A Chance This Christmas(45)
His expression clouded. “I’ll make it clear to everyone that I was solely to blame for that.” He held a side door to the inn open for her and she slipped inside, stamping the snow off her shoes. “Besides, keep in mind the Harris family—Luke’s parents in particular—might have their own reasons for wanting to alienate you.”
“I had the same thought, actually.” And if Luke’s parents had been somehow involved in her father’s disappearance—if they’d pressured him to leave somehow, or threatened him in some way—it couldn’t have been easy for Luke to open up the family to police scrutiny again. He might be under more pressure than anyone knew. “And you don’t need to intervene on my behalf. You’ve done enough for me this week.”
She tugged a tissue from her pocket and bent to swipe off some of the snow on her toe. The shoes were ruined for sure. The burgundy velvet matched her dress perfectly. Or rather it had until the color blotched from the moisture.
“No I haven’t. I spent half the week worrying about what a relationship might do for a business I haven’t even started. And then I couldn’t even be there for you today after spending days convincing you go to the wedding with me.” His brow furrowed, his eyes darkening.
“I’m glad you’re okay. We were all worried about you.” She’d been terrified, in fact. “I was surprised you didn’t answer Luke’s calls, if not mine.”
She shed her coat and didn’t know where else to put it so she laid it over her arm. Gavin took it from her, settling it over his own. Restless and edgy, she wished they could keep walking. At least that had been an outlet for how upset she was. And it beat crying.
So she kept walking, heading down a corridor of ground-floor suites. Each door was decorated with a willow branch wreath and a red ribbon.
“I would have answered your call, hell, I would have called you, but I dropped my phone when I fell and it shattered into about twenty pieces.” He slid a protective hand on her back once when a group of skiers stalked past, their equipment taking up half the hall.
“How bad was this fall?” Everything in her went still again. “Did you hurt anything else?” She bit her lip, not sure how much to say.
Not sure how much to show she cared when she’d already revealed her feelings to him. From what she understood, her outpouring of love had been what sent him running in the first place.
“It wasn’t bad. I’m lucky to have injured just my wrist. I lost concentration for a second.” He shook his head like he still didn’t understand what had happened. But then, he seemed to regain a sense of purpose as he took her hand and tugged her into the small—empty—hotel library full of antique furniture and books.
A small, spindly Christmas tree stood on one end of the room, decorated solely with red cardinals and pine cones. On the opposite end of the room, a blaze burned brightly in a huge stone fireplace that took up most of one wall. A swag of pine garland covered the mantel, bright bows at regular intervals. Rachel felt warmer already as she gravitated toward the fire, hands extended to savor the lick of heat on her fingertips.
“Anyhow,” Gavin continued, setting her cape on the arm of a stuffed leather chair before joining her in front of the hearth. “I had my wrist wrapped at one of the ski stations, but I thought I’d better get a quick X-ray or MRI to see if I broke or tore anything. By the time I realized how close I was cutting it to make the wedding, I forgot that my pickup had been running on fumes the past few days.”
“You ran out of gas?” She didn’t know why that made her laugh a little. A release maybe, since his day could have been so much worse.
Hers could have too, she realized. Because instead of getting on a plane to Austria without saying goodbye, Gavin had chased her down to talk to her here. Alone.
“I couldn’t believe it either.” Gavin shook his head, a sheepish grin spreading. “But fueling up the vehicle was a low priority this week, Rachel.” He reached to take her hands, enveloping them in his. His splint went between his thumb and forefinger, but didn’t impede the rest of his hand. “Ever since I saw you in town, you’re all I’ve thought about.”
She stared up into his green eyes, wondering what he was thinking. Why he’d followed her. Why he’d needed to leave her so urgently this morning.
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head, taking a step back. She ducked her chin, unwilling to look in his eyes and wish for things that weren’t meant to be.
He came with her, still holding her fingers captive.
“I didn’t understand either. Until this morning.” He tipped his head sideways to meet her gaze, then let go of her hands to lift her chin. “Rachel, I’m crazy about you. I want you in my life all the time, but it seemed like an impossible dream when you’re so determined to leave Yuletide and I want a whole life here.”
The revelation was so unexpected and so wholly welcome, she felt too stunned to speak. She wanted to ask him to repeat himself, for fear she’d misunderstood.
I’m crazy about you, he’d said. She couldn’t misinterpret that. Her heat rate quickened.
“I’m not that determined to leave anymore,” she admitted, hoping upon hope that it would make him rethink his view of her. “There have been a lot of nice things about coming home.”