30. Kate
KATE
I stood near the entrance to the lodge, watching the early guests arrive for the season-closing event.
Spring light slanted through the tall windows, warming the polished wood floors and catching on the crystal glasses lined up at the bar.
The mountain season was ending. Bennett's main resort was saying goodbye to another winter, and everyone who mattered to the business had come to mark it.
My hands were cold despite the warmth inside.
I twisted the wedding ring on my finger without thinking, the band catching the light as I turned it.
The ring felt new again, even though I'd worn it for eight years before I took it off.
I'd put it back on myself two weeks ago, standing in Brynn's shop with Bennett watching. The divorce had stopped.
Bennett was on his way. We would go in together, the way we used to years ago, before everything got complicated and distant and wrong.
I scanned the room, looking for her. Priscilla would be here.
She always came to the big events, gliding through the crowd like she owned the mountain, like every slope and every guest and every dollar belonged to her by right.
She didn't anymore. Bennett had ended it.
She had no place here, not the way she used to, not the private dinners and the late meetings and the casual authority she'd built up over months of working beside him.
But she'd been invited as a guest, just another former athlete on the list, and I knew she would come.
My stomach tightened. God, I was nervous. The feeling vibrated beneath my skin, restless and uncomfortable.
The last time I'd been at one of these events, Priscilla had stood beside Bennett at the opening of the season while I smiled and stayed silent.
She'd made little comments, polite on the surface, cutting underneath, and I'd just taken it.
I'd stood there like an idiot and let her belittle me in front of everyone who mattered.
Not this time.
Bennett's hand touched the small of my back, warm and solid, and I turned.
He'd come in through the side entrance, dressed in a dark suit that made his shoulders look even broader.
His eyes found mine immediately, and something in my chest settled.
He looked good. Ugh. He always looked good, and it was still annoying that I noticed.
"Ready?" he asked.
I nodded. "Ready."
He held out his arm, and I took it. His forearm was firm under my hand, the muscle solid beneath the fabric of his jacket.
We walked into the main room together, and I felt the weight of every gaze that turned our way.
People noticed. They always noticed Bennett—he was the man who owned the mountain—and now they were noticing me beside him, wearing my ring again, standing where I belonged.
The room was full of resort sponsors, long-time guests, and people who mattered to the business.
Waiters moved through the crowd with trays of champagne and appetizers.
Someone laughed near the fireplace, the sound bright and careless.
The hum of conversation rose and fell around us, a hundred voices blending into noise.
Bennett stayed close, his hand resting lightly on my back as we moved through the room.
He greeted people, shook hands, introduced me to a sponsor I hadn't met before—a woman from a ski gear company who smiled warmly and told me she loved the safety protocols we'd put in place.
I smiled back and thanked her, but my attention kept drifting to the door.
She wasn't here yet.
Bennett leaned down, his mouth near my ear. "She'll show up."
"I know." My voice came out steadier than I felt. I was so nervous it made my hands shake.
"Kate." He waited until I looked at him. "I know what she did to you."
My breath snagged. He was the one who had found it out and told me.
But hearing him say it now, here, made it real in a way it hadn't been before.
He knew. He'd seen what Priscilla was, what she'd done, and he wasn't waving it off or telling me I was making a mountain out of an anthill or asking me to let it go for the sake of keeping the peace.
"Okay," I said. The word came out smaller than I wanted.
His hand squeezed my waist gently. "You don't have to do this alone."
I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything else. My pulse was already kicking up, fast and unsteady.
The door opened, and Priscilla walked in.
She wore a white dress that clung to her like a second skin, her blonde hair swept up in a way that probably took an hour and a stylist. She moved with the confidence of someone who'd never been told no, her smile bright and empty as she scanned the room.
Her gaze landed on Bennett first, the way it always did, and then slid to me.
Something flickered in her expression, too fast to name. Surprise, maybe. Or annoyance.
She started toward us, weaving through the crowd with the easy grace of someone who knew people would step aside for her.
My pulse kicked up harder, hammering against my ribs like it wanted out. I forced myself to breathe evenly, to keep my face calm and my shoulders relaxed. Bennett's hand stayed on my back, steady and warm. I didn't step away from him. I didn't give her the satisfaction.
Priscilla stopped in front of us, her smile still in place. "Bennett. Kate. What a lovely surprise to see you both here together."
Her voice was smooth, pleasant, like we were old friends catching up after a long absence.
"Priscilla," Bennett said. His tone was flat, polite in the way that meant absolutely nothing.
She looked at me, and her smile sharpened just a fraction. "Kate, that's such a pretty dress. Very... understated. I always admire women who don't need to make a statement."
There it was. The knife, wrapped in silk and delivered with a smile.
I met her eyes and didn't flinch. "Thank you, Priscilla."
She tilted her head, studying me like I was something curious she'd found on the trail.
A bug, maybe. Something small. "I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here.
I thought you preferred to stay behind the scenes, working on your little projects.
What was it Bennett told me you were doing? Wool scarves?"
My jaw tightened. She knew exactly what I did. She'd always known, and she'd always made it sound like nothing.
Bennett shifted beside me, his posture changing. I felt the tension in him, coiled and ready. "Priscilla?—"
"I mean, it's wonderful that you have hobbies," Priscilla continued, her voice bright and cutting at the same time.
"So many wives struggle to find something to fill their time when their husbands are busy with real work.
But you've always been good at keeping yourself occupied, haven't you?
Staying out of the way. Letting the people who actually understand the business handle the important decisions. "
"That's enough." Bennett's voice was low, hard in a way I'd rarely heard from him.
