He turned, stepping back so he wasn’t blocking the path between her and the others. It was hard not to pull her into his arms for a resounding kiss hello, so he shoved his hands in his pockets. She gave him one of her sparkling smiles before moving close enough to the table to see the Scrabble board. After scanning it, she looked at Rosie and cocked an eyebrow.
The older woman held up her hands. “It wasn’t me this time.”
The game resumed, allowing Ian and Nola to slowly work their way backward until they were out of earshot of the others. They were close to the door, so Ian leaned close enough to whisper. “Want to go for a walk before it’s time to make dinner?”
She nodded and they slipped away, not bothering to tell anybody where they were going. They were all in an argument about the legitimacy of a word again, so they probably wouldn’t even notice they were gone. The clock was ticking toward the supper hour, and Ian didn’t want to waste even a minute of it fielding comments and knowing looks from the group.
They put on their outdoor gear because it was warmer than yesterday, but still cold. Once he’d pulled the door closed behind them, he took her hand. The soft leather gloves she’d pulled on meant there was no direct skin contact, but he was content with lacing his fingers through hers.
They walked away from the house in silence, hand in hand. There was nobody in the cabins anymore, since those guests had gone home and Rosie hadn’t rented them out for the few days before Christmas, so they walked through that part of the property. It was quiet, except for the crunch of their boots on the hard-packed driveway, and it was so peaceful Ian could practically feel his body relaxing.
He couldn’t believe this trip was almost over. They had tonight and tomorrow, and then tomorrow night would be their final one before packing up and going home. They had to—he’d promised their mother Jacob and Maddie would be home for Christmas—but he didn’t want to go.
And Nola would go home tonight because she had to work tomorrow. If he was lucky, he’d get to spend tomorrow evening with her, and that would be it. She’d be doing her job at the town hall when Ian got in his truck and headed back to Connecticut.
“What would happen if you called in sick?” he asked, surprising himself. He hadn’t made a conscious decision to ask the question, and his voice sounded loud in the still air. But he’d asked it, so he was all in now. “Would everything in Whitford come to a screeching halt? No building permits being issued? People running around town with unregistered vehicles?”
She laughed. “Hardly. Half the time there isn’t enough going on to merit two of us being in the office at the same time and we get so bored we practically pounce on anybody who walks through the door.”
“You did say the two of you have to scrape up busy work until after Christmas.” He glanced over, giving her what he hoped was a charming grin that would make it impossible for her to resist him. “So do you have any sick days or vacation days you need to use up?”
“Combining sickandvacation time?” She smiled and tilted her head. “I’d have to look in the records to be sure, but I suspect my accumulated time could be measured in months instead of days or weeks.”
He stopped walking and turned to face her, their fingers still linked. “Play hooky for a couple of days. You can stay over—you said you do that sometimes—and go for a ride with us tomorrow. It’s going to be a beautiful day for it.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your time with your kids, Ian. This trip was about spending time with them.”
“I’ll still be spending time with them, and you know they won’t mind.” He grinned. “Playing hooky is fun, like clandestine kisses in pantries.”
She laughed, her breath making a cloud that lingered in the cold air. “Okay. I’ll call Amy when we go in.”
Ian couldn’t help it—he tugged her close and kissed her, their cold lips warming as relief and anticipation flooded him.
He’d get a little more time with her.
Nola couldn’t rememberthe last time she’d laughed so hard and so often as she did out on the trails with Ian, Jacob, and Maddie. His children were in that phase of young adulthood when sometimes they were grown-ups and sometimes they regressed to being kids again and they were a joy to watch together.
Even when they were sniping at each other, there was so much underlying love and respect between them. And the affection in the looks Ian gave them—even when he was trying to be stern—seemed to hit Nola in some inner soft spot every time. He was such a good man.
And he was leaving tomorrow.
She was trying not to think about that. The last thing she wanted was his imminent departure casting a gloomy shadow over this beautiful day, but it was a hard thing to put out of her mind. Part of her couldn’t help wondering if calling Amy and taking the two days off had been a mistake. She wanted the extra time with him, but every minute they spent together was going to make saying goodbye that much harder.
Last night, they’d cuddled on the couch until the wee hours, making out a little while a Christmas movie played on low volume. Once they were sure everybody was asleep, she’d led him upstairs to the room she used and they’d made love. It had been sweet and quiet, but no less wonderful than the afternoon they’d spent in her bed at home. She’d shed a few tears after he’d kissed her and snuck back to the room he shared with Jacob, and she had a feeling she’d be shedding a lot more once he was gone.
But those tears were for tomorrow, and she wasn’t going to let them dampen her mood today.
Nola was riding Rosie’s snowmobile, since Ian’s didn’t have a passenger seat. She’d ridden double once years ago, with a guy she’d been dating at the time, and she preferred driving her own machine. But right now she wished Iandidhave a 2-up machine because riding behind him—with her thighs cradling his hips and her body leaning with his in corners—didn’t sound so bad.
When they stopped at a gas station that had a deli inside, they unanimously decided it was a good time to each lunch. There was a little chaos at first, as Ian swiped his credit card and then they had to jockey the snowmobiles around to fill all four machines from that one pump. Then they parked them off to the side so they could eat.
After hitting the restrooms, which was no small feat when dealing with multiple layers of cold weather gear, the kids gave Ian their orders and went to get a table. The place was surprisingly busy for a Monday, and they didn’t want to eat standing up.
“I’ll stand in line if you want to grab the drinks,” Ian told her. “Go ahead and sit with the kids.”
She would rather have stood and waited with him, but it made more sense to multitask. She knew the area well enough to know they were going to have to do a little less talking and picture taking and a lot more riding to get back to the lodge by dinner. Rosie would put aside plates for them, of course, but they’d told her they’d be back by then and she didn’t want to worry her.
She was almost to the table, about to squeeze through a group of guys who’d just walked in and were stripping off their coats, when she heard her name and paused.
