember the actual pictures, not how it all happened.”

I gave her a friendly scowl. It really wasn’t something I should discuss with her, especially given the conversation I’d had with Liz about establishing boundaries, but I was glad to see her emerging from her shock. Maybe if I could reestablish our friendly banter, I’d discover the truth of her situation.

“I lost a bet,” was my simple explanation.

“And that was the punishment?”

“Yeah, except no one was supposed to have a camera.”

A long silence spread between us, and she finally giggled. “Still, impressive… equipment… considering how cold it probably was.”

I rolled my eyes and plopped the sandwich down in front of her, hoping my face wasn’t nearly as red as it felt. “Yeah, yeah. Eat up, smart ass.”

“I’m just sayin’,” she giggled, taking a bite. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

I tried being direct. I tried a more oblique tactic, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get her to open up. I’d hoped that she might try to fill the silence between us as she ate, but nothing came out.
Maybe it’s still too fresh
, I thought.
Give her a little space and she might start talking.

Once she was finished, I offered her the guest room. I was all out of options and I thought she might appreciate the time alone. But after I offered, the look she gave me knocked me back on my heels.

“What? What did I say?” I started.

She squinted at me, pulled the hood back, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Why did those cops come looking for me today? No offense, but if your girlfriend is so jealous she’s sending police over to any girl who talks to you…”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” I said. I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter. “I can’t really tell you what’s going on, but it doesn’t have anything to do with her jealousy.”

“So she is jealous?” she asked, her eyebrow quirked in amusement.

“No, that’s not…” I stammered. “I shouldn’t talk about it.”

“Then I guess I need to go. Because of her, my cousin is God-knows where. Plus, I get the feeling she won’t exactly be happy to see me here when she gets home.” Her eyes shimmered with tears again, but she held back from crying.

Sensing a small crack I could exploit, I sighed and pushed myself from the counter. I leaned forward on the island, meeting her gaze directly. “Liz has a stalker. Something happened at the lodge yesterday, that’s why she was so harsh on you. We had to call the police and your name came up as someone who knew she was there, nothing more.”

“That’s it?” she asked dubiously.

“That’s all.” I sighed, my patience coming to an end.

“What do they know? Do they have any ideas who it is?”

Something in the way she phrased the question caused me to pause. “I don’t think I should tell you any more and besides, I’m more concerned about you right now.” Her hard facade rose again and she looked away. “Listen, you don’t have to tell me anything, but please let me at least keep you safe.”

I opened the door to the small guest room and stepped aside, letting her walk past. She stopped short, just inside the doorway and hesitated. Only a few feet away, she peered up at me and cocked her head to the side.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

My heart thumped in my chest as I looked down at her, seeing the intent in her eyes. “You needed help,” I said, as if that were enough of an answer.

Paige tossed her bag to the ground and inched forward. I pressed my back against the frame in an effort to maintain the distance. “So, you’re just a nice guy then?” she practically purred.

“No, not really,” I laughed awkwardly.

She placed a hand on my chest before pressing against me. I could feel the heat of her palm through the fabric. “No. You’re a nice guy. And sometimes, nice guys finish first.” She stood on her toes and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

“Paige, this isn’t why I helped you. I can’t…”

She blinked at me innocently, her lip curling. “Can’t what?” she asked, before trying to kiss me fully.

A door slammed down the hallway and startled both of us. It was enough to break the moment. I frowned in the general direction, surprised to hear someone else moving around in the middle of the day. I took the opportunity to back off completely, pushing her shoulders gently away for good measure.

“I can’t do this, Paige.”

For a moment, her expression didn’t change, almost like she thought I was playing hard to get. A wash of embarrassment turned her cheeks pink as she spun around. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I think I’m just…”

“You don’t have to explain anything. You’ve had a hard day, I totally get it. Why don’t you lay down for a little bit. Come out and find me when you’re feeling better. Do you want me to wake you for dinner?”

She shook her head, sinking onto the side of the bed like all the energy in her body had drained out. She threaded her fingers together almost like she was praying. “No. I think I might just sleep for a bit.”

“Okay.” I moved to shut the door, but she leapt to her feet.

“Wait! Promise me you won’t tell the police.”

I was actually about to do just that, at least to report that something odd was going on in town. I didn’t have specifics, but I didn’t want to take any chances, and I could at least tell Henry what little I knew. “When you get up, if you’re feeling better, we can talk about what’s going on, and then both of us will call them. Deal?”

