Читать книгу Snow Crystal Trilogy: Sleigh Bells in the Snow / Suddenly Last Summer / Maybe This Christmas - Sarah Morgan - Страница 13

“SO DID SUPERWOMAN ARRIVE?” Tyler strolled across his brother’s kitchen and snagged a beer from the fridge. “I thought she might turn around and fly straight back to New York once she found out what she was dealing with.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s dealing with, but she soon will. With luck all the flights will be grounded and the roads closed. Please help yourself to my beer. Don’t hold back.”

“I won’t. Being in this family is enough to drive a man to drink, so the least you can do is supply the damn stuff.” Tyler peered into the fridge. “This is the last one. You need to get to the store.”

“That’s one option. Another would be for you to stop drinking my beer and buy your own.”

“I’ll go with the first.” Tyler elbowed the door shut. “I’m earning it this week. I’m giving private ski lessons to some spoiled teenage princess who cares more about her hair than linking her turns.”

“Good to know you’re earning your keep.”

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer. So does your woman ski?”

“I doubt she’s even seen a ski close up, and she’s not my woman.” Jackson thought about how close he’d come to kissing her when he’d hauled her out of the deep snow. She’d been right there in his hands, soft and womanly and as aware of him as he was of her.

He’d seen her fighting it. He’d been fighting it, too, but she’d done a better job than him. She’d frozen him out. Smoothly and with finesse, but still the distance had been there. Which was probably a good thing. His life was complicated enough without adding to it.

Tyler raised his eyebrows. “It was a casual remark, but judging from your expression I hit a nerve. So is she hot?”

Jackson thought about her skirt riding high on her thighs.

Hot? Hell, yes.

“Our relationship is professional and it’s staying professional. And that goes for your relationship with her, too.”

“In other words you’re struggling to keep your hands off her. Interesting.”

“Why is it interesting?”

“Because for the past eighteen months you’ve been too involved with the business to notice a woman.”

“Not true.”

Tyler strolled to the central island in the kitchen and hooked a stool with his foot. “Tell me the name of the last woman you dated.”

“Brenna.”

“What? Our Brenna?” His brother’s tone chilled fractionally. “Brenna we grew up with?”

“The same Brenna who stuffed snow down your pants when you were ten. The same Brenna who runs our ski program.” Jackson watched as a snow bunting landed on a branch near the window. Through the trees the lake sparkled in the late-evening sunshine. If it had been a few degrees warmer he would have taken his beer onto the deck and watched the sun go down over the lake and mountains. He realized that the summer had passed and he’d had no time to sit and enjoy it.

Next year, he promised himself. Next year he’d slow down long enough to sit outside his own barn and breathe in the air.

“Well, hell—” Tyler sat down at the stone-topped island that formed the focus of the large kitchen, “did you and she—”

“What business is it of yours if we did?”

“So that means you did?”

Jackson turned with a frown. “Christ, Tyler—”

“I guess I just never saw you and Brenna together.” His brother looked so shaken Jackson took pity on him.

“We’re not together. There was no chemistry.”

“So if there was no chemistry, why the hell did you date?”

“Let’s just say our work conversations overran so we took it to the bar, and then we took it out to dinner a couple of times.”

“But you didn’t take it to bed?”

“You’re asking who I take to bed?”

“Just looking out for her, that’s all. She’s like a sister to me.”

Jackson wondered if his brother could really be so clueless about Brenna’s feelings. “Ty—”

“And then there’s the issue of working together. If you two are tiptoeing around each other, I need to know that.”

“There’s no tiptoeing.” He decided it wasn’t his business to say anything.

“For the record, I think Kayla Green would be perfect for you.”

“You haven’t met her.”

“She’s obviously clever and you think she’s hot.”

“She can’t ski.”

