Page 51 of Off the Trail

I nod.

“So, thing one—my sister’s been in a relationship for six months and she didn’t tell me. Thing two—she doesn’t want to live in the house I’m building for her. She wants to live in town, with Rocky.”

Whoa. “Who’s Rocky?”

“Her boss,” Blaze says unhappily. “The dentist.”

“Your sister is dating her boss?”

“My sister is in love with her boss.” He sounds resigned to it, but there’s something I’m not getting.

“And this is a bad thing?”

“No,” he says immediately. “But it feels like it came out of nowhere. And now I don’t know what to do about the new house. I mean, I could rent it. Or sell.”

“Don’t sell,” I say immediately. “You don’t want to lose that gorgeous piece of property.”

“That wouldn’t be my first choice. But what am I going to do with a big empty house?”

“You could live in it.”

“I have a place to live,” he says a trifle grumpily. “My parents built that house themselves.”

“And it’s a wonderful house.” It’s a place that’s obviously seen a lot of happy times. But it’s cramped, and there’s no lake view. “You could rent that one,” I suggest. “Why not live in the place you designed? It’s going to be gorgeous when it’s done.”

“Yeah.” He looks off into space, as if he’s visualizing it. “Seems like too much room for me and Misty.” He glances back at me, his eyes unreadable.

Now I see why he was so out of sorts yesterday. I know how close he and Brooke are. To find out his sister was hiding such a big part of her life had to throw him. “This sounds like a big change for both of you.”

“She’s entitled to her own life,” Blaze says. “But I guess I’m still getting used to the idea.”

“That makes sense. Have you met the dentist?”

“Only in passing. I guess I should check him out. And probably talk to Brooke some more. I shut down a little bit yesterday with her. I’m a jerk.”

“Well, that’s definitely not true. You and Brooke can figure this out.”

“Thanks, Shawn.” His smile meets his eyes, and I feel like I just made a double play.

“Besides, you have time to decide what to do about the house. It sounds like once the snow comes, work will stop for a few months.”

“Yeah. Between the snow and the cold, we’ll have to take a break.”

I shiver. The mornings have already been getting chilly. I should have brought more layers. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen snow.”

“They don’t get snow in Connecticut?”

“I usually spend a chunk of the winter in Florida with my folks.” I wonder if my dad wants me around this winter if he can’t even talk to me on the phone.

“Hey, you know what’s better than a night hike?” Blaze asks, like he wants me to solve a riddle.

“What?”

“Night snowshoeing. Freezing cold, clear air. A thermos of hot chocolate.”

“Salted caramel hot chocolate?”

He grins, and I’m distracted by his crooked front tooth. It makes me want to kiss him again.