Maybe This Christmas (O'Neil Brothers 2)

Home.

Snow Crystal.

Brenna glanced around her, breathing in the smell of winter. All around her the wide, smooth ski runs dissected the snowy forest like white satin ribbons tied around a beautifully wrapped gift.

“You have real talent. You’re going to have to work hard, but you’re going to do well.”

“I’ll work hard. And with both you and Dad training me, I will have improved by spring.”

Would she still be here in the spring?

Janet was gone, but her words echoed in Brenna’s head, refusing to be silenced.

He is never going to say “I love you.”

It was probably the only thing she and Janet had ever agreed on, and she realized she had a decision to make.

It wasn’t fair to anyone for her to carry on living here, existing on a diet of hope and nothing else.

“Do you know what I think? I think we should drive home via the store, buy every decoration Ellen Kelly has left on the shelf and turn Lake House into a grotto.” She was relieved to see Jess smile.

“Dad would die. It almost killed him putting up a Christmas tree.”

Brenna scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Jess. “I think it’s especially important to decorate his bedroom. With ribbons and garlands.”

“And glitter. And maybe we could buy a small tree for his room.” Jess scooped up snow and threw it back at Brenna, who ducked and skied fast down to the bottom of the mountain.

If this was going to be the last Christmas she spent with Tyler and Jess, she was going to make it a Christmas to remember.

* * *

TYLER OPENED THE DOOR to Lake House, fell over Jess’s boots and was assaulted by both dogs.

Feeling as tense as he used to before a big race, he was relieved to hear laughter coming from the living room.

“No way. We can’t.” That was Jess. “Dad will kill us. Seriously. We’ll have to move in with Grandma, or maybe even go to the North Pole and live with Santa.”

Tyler smiled. Jess may be a teenager, but there were still moments when she was closer to being a child. Wondering what Brenna had done to make his daughter laugh on a day that must have been filled with stress and tension, he pushed open the door and stopped, his vision assaulted by what appeared to be a million tiny lights twisted around the beams and across the windows.

“What the—?”

“Is this straight?” Brenna was balanced precariously on top of a ladder, trying to fix another garland. “Is it the same height as the other one?” As she reached across, the ladder shifted, and Tyler crossed the room in two strides. “Come down.” Steadying the ladder, he spoke between his teeth. “I’ll do it.”

“Don’t be sexist. I’m quite capable of fixing lights and garlands.”

“She is.” Jess handed up another garland. “She’s done all the others. Isn’t it beautiful? We decided to make it extra Christmassy this year.”

“So I see.” Still holding the ladder tightly, Tyler scanned his living room. “It looks like a fairy grotto.”

And, more to the point, his daughter looked happy.

If the meeting with her mother had unsettled her, there was no sign of it.

“Isn’t it cool? Brenna bought every single decoration Ellen Kelly had in the store. Her eyes were almost popping out of her head.”

Tyler looked up and met Brenna’s gaze. “You hate clutter.”

“This isn’t clutter. It’s Christmas.” She secured the final garland and descended nimbly. “So what do you think?”