She ran the water, then scrubbed out the pans and placed them in the dishwasher. Seth had gone silent, making her wonder if he might apologize. She glanced back at the table, only to find him glaring at her, his expression furious.
“What were you two doing here alone while I was gone?” he demanded, including Remy in his stare. “And come on, Vanessa, why were you trying to impress my brother with a fancy breakfast? We have oatmeal. Scrambled eggs and toast is what you said you had. But no, that wasn’t good enough for him. I’m thinking you—”
“Enough!” Remy pushed to his feet. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Seth. Leave her alone. She was simply being kind. She doesn’t deserve this treatment from you.”
“Really, Remy?” Standing so quickly he knocked back his chair, Seth faced his older brother. His hands were clenched into fists. “You come in my place, hit on my girlfriend and have the nerve to try and tell me how to act?”
Remy appeared as stunned as she felt. “Seth—”
Again, Seth cut him off. “Mind your own business. Vanessa belongs to me. Our relationship has nothing to do with you.” He pointed toward the door. “Leave.”
Remy took care not to glance her way. Part of her didn’t want him to leave. But when she didn’t correct Seth, what else could he do?
“Thanks for breakfast,” he finally said, meeting her gaze. “It was delicious.” He grabbed his parka and left.
Seth dropped back into his seat, muttering under his breath. Vanessa cleared her throat. “Seth, we need to talk.”
“Do we?” He shook his head. “Don’t be mad because I didn’t like your cooking. I’ve never been fond of eggs Benedict, that’s all.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “Actually, that’s only part of it. You were unnecessarily rude, both to me and your brother. Not just that, but I don’t belong to you. And we don’t have a relationship.”
His harsh expression softened. “Then why’d you come here? Come on, Van, I know you missed me as much as I missed you. You didn’t drive up all the way from Boulder just to ski.”
Even though the lure of skiing Pine Peak had factored into her decision to come to Roaring Springs, she knew better than to bring that up. “Seth, I came here to explain why I broke things off so abruptly. I wanted to give us both closure.”
“Closure?” He spat the word as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth. “What is it with women and closure? Who the hell cares? Either you want to get back together or you don’t. Which is it?”
Heart aching, she took a deep breath. “Actually, I was hoping we could go back to being friends. But clearly, that was a foolish idea. I’ll pack my things and get out of your hair. I’m sorry to have put you out.”
She kept her chin up and her back straight as she walked to the guest bedroom. Luckily, she hadn’t done much unpacking, so all she had to do was grab her toiletries and put them in her suitcase.
When she emerged, Seth was nowhere to be found. She had no intention of going in search of him to say goodbye. Essentially, she’d already said that.
It took two trips to get her small suitcase and her ski gear loaded back in her car. Seth didn’t bother to make an appearance, something that both saddened her and filled her with relief.
At least the plow had been by. She’d put snow tires on her car right before the first snow and she had chains in the trunk in case she needed them. Either way, she wasn’t sure she could make it back home in this weather. With snow still falling heavily, she drove a slow and cautious couple of blocks until she reached The Chateau. If worse came to worst, she’d sleep sitting up in a chair in the lobby.
There were no parking spots open in the small lot, but she finally located one on a side street. This time, she left her skis on top of her car, though she grabbed her suitcase and trudged toward the hotel entrance.
Stepping through the ornate glass doors, she felt as if she’d entered a different world. Though she doubted anyone would have checked out since yesterday, she approached the front desk, anyway.
Just as the polite, well-coiffed young woman asked her if she could help her, Vanessa had an idea. “Yes, I’m looking for Remy Colton. I was told he works here.” After all, she’d met him out in front of the hotel yesterday.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Colton isn’t taking visitors today,” the woman, whose badge announced her name was Tena, said.
“Could you contact him and ask him to call me?”
Slowly, Tena nodded. “I could take your number, yes.”
Vanessa rattled off the digits, then asked that Remy call her as soon as possible. “I’ll be waiting in the lobby,” she said. “Unless you happen to have any vacancies?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t. We’re fully booked through Christmas.”
Which was the same answer she’d gotten when she’d inquired yesterday and clearly nothing had changed on that front.
Choosing an unoccupied, overstuffed chair facing the front door, Vanessa took a seat. She began scrolling through her phone, checking social media and catching up on the news. Barely five minutes had passed when her phone rang.
After getting a message to call Vanessa, Remy dialed her number immediately. When he heard her soft hello, he exhaled. “Are you all right? I was worried about you,” he said.
“I’m fine,” she replied, her voice shaking. “But I’ve left Seth’s condo. I’m not sure what to think about his behavior.”
Remy wasn’t sure, either. In all honesty, his brother’s mood swings, heavy drinking and barely leashed rage worried the hell out of him. The breakup with Vanessa must have affected him strongly, though if his end goal was to get her back, he was going about it the wrong way. He couldn’t blame Vanessa for being scared off.
“Is there somewhere we can meet and talk?” Remy asked, pushing away the sharp thrill of anticipation that went through him at the thought of seeing her again. He only wanted to make sure she was safe, he told himself. Nothing more. “Where are you now?”
Her answer surprised him. “Well, actually I’m in the lobby of The Chateau. I was hoping a room would miraculously open up, but no such luck. I’m still not sure the tunnel is open yet. I seriously doubt I could get back home to Boulder in this storm.” She laughed self-consciously. “And I really was hoping to ski Pine Peak once it opens. As long as I’m up here…”
“I’ll be there in five,” he replied. He could tell she wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed asking for help from anyone. “We’ll go grab a cup of coffee or something to drink and I’ll see what I can do to find you a place to stay.”
Sounding relieved, she agreed to wait for him.
“Save my number in your phone,” he told her. “This is my cell. You can call or text me anytime.”
She promised she would.
Hanging up, Remy walked out into the still-too-quiet office and told everyone they could take the rest of the day off. Despite The Chateau being booked to capacity, the PR department took it easy over the holidays. With so many already on vacation or personal days, they weren’t getting any work done anyway, and if the snow continued to fall at the same rate, the plows would have trouble keeping up. They