A Chance This Christmas(4)
But Gavin was an international snowboard cross star. He traveled around the globe to chase snow and, she guessed, attractive women. He wouldn’t spend time in the tiny village of Yuletide now that he had a successful career of his own. Besides, she’d checked his schedule before she booked her trip—just to be safe. And she’d seen with her own eyes that Gavin had been in Park City, Utah, preparing for snowboard season as part of the U.S. team.
“But he’s not in town…now?” She battled the urge to retrieve her phone and double-check the team schedule. She couldn’t have possibly misread it.
Her allergies stirred, fueled by a wave of anxiety. She’d planned her timing so carefully for this homecoming.
“I’m sure he’ll come to the wedding, so if he’s not here yet, I bet he will be here soon.”
Rachel set the mug on the counter before any more spilled, her lungs feeling wheezy. Her mother had recovered a good deal of her standing in Yuletide if she knew this much local gossip. “I’m surprised he could afford to leave the training program during December with the Olympics right around the corner.”
She was already breathing faster than her Christmas allergies would allow.
“He’s still in training for snowboard cross events, so he keeps a place in Colorado, but I see him next door from time to time.” Her mother must have noticed all the breathing because she set her mug down. “Honey, are you okay?”
Rachel shook her head, searching through her purse for an inhaler. Or maybe a new life. “No.” Settling for the lung-clearing effects of albuterol, she took a puff and set it down on the counter. “I just had no idea that so much was changing in town. And I’m surprised you never mentioned him to me.”
She was more surprised Kiersten hadn’t mentioned it.
“Are you?” Her mother shook her head, genuinely perplexed. “I guess it didn’t occur to me when we were on the phone the last few times. But I thought you liked him?”
Rachel tried to will away the wheezing, but a squeaky inhalation seemed determined to ignore her wishes.
“Uhm.” She wondered if it was too late to call back the Uber and return to Brooklyn. Too bad the train didn’t run this far north for two more days. She’d have to tough it out in Yuletide at least a little longer. “It’s complicated. And I’m surprised Kiersten never told me he bought a house here.”
She itched. Wondered if her allergic reaction to pine now included hives, or if that was all courtesy of Gavin.
“Kiersten has had too much on her mind to think about anything but the wedding.” Her mother went back to drinking her tea. “You must know Gavin is the best man?”
No doubt about it, she’d been kept in the dark on purpose. She was going to strangle Kiersten when she saw her.
“Now I do.” Her lungs made a whistling sound. “Do you have a Christmas tree up already?” That had to be the source of her sudden distress and not the thought of Gavin Blake.
“It’s two weeks before Christmas. Of course I have a tree up.” Her mother slid off the counter stool. “Do you want to see it?”
“My allergies have gotten worse in the last few years. I think balsam is a trigger.” And Yuletide. And her embarrassing past. Not necessarily in that order. “Mom, I’m going to spend the night and talk to Kiersten in the morning, but I’m not sure I can patch things up with Luke before the wedding.”
She wouldn’t have come home at all if she’d known her one-time crush was living next door. Although damn it, if Luke and Gavin had put aside their differences, Luke sure couldn’t hold a grudge against her. She’d been blameless in that whole debacle. It hurt to remember how much she could have used the support of her friends when her father was reported missing but, instead, they hadn’t been speaking to her. Even Kiersten, for a while, had believed Rachel had helped distract the town so her father could abscond with the money.
“You just got here,” her mother protested. “It’s been eight long years. You can’t run out the door at the first asthma attack. I’ll take down the tree.”
“It’s not only that—”
“Don’t be silly. I’ll speak to Katie Garrett about her rudeness, and you will have a nice visit with Kiersten tomorrow. We’ll get it all straightened out. You’ll see.”
Spoken like a woman who took the upbeat elf creed seriously.
Slumping against the kitchen counter, Rachel decided no amount of chamomile was going to fix this. For now, she’d see the tree to appease her mother and then figure out what to tell Kiersten before she left Yuletide.
It wasn’t that she was embarrassed to see an old flame or anything—even though she had chased Gavin with all the subtlety of a goofy, lovesick teenager. But Gavin being here complicated things. What if people thought she only returned because he’d moved in next door? What if Luke thought that too? She’d come home to make peace with Luke, not start trouble all over again.
But Luke and Gavin had clearly renewed their friendship, so she didn’t see why she had to remain the villain in the old drama. She would at least talk to Kiersten and see what she could do to patch things up.
It wasn’t like the citizens of Yuletide could force her out of town, could they? Imagining herself bombarded with snowballs by a bunch of felt-clad villagers helped distract her from the pang of anxiety underneath it.