Priscilla blinked at him, all innocence. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? I was only complimenting Kate on how well she's adapted to her role here."
"Her role," Bennett said, his voice carrying enough that people nearby turned to look, "is my wife.
And she's the reason this mountain is safe, the reason the runs work the way they're supposed to, and the reason half the guests in this room come back year after year.
So if you're looking to insult someone, you can start by finding another target and staying the hell away from mine. "
My heart lurched. He'd defended me. In front of her, in front of everyone within earshot, he'd actually stood up for me.
But I didn't need him to finish this.
I stepped forward, just slightly, so I was standing even with Bennett instead of behind him. Priscilla's gaze snapped to me, and for the first time since she'd walked over, I saw uncertainty flicker across her face.
"You don't have to do that, Priscilla," I said. My voice was quiet, but it didn't shake. "You don't have to keep pretending you care about my hobbies or my role or anything else about me. We both know what you've been doing for months, and we both know it didn't work out the way you wanted."
Her smile thinned, the warmth draining out of it until only the shape remained. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do." I didn't raise my voice. I didn't need to. "You set up the cabin. You made sure I'd find you there with Bennett, made sure it looked like something it wasn't. You wanted me to think he'd chosen you. You wanted me gone so you could have what I had."
"That's a very dramatic interpretation of a simple misunderstanding," Priscilla said. Her tone was light, dismissive, but her eyes had gone cold and sharp. "I think you're letting your insecurities get the better of you, Kate. It's not a good look on anyone, but especially not on you."
I held her gaze and didn't let the words land. I'd spent years listening to comments like that, letting them settle under my skin and fester. Not anymore. "I'm not insecure. I'm just done being polite while you try to take what's mine."
Priscilla laughed, sharp and bright, the sound like glass breaking. "Oh, sweetheart. If it was ever really yours, you wouldn't have spent the last eight years so desperate to hold onto it with both hands. You've always known you were out of your league here."
The words stung, but I didn't let them sink in. I'd been out of my league, maybe. I'd been quiet and patient and willing to let things slide that I should have fought for. But I wasn't that woman anymore.
"I wasn't desperate," I said. "I was patient. There's a difference, and you wouldn't understand it."
Priscilla opened her mouth to say something else, but a man in an expensive suit appeared at her elbow before she could get the words out.
I recognized him vaguely—one of the brand sponsors who backed athletes, the ones who paid for gear and appearances and endorsements and all the things that came with being a name in the sport.
He had been standing near enough to watch the whole exchange.
"Ms. Harrington," he said. His voice was clipped, professional, cold in a way that made my spine straighten. "I need a word with you."
She turned to him, her smile snapping back into place like a mask. "Of course. I'll just be a moment?—"
"Now, please." He gestured toward the corner of the room, away from the crowd.
Something in his tone made her hesitate. She glanced at Bennett, then at me, then back at the sponsor. Her smile wavered. "Is there a problem?"
"We can discuss it privately," the man said, and walked away without waiting for her answer.
Priscilla followed him, her posture shifting from confident to stiff.
Two other people in suits joined them near the windows, and I watched the conversation unfold from across the room.
Priscilla's face went pale. Her hands clenched at her sides.
One of the sponsors was talking, his expression hard and unforgiving, and the others were nodding.
Bennett's hand found mine, his fingers lacing through mine and squeezing gently. "You okay?"
I nodded. My hands were still shaking a little, adrenaline making my pulse jump, but the tightness in my chest had eased. "Yeah. I'm okay."
We stood there together, watching. Priscilla's voice rose, just loud enough to carry across the noise of the room. "You can't be serious. This is absolutely ridiculous?—"
The man in the suit cut her off with a shake of his head. He said something else, too low for me to hear, and then turned and walked away. The other two followed him without a backward glance.
Priscilla stood there alone, her face frozen in shock. She looked like someone had slapped her.
She looked around the room, scanning the crowd, and I saw the exact moment she realized people were watching. Her hands clenched tighter. Her jaw worked like she was biting back words. And then she straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and walked toward the door.
She didn't look at Bennett. She didn't look at me.
She just left.
The room felt lighter without her in it, the air easier to breathe. I exhaled slowly, my grip on Bennett's hand loosening as the tension bled out of my shoulders.
"She lost them," I said. "Her sponsors."
"Yeah." Bennett's thumb brushed over my knuckles, slow and deliberate. "She did."
Across the room, the woman from the ski gear company caught my eye and gave me a small nod, the kind that said she had seen all of it and was glad I was still standing there.
I didn't feel triumphant. I didn't feel vindicated or smug or any of the things I thought I might feel if Priscilla ever got what she deserved. I just felt... tired. Tired, and relieved, and lighter than I had in months.
"Come on," Bennett said. He tugged my hand gently. "Let's get you a drink."
We moved through the room together, and this time I wasn't looking over my shoulder. I wasn't bracing for the next cut or the next polite insult wrapped in a smile. Priscilla was gone. The sponsors had seen what she was, and they'd dropped her. She'd lost everything she'd been working for.
The mountain was Bennett's. The place beside him was mine.
I'd stood up for myself. I'd said what I needed to say, looked her in the eye and refused to back down. And I'd done it without being cruel, without sinking to her level or saying something I'd regret later.
Bennett handed me a glass of champagne, and I took it. My hands had stopped shaking.
"You were amazing," he said quietly.
I looked up at him. "I had help."
"You didn't need it." His eyes were warm, proud in a way that made my chest ache. "You stood up for yourself, Kate. That was all you."
Maybe it was. Maybe I'd finally found the strength I'd been looking for all along.
I stayed at the event, standing taller than I had in years.