not throwing anything away. I’m happy.”
“Are you?” Her mother paused with a box of eggs in her hands. “Don’t you want more than this? What about a home? A family?”
Her mom made her feel as if she’d done something wrong.
Brenna looked at her father, but he’d obviously decided not to get involved and was staring hard at the TV.
“I’m settled. I came back because I wanted this job.”
“You came back because of him.”
“I came back because Jackson told me the family business was in trouble. They’re my friends, Mom. Jackson offered me a job, and I took it.”
“We both know why you took that job, Brenna Daniels. You thought if you were both in the same place, you’d have a chance with him. You’ve always been a fool about Tyler O’Neil.”
Brenna felt her cheeks burning. “That isn’t true.”
“You can lie to yourself all you want, but you can’t lie to me. He was a bad influence on you growing up, and he’s a bad influence on you now. You’re throwing your life away because of that boy.”
“It’s my life, and I don’t consider I’m throwing anything away. I love Snow Crystal. It’s where I want to be.” And he’s not a boy. She thought of Tyler’s broad, muscular shoulders, the athletic power of his body and the dark stubble that grazed his jaw. Oh, no, not a boy. He was all man.
“Would you want to be at Snow Crystal if he wasn’t there? You’re making a fool of yourself, that’s what you’re doing and embarrassing all of us.”
Brenna gripped her mug. “How am I embarrassing you?”
Tight-mouthed, her mother whisked eggs and tipped them into the pan. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”
“Tell you what?”
“That you’ve moved in with him. I’m your mother, and I have to be the last to know my daughter is living with Tyler O’Neil.”
She knew?
Brenna’s stomach lurched, and she cursed herself for not anticipating that possibility. “Mom—”
“Instead of hearing the news from my own daughter, I had to hear it from Ellen in the store. How do you think that made me feel?”
“How does Ellen know?”
“How does anyone around here know anything? Because people talk.”
The thought of everyone gossiping made Brenna squirm. It was like school all over again, everyone whispering about her. “I’m not living with him, Mom! I’m staying in his house, that’s all, and it happened a few days ago. Business is looking up. They needed to book out the lodge and I needed somewhere to stay. I’m a grown woman, and I make my own decisions. Get off my back!”
“You could have stayed here. Your room is there for you, same as it has always been.”
Heat pricked the back of her neck. “I start work early and finish late. With bad weather coming, I don’t want to have to make the drive every day.”
“We both know that’s not the reason why.” Her mother tilted the pan, adjusted the heat. “He was wild as a boy, and he’s wild as a man. The Carpenters have never forgiven him for what he did to Janet.”
“You make it sound like he assaulted her or something, and we both know that isn’t what happened. Why does everyone blame Tyler? Janet was at least half responsible.” In her head, more than half. But there were things Brenna knew that she hadn’t shared and never intended to. What was the point? “And Jess is wonderful.”
“I don’t blame the child. It can’t have been easy for her growing up as Tyler O’Neil’s daughter.”
“She’s proud of him. She adores him. And he’s a good father. He shows an interest in her. He accepts her as she is.” She added as much emphasis as she dared and tried to ignore the fact that her own father hadn’t once joined in the conversation. “The O’Neils fought to keep Jess. It was Janet who took the baby away.”
“Don’t think I have any sympathy for that woman, because I don’t.” Her mother tipped a perfect omelet onto a plate and placed it in front of Brenna. “You still haven’t told him, have you?”
“Told him what?”
Her mother paused. Looked her straight in the eye. “You haven’t told him that Janet Carpenter was the one who bullied you at school.”
Sweat drenched her, and she started to shake.
How could it still affect her so badly after so many years?
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
“You never did.” Her mother dragged open a drawer and removed a couple of forks. “That girl made your school life a misery, but you never told him.”
“How could I? She’s Jess’s mother. If I told him what happened, everything would be even more complicated. It would be awkward for him and awful for poor Jess.”
“I lost count of the number of new schoolbags and coats I had to buy you.”
That hadn’t been the worst part. No, the worst part had been the words that had carved chunks out of her confidence.
You’re not his type, Brenna. Flat chest and brown hair isn’t his thing. He’ll ski with you but he will never, ever, want to have sex with you.
Coats and bags had been replaced, but she hadn’t been able to erase those words from her brain. “Janet’s parents were splitting up. I think she was having a hard time at home.”
“That is no excuse for making another person’s life a misery.” Her mother passed her a fork. “I was relieved when she took the baby away from here. It was the right thing to do.”
“Janet took Jess to Chicago, miles from the O’Neils! How was that the right thing?”
“It was right for you! How would you have felt bumping into Janet and Jess at the store every day? And Tyler O’Neil wasn’t here anyway. He was traveling all over the world. Couldn’t sit still for five minutes.”
“He was on the ski team. Tyler is a world-class athlete.”
“Was.” Her mother turned another perfect omelet onto a plate and sat down next to Brenna. “Maybe he was a world-class athlete, but whatever talent he has isn’t going to do him much good now, is it?”
“And that’s hard for him.” She knew, even though he never talked about it to anyone. And it broke her heart. “Don’t you feel any sympathy?”
“Sympathy for what? That he’s no longer living the high life with a different girl in every country?”
Brenna