“So? No one can keep up with you on the ski slope anyway so you’re not exactly looking for company. But if it bothers you, get her skiing. Take her to the top of a steep slope and she’ll be so grateful when you rescue her, she’ll think you’re a hero and have sex with you. That one always works.” Tyler lifted his beer and drank.

“Are you serious?” Jackson shook his head. “On second thought, don’t answer that. As you pointed out, personal relationships with a colleague make things awkward. And it’s unprofessional.”

“To hell with professional, it’s Christmas. People do crazy things at Christmas.”

“Round here people don’t wait until Christmas, they do crazy things all the time.” Jackson leaned against the cabinet and nursed his beer while Tyler glanced around him.

“I like what you’ve done to this place.” He scanned the custom-made cabinets, relaxed now the conversation had moved away from Brenna.

“Glad someone approves. Gramps thinks I’ve wasted money.”

“Cheaper than the psychiatrist bills you would have been paying if you’d moved in with them. I’m thinking of doing something similar with the Lake House.”

“Good idea, especially now you have Jess with you. How’s that going?”

“I need a manual on how to handle women.”

“From what I’ve heard, you wrote that manual.”

“Not the teenage version.”

The atmosphere shifted and Jackson put his beer down. “Something wrong?” Light slanted through the windows, reflecting off shiny pans hanging from wooden beams. It occurred to him that so far he hadn’t cooked a single thing in those pans.

“Apart from the fact her mother had another baby and decided Jess was getting in the way of her new family and that this would be a good time to remember I exist?” Tyler’s voice hardened. “What the hell did I ever see in Janet Carpenter?”

“You were young. Shallow. She had an impressive rack.”

“There was that.” Tyler stared at the bottle in his hand. “And I was flattered. Older woman and all. I thought it was birthday and Christmas rolled into one when she got me in that barn. All I ever got from that encounter was trouble.”

Jackson watched as the snow bunting flew off over the lake. “You got Jess.”

“Yeah—” Tyler’s voice softened. “Yeah, I got her. And she’s the best. You should see her on skis. Great balance, no fear. And that worries me. She’ll ski down anything with a gradient.”

“You were the same.”

“Maybe I was, but that doesn’t stop me wishing she’d show caution. She’s lived most of her life in Chicago. She doesn’t know mountains.”

“If you’re worried, take her out with you.”

“And give Janet something to use against me? No way.”

“Hell, Ty, she virtually sent the kid away. She’s hardly in a position to challenge your parenting skills.”

“Maybe, but I’m not taking the risk. I’ve finally got her back and I’m not going to screw this up.”

Jackson knew his brother was still tormented by the fact he hadn’t been given custody in the first place. It had been a hideous, ugly time, and he was one of the few who knew the truth of it.

Maybe it wasn’t surprising Tyler hadn’t noticed how Brenna felt. He hadn’t just been hurt, he’d been scarred.

“Have you talked to Jess about it?”

“She won’t talk to me.” Tyler sounded tired. “I even tried asking her straight-out what’s wrong. First time in my life I’ve asked a woman if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her. I even stayed around long enough for her to answer.”

“And did she?”

“She gave me a look and told me I wouldn’t understand.” Tyler stared at the bottle in his hand. “Wasn’t going to argue with that one. Truth? I don’t think she wants to be here. She wants to be back with her mother.”

“She’s always loved being here.”

“A visit is different to living somewhere permanently. Janet hated it here.”

“Jess isn’t her mother.”

“But she’s lived with Janet long enough, and we both know Janet hates me.”

Jackson didn’t argue. Knowing Janet Carpenter, he thought it unlikely she’d held back from expressing her views on Tyler. “Jess loves you, Ty.”

“Does she?”

“I know she does. She’s confused.”

“She’s not the only one.”

“You’re entering the realm of the teenage girl.”

“Does that realm include multiple door slamming and hours spent alone in her room? If so, I’m already there.” He shook his head. “I thought women were meant to be the communicators of the species.”

“Maybe you should talk to Mom about it. At least having Jess back will give her something to focus on.”

