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“Maybe you’d feel more comfortable if we invited Sloane.”
Okay, so he’d blurted the suggestion without consulting the reasonable part of his brain, but he only wanted to make things easier for Bree. Maybe all she needed to feel untroubled about letting him back in was a buffer.
Asking Sloane just made sense. It felt right.
“I don’t want to intrude on a family thing,” Sloane started, her blue eyes as wide as the ocean, but Bree shook her head, emphatic.
“No, you wouldn’t. I mean, it’s not that.” She wrapped her arms around herself and scuffed a boot against the floorboards. “It’s just that Caitlin and Sadie invited me to go skiing with them tomorrow, and I kind of wanted to, you know. Go.”
Gavin frowned. “But you don’t ski.”
“I know, but they do, and they’re both really good. And they promised to lend me their extra gear and help me on the easy trails until I get the hang of it. There’s even a beginner’s class for people who have never skied, so I won’t look totally stupid.” Her words rushed out, but as hard as he tried, Gavin couldn’t quite latch on to any of them with a whole lot of clarity.
“Okay, but the resort is a big place, Bree. There are twenty-three trails. You can’t just expect me to drop you off at the gate with your friends and say, ‘See you later’.” The more the idea made it past his what-the-hell filter, the less he liked the thought of it. No less than a billion things could happen to her out on those trails, way more of them bad than not.
Bree flattened her mouth into a thin line, but her voice stayed calm. “I knew you’d say that, so Mrs. Carter promised she’d stay at the resort. And that we’d have to check in with her during the day. In person, not by cell phone.”
Score one for Jeannie. He’d have insisted on the same thing. Still, something about the plan didn’t quite add up. “How long are we talking about this trip lasting, exactly?”
She mumbled something, and Gavin’s jaw popped.
“Sorry, did you say overnight?” The whole notion of what-the-hell went into overtime.
“It’s just easier if I sleep over there. Then we can get up and head out early tomorrow morning before the crowd gets too bad. They’re even making fresh snow tonight.”
“Sounds like you have it all figured out.” The words came out less noncommittal than they’d sounded in his mind, but come on. She’d practically blindsided him, for Chrissake! What was he supposed to do?
Bree let out an exasperated breath. “Only because I knew you’d want all the details. You would’ve said no right away if it wasn’t planned out!”
“I might say no anyway, Bree. To be honest, I’m not really crazy about the way you’re springing this on me, and I have to be back at work in less than an hour. I don’t have time to talk to Mrs. Carter about this, or take you over there, or anything.”
“Sloane could take me, and find out everything you want to know.” Bree turned toward the pantry, and damned if Gavin hadn’t forgotten Sloane had even been standing there. “Couldn’t you? Please?”
Time hiccupped for the briefest second, but before he could get the protest brewing in his brain all the way out of his mouth, Sloane shocked the hell out of him by going totally Switzerland. She said, “That’s not really my call to make.”
Bree swung back to Gavin, exasperation hardening her girlish features. “But it’s totally unfair. They didn’t invite me until today, otherwise I would have asked before now! You’re going to say no without even talking to Mrs. Carter, and all my friends are going to know it’s because you think I’m a total baby.” She stomped a booted foot on the floorboards, throwing her hands into the air. “Just because I got all excited and forgot about the doughnuts!”
Gavin’s head snapped up. “It doesn’t have anything to do with that.” His composure simmered, threatening to boil over from the heat of aggravation flowing freely through his veins. The last thing he wanted was to have yet another argument with her, especially in front of Sloane. He had to tie this up, pronto, so he made his voice as calm as possible. “Look, I’m not going to apologize for wanting to make sure nothing bad happens to you. It’s the same thing Mom would do.”
Bree’s eyes flashed for just an instant, brimming with unshed tears, before she struck, angry and swift.
“You’re nothing like Mom! At least with her, I got a say in things. But with you, it doesn’t matter whether I’m good or bad. You neverhearme. I don’t even know why you bothered to take me if I don’t make a difference to you!”
Thick silence soaked through the air while Gavin tried desperately to rebound from the serrated slice of her words, but all he could do was grasp for steady breath. Tears tracked down Bree’s cheeks, and any peace of mind he’d had about finally getting it right disappeared like a cheap parlor trick.
He didn’t know shit about taking care of her.
“Bree.” The voice that cut across the kitchen was soft, but meant business.
And it wasn’t his.
“Bree, look at me.” Sloane moved soundlessly, but stationed herself so close that Bree had no choice but to do what she’d said. “Do you trust me to tell you the truth?”
The question made Gavin’s thoughts feel like molasses stuck in the back of the cupboard for too long. Turning them into words was going to take nothing short of a miracle, and he had no choice but to listen by shocked default.
Bree’s eyes went wide, her lashes stuck together. “Yes.”
Sloane’s hesitation was barely perceptible, as if she hadn’t quite been expecting that answer, but she didn’t falter. “Good. Then let me tell you this. Your brother loves you.”
