Page 32

Patrick hauls himself up and out of the snow, turning back and offering me a hand. I take it, letting him pull me to my feet. Even through the thick layers of our gloves, I feel a tiny zap at the contact.

He pulls away, moving off to help Chris with the grill, and I stare down at my hand, wondering if my acting really has gotten this good, or if I’m just not really pretending anymore.

CHAPTER 19

PATRICK

“Do you mind if I ask you a sort of invasive question?”

David pops an eyebrow at me, then takes another sip of his beer. He and I are in a bar just a few buildings down from the lodges. After the dogsledding and snowmobile adventures, everyone else wanted to come back to the lodges for naps.

When I said I couldn’t nap, they looked at me like I was crazy. But David nodded, patted me on the shoulder, and invited me to come get a pint with him.

So here we sit now, drinking Finnish beer under the dim lights over the bar, snow flurries drifting by outside the window. Cami would love this place, not because it’s dimly lit or even because of the beer, which is just passable, but because every single nook and cranny is filled with Christmas decor. Wreaths on every window and door, garland along the sills and backs of chairs, little reindeer bobbleheads staring at me from next to the peanuts.

“Well, let me get another beer first.” David signals to the bartender, laughing, and I laugh along with him. It occurs to me that while David is a piece in the game to get Moreno Toys, I almost want to get to know him for real. Turning to me, he says, “Is this about me not being able to nap?”

I shake my head, stare down into my own half-finished beer. “No, not that. I get that. I just can’t fall asleep in the middle of the day, and I always feel worse when I wake up. Even when I follow all the tips, like having an espresso or whatever.”

“Me too. Never been able to relax enough. I can barely even fall asleep at night. Though, that’s something I’ve been working on.”

I nod and chuckle under my breath, and another beat passes before David asks, “So, what is your invasive question?”

“Why not take over the company?” I ask, shifting on my barstool to face him. The least I can do is look him in the eye if I’m going to go digging into his life like this. “If your dad wants you to take it and you’re clearly capable…”

David sighs, tilts his head from side to side as though considering how best to answer the question. Then, after a beat, he looks at me and says, “There are a lot of reasons, man. But none of them have to do with the company itself being bad. I don’t want to scare you away from pursuing it.”

“Not sure you could,” I admit, stifling a smile. “I don’t know if you can tell from the fact that I’m here, in Finland, but I really want this deal.”

David chuckles. “Okay. Well, the first thing is just the scope of the work. Moreno Toys distributes far and wide. And you already heard about all the different brands there are to manage. They have excellent people in there, trust me, but you know, business is precarious. A few choice hires quit, and you’re in for a tough time.”

“Okay,” I say, not voicing my thoughts—I can handle it. That sort of thing has happened at Dunne Tech a few times. “What else?”

“As far as scope goes, there’s also the quality control element. I mean, this is stuff for kids, you know? People need to trust that it’s safe, which places an extra layer of pressure on everything. It’s good because that pressure should be there, but I’m not in a position to take it upon myself right now.”

“You’re not?”

“No.” He pauses, looks me over quickly, as though deciding whether or not he wants to go on. “I’m the oldest of my siblings, but I’m not married. I don’t have kids yet. At first, when they started doing all that stuff, I told myself that it didn’t matter. That my career was more important. Then I told myself that it would happen organically. And now I’ve realized that it’s not going to happen unless I put the work in. Take some time away. And in order to do that, I can’t be taking on new responsibilities. Like an entire toy empire.”

“Right.” I clear my throat, certainly not thinking about the fact that David and I are the same age, which means I’m just as behind as he is. I’m different because I actually don’t care about those things.

“You’re different,” David says, and for a second I worry he might have read my mind. “You have Cami. It’s obvious the two of you care about each other. Seems like you’re doing a lot better at balancing business and family. That’s why my dad likes you for the role.”

Pushing away the guilt over the lie, I ask him, “So, no hard feelings? That your dad is considering me?”

“I’ll only be mad if you don’t buy the thing. Then he can stop pestering me about it. His family values get all crossed up sometimes—like this thing about the legacy of the company. Wants me to take it over when I want to focus on making a family of my own. I just don’t get why he can’t see that.”

“Have you tried telling him?”

David raises his eyebrows like touché, then takes another sip of his beer. Setting it back on the counter, he says, “Well, we’d better get back if we want time to get ready for dinner.”

I finish my own beer. “Right.”

When I get back to the suite, Cami is in the bathroom. In the shower. I freeze when I hear the running water, as though me just being in here is a violation of her privacy.

The moment I’m alone and no longer distracting myself with a conversation at the bar, the events of the day come rushing back to me. Cami and me on that dogsled. Watching her laugh and whoop as she took off with the instructor. Her sitting between my legs on the snowmobile, going way too fast.

The snowball fight. Falling into the snow together. Her confidence, her joy, her warmth.