“You’d think so, but Jess is shutting her out, too. She’s transformed overnight from sweet kid to reclusive teen.”

“Give it time. She’s only been back with you for a month.”

“This was always her favorite time of year. She’s spent every Christmas here since Janet took her away. What sort of mother doesn’t want her kid around at Christmas? Not that I’m complaining about that part.” There was an edge to Tyler’s voice that only ever happened when he talked about his ex-wife. “But normally I can’t get Jess out of their kitchen in the holidays. If she’s not decorating Santa cookies, she’s gluing snowflakes, cutting out reindeer, or singing ‘Jingle Bells’ all over the house at the top of her voice. When I asked her this morning if she wanted to go and bake with Grandma, she told me she’s not a baby anymore.”

“That’s true. Twelve. Hell, how did that ever happen?”

“It happened, and all she wants to do now is ski vertical slopes. Do you think she’s suicidal?” For once Tyler wasn’t smiling or making light of life, and Jackson lowered his beer.

“No, I don’t. What I think is that you need to chill.”

“That’s why I’m drinking your beer.” Tyler glanced at his watch. “What time are we gathering to hear your woman?”

“If you’re talking about Kayla, I’m picking her up from the lodge at six. You don’t have to be there.”

“A mad moose wouldn’t keep me away. I have to watch how she handles Gramps. Think she’ll cope with it, or is he going to walk all over her?”

Jackson couldn’t imagine anyone walking over Kayla Green, but he was under no illusions. She was going to need all her skills to win over Walter Mont-gomery O’Neil.

“We’ll see how she does.” He picked up his jacket. “I plan on getting through the ‘meeting’ and then buying her dinner in the restaurant as compensation. I figure after an hour with our family, she’s going to need a drink. Probably ten drinks.”

Tyler lifted his eyebrows. “But this isn’t a date, right?”

“It’s work.” Ignoring the look his brother gave him, Jackson scooped up his keys. “Buy some beer. That way there might be some in my fridge next time you open it.”

IT WAS JUST a meeting.

She’d been to hundreds of meetings, and this one wasn’t any different.

Energized after a hot shower, Kayla pulled another pencil skirt off a hanger and put it on the bed next to her black cashmere sweater. Smart and warm. Wearing it would show she could be practical when the need arose.

Grabbing her suitcase, she picked out her favorite pair of black heels. She’d walk over in her boots and then change into her shoes.

Wrapped in a towel, cheeks still pink from the heat of the hair dryer, Kayla mentally ran through the way she intended to play the meeting.

They’d be skeptical, so she’d show them what PR could do for them.

They’d assume she didn’t know anything about their business, so she’d prove to them she’d memorized all the statistics and facts. That she knew Snow Crystal.

Finally, she’d show them what she’d achieved for other clients.

She’d show Jackson O’Neil that she might be useless at walking on ice, but when it came to understanding marketing there would be no slips. Her traction would be perfect.

She wondered why he was so concerned about the meeting.

Apart from my brother, you’re the only person I have in my corner. It’s in my interests to keep you alive.

The irony didn’t escape her. She’d never met a man’s family before. Never got to that point in a relationship, and here she was about to meet Grandma.

Kayla straightened her hair until there was no sign of her encounter with the snow, livened up the severe black sweater with a silver scarf covered in tiny stars and added a pair of silver hoops to her ears before checking her reflection quickly in the camera on her phone.

Go, Kayla.

By the time Jackson rapped on the door, she was confident she was ready for anything they threw at her.

He parked outside the main house. Tiny lights hung along the eaves and were twisted into the trees.

It could have been worse, she thought. At least there were no grinning Santas or illuminated reindeer with flashing antlers.

Jackson unclipped his seat belt. “Nervous?”

Yes, she was nervous, but she had a feeling that had more to do with the man sitting next to her than the prospect of the meeting. All he’d done was drive, but there was a tight knot in her belly and all she could think about was sex. Her gaze slid to the sensual curve of his mouth and then away again.

