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The doorbell rang.
“Ah, shoot!” She sloshed to her feet in the huge tub and grabbed a towel from the rack.
Who would be here? Jace? Would he really come back? She wrapped up in the towel, but there was no way she was going to answer the door in a towel. A rap came at the door next.
She rushed into the closet and found some underclothes and sweats. It took far too long to tug her clothes on as she hadn’t dried properly. Finally, she dashed through the master bedroom and down the stairs, clinging to the balcony so she didn’t trip on the narrow, steep stairs.
She hurried to the door and looked through the peephole. Nobody. No Jace. The letdown she felt inside was silly. She’d had conflicted feelings about Jace already and she shouldn’t want to see him. Especially because she didn’t want to involve him in Bryan’s lame schemes. She should want some space from all men and time to be alone. She was here until Monday morning then gone. She didn’t have the time or energy to get invested in some local. An impressive local who owned a ski resort and was way out of her league.
She shouldn’t have opened the door, especially with Bryan claiming somebody would kill him, and her association with her boss maybe putting her in danger, but she felt very safe here in this picturesque valley and with Jace in particular. Pulling the door open, she started to call out and see if he was out there in the dark, but something below her caught her eye. She put a hand to her mouth. Who had done this? Jace? It had to be.
There were sacks of groceries, two pairs of women’s boots, and two large bags of what looked to be snow clothes in an array of patterns and colors. The cold air bit at her cheeks and bare hands. She picked up bags and started hauling them in, overwhelmed by Jace’s kindness. He was incredible.
Tears stung her eyes. Especially with the call from Bryan ringing in her brain making Jace’s thoughtfulness even more impactful. Her parents, Taryn, neighbors, and friends from church did nice things for her, but this was above and beyond, especially for a near-stranger.
Was Jace as genuine as she hoped? Or was he like Bryan, wanting to manipulate her for his own selfish purposes, or Tim, trying to trick her and then betray her?
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.
ChapterFive
Ayla slept later than she had in years. She’d made a delicious chicken and vegetable dinner last night from the groceries. After she ate, she savored the Phish Food Ben & Jerry’s ice cream that had been in the grocery bags in front of the fire with the Christmas lights on the tree twinkling merrily at her. The tree and the entire cabin looked professionally decorated. It was so perfect. Bryan’s awful predicament marred the perfect Christmas feelings, though, and she’d stayed up late stewing about how to get him out of the mess. Couldn’t he just call the police if someone was threatening him?
This morning she’d wanted to go on a run, but she was barely up at eight-thirty to eat a granola bar, shower off, brush her teeth, put on minimal makeup, and get dressed. In the bags from Jace he’d also left under layers of a comfortable, fitted long-sleeved shirt and pants and wool socks. She’d hurriedly tried on the outer layers and unfortunately the ones that fit were going to look awful together. Jace obviously thought she was much thinner than she was. She hoped she didn’t humiliate herself or Jace with the ensemble.
A rap came on the door. Jace. She pushed away worries about Bryan and looking silly in her snow clothes and clasped her hands together, feeling all lit up inside. It was difficult to tame those feelings. She couldn’t remember feeling this excited about any man, including her former husband.
Flinging the door open, she paused and just stared at him. That moment she’d first laid eyes on him yesterday was locked in her mind and would be forever. It had seemed magical to her. This one was almost as good. It wasn’t just that his face was handsome, which it was, but his brown, soulful eyes captured her and wouldn’t let her go. He smiled and it made her knees go weak.
“Ayla …” Dang, she loved how he said her name. “You look amazing.”
She smiled. He wouldn’t say that when she got her snow gear on, but she appreciated the compliment now. “Liar. I slept in and hardly got ready.”
“I never lie.” His gaze swept over her. “Gorgeous.”
She wanted to hug him, but that was a silly reaction to an over-inflated compliment. He never lied? Really? She wanted to trust him, but trust would take time to build and him claiming he never lied, especially when she knew she did not look “gorgeous” right now, made her wonder. Tim had been the king of compliments, and he’d been cheating on her most of their short marriage.
She shoved away the desire to hug Jace, or overanalyze his compliments, and rushed to slip into the warm, fur-lined boots that fit so nicely, and had these black-grippy ridges on the bottom. She should be able to stay on her own two feet with these things. She slid into the lavender puffy coat, that looked like her grandma had quilted it and stuffed extra down in each square, and then picked up the thick, bright blue and green patterned ski pants and gloves and held up a weird black tube-sock thing in one hand. “Do I need this?”
“For sure.” Jace didn’t even blink or ask her why she chose the worst pattern of pants and the ugliest coat that clashed horribly with the pants. The other pants had been too tight to get her big toe in and she couldn’t even zip the other coat. “You’ll slide it onto your head to keep your ears and head warmer and then you put the helmet on.”
“I’ll look goofy,” she protested. Goofier, she should’ve said. That thing went over her head? “Like a bank robber or something.”
He laughed at that. “It actually doesn’t cover your face completely, but we’ll get you goggles. Only your nose and cheeks will be cold.”
“It’s better than everything being cold.”
“True. And besides the fact that you couldn’t look goofy if you tried, everyone wears the hood socks. It’ll be perfect. Ready to go?”
“Yes, sir.” He seemed so great. Was he really real? Would he not be embarrassed by her crazy ski outfit? ‘Couldn’t look goofy if you tried?’ The smooth lines just rolled off his tongue.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
“Yay! Oh, and I should have led with … thank you, thank you for the clothes and the food and the ice cream. You’re the best.” She shouldn’t have been so impetuous, but it felt more natural than the barriers she usually erected. Especially with Jace.
“You know, I get that a lot.” He grinned.
She pushed at his arm. “This is like the best day of my life. I’ve never been on a vacation before, and I feel like I’m in dreamland.” Maybe she shouldn’t have admitted to never going on a vacation. His eyes looked all concerned. “I’m so excited,” she rushed on, “and I have to admit I’m crazy nervous.”
