Blaze of Winter: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (17 page)

She couldn’t argue with that. Emma and Jimmy couldn’t have been less alike, but they were deeply in love.

“Okay, then, what about the fact that he’s this completely famous author? He all but admitted that he had women throwing themselves at him left and right in California.”

“The important thing is that he’s here now,” Emma said quickly, “and he clearly wants to be with you.”

“But for how long? I need to figure my life out on my own, without some big guy breathing down my neck,” Avery said. “I haven’t had time to do much thinking at all since Theo has made it his mission to make me fall for him.”

“Forget about the relationship aspect for just a moment. Sometimes even the best of us need a little help. Maybe talking to someone who isn’t connected to your industry will help you put things in perspective.”

Avery let out a deep breath. “See, you seem rational and sane, but really you’re the devil in disguise.”

Emma smiled. “Devil’s advocate, you mean.” She still had her hand wrapped in her sister’s. “Do me a favor. Give it a shot.”

“And when I get hurt—”

“
If
you get hurt, you can blame me.”

Avery groaned. There was no way she was going to win with Emma, but she was okay with it. For now. “Fine. I’ll consider it. Just do me a favor. Don’t interfere with my love life anymore, okay? Full disclosure from now on.”

“Full disclosure,” Emma agreed.

Avery stared at her big sister for a long moment, realizing that everything Emma had done was in an effort to make her happy. She was trying to take care of her, just like their mom always had. “I love you, Emma.”

Emma looked like she was about to cry. “I love you, too.”

They rose and embraced, and to Avery’s surprise, hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She squeezed them shut to stop the flow. Just then, she heard Jimmy clear his throat.

“Ah, is everything okay in here?” he asked, poking his head through the door frame.

“Yes,” Emma said, pulling away from Avery and wiping her eyes. “You can come back now.”

Jimmy sighed. “Good. I was beginning to get worried.” He came into the kitchen and put his arm around Emma’s shoulders before kissing the top of her head. “So is she coming iceskating with us at Harper’s Pond on Saturday?”

Emma glanced at Avery. “I hadn’t asked her yet.”

“Emma, you know I can’t skate!”

“That’s because you’ve never tried. Just think of it as more of an outdoor outing than a skating party. All our friends come, and there’s a bonfire. And since we’re doing the whole full-disclosure thing, Theo Grayson is going to be there.”

“I don’t know …” But she did know. Lord help her, but she wanted to go. She wanted to see where things would lead with him, even if she knew they could only end in disaster for them both.

“Lexie Meyers brings homemade cookies and hot chocolate,” Emma added.

“That is just mean.”

“I know your weaknesses,” her sister said, grinning. “Like hot chocolate.”
And large men
.

“It’ll be great, Avery,” Jimmy piped in. “And you can hold on to me the whole time.”

“Well, okay. But only if you promise not to laugh at my pathetic attempts at skating.”

“I swear,” Jimmy said, placing a huge hand over his heart.

Emma clapped her hands. “We are going to have so much fun!”

“All right.” Avery sighed. “Have you asked Aunt Kate to come, too?”

“I already spoke with her,” Emma said. “She’s absolutely on board.”

“Being out in the cold might not be the best thing for her right now,” Avery said with a frown. “She’s been coughing a bit over the past few days. Maybe she shouldn’t come.”

“We’ll make sure she stays warm. James can always take her home if things get to be too much.”

“All right,” she reluctantly agreed. “As long as she’s bundled up from head to toe.” Then she glanced at her watch. “Oh, darn! It’s seven already. I have to go. Rehearsal starts soon.” She rose to leave. “The soup
was
really delicious, Jimmy. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t, little sister.”

She hugged Jimmy goodbye, and then tightly squeezed Emma, whispering into her ear, “You married a good man, Emma. A really good man.”