What the hell was wrong with her? Stacy was right. She needed to get out more. “I’m excited. You have a business issue to solve and that’s what I do.” What she didn’t do was stare at her client and wonder how it would feel to be kissed by him.

“I hope you still feel the same way by the end of the meeting.”

Anxious to get away from him, Kayla slid out of the car and stared at the path, weighing up her chances of making it to the door without falling over. “I might hold your arm this time.”

“Good to know you learn from your mistakes.” There was laughter in his voice and something else, something rougher and more dangerous that told her he was feeling exactly the way she was feeling.

Her gaze met the deep blue of his, and the sudden flash of chemistry punched the breath from her lungs.

It was like falling on an electric fence.

She grabbed his arm. “First thing tomorrow I’m buying proper footwear.”

She held his arm for as little time as possible and then paused in the doorway to tug off her boots and slide on shoes that gave her at least another three inches in height.

Pushing her boots into her bag, she smoothed her hair. “I’m ready.”

Jackson stared down at her feet. His gaze traveled slowly up her legs and finally ended up at her mouth. He hadn’t touched her but suddenly her lips tingled and her throat felt dry.

“We should—”

“Yeah, we should—” His tone was thickened and then he frowned slightly and turned to push open the door.

Sleigh bells jangled, breaking the spell. Kayla stared at the pretty cluster of bells tied to the door handle below a glossy wreath made of juniper and spruce.

“What are those?”

“My father proposed to my mother in a horse-drawn sleigh. She kept the bells as a memento and hangs them on the door at Christmas.”

Oh, great. That was all she needed. “Your mother loves Christmas?”

“Yes. She loves decorating for the holidays. Be warned—our tree is usually bigger than the one outside the Rockefeller Center.”

Digesting that less-than-welcome news, Kayla stared gloomily at the bells.

They were just decorations, she reminded herself. And at least her cabin was a Christmas-free zone.

She walked into the house and stopped in surprise as she took in the details of the room and saw the number of people crowded around the large table.

“Oh, I—This is—” She turned to look at Jackson, confused. “This is the kitchen.”

“That’s right.”

“The kitchen leads to your meeting room?”

The kitchen is our meeting room.” He closed the door on the cold and Kayla felt a flash of panic as she turned back to face her audience.

They were holding this meeting in the kitchen?

She glanced around and saw shiny saucepans and stainless steel. Bunches of herbs hung drying above the range. Surfaces gleamed, but this was no showroom kitchen. It was lived-in and loved. There were boots of various sizes lined up by the door and shelves stacked with recipe books. It was easy to imagine the three O’Neil boys rushing in from the snow, hoping to grab some freshly baked treats.

A woman hefted a large blue casserole dish into the oven and gave them a welcoming smile.

“You must be Kayla. We’ve heard so much about you. I’m Elizabeth O’Neil, Jackson’s mother. Alice and Walter, his grandparents—” she nodded her head in their direction “—and Tyler, Jackson’s brother. Jess might join us later but I’m sure you won’t mind that. Now come on in and let me take your coat.” She closed the oven door and hurried over, the smile still on her face, her arms outstretched.

Kayla took a hasty step backward, and the sharp heel of her stiletto drove hard into Jackson’s foot.

He swore under his breath and then his hands closed around her arms and he steadied her. “Do you have a license for that weapon?”

She didn’t answer. Terrified she was about to be hugged, Kayla thrust her hand out, almost winding his mother in the process. “Pleased to meet you.”

Jackson released her. “My mother is British, so you have that in common.” He smoothed over the potentially awkward beginning. “Thirty-five years ago she arrived to cook for a winter season and never left.”

“Why would I leave? I never saw anywhere more perfect than this place, and I’m sure Kayla agrees.”

