What was it about him that made her want to both kiss him and yell at him at the same time? Because once upon a time you wanted him and he … wanted your sister. Oh, yeah, it was all coming back to her now, and her spine snapped straighter. “I told you,” she said. “I was just trying to get my sea legs.”
He wasn’t polite enough to just nod and let her have the lie. Instead he called her out on it. “Or you were thinking of Ashley,” he said with a gentle directness that nearly broke her.
She paused a moment to swallow hard. “I guess I just wanted to say good-bye,” she finally said.
His expression tightened a little at this. “You were going to free-climb the face?”
“No. I’m not in any sort of climbing shape,” she said. “Nor used to the altitude either. I was just going to hike to the top. But as it turns out, I’m not in shape for that either.”
He studied her a long moment. “I’m surprised.”
She wasn’t sure how to take that. “I’ve been stress eating and not exercising like I should—”
“No,” he said. “I meant I’m surprised you’re back. When you left, you vowed to never return.”
Oh. That. “Things change,” she parried softly. Back then she’d lived for the outdoors, suffering through school and work, counting the minutes until she could escape. In the winter she’d been required to be on the ski team for the resort her father managed—not as fun as it might seem. In fact, it’d been brutally competitive and incredibly demanding, to the point that she’d had no life.
But in the off-season, she’d been free.
So she’d hiked and had discovered her first real joy—being alone on the mountain. She’d quickly gotten bored with the trails and had begun challenging herself with rock climbing instead, using no ropes just her fingers, toes, and wits, until there’d been no place on or near Cedar Ridge that she hadn’t explored, including the aptly named Dead Man’s Cliff.
Looking back on it now, it was a miracle that she’d lived to tell the tale. But she hadn’t been the only one enjoying her solitude.
She’d often come across Aidan out there. In fact, if anyone had known that terrain better than she did, it was him. After that night at the summer festival, she’d thought that maybe they’d explore the mountain together.
And then each other.
But then Ashley had claimed him first, and he was the one thing Lily had hoped to never compete with her sister for. Especially after she’d died.
Aidan was watching her from those dark glasses, thoughts hidden, though she had the feeling her own thoughts were as clear to him as crystal. “Tell me about the resort,” she said, before he could ask her any questions.
He shrugged. “Not much to tell. Gray took over the management. It took a few years, but he runs a good ship and we turned it around.”
“We?” she asked.
He smiled grimly. “Turns out we Kincaids are good at pulling ourselves out of the gutter. We’re like cats, nine lives and all that.”
“And good at landing on your feet,” she said.
He bowed his head in silent agreement.
“You’re a busy guy,” she said. “Firefighting, and the resort.”
“And Search and Rescue.”
It all made perfect sense for him. He’d always been at his best on the mountain, and that he’d made a real life for himself on it in every way gave her both a sense of pleasure for him and an ache for herself, one she couldn’t put her finger on. “And the other Musketeers?” she asked, referring to his half siblings, Hudson and Jacob, and their reputation for trouble.
Aidan smirked at the “Musketeers” and said, “Hudson works ski patrol in the winter and works with me at S&R as well. And he’s a cop in the off-season—”
She laughed, she couldn’t help it. Hudson, the scourge of Cedar Ridge, becoming a cop of all things.
And Aidan actually flashed a grin as well. “Yeah, I know. Go figure, Hud on the right side of the law. He takes a lot of shit for that. I think he likes it.”
“And Jacob?” she asked. “Don’t tell me he’s a cop too.”
His smile faded. “No. At least I doubt it.” He paused, then shoved his fingers through his hair. “He hasn’t been home in a while. A long while.”
There was pain in his gaze now, and regret. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, and dropping the subject that was none of her business, directed her attention back to the wood.
“Need some help?” he asked.
Need? No. Want? Yes. But she’d never been good at admitting that. “I’m fine.” Tearing her gaze off of him she glared down at a piece of wood. She kicked it again, not once but twice.
No snake.
She gingerly picked it back up.
“You forget how to survive out here?” he asked.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
He gave her a slow once-over, gaze lingering on her bare legs, which had certain body parts leaping to life that had no business doing so.
“Loading wood in …” He looked her over again, and his lips quirked. “PJ’s and no gloves. Not the Lily I remember.”
“Well, if one thing’s true, it’s that I’m definitely not that same girl you knew.” She kicked the second piece twice too.