Rehearsal that night was both exhilarating and exhausting. Every ounce of emotion, smidgen of angst, and iota of confusion Avery had pent up over the last few weeks was released into her violin in an outpouring of passion. The crescendos, trills, and rapid runs all swelled inside of her before being released into the ether. It was more than cathartic. It was cleansing.

By the time rehearsal was over, she felt drained and more than a bit sleepy. As she was putting her violin away, she could barely keep her eyes open. Luke came up to her, a smile stretching across his worn face.

“Good rehearsal tonight. You played well. I can tell you’ve been practicing.”

“Thanks. I’m enjoying it tremendously,” she said, tucking her bow into the indentation in her case and strapping it in place. “Just needed to express myself, I guess.”

“Well, whatever it was, it was great. By the way, have you given any more thought to what we talked about?” Luke asked.

“You mean performing Christmas week?”

He nodded.

“I’m in.”

Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You said that so forcefully. Mind telling me how you made up your mind?”

She smiled. “Let’s just say that folks here can be very persuasive.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it. It’s going to be great, especially with you on first.”

“When’s the actual performance?”

“The twenty-third. We’ll have two dress rehearsals the weekend before to prepare.”

“Sounds fine. And we perform—”

“Here. Father Phillips is kind enough to let us use the church. Especially since we donate every cent of the five-dollar ticket price to the church as a thank-you.”

Karen Wright approached them. “You joining us at the Nail tonight, Avery?” she asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Avery shook her head. “No. I’ve had a rough week and I’m kind of tired. Next time.” She smiled.

“All right. See you soon. And practice that Bach. We’ll start with it next time.”

“Will do.”

Avery walked home, not sliding once. She’d figured out the trick of walking in Star Harbor. Instead of risking the icy sidewalks, she crunched through the snow that was mounded on the sides. There was a great deal more traction in the snow than on the half-cleared sidewalks, and she reveled in the fact that she didn’t have to hang on to any lampposts. Or Theo Grayson.

Even thinking about Theo made her temperature rise. He was constantly on her mind and it was driving her nuts. What did she tell her clients? “The first step is to accept there is a problem. The next step is to do something about it.”

Maybe she should take her own advice and just admit that she was addicted to—well, not really addicted to, but interested in—Theo. Sighing, she realized that she’d been lying to everyone, including herself, about her feelings for him. The social worker in her screamed to confront the issue, to try to overcome whatever hold it was that he had on her, to break free. The woman in her was more interested in seeing how he’d look with his shirt off.

Avery groaned, not really having any idea what she was going to do or how she was going to do it. She hated this impotence, this inability to take charge of her emotions.

And she was beginning to hate Theodore Grayson for making her feel this way. Except when he had his lips on hers. Or his arms wrapped around her. Or his fingers in her hair.

She sighed heavily. This was going nowhere, fast. But Yvonne’s words had resonated with her: she needed to keep her focus on those who still needed her help. Well, that would be her. She needed to help herself and undoubtedly, the place to start was dealing with her attraction to Theo. So she liked him. Fine.

Maybe she
should
give Theo a shot. That is, if she could trust herself enough to take the leap.

CHAPTER 14

If someone had told Avery a few months ago that she’d be tromping through the Massachusetts woods at night to go ice-skating on a frozen pond in the middle of winter, she would have said that person was crazy. After spending the last eight years in Boston, she considered herself a city girl. Emma had gotten the winter-sport genes in the family, which wasn’t saying much. Neither of them could ski and the one time Avery had gone sledding, she’d gotten a face full of snow and a twisted ankle.

After driving her car down Harper’s Pond Road, she followed the directions Emma had given her and parked near what had to be Lexie’s small cottage. Then she followed torchlights that bordered the small path to Harper’s Pond. Kate had told her it would be freezing, so Avery had dressed in layers. Not counting her jeans, she was wearing four: a tank, a long-sleeved thermal tee, a wool sweater, and one of Emma’s fleece coats. Avery was thrilled with the garment she’d borrowed. The slim fleece was less bulky than her down coat, and much more comfortable. She had better range of movement, too, and she vowed to purchase one of the coats for herself as soon as she got the chance. She’d topped her outfit with a warm pair of fuzzy earmuffs. She’d left her hair down, mostly for the warmth it provided her neck. Mostly.

