Jackson scooped her up and made a fuss of her. “Sorry I took so long. After I found the box I only managed to walk three steps without being grabbed. Misbehaving boiler in cabin four, a leak in one of the lodge bedrooms and a child with a painful knee after a fall skiing.” He sprawled on the sofa and stretched out his legs. Maple snuggled onto his lap.
“I’ve been telling Kayla my life story.” Elizabeth picked up another box of decorations. “And she’s a good listener, unlike most of the folks around here. So where did you go this morning? I hope you took her somewhere nice.” She moved the conversation on and Kayla felt a flash of gratitude.
Jackson stroked Maple gently. “We went to the Chocolate Shack and the frozen waterfall.”
“Oh, that’s beautiful! Clever of you to show her that first. It’s my favorite place in the whole of Snow Crystal. Michael proposed to me there. Took me on a horse-drawn sleigh. The bells were tinkling, snow was falling…it was the most romantic thing you could imagine and even more so because he wasn’t a particularly romantic man. He surprised me.” Elizabeth lifted her hand to her throat. “He was romantic that night. Not just the proposal, but the way he did it. He’d thought it through, you see. Created something I’d remember. There was a fur rug and a bottle of champagne—” She broke off and Kayla saw concern in Jackson’s eyes.
“That sounds like a perfect proposal.” She took over the conversation to give Elizabeth a chance to compose herself. “Are sleigh rides popular among the guests?”
“Yes.” He told her about the horses they kept, about the route they took along the lake, and Elizabeth seemed to recover.
“Talking of guests, we had a request from the family renting cabin one for a Christmas tree. I asked Tyler, but he had to take that group skiing and Walter shouldn’t be chopping down trees and dragging them through the forest at his age.”
“I’ll do it.” Jackson massaged Maple’s tummy but his eyes were on Kayla.
She’d been trying not to look at him, but the pull of his presence in the room proved too much.
For a fleeting moment their eyes connected, and she knew he was thinking about the kiss. And so was she. The atmosphere was so thick she could hardly breathe. She was sure his mother should have been able to feel it, too, but Elizabeth’s attention was focused on the box of decorations in her lap.
Kayla stood up abruptly. “I’ll help you.” She snatched up the box Elizabeth had removed from her hand and hung a silver ball randomly on a branch, her hands shaking.
“You don’t have to do that, dear.”
“I want to.” It was just a tree. She ought to be able to decorate a tree. “I’ve been thinking we should definitely offer romance-themed packages.”
Elizabeth gave a sigh of approval. “I like that. Most people are too busy for romance today. No one slows down long enough to take time for each other.”
Jackson lifted Maple off his lap. “You think it’s better to go that route than showing Snow Crystal as a family destination?”
“We’re going to do both, although the method isn’t clear in my head yet.” It would be a lot clearer if she didn’t have her face stuck in Christmas. Kayla hung the decorations as quickly as possible, trying to get the job done. Why did the tree have to be so big? Branches stabbed her in the arm and in the face. Then she turned too quickly and they caught in her hair. “Ouch!”
“Family destination and romantic destination? Can a place be both?” Jackson rose to his feet and gently disentangled her, the backs of his fingers brushing her cheek. “Won’t we be diluting our message?”
Just for a moment she was back in the forest, surrounded by the smell of pine and the strength and power that was Jackson O’Neil. He smelled so good she closed her eyes, but that proved to be a mistake, because even though the baubles vanished her head was full of Jackson.
“Kayla?”
She opened her eyes, dizzy. “Mmm?”
“You’re no longer a decoration on the Christmas tree.” His voice sounded lazy and amused. “I was asking if you thought we’d be diluting our message?”
“No. We’ll be widening our audience.” Pulling away from him, she reached for the box and extracted another silver ball. “You can’t afford to restrict yourself to families only. And you have plenty to offer couples in search of romance. Sleigh rides, romantic dinner with champagne, breakfast…”
“For someone who claims not to be romantic, you seem to have a pretty good idea of how to create the right surroundings.” Jackson took the decoration from her and hung it from a high branch.
Kayla watched, distracted by the flex of male muscle. “I’m good at seeing what will work for other people. You just have to look at the facts.”
“Facts?” Elizabeth tilted her head to one side as she looked at the tree. “It isn’t about facts, dear. It’s about a feeling. A feeling in here.” She pressed her fist to her chest. “It sweeps you away and robs you of breath, and you know that no matter what happens in the future, this is a moment you’re going to remember forever. It’s always going to be there, living inside you, and no one can take it away.”
Kayla stood there, drowning under Christmas decorations and emotions she didn’t recognize.
She’d felt that way at the frozen waterfall when Jackson had kissed her.
She’d known right away it was a moment she wouldn’t forget.
Shaken, she forced a smile. “Then that’s the feeling we need to try to create. For other people, obviously.” She met Jackson’s searching gaze and saw Elizabeth glance between them thoughtfully.
“So what are your plans for the rest of the week? Are you taking Kayla skiing, Jackson?”
“Just as soon as I’ve found the ‘flat slope’ she’s requested.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “My boys tend to prefer the other sort of slope, Kayla. Steep ravines, gullies—the steeper the better. They loved the outdoors and they loved the adventure. They were wild.”
There it was again, Kayla thought. Pride. She sensed Elizabeth was a woman who would never feel anything but pride for her children.
“Not wild.” Jackson stooped and switched on the Christmas tree lights. “I knew what I wanted and I went after it.” He turned his head to look at Kayla, his gaze loaded with meaning.
Oblivious, Elizabeth stacked the plates and cups on the tray. “You were all wild. And once Tyler started racing—I couldn’t ever watch. I watched the recording, once I knew he was safe.”
Kayla tried to respond, but her mouth was dry, her brain empty and her gaze captured by Jackson. And then he smiled and that smile caught her somewhere behind her ribs.
She’d thought she’d experienced chemistry before, but nothing in her life had ever felt like this.
“Come over for breakfast tomorrow,” Elizabeth said. “You can sample our maple syrup with my homemade pancakes.”
Jackson’s gaze dropped to her lips and lingered there.
“Pancakes.” Somehow she managed to form the word, and she saw Jackson’s smile widen. Then he dragged his phone out of his pocket.
“I need to take this.”
She hadn’t even heard it ring.
This was not good.
“Afterward, we’ll make a batch of cinnamon stars together,” Elizabeth was saying. “Then you’ll be able to make them when you get back home.”
Kayla didn’t say that she was more likely to choose to poke herself in the eye with a pen than bake at home.