A Chance This Christmas(7)

“Oh really? I’m not sure you’re going to be much help salvaging my reputation.”

He really shouldn’t get involved. He knew that. Championing Rachel in this town would be bad for the business he wanted to open. It could hurt his chances of accomplishing a whole laundry list of things he wanted to tackle in town, starting with a fundraiser he needed the town council to approve.

But he owed her, didn’t he?

“That’s where you’re wrong.” A plan came together in his mind—a way to make up to her the wrong that he’d done all those years ago. “I’m a local sports hero these days.” He wasn’t bragging. People placed a whole lot of emphasis on sports. “I’ve got some standing in town.”

“I don’t think that’s going to help me. I might just tarnish your Olympic halo.” She rubbed a knuckle along the passenger window, as if she could clear the icy layer on the outside.

They sat in the cold truck while he waited for the defroster to kick in enough to clear the windows.

He knew she had a valid point.

“I kept my mouth shut eight years ago when I should have defended you to everyone. At the time, I thought maybe you hadn’t been honest with me, and that maybe you really were still with Luke.” Gavin had felt like he’d betrayed his friend, and the guilt had made him say things he later regretted. “I know better now, thanks to making amends with Luke. And I’d like to help you feel welcome in Yuletide again.”

“You don’t have to do any such thing.” She turned toward him, a hand on his arm. “I’m not going to stay in town long anyhow.”

He could see the hint of vulnerability in her pretty eyes. Was she leaving because things were uncomfortable for her here? He couldn’t abide that. Not when he’d been a part of the reason she’d felt ostracized. He knew exactly how to fix it.

Besides, he realized he was in no hurry for her to leave. It’d been too long since he had seen her.

“I happen to know Kiersten Garrett really wants you at her wedding.” He’d been over to dinner at Luke’s and Kiersten had shared as much.

Rachel’s jaw dropped. “I—Well. Just because Kiersten wants me there doesn’t mean I need to put up with grief from everyone in town.”

He jumped into trouble with both feet. It came with the territory on the mountain every day, and he wasn’t going to shy away from a risk now, with someone who used to be important to him.

“Consider the town quieted when you go to the bridal welcome dinner as my date.”

*

Ten minutes later Rachel was still searching for words as they headed east through the mountains toward Lake Placid. Her head was downright spinning. She glanced across the truck cab at the source of her unrest. Gavin steered the pickup easily along the winding curves on dark back roads. He’d taken a route she never would have known about, bypassing the more direct county road connecting the towns.

She was still rattled from the surprise of seeing him, but leaving behind the red and green Yuletide mania was helping to soothe her nerves along with the warm, non-pine-scented air blowing from the truck’s defroster. She took her first deep breath all day and then turned to look at him.

So. Handsome.

He was the sort of guy you really needed to view in small doses so as not to get overwhelmed. From his moody green eyes and longish, dark blond hair, to his supremely athletic build he was the kind of man women noticed. And squealed about. Tonight, he wore a knit ski cap that held his hair off his face—the better to see the chiseled profile gone scruffy with a few days of not shaving.

Time had only made him better looking. How else had he changed from that reckless teen she’d been crazy about? From his desire to fix the past—to stand up for her in a town that had seemed happy to write her off as a villain—she guessed he had his share of regrets about that awkward day they’d kissed. But she needed to remember that, in his own way, he was making peace with his past—the same as her. So she should not read anything romantic into his offer to escort her to the pre-wedding festivities.

And yet, she’d gotten keyed up just like a high school girl when he’d claimed he wanted her for his “date.” Clearly, time hadn’t made her any wiser.

“Where exactly are we headed?” he asked, his voice wrapping pleasantly around her in the confines of the newly warm truck cab. “You said Lake Placid, but I’m sure you don’t really want to see the lake at this hour.”

“Maybe I do,” she said, mostly just to be contrary. And also because she wasn’t sure how much to reveal about her plans for tonight. “Don’t they have ice-skating on the lake at night during this time of year?”

He slanted a knowing glance her way.

“You forgot your skates though.” He dimmed his lights as they passed another car, then flicked on the brights again. It wasn’t actively snowing for the moment, making it easier to see as they edged down a steep grade.

She sighed. “You can just drop me off in downtown.”

“So you can disappear and skip town tomorrow?” He shook his head. “I’ve been waiting a long time to redeem myself, Rachel. We’re going to conquer Yuletide together this week, you and me.”

Something about the way he worded it got her thinking. “What’s in it for you, exactly? Besides ‘redemption,’ which frankly, I can’t imagine you’ve been pining for all this time.”