“You don’t have to do any such thing.” She turned toward him, a hand on his arm. “I’m not going to stay in town long anyhow.”
He could see the hint of vulnerability in her pretty eyes. Was she leaving because things were uncomfortable for her here? He couldn’t abide that. Not when he’d been a part of the reason she’d felt ostracized. He knew exactly how to fix it.
Besides, he realized he was in no hurry for her to leave. It’d been too long since he had seen her.
“I happen to know Kiersten Garrett really wants you at her wedding.” He’d been over to dinner at Luke’s and Kiersten had shared as much.
Rachel’s jaw dropped. “I—Well. Just because Kiersten wants me there doesn’t mean I need to put up with grief from everyone in town.”
He jumped into trouble with both feet. It came with the territory on the mountain every day, and he wasn’t going to shy away from a risk now, with someone who used to be important to him.
“Consider the town quieted when you go to the bridal welcome dinner as my date.”
*
Ten minutes later Rachel was still searching for words as they headed east through the mountains toward Lake Placid. Her head was downright spinning. She glanced across the truck cab at the source of her unrest. Gavin steered the pickup easily along the winding curves on dark back roads. He’d taken a route she never would have known about, bypassing the more direct county road connecting the towns.
She was still rattled from the surprise of seeing him, but leaving behind the red and green Yuletide mania was helping to soothe her nerves along with the warm, non-pine-scented air blowing from the truck’s defroster. She took her first deep breath all day and then turned to look at him.
So. Handsome.
He was the sort of guy you really needed to view in small doses so as not to get overwhelmed. From his moody green eyes and longish, dark blond hair, to his supremely athletic build he was the kind of man women noticed. And squealed about. Tonight, he wore a knit ski cap that held his hair off his face—the better to see the chiseled profile gone scruffy with a few days of not shaving.
Time had only made him better looking. How else had he changed from that reckless teen she’d been crazy about? From his desire to fix the past—to stand up for her in a town that had seemed happy to write her off as a villain—she guessed he had his share of regrets about that awkward day they’d kissed. But she needed to remember that, in his own way, he was making peace with his past—the same as her. So she should not read anything romantic into his offer to escort her to the pre-wedding festivities.
And yet, she’d gotten keyed up just like a high school girl when he’d claimed he wanted her for his “date.” Clearly, time hadn’t made her any wiser.
“Where exactly are we headed?” he asked, his voice wrapping pleasantly around her in the confines of the newly warm truck cab. “You said Lake Placid, but I’m sure you don’t really want to see the lake at this hour.”
“Maybe I do,” she said, mostly just to be contrary. And also because she wasn’t sure how much to reveal about her plans for tonight. “Don’t they have ice-skating on the lake at night during this time of year?”
He slanted a knowing glance her way.
“You forgot your skates though.” He dimmed his lights as they passed another car, then flicked on the brights again. It wasn’t actively snowing for the moment, making it easier to see as they edged down a steep grade.
She sighed. “You can just drop me off in downtown.”
“So you can disappear and skip town tomorrow?” He shook his head. “I’ve been waiting a long time to redeem myself, Rachel. We’re going to conquer Yuletide together this week, you and me.”
Something about the way he worded it got her thinking. “What’s in it for you, exactly? Besides ‘redemption,’ which frankly, I can’t imagine you’ve been pining for all this time.”
“I’ve pined.” He shot her a virtuous look that made her smile. “But you’re right. I could use your help, too.”
“I can’t imagine what I might have to offer you.” She’d spent the last eight years perfecting her craft as a designer—and failing to gain any kind of commercial traction. Work had become a source of frustration where once it had fueled her every creative instinct.
“I could use your help getting this town to remember its roots.” He downshifted as they reached the first signs of the old Olympic Village.
She couldn’t imagine how she could help in that department, but she was curious what he had in mind.
“Are you referring to its history before it became Yuletide?” She didn’t recall Harristown having that much going for it.
He drove slowly along Main Street. The local shops had closed for the evening, but the town still did a brisk restaurant business. A man-made toboggan run on one end shot sledders out into the frozen surface of the lake, and the line waiting for a turn was full of kids and families.
“No. I want the Yuletide town board to remember why they became a Christmas-themed village. These last few years it’s become all about the bottom line. They’re losing sight of what makes it special.”
She might have fallen out of her seat if she hadn’t been buckled in. “Seriously? My odds of success with that are about the same as if you’d asked me to lead the reindeer team when Santa goes out this year.”
Gavin stopped to wait for a car vacating a coveted parking spot on the street.
“Your father always had a real passion for what the town was about—”
“Embezzling?”
“It was a bad decision,” he admitted.
“A criminal decision,” she emphasized, knowing every other person in Yuletide would do the same.
“But before greed got the best of him, he had a vision for the town that was really exciting.” He backed into the spot and put the truck in park, and then turned toward Rachel with a new fire in his gaze. “A vision that got a whole lot of people engaged and believing in him. Every person who lived in Yuletide took on a role, from building the website to laying the foundation for the new gazebo and restoring an old carousel.”
She shook her head sadly, not sure why Gavin would want to remind the town of the past when they resented her father—and her—so fiercely. But then, he had looked up to her father at one time. No doubt he’d been hurt too when her dad had let them all down.
“Once upon a time, my father had the power to motivate people. That’s true. But he lost all credibility when he took the town’s savings. He’s like the Grinch who stole Christmas, only he never gave it back and I’m afraid resurrecting his dream will only remind people of what he did.”