Kayla was ready to agree to anything in order to get out of this Christmas grotto as fast as possible. “Absolutely. It’s stunning. Good to meet you, Mrs. O’Neil.”

“Call me Elizabeth, dear. We’re not formal.” Warm and friendly, his mother took Kayla’s coat, frowning as she hung it up. “It’s wet. Is it snowing again?”

“No. I fell.”

“You let her fall?” Elizabeth O’Neil turned reproachful eyes on her eldest son. “You didn’t hold her arm? Shame on you, Jackson.”

“It was my fault,” Kayla said stiffly. “I’m not used to walking on ice, but it won’t happen again.”

Elizabeth nodded approval. “Because next time you’ll hold his arm.”

“No.” Kayla had already promised herself she was going to keep physical contact to a minimum. “Next time I’ll be wearing better boots. I’m going to sort that out first thing tomorrow.”

Jackson’s grandmother made a sympathetic noise. “I’m not surprised you fell. It’s so icy. I’m afraid to go out in winter since I had my hip done and as for the cold—” Alice O’Neil peered at Kayla from across the table. “Are you wearing thermal underwear under that sweater? The wool looks thin. And your skirt is quite short. We don’t want you catching cold while you’re here. Jackson, you should take Kayla to buy underwear.”

Kayla felt heat rush into her cheeks. “I—” How was she supposed to respond to that? She was used to small talk that involved observations on the weather or the traffic in Manhattan. Occasionally people touched on the economy. No one ever mentioned underwear. “I’m warm, but thank you for your concern.” She shot Jackson a desperate look, feeling like a deer circled by a pack of hungry wolves. “Shall I begin my presentation?”

“Why do young girls wear so much black?” Walter O’Neil added his contribution from the far end of the table. “When I was young, black was for funerals.”

“I love color. You’d look pretty in green, Kayla.” Alice held out a ball of yarn to Kayla, who stared at it as if she were being offered a grenade.

Jackson’s brother gave a slow, wicked smile. “We’re very pleased to meet you Kayla. And I love the skirt. Don’t change anything about it, especially not the length—unless you want to make it shorter.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t a nice skirt,” Alice said stoutly. “I said it was short and with the weather like this—”

“She’s warm, Grams. Don’t worry.” Jackson put his hand on Kayla’s back and urged her into the room. “And she looks smart in black. If people would listen for a moment, you’d discover she’s smart in other ways, too.” He pulled out a chair and offered it to Kayla, who sat gratefully.

They’d done the small talk now, so hopefully they could move on to business.

“I’m really excited to be working with you.” She thought she heard a snort from Walter O’Neil, but when she looked at him he was handing a fresh ball of yarn to Alice. “I’ve prepared a presentation that will give you a better picture of some of the ways in which we can help build your business.” She pulled her computer out of her bag. Just touching the smooth surface helped her relax. It was like suddenly discovering there was a trusted friend in the room. “I’ll start by going through a few of the campaigns we’ve run for other people.”

Glancing up she noticed the photographs lining the walls of the kitchen.

There was Walter O’Neil looking handsome with an ax clasped in his hands in a photo taken at least forty years earlier. One of the family dogs. Another of the three O’Neil boys dusted in snow after a snowball fight. There was Tyler standing on the podium collecting a gold medal, and a man she didn’t recognize—presumably the other brother—at his graduation. It was a visual record of the passage of time. The story of the O’Neil family.

Jackson followed her gaze. “My mother loves photographs. She also loves embarrassing us by displaying them for people to see.” There was amusement in his tone and something else. Love. This man loved his family. That was why he was here and not thousands of miles away in Europe, running his own business.

Realizing she was supposed to smile, Kayla smiled obligingly.

