Chapter Two
The Ice Shack looked empty when they arrived but a hostess appeared in a cute ski outfit and walked them to a table at the window overlooking the ice rink. The ice outside glowed blue and purple from colored lights, and the Ice Shack reflected the same colors, with white sculptural walls that looked like stacked blocks of ice, floor-to-ceiling columns made out of clear acrylic icicles, and the lighting was soft, with the same wash of lavender and blue lights like the outside ice rink.
“This is amazing,” Charity said as they reached their white table with matching white chairs. “It is like the inside of an ice cave.”
“Without the freezing temperature,” he answered, holding her chair for her as she sat down. “I’ve been to a real ice bar and they’re cold.”
His fingers brushed her back as he assisted her chair forward. She couldn’t remember the last time someone held her chair, or opened the car door. Not true. Her first love, Joe Wyatt, had been the same way. He was a cowboy from east of Pray in Paradise Valley and he’d been very protective. He was a great person, and he would have been a great husband and father—if she could have handled living in the middle of nowhere. But Montana winters were harsh, and the Wyatt ranch was high in the Absarokas. Even in good weather it was a thirty-minute drive to Marietta. In winter, it could be impossible. He couldn’t change the location of the Wyatt ranch—it’d been in the family for eighty years—and she couldn’t tear herself from her family. He hadn’t understood, but then, he wasn’t the one leaving everything behind. His grandfather and mother lived on the ranch. Three of his four brothers worked the ranch when not competing on the rodeo circuit. His whole world was high up in Paradise Valley whereas hers was Marietta.
She exhaled in a rush, wishing she’d stop thinking of Joe. Somehow her breakup with Greg had thrown her into a tailspin, making her question every decision, good and bad.
Douglas sat down across from her and looked at her. His brow creased. “What’s wrong?”
She struggled to smile. “Careful. You’ll get me talking and you might just get an earful.”
“I have nowhere to go, and nothing to do.”
“You really shouldn’t encourage me.”
“Why not? Maybe I want to hear everything.”
“Seriously? Because I’ve been told that men find women’s emotions terrifying.”
He laughed, creases fanning from the corner of his eyes. “Not exactly terrifying, but they can be a little overwhelming for the novice. Fortunately, I have a sister—she’s two years younger than me—and she helped me understand that women need words more than men. Sometimes she just needed to talk, and she’d feel better.” He studied her for a moment, still smiling, and yet his blue gaze was warm, his expression kind. “So talk to me. What’s upsetting you?”
“Because I’m a terrible judge of character, I now need to figure out what I’m going to do about work. I’m not sure if I can keep working with Greg, but if I look for a new job, my sister, Amanda, is going to beg me to come work for her, and please don’t tell anyone I said this, but I think that would be worse than where I am now.”
“Your sister is worse than Greg the Schmuck?”
“No. She’s amazing. She’s the best sister, and my best friend, and it’s her dream that I go work for her salon, but it’s not for me. It really isn’t.”
“You can’t just tell her that?”
“I don’t want to hurt her feelings, and it would. Amanda might be the baby in the family, but she’s fierce. When she wants something, nothing stops her.” Charity drew a quick breath. “I’m… not like that. I’m not driven and ambitious. It’s kind of a problem. I honestly think it’s what has gotten me into my current situation.”
“Are there any other travel agencies in your area you could work at?” he asked.
And just like that, Charity remembered where she was, and who she was supposed to be. Tricia Thorpe. And Tricia loved her work, and loved travel, and if word got back to Marietta Travel that Tricia was looking for another job… oh, that would be terrible.
“No,” she said more firmly, sitting up and squaring her shoulders. “I don’t want to work anywhere else, and you know what, I’m not going to be chased out of a job I enjoy. I’m good at what I do, and if Greg doesn’t like it, he can go, not me.”
Douglas lifted his water glass and saluted her. “That’s the fighting spirit.”
They ordered fondue—cheese for starter and a chocolate dessert version to finish—and over glasses of wine and chunks of crusty bread swirled in decadent melted cheese they talked about their past relationships, discovering neither of them had been married or engaged, although they both had come close.
Answering Douglas’s question, Charity said, “He did propose, but I couldn’t say yes. I loved him, I did, but I knew we wanted different things and it would be a problem moving forward.”
“Have you ever regretted your decision?” he asked.
“I’ve regretted letting him go because I’ve never felt that way about anyone since, but I still think I made the right decision. I need people more than he does. I need to be in town.”
She twirled her fondue fork in the bubbling cheese in the copper-hammered pot. “What about you? What’s your longest relationship?”
“The one that just ended this summer. We were together almost three years.”
“Why did it end?”
“She wanted to get married and I didn’t.”
“Not the marrying sort?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “I always planned on getting married one day, but it has to be right. I’d rather be single than in an unhappy marriage.”
Charity watched him repeatedly stab a cube of bread. He seemed far more interested in stabbing it than eating it. “Why wasn’t she the one?”
He was silent so long Charity wasn’t sure he was even going to answer, and then he shrugged. “It was what you said. We wanted different things. Her vision for the future was different than mine.”
“So what do you want? Do you know?”
“I want to be happy.”
“Doesn’t everyone?” she asked, before popping the hot cheesy bite into her mouth.
“You’d think so, but happiness can look very different to people. For me, it’s not about money or lifestyle. It’s not about impressing others, or catering to what people think. It’s about being true to yourself and giving your best to those closest to you.”
The cheese was hot and it took her a moment to swallow and be able to talk. “It’s how it should be, isn’t it?” she agreed. “Family should be the people we love most. The people we protect. But it doesn’t always work out that way.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“I guess it’s easy to take your family for granted. But it’s such a mistake. Family is everything. My sisters are everything. They’ve gotten me through really hard times.”
“Tell me about your sisters.”
“I have two. My older sister Jenny lives in Colorado with her husband, and my younger sister Amanda, or Mandy, lives just a mile from me. Mandy’s my best friend. Growing up, we were two peas in a pod. We did everything together. She just got married in June.” A lump suddenly filled her throat. “It’s changed things a little bit, but I’m happy for her. She married a great guy. He adores her, and respects her, and Mandy deserves it.”
“But you miss her,” Quinn said quietly.
Charity blinked back tears. “I do. We still see each other every week, and yet, it’s not the same. Maybe it’s me, keeping my distance, but when we’re all together I feel like a third wheel.”
“Then just do things with her.”
“I do, but it’s not as often. Mandy adores him and she invites me to do things with them all the time. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I think they just need couple time.”
“And they do, as they’re newlyweds.”
“I’m not jealous of her happiness, but I’m… lonely.” She wrinkled her nose. “I should
n’t have said that, should I? I sound like a brat.”
“No, you sound like someone who has always had a team, but her team has changed, and she’s trying to figure out how to play the game on her own.”
“Wow. You are a sports writer.”
He laughed quietly, and yet his expression was sympathetic, which only made him even sexier.
“I do miss my team,” she said softly. “Now that I think about it, I only started dating Greg after Mandy got married. Such a mistake.”
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.”
“Yes, and I can see now that instead of dating him, I should have used my free time to focus on my design work. That’s my secret passion. I love fashion. I love designing clothes. Mandy has always been my favorite model. I created her wedding dress, and most of her wardrobe.” She paused, grimaced. “I haven’t made her anything since the wedding. I was planning on making her something for a Christmas party but haven’t done it yet.”
“What would you make?”