“Fuck you, Josh. Real mature.” Her anger was rising in time with her pulse and she started playing out various scenarios in her mind, most of them involved a slap to the face and a firing. How could he do this to her?

  She snapped her head around when she heard some twigs snapping in the bush, and felt her chest constrict when the twigs snapping turned to the sound of something big crashing through the bush. Were bears out this time of year? Shit. Did mountain lions make that much noise coming through the bush? She wanted to scream for Josh but didn’t want to draw the attention of whatever it was, whoever it was, to her. She was frozen in fear and could hear whatever it was breathing as it closed in on her. She held her ski pole in front of her like a sword and felt the tears welling up in her eyes as the adrenaline overtook her and her body started to shake in fear.

  A flash of brown leapt from the darkness of the woods and onto the trail.

  A deer. It stopped and looked right at Megan, it’s big brown eyes and eyelashes blinking, taking her in, and then it leapt gracefully off the trail and continued running through the bush. Not one minute later Timber burst from the forest and onto the trail. He stopped and looked at Megan too. He seemed conflicted, he looked to the direction the deer had run, and then back at Megan, but she wasn’t waiting to see if he was going to choose her. She leapt forward and dove for the end of his leash which was trailing behind him. She grabbed it in her hand just as Timber chose the deer over her. She yanked him back, “Oh no you don’t.” He turned and whimpered at her. “Not today, Timber. Not today.” Timber seemed to accept his fate and sat down beside Megan while she tried to get back onto her feet.

  “Which way, boy?”

  She felt ridiculous talking to the dog, but if anyone was going to find Josh, it was him. He was facing the main trail and stood up, pulling Megan along behind him. “Okay, that’s what I thought too.” Then Megan and Timber continued on toward the main trail together. They hadn’t quite reached the fork when Megan saw a familiar silhouette in a blue jacket racing down the trail toward them.

  “Oh, Megan.” Josh threw down his ski poles and grabbed her into a bear hug.

  Megan didn’t hug him back, she was so happy to see him, but angry that he had put her in such a predicament.

  “Where did you go?” he asked, taking Timber’s leash from Megan’s hand.

  “What do you mean? Where did I go? Where did you go?”

  “I didn’t go anywhere. I stayed on the main trail and was waiting for you. Why did you come down this goat trail?”

  Megan finally looked up into Josh’s blue eyes. They were the same blue as his jacket and all she could see in them was concern. “You got ahead of me, and I didn’t know which way you’d gone, so I followed Timber’s tracks.”

  “I was so worried. Timber got away from me, I couldn’t find you. I backtracked miles and then I heard Timber barking. I didn’t think that you would’ve turned down here.” Josh was speaking rapidly and gesturing with his arms.

  “I was so scared, Josh.” Now that Megan’s adrenaline rush was over, and the realization that Josh wasn’t being a jerk, that he was actually worried and out there looking for her, she felt ridiculous and angry at herself. She was the reason that they had an awkward morning, and now she was the reason that he had sprinted off trying to find her.

  Josh gathered her in his arms and she let her head rest on his chest as the tears started to flow freely. Josh stroked her back and squeezed her tightly. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

  Megan squeezed Josh back tightly, basking against his solid frame. She had felt so alone only moments before and now she not only felt complete, but safe.

  “Josh, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten ahead.”

  “No. Not for that. For this morning. There are some things that I need to tell you. Things that I wanted to tell you. No, things that I should’ve told you this morning. You opened up your heart to me and I couldn’t tell you that all I want is to stay here in Chance Rapids. That no one has ever made me feel the way I feel when I’m with you.”

  “Why couldn’t you tell me that this morning?” Josh pulled back and held Megan’s biceps while he studied her face.

  “I-I-I there’s more to the story Josh. But can we wait until we’re out of the woods? I’ll tell you everything.”

  He smiled at her. “Of course, Meg. I don’t want to sound sappy, but what you just told me has made me so happy. I didn’t get why you clammed up this morning. I’m sorry too.”

  Megan knew that what she was about to do was the right thing, but the pit of dread growing in her stomach told her otherwise.

  * * *

  As they walk back to the truck, Josh shuddered, remembering the terror of the past fifteen minutes.

  He had looked down at his watch and stamped his feet; they had gotten cold waiting for Megan to round the bend in the trail. After ten minutes he started to get worried but knew that she was probably just taking her time and didn’t want to be around him.

  When he still didn’t see her pompom come up over the knoll after five more minutes, he skied off in the direction they had come as fast as he could. After years of being on search and rescue, his mind had gone into overdrive imaging all the terrible things that could’ve happened to her, and it would be all his fault. Why did he have to be so goddamn bullheaded?

  He was breathing heavily, and frost was accumulating on his beard.

  “Shit,” he muttered to himself as he got to the section of trail where he had last seen her. He turned around again and tried to put himself in her shoes. There were no footsteps or errant ski tracks off the trail, so the only place she could’ve turned was onto the small side trail. It didn’t make any sense, but it was the only other place that she could be.

  He heard Timber yipping and shook his head. Now he had to find a lost woman and a lost dog.

