Chapter 51
SYLVIE
Christmas Eve was still a few days away, but I was already running on fumes. The past week had been a whirlwind of last-minute preparations. The lodge was about three quarters full, which was good, but not great. And I had to remind myself it didn’t matter if we were full any longer.
The end was near.
Nothing would change that fact.
That was what gave me the energy to get my butt out of bed every morning.
I wanted to make sure we went out with a bang.
I wanted everyone that had stayed at our lodge to look back with fond memories and maybe a little regret and frustration.
That was petty but I didn’t care. I was feeling petty.
If more people would have come, we wouldn’t be losing everything.
But it wasn’t our current guests’ fault. I had to keep that in mind. They were here and they deserved a magical holiday. I was going to make it happen, even if it was the final one.
My feet ached from standing all day, my hands felt like they were in the permanent claw position from hanging decorations, and I was pretty sure I’d been surviving on nothing but coffee and determination for the past forty-eight hours.
But I managed to make the most of it all. Every guest room was perfectly appointed, every meal had been flawless, and our Christmas Eve celebration was going to be magical. I could cry the day after Christmas if I needed to. Right now, I just had to keep moving forward.
One foot in front of the other. No time for sadness.
“Here,” I said and handed Brom the new string of lights.
He was helping me add even more lights to the lodge windows. We were going for broke on the lights. There would not be a surface uncovered by the time we were done. His height made him infinitely more useful for this particular task than my five-foot-four frame.
“Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Brom asked.
“I want it to look like too much,” I said. “I want it to look like Christmas exploded right after it vomited all over the place. Garish. All of the trimmings.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to go out with a giant bang,” I replied. “I want people seeing Christmas lights for the next three months.”
“You mean you want to burn their retinas.”
“That too,” I said with grin.
He took the lights and was about to hang them from the suction hooks when he suddenly paused on the ladder and looked outside.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered, his voice carrying a tone of disbelief that immediately put me on high alert.
“What?” I asked, trying to peer around him through the frosted glass. “Is Phineas back to harass people?”
Brom climbed down from the ladder. I could tell he was fighting to keep his temper in check. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” I asked again. “What happened? Did you break the window? Did the suction cup fall off? I told you to lick the darn things.”
“Kent’s back.”
The words bounced off my brain. A full rejection. My heart immediately started racing. Kent was back? Here? Now?
“What’s he doing back here?” I asked, hating the way my voice came out breathless and unsteady. I also hated how my hands went to my hair to make sure it wasn’t a total rat’s nest.
Kent showing up here couldn’t be good news.
You didn’t drive hours from New York City to Northwood because you’d left behind a phone charger or a pair of gloves.
Especially when you could easily buy a thousand replacements without blinking an eye.
He was probably here to kick us out and cancel Christmas.
Brom was already heading toward the front door, his jaw set, and fists clenched. I hurried after him, my pulse still racing.
“Brom, wait,” I called. “Don’t do anything stupid. We don’t need him to sue us.”
“I don’t care. It will feel too good.”
“And it will solve nothing,” I said. “It gives him the upper hand. He gets control.”
“I want to knock him on his ass. Maybe I’ll just trip him.”
“Stop. You don’t know why he’s here.”
“I know exactly what he’s here for,” Brom snapped. “He’s here to finish what he started. To twist the knife a little deeper. Asshole. He can shove his damn offer up his ass.”
“Easy,” I said quietly. “There’s guests around.”
Brom nodded and stopped his ranting. I followed him outside. I wasn’t sure how I was going to stop Brom if he really tried to go after Kent, but I had to try. I wouldn’t mind popping him a couple of times, but if there was anything I had learned over the years, violence solved nothing.
I froze when I saw him. He climbed out of his sleek black car like something from a magazine ad.
Again.
Damn.
Kent looked better than ever, which was deeply unfair. He looked rested and polished and every inch the successful businessman he was. I felt like I’d been sucked backward through a garden hose, and he was all hot and sexy.
I was so pissed at myself for being excited to see him. I hated him and everything he stood for. Okay, maybe I didn’t hate him, but I wished I did. I wanted to hate him.
When he turned toward the lodge and our eyes met across the parking area, my traitorous heart skipped a beat.
He smiled at me. For a moment, I saw my Kent.
The guy that helped me string lights and listened to my stories about Christmas traditions and held my hand under a canopy of stars.
The man that had given me countless orgasms before taking any for himself.
He was a generous lover. But he was more than just sex. There had been more to him and us.
Whatever crappy deal he’d offered was only part of his story. There was still that man that I fell for mixed in with the bad.
Despite everything that had happened between us, despite the lies and the broken trust and the humiliation, I found myself still wanting him. And I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back.
The moment was shattered when Brom stepped between us, his posture radiating protective fury. “Don’t you dare,” Brom hissed. “That guy is a snake.”
“Brom, I think I hear Stacy calling you.”
“Nice try,” he growled. “Let me handle this.”
