As he escorted Sophie to the exit, although she was much more capable on skates than she’d been an hour ago, she asked. “Are you heading back to work?”
He glanced at his watch. “My cases are wrapped up for the week, so I’m going to run a few drills, then I’ll head over to Black Op.”
They paused, their mirrored expressions drooping into pity, as tended to happen when he accidentally let himself look lonely. Watching his two very taken, very committed friends walk away, he skated to the side to grab a puck and stick to burn off... whatever the hell was rotting his soul.
Grady dribbled a few quick plays, letting the adrenaline surge as the thrill of the game flooded him. Players skating full speed at him to take the puck, checking them as he passed. A Mallory never got into fights, unless it was in the spirit of the game, then it was not only permitted, but encouraged. Naturally, he’d taken to hockey like a salmon to the stream. Feet moving, eyes on the goal, he ran a one-man scrimmage. Skates scraping the hard surface under his feet, that crisp smell of the ice bringing him into the moment, he almost forgot where he was.
Until he saw her.
2
F-O-R-T-U-I-T-O-U-S
An icy blast of wind blew Claire’s hair into her face. Blinded, choking, she coughed theI’ve-been-traveling, limp brown locks out of her mouth. Not auburn or chestnut or even chocolate, just brown. Not wavy or straight, more of an awkward mix that required a plethora of products and tempering that she rarely bothered with.
Now that she’d directed her pitiful mop to blow with the wind, she inhaled deeply to get a feel for the local air. Frozen moisture invaded painfully into her nares, her first whiff of the Pacific Northwest threatening to freeze her turbinates. Most animals that were adapted to the cold wouldn’t have this issue, but humans were tool makers. Did REI sell nose warmers? She’d seen pictures of icicles that had grown into beards and pictured the same happening to her nasal mucosa.
Frigid air pierced her pores. She pulled her coat tighter, wondering how ridiculous she would look if she hid her face and waited for the wind to stop. A balmy thirty degrees Fahrenheit in Seattle today, according to their pilot anyway, but her app told her it would be a good ten degrees colder in the Cascade Foothills... where they would be. She trotted to catch up to Ryder.
Had she been thinking, she’d have her gloves on already. Rooky mistake. She was due for a new adventure, but did it have to be so painful?
Her fingers were frozen to the handle of her suitcase as she dragged it behind her. To think, she’d worried the wool sweater and down coat would be excessive. Even her toes were numb despite her insulated boots. Good thing his family didn’t live in Minnesota. She didn’t even want to think about what sub-zero temperatures might feel like. And that whole wind-chill thing? She was beginning to understand what that meant.
As usual, Ryder hadn’t skimped. The rental car was toasty and waiting for them. A sleek red sportscar that screamed,Look at me. Ryder slid into the driver’s seat to rev the engine while she packed away her suitcase and closed the trunk.
She jumped into the passenger seat and reached across to Ryder’s hand to warm the icicles she used to call fingers. He’d been smart and had worn gloves on the walk to the rental car. “Shit, your hand is freezing.” He winced and pulled his hand away. “Here,” he offered as he turned on her seat heater. “Sit on your hands for a bit. You’ll warm up in no time.”
A winch seemed to pull tighter and tighter over Claire’s head the closer they got to Foothills. What if his family didn’t like her? Although she could maintain polite and normal and presentable for a short time, she could be a bit offbeat. Not everyone appreciated her humor.
Not that she felt inferior, but, dammit, she’d grown up calculating the grocery bill as they shopped. They weren’t poor, exactly, and things hadn’t been so tight that they hadn’t been able to go on family trips, but they were careful. Her dad worked as a plumber since before she was born. Once her mom finished grad school to get her promotion at the state, things were more comfortable. However, they wouldn’t ever have dreamed of hiring “staff” like Ryder had grown up with.
They would stay in the guest wing. Wing. Huh. She’d never been in a house with “wings.” He didn’t think they had much staff these days, just a cook, housekeeper, cleaning staff, landscaper, and stablemaster. Yes, stablemaster. Claire had seen plenty of stables in her training, but to imagine his family had a regularstablemaster... that really increased the intimidation factor.
Ryder hated to ride, but his family had always kept horses. Apparently, all the Mallory family had ridden competitively when they were younger. From the moment they booked the trip, Claire hinted that he ought to take her out on a trail ride. When hinting got her nowhere, she resorted to begging. The night before they’d left, Ryder finally agreed it might be fun.
Claire got to choose one activity each year. Her mother would have preferred ballet, but she was not nearly coordinated enough for any sort of formal dance. Anything pertaining to horses had been Claire’s favorite.
