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I couldn’t even hold Serena’s interest. She got what she wanted and got the fuck out of dodge. I pull around to the garage, shut the engine and let my head fall back against the seat. I’m not usually such a downer, but the combination of the trade, a new team and the injury was bad enough. Waking up optimistic this morning for the first time in ages and realizing it was all one-sided makes me feel like a bit of a fool. The ache in my leg after travelling all day in this tiny makes me feel like an old fool.
I somehow manage to extract myself from the toy car the rental place gave me, after assuring me it made some list for tall people, stretching out all my kinks. The crisp air smells like pine, cedar and wood smoke with a hint of cookies. It smells like home.
I crunch through the snow to the back door and step up onto the porch, taking a minute to look up at the stars. No matter where I am in the world, it seems like the stars are always brightest here, at Sugar Maple Shore.
I step into the house, noting that the big working kitchen is in full production mode, with organized stations set up to ensure every sugar cookie looks like Santa’s sleigh or hockey-playing gnomes or polar bears with red and green scarves, or whatever whimsical design Olivia has dreamed up. The scent of ginger, cloves and cinnamon makes my stomach growl and I realize I need to eat something soon or risk bingeing the entire pan of salted caramel brownies I spy on the counter.
I exit into the small porch and drop my bag before heading to the family side of the B&B. I hear my sister’s voice before I enter the room and I raise my arms, bear-like and burst through the door growling like a maniac. I vaguely register a shriek, before I tackle Olivia, sweeping her up in a half-hug, half-tackle. She might drive me crazy, but I haven’t seen my twin sister in months, and I missed her.
“Put me down, you nut!” Olivia swats at my shoulder just as I register the other people in the room. Kieran, Olivia’s head chef, is here along with Claude, the sommelier my sister brings in for bigger events. Our cousin, Kylie shoots me a big grin and I turn to the fireplace, expecting to see Olivia’s best friend Joyce but instead I see a woman in a Toronto jersey. Uh, check that.Myvintage Toronto jersey, her dark red hair pulled up in a ponytail, her beautiful mouth open in a perfect circle.Serena?
Before I can say anything, she glares at me and then looks at Olivia before shooting me another death stare.
Olivia is still hugging me. “You finally made it home. How’s the knee?” I can’t take my eyes off Serena who looks both shaken and mad as hell. What does she have to be mad about? It’s not like I ghosted her after our incredible night.
Olivia follows my gaze and straightens. “Oh, I’m so sorry! This is Owen, my brother.”
Serena’s eyes widen. “Your brother?”
Olivia pats me again. “Yes, hard to believe I shared a womb with this big lug. I was born first, probably because he shoved me out.” She looks up at me, arching a brow. “He always makes me go first.”
“Twins?” Serena glances up at me and then over at my very petite sister. I definitely stole the height genes from my sibling.
Our gazes clash and heat washes through me. My reaction to her is the same as it was last night, even stronger, if possible, now that I know how she sounds when she’s coming apart beneath me.
Olivia drags me over to where Serena is sitting, and I notice a number of things all at once. She’s sitting near the big Christmas tree by our fireplace, and the old-fashioned colored bulbs glow around her, picking out the highlights in her hair. Her cheeks are stained bright red, and I wonder what she’d do if I touched her right now? Would she beg me the way she did last night? Would she moan when I pull her closer?
She looks away and my eyes fall on the blue jersey that covers her like a dress. Something in my chest squeezes. I’ve seen plenty of girls wearing my name but none actually wearing one ofmyjerseys. Jesus. Olivia checks me lightly in the hip, clearly misinterpreting my look.
“This is Serena, she’s the sister-of-the-bride.” Her voice is loaded with meaning. It hits me.Serenais the perfectionist who has arrived to be a thorn in my sister’s side.“Her luggage didn’t make it, so I gave her some things to see her through until they can deliver it.”
“Problems at the airport?” I say, lightly, watching as Serena’s shoulders tighten.
“My flight was cancelled.”
“Oh? How’d you get here?”
She shoots me a dirty look.
Liv frowns at me. “Same as you, I guess. She had to catch another one.”
“You’re lucky you made it out. I was at the airport practically all day.”
Serena shrugs. “The woman at the counter was very understanding.”
Oliva’s head bobs between the two of us. My twin is both nosey and incredibly perceptive. She knows something is going on here. She tugs on my arm and flashes Serena an apologetic smile. “Hey, why don’t you go over the Christmas-themed cocktail your sister wants with Claude? I just need a few minutes with my brother, whom I haven’t seen in ages.”
I try not to wince at the way Olivia digs her fingers into my arm while smiling brightly as she tugs me back to the kitchen.
She closes the door and whirls to me. “What is up with you?”
I spread my arms. “What do you mean?”
Olivia’s gaze narrows. “It sounded like you were getting ready to give that poor woman the third degree. Do you know who she is?”
Yeah, the woman I lost myself in last night, that’s who.
“She’s Savannah Hale’s sister.”