Awash in relief, she nodded and relaxed. I shut the door to the bedroom and wondered how I was going to explain everything to Liz.

“You fucking what?” Liz practically yelled.

“
Shhhh
, she’s still sleeping,” I whispered as I got to my feet. I tried to guide Liz out of the kitchen and into the living room by her elbow, but she wrenched her arm free. At least there her voice wouldn’t echo down the hallway like she was shouting in a library.

“I don’t give a shit what she’s doing. You brought her back to our
house
?” Liz’s eyes flashed with an anger I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

“Will you please stop yelling? At least long enough for me to explain what’s going on?” I gestured to the living room.

Liz’s nostrils flared, but she pressed her lips together. “Fine.” She followed me down the few steps and joined me by the windows, speaking in a normal voice. I switched a light on, windows framing the silhouette of the mountains black against the darkening sky. “What’s happening then?”

“I don’t know…” I started, but couldn’t finish before she blew up.

“Are you kidding me right now? Do you not see how wildly inappropriate this all is? Especially after the wedding stuff? Christ Bryan, I thought we’d gotten past all this.”

I held my hands up defensively. “I do. I swear I do, but she’s in some serious trouble. What was I supposed to do, just leave her on her own? I didn’t do that when you needed help.”

I swallowed hard the second the words slipped from my mouth, and watched Liz’s expression cloud even further.

“Are you implying this situation has even the slightest bit to do with what happened to us? ‘Cause I’m hoping your motivations are at least different.”

I finally lost my temper. I spoke low and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “I didn’t help you because I wanted to sleep with you.”

She put a hand on her hip and smirked, like she’d bested me somehow. “No?”

I turned and faced her fully, my jaw falling open. “Are you serious? Do you really think… no, Liz. I didn’t help you because I wanted to screw you. I helped you because I’d like to think I’m a decent human being who doesn’t turn their back on people in trouble. It’s good to know how little
you
think of me, though.”

Liz backpedaled, sensing she’d crossed a line. “I didn’t mean… shit. Of course you’re a decent human being, but that doesn’t mean
she
is,” she said pointing in the direction of the spare room. “I didn’t trust her when the only interaction I had with her was at the lodge. Now she’s under the same roof?”

“I’m not inviting her into our family. We’re taking in a girl who might be in a world of trouble. You, of all people, should understand what it’s like to not have anywhere to turn and be absolutely terrified. All I’m asking for is one night.”

We both knew I’d just argued her into a corner, but one wrong word and she’d push back with a vengeance. I waited for her to come around in her own time, which took longer than I expected.

“All right, fine,” she finally acquiesced. “One night, but I want to hear what her story is first thing in the morning.”

“Absolutely. You and me both,” I replied, sitting beside her. I reached out to touch her, but she pulled away.

“Did it ever occur to you that she might be the person who’s been sending all these letters? Did it cross your mind that you might be putting me at risk by bringing her here?” She was uncharacteristically timid all of a sudden. I tried to put my arm around her for comfort, but she shifted away even more. “Bry, I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m too worked up right now and I don’t want to take it out on you. I think I’m going to sleep in the den tonight, and we can pick this back up tomorrow morning.”

My heart tightened. “You know we shouldn’t go to bed when we’re still upset with each other.”

“I know, but I’m exhausted and short of you kicking that girl out on her ass in the middle of the night, I don’t think we’re going to come to any resolution tonight.” Liz took my hand and kissed the knuckles, one of my signature gestures. “We’re good, we just have some shit to work through, okay?”

The knot in my stomach said no, but I heard myself say, “Okay.”

I knew I wasn’t going to get to sleep, possibly the whole night, so I lay in bed browsing through the Internet on my phone. Just when I was starting to feel my eyelids grow heavy, my phone buzzed with an email notification. I groaned audibly when I saw who it was from.

From: Angela Haynes

Subject: Found this!

Hey Bry! I was doing a little cleaning up this morning and found this old photo of us. We were soooo cute together, don’t you think? Anyway, thought I’d share!

Ang xx

I deleted it straight away, not even looking at the attachment. I couldn’t help wondering where this sudden attention was coming from.
Maybe she’s jealous of Liz? We have been in the media quite a bit recently, and she’s kind of disappeared.
I tossed the phone back to the table, actually feeling a twinge of pity for my ex.
Things must be getting pretty bad for her to be reaching out after all this time…