“The kitchen is where I spend my time.” Elizabeth turned on the heat under a pan. “Why wouldn’t I hang them in here? It makes me happy seeing Michael on that sledge. And I love that one of you boys taken right after that snowball fight. Look at their faces, Kayla—you can see what a handful they were. They loved the snow. Show them a slope of any sort and those boys of mine would ski down it. Didn’t matter what was at the bottom. They couldn’t play together without fighting but nor could they bear to be apart. Turned me gray prematurely.” But her face was all smiles, and she was clearly a woman whose life was fed and nurtured by family.

Feeling like an alien from another planet, Kayla hunted for something to say that wasn’t “get me out of here.” “They’re lovely photographs.” There was a thickness in her throat that hadn’t been there a few moments before.

It was this damn place, she thought. This lovely, cozy kitchen all prepared for Christmas. There were bowls of pinecones and vases filled with long branches of forest greenery. Candles flickered on shelves next to handmade decorations and Christmas cards with scrawled messages of love.

She thought about her apartment in Manhattan. Sleek, stark and without a single homey touch. No messages of love.

“Kayla?” Jackson’s prompt cut through her thoughts. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” But it was a lie. She wasn’t all right.

Blocking out her surroundings, she tried to put her laptop on the table and discovered there was no room.

“Move your knitting, Alice.” Elizabeth O’Neil swept a small pile of yarn out of the way. “Have you seen Kayla’s computer? It’s so small. Isn’t technology fantastic?”

Kayla stared transfixed at the neat rows of gingerbread Santas waiting patiently in line to be iced.

A memory, long buried, awoke in her brain.

Despite the warmth of the kitchen, the chill spread through her. She felt horribly cold.

“Are you hungry, honey?” Alice carefully lifted a Santa onto a plate and pushed it toward her. “Aren’t they beautiful? Try one. They taste as good as they look.”

“No, thank you.”

Alice clucked with disapproval. “You young girls are always dieting, but of course that’s why you’re so lovely and slim.”

“I’m not dieting. I’m just not hungry right now.” There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Jackson’s grandmother reached across and patted her hand. “You don’t need to be nervous, honey. And we’re just so grateful to you for giving up your holidays to help us.”

The kindness almost finished her.

“Why are you doing that?” Walter narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why aren’t you at home with your family?”

Elizabeth frowned. “Walter!”

“I’m just asking myself what sort of person chooses to work rather than spend Christmas with their family.”

The sort of person whose family didn’t want them.

Kayla gripped her laptop. “I’ve prepared a presentation for you. I hope it will help show some of the ways Innovation can help you with your business.”

“This place is about families,” Walter barked. “It’s about togetherness and making memories. What do you know about that?”

Nothing. She knew nothing.

“That’s enough, Walter.” Elizabeth thumped a plate down in front of him.

“I just don’t see what a Brit who works in Manhattan can possibly know about our business, that’s all. She’s an outsider.”

The word slid into her like a blade.

She knew nothing about functioning families, but she knew all there was to know about being the outsider.

Just for a moment she was back in her stepmother’s house, standing frozen behind the Christmas tree where no one could see her.

Why does she have to come to us, David? I want it to be just the four of us. Why can’t she just go to her bloody mother?

It was as if Walter had found a loose thread in a sweater and pulled. Kayla felt herself unravel. Feelings she’d kept carefully locked away tumbled out.

Drowning, panicking, she turned to Jackson. “I need to plug my laptop into your projector, please.” The feelings pressed in on her, dark and terrifying, and she pushed back, refusing to allow them to take hold.

“There is no projector.”

“No projector?” She couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d told her he’d built a hotel and forgotten to include bedrooms.

“It’s not high on our priority list right now.” That intense blue gaze was searching. “Just turn your laptop around and we’ll look at your screen.”

“No projector.” Kayla snatched in a breath as she tried to navigate this latest obstacle. “No projector is just fine.”

Alice placed a freshly iced Santa on the rack. “I always find icing something helps me relax. Give Kayla a knife, Elizabeth, then she can help.”