He spun around and made it a point to stand in front of me. He was trying to block my view of Kent, but with me on the step above, I could see right over his shoulder. Kent’s eyes were locked on mine. I wasn’t even sure he saw Brom at all.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Brom demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Haven’t you done enough damage?”
Kent’s expression shifted, the soft smile disappearing as he registered the hostility emanating from my brother. “I came to talk to Sylvie,” he said. “To explain.”
“Explain what?” Brom cut him off, taking a step closer. “How you lied to her? How you made her look like an idiot in front of our father? How you’re trying to take advantage of our family’s misfortune?”
Each accusation hit its mark. I wasn’t sure if Brom realized it, but every accusation lobbed at Kent was an insult to me. I really didn’t need my bad decisions thrown around to make a point.
I watched Kent’s face tighten with what looked like genuine remorse. But Brom wasn’t finished.
“Or maybe you want to explain how you knew she overcharged you for the tree and you let her think she was being clever? How you played along with her Christmas spirit while you were planning to tear down everything she loves?”
“Brom, your blood pressure,” I said quietly, putting a warning hand on his arm. He was vibrating with anger, and while I understood why, it wasn’t helping anything.
And it was only serving to embarrass me.
“No, Sylvie,” Brom said, his voice rising. “This guy shows up here with his fancy car and his expensive clothes, pretending to be something he’s not, and you fell for it. We all did. But I’ll be damned if I let him hurt you again.”
“I don’t need you to defend me,” I said quietly. “I can do this.”
Brom ignored me.
The sound of the door being thrown open, followed by running footsteps, had us all turn toward the lodge, where Aspen and Alder were hurrying outside. They must have heard the raised voices and come to investigate.
“Kent!” Aspen called out, her face lighting up with genuine pleasure. “You came back! Are you coming to the party? My wreath is the best.”
Alder was right behind her. “No way, Kent,” he said with a wave. “Mine is way better.”
Brom’s expression darkened further as his traitorous children greeted Kent like an old friend. The contrast was stark, Aspen and Alder’s genuine warmth versus their father’s barely controlled fury. For a moment, nobody seemed to know what to say.
Kent dropped to a squat in front of the kids. “Hey, guys. You look like you’ve been busy little elves.”
Aspen giggled. “Mom said we’re messy little elves.”
“Go back inside. Now.” Brom’s command startled all of us. His voice boomed across the parking area.
Kent stood, his smile flipping away.
“But, Dad,” Aspen started.
“Now,” Brom repeated, and the steel in his voice brooked no argument.
Aspen and Alder exchanged confused glances and reluctantly headed back inside. Kent looked genuinely bummed to see them go, like their friendly greeting had meant something to him.
He pretended they annoyed him, but I had caught him smiling at my niece and nephew on more than one occasion. He liked them. They had a way of winning people over.
Once they were out of earshot, Kent turned back to us. “I was hoping I could speak to Sylvie,” he said, his voice calm. “Privately.”
“Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to me,” Brom stated flatly.
Kent glanced at me, then back at Brom. I could see him weighing his options.
“Uh,” he said finally, a hint of his old humor creeping into his voice despite the tension. “I don’t think you know what you’re asking for, but if you really want to hear all the details, fine. You might blush.”
I had to bite my lip to hide my smile. Even in the middle of this confrontation, even with my brother radiating hostility like a space heater, Kent still had the ability to catch me off guard with his unexpected moments of levity.
“I’ll be okay, Brom,” I said, placing my hand on my brother’s shoulder. The muscle underneath was coiled tight with tension, but I felt him relax slightly. “I promise. I need to talk to him, anyway. I promise I won’t let him sell me any magic beans.”
Brom looked between Kent and me, his protective instincts clearly warring with his trust in my judgment. Finally, he stepped back, though he didn’t go far.
“Fifteen minutes,” he said to Kent, his voice carrying the kind of quiet menace that had intimidated bullies and troublemakers throughout our childhood. “And if you so much as think about hurting her again, I’ll shove more than coal up your stocking.”
Kent nodded solemnly. “Understood.”
I turned to Kent, trying to ignore the way my pulse quickened when he looked at me. “Want to walk?” I asked, gesturing toward the path that led around the lodge toward the tree farm. “We can talk while we go. I have fifteen minutes, apparently.”
“I heard,” Kent said, shooting a wary glance at Brom, who was still standing guard like a sentinel. “Fifteen minutes seems fair enough.”
I looked at Brom, doing my best to plead with him with only my eyes. He rolled his at me, but he relaxed a little more. His heart was in the right place but I needed to handle this conversation on my own.
“I’m going to keep an eye on you,” he said.
“He’s not going to do anything,” I said quietly. “Watching him talk to me isn’t going to change the words. I’m a big girl. The damage has already been done. I’ve got this. Finish hanging those lights, please.”
“I swear, Sylvie—”
I held up my hand. “If he does anything, you are free to knock his ass out.”
Kent heard all of it.
Brom didn’t realize it, but I had seen every inch of Kent’s body, including the muscles. I hated to tell my brother, but I had a feeling Kent could take him.
“I’ll still be watching,” Brom said as he stomped back up the steps to the lodge.