“Good idea. Let’s do it now.” Tyler stooped and picked up the skis while Jess gaped at him.
“Right now?”
“Yes, before the line for the lift builds up.”
“But it’s Christmas Day, and you haven’t given Brenna her present yet.”
“Later. Get your ski gear on. And don’t forget your helmet.” He strode out of the room and Jess followed.
“Dad, we can do that later. You need to give Brenna—”
“Close the door to the den. I don’t want the dogs in there while we’re gone.”
“I can watch the dogs.” Brenna handed Jess her gloves and helmet. “Have fun! Be safe.”
Tyler tossed her jacket across the hall. “You’re coming, too.”
Was he that blind? That insensitive? She refused to believe he didn’t feel the tension, as she did. Every moment she spent with him was agony. “Not this morning.”
“Jess wants you there.” He played the winning card, and she felt a rush of frustration.
Because the whole point of staying had been to give Jess the best Christmas possible, she couldn’t find a reason to argue with that.
“For an hour, then.”
She could survive one more hour.
They bundled into Tyler’s car and drove the short distance to the ski lift.
Jess chatted the whole time, asking Tyler about the skis, what she should do differently, why he’d chosen those and not others, while Brenna sat quietly, watching the trees and the snow beneath her as the lift moved up the mountain.
Would this be the last time she did this?
Would there come a time when she and Tyler could be friends again and coming home didn’t involve awkward moments? Or would she be like her mother, unable to bear the pain of seeing him with someone else?
They arrived at the top of the mountain, and Jess stamped her boots into her new skis.
“I love them. You lead the way, Dad.”
Brenna was about to ski off and leave them together when Tyler caught her arm. “Stay close. Don’t ski off.”
He expected her to stay glued to him after she’d made her feelings plain? Was he really that heartless? “Tyler, I’m not—”
But she was talking to herself because he’d already glided away, with Jess close behind.
Left with no choice, Brenna followed, but instead of heading for one of the front runs that led down to the resort, he skied around the back of the gondola and down the small slope that led to their favorite mountain restaurant.
“Why are we skiing this way? You can’t be hungry. We just ate breakfast.” Jess stopped in a sudden shower of snow, and Brenna joined her.
“Tyler? What are we doing here?”
“I want to give you your gift.”
“Here?”
“Yes.” He jabbed his poles into the snow and pulled off his gloves. “I have something important to say, and I think—I hope—this is the right place to say it. The other night you asked me a question, and I wasn’t ready to answer it.”
It was the last thing she’d expected him to say.