“I can’t cook. I’ve never iced anything.” Fingers shaking, Kayla swiveled the laptop and fished her notepad out of her bag. “You’re obviously busy so I’ll be as quick as I can.” For her own sake, if not theirs. She needed to get out of here.

“If she can’t do something simple like ice a gingerbread Santa,” Walter muttered, “how the hell is she going to work magic on this place?”

Jackson’s jaw tensed. “If you ask her, she’ll tell you. That’s why she’s here, but so far she hasn’t been able to get a word in edgewise. And I don’t need her to cook. I employed a chef.”

“Even though we already had a perfectly good chef, but we’re not going over that again now.” Walter glared down the table at Kayla. “We’re listening. Show us the magic.”

An expectant silence spread across the room.

Feeling as if everything was happening in slow motion Kayla stared at Walter, then at Elizabeth and finally at Alice, who was carefully adding buttons to Santa’s iced coat.

“Kayla?” Jackson’s voice was controlled. “We’re ready to hear what you have to say.”

She didn’t have anything to say. There was nothing in her head except the past.

Usually she was articulate, but panic had shorted her circuits.

Then she remembered it was all on her screen, but her screen was pointing toward them and she couldn’t see it. “I prepared a presentation that demonstrates some of our experience in this area.”

Alice squinted. “I might need my other glasses. Elizabeth, do you have my other glasses?”

“They’re in your bag where they always are.” Elizabeth handed them to her, and Alice slid them onto her nose and leaned forward.

Kayla adjusted the angle. “From the moment we get up in the morning to the moment we go to bed, we are deluged by messages.” Oh, God, she sounded like a robot. She needed to liven it up and make it more personal. “We live in a fast-moving world where the news changes by the minute so the challenge is how to make yourself heard amongst the noise.”

Alice looked confused. “There’s not much noise around here, honey. Snow Crystal is a peaceful place, isn’t it, Elizabeth?”

“Apart from Sunday mornings when you can hear the church bells. I swear there are times when I wish we hadn’t given money for the restoration.” Elizabeth stood up and removed a tray of baked potatoes from the oven. “One of these days I’m going to cut the ropes of those bells myself.”

Kayla felt a flicker of panic. “I—was talking about media noise. It’s an expression used to describe the amount of information we’re subjected to daily from news channels, social media—”

“Social media?” Walter looked blank and Kayla gripped the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white.

“Social networking is playing an increasingly important role in travel planning right now. Many organizations are picking up on that and now run their own blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. It’s a way of interacting with customers and personalizing your message. That’s one of the things I suggest we look at when we’re developing a plan for Snow Crystal.”

The only sound in the room was the soft bubble of the casserole on the hob and the faint hiss of the kettle.

She’d silenced them, but it wasn’t an interested silence. It was a bemused silence.

Icing dripped from Alice’s knife onto the table, like snow falling from the branch of a tree.

The whole family stared at her, eyes glazed, and Kayla was reminded of the day she’d dropped a casserole dish while She was staying at her father’s house. Her hands had been shaking, and she’d been trying so hard to make a good impression she’d caught her foot on the rug and tripped. She could still remember her stepmother’s frozen expression as lumps of beef and red wine had spread across the expensive cream rug. She’d wanted to somehow melt away from the horrified stares. Wanted desperately for her father to hug her and tell her it didn’t matter.

But it had mattered because they hadn’t wanted her there in the first place.

She’d been the outsider then, and she was the outsider now.

The only person who wanted her here was Jackson, and he’d been relying on her to impress his family.

If she needed any confirmation that hadn’t happened, Walter gave it. “That’s it? If you ask me, we’d be better off leaving the money in the bank.”

Kayla made a last desperate attempt to recover the situation. “Why don’t I take you through some of the integrated marketing campaigns we’ve run for other companies? It will give you a feel for what can be achieved. For example, our campaign for Adventure Travel generated in excess of three hundred million media impressions, including prime spots on daytime television.”

“Media impression?” Alice looked blank. “What’s a media impression?”