Thankfully, the path to the pond had been worn down by others who’d made the trek before her. Still, she had to push a few large branches out of her way to move forward. Laughter sounded ahead, and when she caught a whiff of the smoke from the bonfire, she knew she was close. It was a short walk, yet by the time she reached the pond she was breathless, not so much from the exertion of hiking in the snow but from the cold air that filled her lungs. She stepped out into a clearing, eyes widening as she took in the spectacle before her.

Harper’s Pond was huge, and in the moonlight, it appeared to stretch out for a thousand feet. The pond seemed to have fully iced over, and someone had cordoned off a large area—maybe a few hundred feet wide—for skating. Large spotlights had been arranged at the pond’s edge to strategically light the area. Already, a few brave souls were twirling, turning, and sliding out there, while others relaxed on plastic chairs under the boughs of a huge, bare oak tree. Several folks were roasting marshmallows on long sticks over the bonfire, which was contained in a makeshift stone pit away from the brush line.

Avery spied Lexie Meyers standing near a folding table that had been set up beneath the trees and she walked over to join her. Lexie was wearing a wool hat with a big white pom-pom on top, her curls peeking out from beneath the edges. It was hilariously large, but undoubtedly warm.

“Hi, Avery,” Lexie said, giving her a hug. “Good to see you. Want some hot chocolate?”

“Yes, please.”

Lexie filled a disposable cup from a portable beverage dispenser and handed it to her. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking a sip. The warm drink slid down her throat and heated her from the inside out. Just then, a huge man came up to Lexie and grabbed her around the waist, burying his face in her neck. When she saw Avery staring, Lexie elbowed the giant in the side. “Quit it, Seb. You have to say hello to Avery. And you should thank her. She’s the one who convinced me to take some time off.”

“Avery Newbridge?” the man growled, lifting his face from Lexie’s neck and giving her an appraising look. “Haven’t seen you since Jimmy’s wedding. How are you?” His gaze pierced hers as surely as Theo’s did.

“F-fine,” she said, her voice sounding breathless to her own ears.

“But better now that I’m here?” a deep voice spoke from behind her. She didn’t need to turn to know that it was Theo. He came up beside her and flung a long arm over her shoulders.
He smiled at her before turning to his brother. “Good to see you, bro,” he said, nodding at his twin. “Glad you’re back.”

“I’ll be here only for another day,” Seb said. “I’m going to make the most of the time I have here tonight.” He smiled down at Lexie and she smiled back at him, warmth lighting up her face.

Avery hadn’t really had the chance to study Seb at her sister’s wedding. Not with the craziness of that weekend. But now, looking back and forth between him and his brother, she could see how they would look the same to a casual observer—after all, they were identical twins. From their black-as-night hair to the unusual color of their eyes, to their long, lean legs, they looked remarkably alike. Still, there were subtle differences between the two men. The way they parted their hair, for one—Theo’s on the left and Seb’s on the right. Theo wore glasses, while his brother didn’t. And of course, their noses were different. How had Theo broken his? She’d have to ask.

They also wore different clothes. Living in New York City must have rubbed off on Seb because he was clad entirely in black. Theo, on the other hand, favored jeans and shirts in muted shades of blue, green, and brown. True to form, he was dressed in his navy-blue pea coat tonight and light-brown corduroy pants. As if he realized she was sizing him up, he gave her arm a light squeeze. She braved a look at his face, only to find that he was watching her intently. She experienced that familiar flutter in her stomach. What did it mean that she was growing used to that feeling whenever he was around? That she’d almost come to expect it whenever he looked at her? He gave her a small smile, tiny brackets appearing around the corners of his mouth. For a moment, the whole scene seemed to fade away, her focus only on him.