Snow Crystal Trilogy: Sleigh Bells in the Snow / Suddenly Last Summer / Maybe This Christmas. Sarah Morgan

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СКАЧАТЬ the other night.”

      He was right, of course. She didn’t know Jess. Kayla wished she’d kept her mouth shut, but it was too late because Jackson was frowning at her.

      “Testing what? What do you mean?”

      “Nothing.” Kayla backed off. “You’re right. I don’t know Jess.”

      “Why do you think she could have been testing him, Kayla?”

      Everyone was staring at her. Even Tyler, his gaze so fierce it was as if he suspected she’d taken Jess and buried her body.

      Kayla licked her lips. “I’m just thinking that maybe this thing with her mother has shaken her up. Maybe she’s looking for proof that you love her.”

      Silence spread across the room.

      Tyler swore fluently. “You think I don’t love her? Have you any idea how hard I fought to have my daughter living with me?”

      Kayla tensed. “I wasn’t suggesting—”

      “It sure sounded as if—”

      “That’s enough.” Jackson’s tone was hard. “There’s logic in what Kayla says. Think about it, Tyler. Janet calls up and tells you she can’t handle Jess anymore, and suddenly the kid is coming to live with you. No warning. Nothing. Your life is turned upside down.”

      “There’s nothing wrong with my life!”

      “Put yourself in Jess’s shoes and think how that must have made her feel.”

      Kayla stood, frozen in silence. She had a pretty good idea how it had made Jess feel.

      She’d felt it all herself.

      Tension rippled across Tyler’s wide, powerful shoulders. “I want her here. I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not even pretending I’m any good at it—we’re both still finding our way, but that doesn’t mean I’m not glad she’s here.”

      “Have you told her that?” Kayla’s mouth was so dry she could hardly form the words. “Because maybe she needs to hear it.”

      “That’s good advice,” Brenna murmured. “Maybe Jess is worried you don’t want her here. That she’s cramping your style. I hadn’t thought of that.”

      “So what does that mean? You think she’s run away?” Tyler’s face was white with worry. “I’ve never once said I don’t want her here. If that’s what’s in her head then it was put there by someone else.”

      Kayla wondered if that “someone else” was Jess’s mother. She wondered whether Jess had overheard something. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened to a child torn between two parents.

       Why does she have to stay with us at Christmas? Can’t she go to her father?

      She tried to push back the memories, reminding herself this wasn’t about her. It was about Jess.

      “We can deal with that part later.” Taking control, Jackson strode to the door. “Let’s start by searching the resort. Ask people if they’ve seen her. Brenna—you and Tyler take the trail by the cabins. Kayla and I will go to the far side of the lake.”

      Brenna reached for her keys. “Have you checked whether her skis have gone?”

      Tyler threw her a look. “It’s dark, Einstein.”

      “Not everywhere. The bowl is illuminated.” Jackson stopped dead. “So is Devil’s Gully.”

      Tyler’s face lost the last of its color and Kayla glanced between them.

      “What’s the significance of Devil’s Gully?” She’d heard Jackson mention it, but wanted to know why they all looked so worried.

      “It’s a double diamond black. A thousand feet of vertical drop, sections of it have a forty-degree pitch. About the same angle as the ramp of an Olympic ski jump.” Brenna zipped her jacket to the neck. “Runs right under the chairlift. You want to make a fool of yourself with an audience, you’re going to pick that one.”

      Tyler ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Or if you want to ski something challenging once it’s dark. She asked me if we could do it together.”

      Brenna looked at him. “And?”

      Tyler was white-faced. “I said no.”

      JESS STOOD ON the top of Devil’s Gully staring at the reflection of lights on the snow.

      It was steep. And it looked worse with the dark all around and no people. There were still people skiing on the easier runs that led to the village, but this run was hard-core. Punishingly difficult. She remembered Gramps and her father talking about it.

      Fall on that one and you’ll fall all the way to the bottom.

      For a stomach-lurching moment she wondered if she’d made a mistake. It had seemed like the perfect way to prove herself, but it seemed different with the dark pressing in on her and the eerie silence. And what was the point of proving herself when there was no one here to see it?

      Her teeth chattered, and she wished she were back in her bedroom, looking at her scrapbooks.

      “No different in the dark than in daylight.” Tyler’s voice came from behind her. “Either way it’s still a hell of a drop.”

      He’d come looking for her.

      Jess felt her heart lift and then plummet.

      All that proved was that she was a responsibility he didn’t need.

      She felt something burn in her throat. Great. Here she was, proving how tough she was, and she was about to cry like a baby. “It’s easy.”

      “It’s not easy. It’s for experts.” Tyler stabbed his poles into the snow and reached across to fasten her helmet. “Good job you’re one of those.”

      It took a moment for the words to sink in, and when they did, the stinging in her throat turned to a lump.

      “You’re not going to make me go down on the lift?”

      “You can go down on the lift if you like. No shame in that. Tell people I forced you if it makes it easier.” Tyler adjusted his boots. “Or we can ski this bastard and see how that turns out.”

      “Ski it?” Jess stared at him. Tyler O’Neil, skiing legend. The man they called The Bullet because he reached such incredible speeds in the downhill. Her dad. “You mean—together?”

      “Sure I mean together. You wouldn’t leave me to ski this on my own, would you?” Tyler stooped and checked the bindings on her skis. “You want to go first or follow?”

      Jess tried to work out which would make him love her more and decided she didn’t want to die just when she’d finally got her dream to live with him.

      “I guess you could go СКАЧАТЬ