Walter glared at Jackson. “Why do we care what she’s done for other companies? Is she saying we’re not unique?”

He didn’t even address her directly, Kayla thought. She might as well not be here.

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

This time he did address her directly. “So tell me what is special about Snow Crystal.”

There was a hideous silence.

“I—I don’t know yet.” She had statistics, but that wasn’t what was needed here. For once she wished she had the backup of her team. She even would have welcomed Brett saying “no worries” and committing them to all manner of unachievable goals. Anything that would give her a minute to refocus. “But I’ll find out. That’s why I’m here. I intend to find out what is special about Snow Crystal.”

Jackson was staring at her with incredulity, and her cheeks burned because she knew she’d failed him. And herself. For the first time ever she’d failed at her job. There was no way, no way, he’d give her the business after her pathetic performance. And she didn’t blame him. She wouldn’t give herself the business, either.

Walter gave a grunt. “Then maybe we should be having this meeting when you’ve done that.”

“That’s enough.” Jackson didn’t move from his seat, but his voice was hard. “This family may be many things, but rude isn’t one of them. Kayla is an expert at what she does.”

Walter’s expression was mutinous. “Maybe, but she’s not an expert on Snow Crystal. She’s just admitted it, and that’s hardly surprising, is it? She’s an outsider. How can an outsider know more than us?”

“We need someone on the outside,” Jackson said coldly, “because the people on the inside have done things the same way for far too long.”

“Because they worked. You want to change things for the sake of it.”

“I have no idea who rattled your cage, Walter, but you need to calm down or you’ll be getting chest pains again.” Sending her father-in-law a reproving look, Elizabeth O’Neil placed the large casserole in the center of the table. “As for Kayla, she’s probably starving hungry, and no one can think on an empty stomach. She had a long journey and traveling always makes a person hungry. Do you like pot roast, Kayla?”

They were looking for excuses for her fumbled, inadequate performance, and there were none. Or at least, none she could offer.

Kayla couldn’t make her brain or her limbs work.

She glanced at the casserole as if a spaceship had landed in the middle of the table then stood up, graceless and flustered.

They didn’t want her here.

Jackson reached out and caught her arm, his fingers like steel. “Where are you going?”

Why don’t you eat in your room, Kayla?

“You’re having a family meal. I’m interrupting.” Shaking him off, she stuffed the notebook and computer into her bag without bothering to switch off the power.

“You’re not interrupting.” Elizabeth sounded confused. “We’re having pot roast. Élise, our French chef, gave me the recipe. It’s the perfect comfort food for a snowy day, and we have plenty of those around here. I’ll give you the recipe, then you can make it when you’re back in New York.”

She wished she were in New York now, back in her soulless glass apartment sealed away from the world.

Coming here had been a bad idea. She was running away, but you couldn’t run from something that was inside you.

“I’ll leave you to your meal.” Kayla stumbled toward the door and grabbed her coat. “Have a good evening.” Her coat half on and half off, she yanked open the door.

A young girl stood there. Pale-skinned and thin, she wore a thick Fair Isle sweater and was holding a puppy in her arms.

“I found her outside.” She put the puppy down, and it immediately ran over to Kayla and raced in circles around her, leaping up and leaving paw prints on her favorite black suede shoes.

“Oh, she’s making a mess of your beautiful shoes, I’m so sorry—” Elizabeth brandished the serving spoon. “Go to your basket, Maple.”

Maple paid no attention and Kayla heard Jackson sigh.

“Down!”

Responding to the voice of authority, Maple sank to her belly and turned wounded eyes to Kayla.

Kayla was willing to bet the look in her eyes was pretty similar.

I’m in much deeper shit than you are.

While the O’Neils were focused on the puppy, she seized the moment to escape.

“Kayla—”

“I’m fine. Enjoy your meal.” She took a last, wild look around the room and shot out of the door, slamming it shut behind her.