Page 76 of Mountain Target

He seemed to realize that was a conversation dead-end, and softened his tone. “I do make some exceptions, though.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded, looking very serious. “I like Ren. She’s smart and fun.”

Val laughed. “She is. She was really excited about tonight.”

“Which reminds me, I promised to introduce her to Sarah. Come, I’ll introduce both of you.”

Sarah turned out to be way more beautiful than Val had imagined a radio show host would be, but her voice was the same, and it was strange to meet someone for the first time and yet feel like they knew each other.

“I’m sorry, your voice is just so—“

Sarah laughed. “Don’t worry, it happens to me all the time!”

She and Ren then launched into a conversation about her show, Ren’s questions showing she might be Sarah’s number one listener.

Beau and Val moved away. “Thank you for that. It’s good to see her smiling.”

“It’s good to see you smile,” he said.

Val felt her heart stop for an instant.

“When you say things like that,” she said, “I don’t quite know what to make of it. I don’t know where we’re going with this …”

And she knew she should take the words back. Because nothing good could come out of her words. But they were out, and it was too late, so she pushed through.

“Where are we going with this, Beau?” she asked, unable to help the quiver in her voice.

Beau’s jaw clenched. He took in a breath that looked like it hurt him.

“I can’t tell you where we’re going, Valentina. I’m still the same man. I don’t—“

“You don’t need anyone. You’re happy on your own,” she finished for him. Her heart clenched, painfully this time. She wasn’t sure how the evening had gone sour so quickly, but knew it was mainly her fault. For wanting too much. For wanting more than it was fair to want, and for expecting—

“Please don’t be upset,” he said, his voice low and throbbing. “I can’t bear to see you upset.”

“I’m not upset,” she said, her voice cracking.

Time to get out of here, Val, before you make this worse.

“I’ll be right back,” she excused herself, and hid in one of the bathrooms for as long as she could, until she started feeling guilty for hogging the precious space.

She came out to find him still in the same place.

“Listen, I …” His voice cracked—a dry, almost surprised sound.

But she couldn’t do this anymore. Not tonight, even though the hurt in his eyes made her heart ache.

“Please say thank you to your colleagues, but I think Ren and I need to go home now. It’s market day tomorrow in Megève, so we’re getting up early.”

She wished she could take the words back—wished she could take the last three or four minutes back. But of course she couldn’t. She’d let her own insecurities get the better of her, and maybe this was to be the end of everything.

“Valentina, please. Let me—“

She stopped for an instant, but Beau didn’t seem to know how to finish that sentence. And maybe that would always be the problem between them. That there were things he wasn’t willing to say, and that she wasn’t smart enough to let sleeping dogs lie.

Instead, you need to poke the dogs.