  He felt a sense of dread building in him at the idea of something happening to Megan. Not again. The last time he had seen Erica, they had argued. His heart was pounding in his chest, and when he saw Megan and Timber on the trail, he felt like the huge weight that had been baring down on his chest lift. He picked up the pace even faster and didn’t care about anything that happened that morning.

  Now, as they sat on the tailgate of his truck, he wondered what it was that she had to tell him.

  Twenty-Two

  As they sat on the tailgate, the warmth of their bodies started to melt the snow beneath them. Josh waited patiently as Megan stared dreamily into the forest.

  “It sure is beautiful out there. You were right about the sunshine on the snow,” Megan said.

  “There’s nothing like it,” he replied, knowing that she was stalling.

  “Josh, I want you to know that this time with you has been very special to me.”

  It sounded like a breakup line to him. He nodded and held her mittened hand in his gloved one. “Like I said earlier, I would love to stay in Chance Rapids and be with you. Actually, I thought that you were the reason that I was falling in love with this town. It turns out that there are so many reasons why I would want to stay here.”

  “But you can’t.”

  “Actually, I could move here. I could live here full time.”

  “You could give up your city life for this simple town life? All of the excitement, and designer shoes, and trendy restaurants that leave you starving?”

  “See. Here’s the thing. I’m not who you think I am.”

  “Megan, I’ve spent a lot of time with you over the past month, I think I have a pretty good idea who you are.” He squeezed her hand tightly and smiled at her. She looked at him and smiled meekly then shifted uncomfortably and pulled her hand from his.

  She sighed and rubbed her hands on her thighs. “I don’t own that house in Sugar Peaks. I don’t own the café. I’m not a rich ski bunny who doesn’t ski.”

  “How is that possible?” Josh was thrown. This was not what he was expecting at all.

  “The house is Charlotte’s. She’s the real estate developer. She’s the one opening the café. She just hired me to be the face for the project.”

  “Why couldn’t you just tell me that?”

  “Charlotte swore me to secrecy.”

  Josh tilted his head, trying to compute everything that the gorgeous woman in front of him was saying. “Is this some kind of cruel game you two are playing? Try to pull the wool over the dumb Rapidians’ eyes?”

  “I can’t tell you why.”

  “Seriously? Well, can you tell me who you really are? Or is that top secret too. Is your name even Megan Brittle?”

  “Technically my name is still Megan Snellton. Brittle is my maiden name. If you want the truth. Here it is. My ex-husband cheated on me and got his mistress pregnant. This is after years of us trying to have a baby. The mistress thing was tough enough, but the baby was salt in the wound. And then he hid all our money. So, no, I’m not rich, I’m the opposite of what you thought I was. I was so hurt. I just needed to get away from the city and Charlotte offered me her place. Then, she offered me a job.”

  Megan reached for Josh’s hand, but he pulled them away. “Josh, there were so many times that I wanted to tell you.”

  “I still don’t get why this had to be a secret. What are you two hiding?”

  Megan pursed her lips, as if deciding whether she wanted to divulge anything further, but she didn’t. “I’m sorry Josh, but there are just some things that I can’t tell you yet.”

  “Oh yeah, when do you think you can grace me with the truth Megan? And how will I know it’s the truth? I mean, you’ve been lying to me for all this time. How can I ever trust you again?”

  Josh hopped off the back of the truck and threw the skis in. He offered his hand to Megan to help her down, but she ignored it. “Everything else was real, Josh. Everything,” she whispered.

  “I think that it’s time to take you home now, or whatever it is you’re calling that monstrosity on Sugar Peaks.”

  Megan nodded and got in the passenger side of the truck. Josh opened the rear door for Timber and he curled up in the back seat. The two of them drove back into the town limits, the radio crackling with the one local station playing “Baby it’s Cold Outside.”

  He was beside himself. It didn’t make sense. Why did she have to pretend to be someone she wasn’t? It had been so hard for him to look past the fact that she was too sophisticated and rich to want a carpenter like him, and now he was pissed. She was the perfect woman for him. But she was a damn liar.

  Twenty-Three

  Megan stood in the driveway in a state of shock as the man she loved drove out of her life. She knew that telling Josh the truth had ruined everything, but she couldn’t keep lying. What was she going to do? Keep pretending so that she could sleep with him a few more times? The idea was tempting, but Josh deserved better than that. He deserved the truth.

  He had opened up to her and not only had she rejected him, she had completely deceived him. She turned and shuffled into the house, noticing that Charlotte’s car was back. She pulled off her coat and hung it in the entryway closet. Her body was sore and tired and all she wanted to do was take a hot shower and curl up in bed and wish that she’d never agreed to Charlotte’s crazy scheme to begin with.

  Charlotte popped her head out of the kitchen, “Coffee’s on.”

  Megan perked up a little with the smell of the coffee and moped into the kitchen. She pulled a mug out of the cupboard and poured herself a glass of water, chugging it down in three big gulps.

  “Thirsty?” Charlotte smirked. “Did someone get a lot of exercise last night?”

