“We’re friends!” Eliza finally said. “We talk from time to time, but I don’t want to get back together with him or anything. He was thinking about stopping by for New Year’s Eve but is going to see his brother instead.”
Eliza and Colin met when she was doing her undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Colin was from Maple Bluffs, a town about an hour south of Golden Falls known for its pure maple syrup, nature, and historic downtown. While Golden Falls was the town to visit over the summer, Maple Bluffs was the place to be during fall.
Colin was part of the group of men who, as Eliza so expertly put it, wouldn’t know where a woman’s clit was if it slapped them in the face, which was why I was wondering why she was talking to him again. Unless they truly werejust friends.
“His brother is older, right? Isn’t he out in Portland?” Marnie asked. “What’s he been up to?”
Eliza rarely, if ever, blushed, but color crept up her tan cheeks. She cleared her throat. “Uh, yeah, he does have a brother. Leo. I’m not sure what he’s up to. Last I heard he was trying to become head chef at some fancy restaurant.”
Wes, who was largely checked out for most of this conversation, looked at Eliza. “You know a chef? Tell him to apply to the Lake Ridge role. I’m getting it posted in a couple weeks.”
Eliza scoffed. “Okay, first, I don’t know him very well at all. And two, do you really think he’s going to want to leave his cushy city life to move to Golden Falls?”
Wes shrugged at the same time Jules said, “You’d be surprised.”
“Could you at least tell him about it? Or ask Caleb to,” Wes added.
“It’s Colin,” Eliza and I both said, to which Wes waved his hand and muttered, “Same difference.”
“But, sure, I’ll at least mention it.” Eliza rubbed the back of her neck. I furrowed my brows, watching my best friend. She looked…nervous. Eliza didn’t get nervous. She was fearless, not scared of anything.
What wasn’t she telling me? And why had she never mentioned Colin had an older brother?
37
LILY
“I have something for you,”Gabe whispered as we sat on the living room couch. I had been listening to Marnie tell a story about a fortune teller she’d visited last month, and as interesting as that was, Gabe had my full attention now.
I angled my body toward him, taking in the faint scent of his cologne. “I have something for you, too,” I admitted, and surprise flickered across his face. Did hereallythink he’d spend a Christmas with me and not get a present?
His expression softened, and he reached for my hand. I’d grown to love the way he ran his thumb over my knuckles. It had a way of calming and grounding me to the present moment.
“And don’t say that I didn’t have to get you anything,” I said before he could get a word in. “I wanted to.”
Gabe let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “I know better than to stand in the way of you and something you want.”
“Smart man,” I teased. I thought about where we could go to exchange our gifts. This moment was for us. “C’mon, I know just the spot. It might be a little chilly, but it’ll be worth it.”
I loved the view from my parents’ backyard in the winter. The rest of my family preferred being out here during the other seasons, especially summer, but there was something breathtaking about seeing the line of snow-covered trees and frozen Lake Golden with a backdrop of stars sparkling in the night sky.
Even after years of living here—and countless winters—it was mesmerizing.
While Gabe was still inside, I turned the knob on the outdoor gas fire table. My parents had both the gas fire table, which my dad prepared so we could still use it in the winter, and a traditional wood-burning fire pit.
Within moments of the softclickand pressing the igniter, the flames came to life, casting a golden light. The warmth reached me instantly.
I pulled off the covering that protected the couch from the snow and sat on the cushion, pulling the blanket over me as I waited.
“You look cozy already,” a low, familiar voice sounded behind me.
I turned toward him with a smile. “Doesn’t take me long once I find a comfy spot.”
His full, gorgeous lips spread into a smile—one that I was seeing more often. Gabe finished walking down the wooden steps and unbuttoned his coat before sitting on the couch next to me. I moved some of the blanket over his lap and scooted closer.
The warmth from the fire was comforting, but the fireandGabe’s presence? That was something else.
“Is this the house you grew up in?”