  “It wasn’t like that.” Megan sat down at the island, impatiently tapping her fingers so she could go drink her coffee alone.

  “Oh yeah, what was it like? How was he? How big was he? Would you do it again?” Charlotte went rapid-fire with her questions.

  “It was amazing. He’s incredible.”

  “Then why so glum?” Charlotte pulled the percolator off the stove, clicked off the burner and poured the hot coffee into Megan’s mug.

  “You’re gonna kill me.”

  Charlotte looked up at Megan. “You didn’t.”

  “I had to.”

  “What do you mean, you had to? We had a deal. You were going to wait until after the grand opening of the café.”

  “I had to.” Megan repeated.

  “Yeah, well, I heard you the first time. How could you?” Charlotte planted both of her hands on the island and stared at Megan, waiting for an answer.

  “I didn’t tell him everything. He doesn’t know who you are.”

  Charlotte’s shoulders visibly softened, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well, then what exactly did you tell him?”

  Megan took a sip of her black coffee and was about to start the story when the doorbell rang. She raised her eyebrows at Charlotte. “Are you expecting someone so early?”

  “No. Are you?” Charlotte replied as she slid off the seat and strode out of sight to open the front door.

  Megan’s heart was in her throat. It had to be Josh. Could he have turned around, was he here to tell her that he needed her so badly he was willing to look past her deception? She gulped, her heart hammering in her chest. When she heard Charlotte speaking to a male voice her heart leapt into her throat. Could it be him?

  “Megan. Door’s for you,” Charlotte’s voice rang out from the mezzanine. She sounded irritated.

  Megan took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure as she walked to the front of the house. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was at the door.

  It wasn’t Josh. It was the man she had wanted so badly to change his mind about her – about them, until Josh walked into her life. She hadn’t thought about him in weeks. He hadn’t entered her mind for even a nanosecond. It was Alex. Standing in the doorway. With flowers.

  Twenty-Four

  He was driving faster than he should. His truck was in two-wheel drive and he loved the way it felt when he slid and fishtailed around the corners, his anger, his hurt expressed in reckless driving. As he rounded the corner before the covered bridge, he saw a silver Lexus creeping along the road and had to swerve to avoid hitting the car. The man in the car leaned on the horn and gave Josh the finger.

  Josh knew that he deserved it, but still felt offended at the gesture. He pulled his truck over before the bridge and leaned his forehead on the steering wheel. He was a wreck. How could he have fallen in love with Megan in less than two months? How could he have fallen in love with someone who was lying to him about who she really was?

  He thought back to their first kiss, to the first time he saw her when she dropped the wine, and the events of their time together melded into a series of memories. He realized that he had fallen in love with Megan, with her smile, the crinkles beside her eyes, the easy way she had about her, the way that she treated everyone equally. He loved the way her ass felt cupped in his hands, the way she kissed his neck, her tenderness, the way she embraced new adventures with him, even though he knew that she was scared.

  He took a deep breath. He loved Megan. He needed her in his life.

  He realized that she must have had a good reason for what she did and that he couldn’t just drive away from her. He couldn’t let something so good slip between his fingers without knowing why. He needed answers.

  He turned the truck around and headed back up Sugar Peaks Way, determined to get some answers, to find some way to justify what she had done, to find some way that he could make Megan Brittle his.

  He rehearsed his speech as he followed the curving switchbacks up the mountain road. He stopped short as he was about to turn into the driveway when he saw the silver car that he had almost run off the road parked there. The angry man who had flipped him off was standing in the doorway, hugging a woman. Josh’s heart dropped when he realized that the woman wasn’t Charlotte. It was Megan.

  “Her real life,” he muttered to himself and sped away, leaving the mountain house in his rear-view mirror.

  Twenty-Five

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Meg. I made a mistake,” Alex said and stepped into the foyer.

  “Whoa. Hold it right there,” Charlotte said, stepping in between Megan and Alex. “I don’t believe that Megan invited you in.”

  “I’m not a vampire,” Alex replied, looking over Charlotte’s shoulder at Megan.

  “Close enough,” Charlotte muttered.

  Alex took a step back, “There are some things I need to tell you, Megan.”

  “It’s okay, Char. I’m fine.” Megan stepped around Charlotte.

  Charlotte shook her head and grabbed a down jacket from the closet. “I’m going to go for a walk. Meg, I’ve got my phone if you need me.” She squeezed Megan’s hand on her way by and bumped Alex’s shoulder as he stood in the doorway.

  “Can I come in, Meg?” Alex pleaded with Megan.

  For the first time, Megan saw him for the pathetic man he was. He was staring at the doormat, and when he gathered the courage to glance up at her she saw that his eyes were circled and dark. He looked like he’d aged ten years since she last saw him.

  “You can stand there and tell me what you need to say.”

  Alex sighed and brought the flowers down from his chest so that the roses faced the ground.

  “I can’t believe I ruined the best thing that ever happened to me. Megan, I want you. I need you back in my life.”

  Megan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The words coming out of his mouth were the ones that she longed to hear months ago. Now, they seemed foreign, as though Alex were speaking a different language.