A Family for the Holidays

“It’s something I think about from time to time,” he said. “But don’t let that change your mind about Thunder Canyon—you’re right, it is a good place to raise kids. I had a lot of fun growing up here. I think Kayla will, too. If Jack S. gets off her back.”

“I don’t know. Kayla and Jack S. seem to have a love-hate thing going,” Shandie joked.

They’d arrived at the main lodge of the Thunder Canyon Resort by then.

Like a tour guide, Dax informed her that what had begun as a ski resort was now a four-season destination that drew upscale tourists from around the world.

Shandie wasn’t surprised that the beauty of the rustically elegant Alpine-flavored gateway to the mountain had become a big draw.

There were parking spots closer to the entrance, but several cars had pulled in just in front of them and Dax seemed to hang back from where they were all headed, choosing a spot behind them.

“Looks like everybody’s getting here at once,” he observed, apparently recognizing the cars.

“Then we won’t be too early or too late,” Shan-die said brightly, as if she hadn’t noted the more somber note that had edged Dax’s comment.

He turned off the engine, removed the keys from the ignition and put them in his pocket, but he made no move to leave the truck. Instead, his gaze was glued to those other cars and the people who were emerging from them without any hesitation.

“Who’s who?” Shandie asked as they all seemed to gather to say hello without any knowledge that she and Dax were there watching.

“The tallest guy in the coat that looks like it came straight out of a magazine? That’s Grant Clifton. He manages the resort now, which seems right since he’s always been driven and ambitious. He’s the man to make it be all that it can be.”

“And the woman he’s holding hands with?”

“Stephanie Julen. Steph, Grant’s fiancée. She’s our nature girl—more at home on the back of a horse than anyone I’ve ever known. Next to them—the guy built like a brick wall—is Mitchell Cates. He’s the founder and president of Cates International, a company that sells farm and ranch equipment. He caused some trouble when we were kids,” Dax said affectionately and clearly with fond memories of the trouble. “But he’s pretty serious now. That’s Lizbeth Stanton with him…”

Dax’s tone had slowly brightened as he’d talked about his friends, and Shandie could tell that he was genuinely fond of them and even proud of their accomplishments and attributes. But that brighter tone dimmed with the mention of the woman Shandie had heard he’d been engaged to.

Was he jealous now that Lizbeth Stanton was with his old friend? Shandie wondered. Or were there harder feelings between him and his former fiancée than he’d let on when he’d said what little he’d said before about her being at this dinner?

But Dax didn’t offer anything else on the subject of Lizbeth Stanton, and Shandie didn’t think it was the right time to pry.

So, instead, she prompted him to go on by saying, “Next to them?”

“That’s Marshall—Mitchell’s brother.” The warmer tone returned to his voice. “He’s a doctor. Sports medicine. He practices at the resort now that it’s grown, but he was at the hospital in town before. He’s with Mia—she’s actually an heiress who came to Thunder Canyon to hide out. That’s how they hooked up.”

“They look happy,” Shandie commented, feeling a twinge for what she’d lost herself as she looked at them standing there with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists.

“Russ Chilton is beside Marshall. Russ has a ranch outside of town. He’s our good ol’ boy. He likes things the way they are, doesn’t like that change and progress are not only on the way, they’re here. He and Grant have always been as close as brothers. Closer than I ever was with mine…”

Again Dax’s tone reflected a darker side that Shandie didn’t delve into.

“Is your brother there?”

“D.J.” Dax named him. Then he pointed a long index finger in the direction of the entrance to the lodge. “There he is. Looks like he and Allaire are playing host. See them standing in the doorway, waving for everyone to come in?”

Shandie altered her line of vision until she located the couple Dax was referring to.

Even from the distance she could see a resemblance between Dax and his brother, although they were opposite sides of the same coin. Where Dax was all bad-boy good looks, D.J. was pure boy next door.

“He made a fortune selling barbecue sauce after he left Thunder Canyon,” Dax was saying. “Then he sank that money into opening a chain of his Rib Shack restaurants. He just opened one here. That’s where the dinner is tonight, so I guess that’s why he’s acting like everybody’s coming to his house.”

Dax sounded as if that made him reluctant to go through with this, but Shandie wasn’t going to give him an easy out by asking if that were the case. Rather, she said, “And Allaire…”

“My ex-wife,” he said. “She teaches art at the high school.”

Nothing more was offered, and again Shandie didn’t think she had a right to delve into it.

“There’s a late arrival—well, besides us,” she said when the driver and passenger of the car that had just joined the others got out and were greeted by the group.

“Riley Douglas and his wife Lisa,” Dax said. “Riley is Caleb Douglas’s son. Caleb is as close to the town’s patriarch as there is. He’s the richest man around, has his hand in just about everything. He owns the resort, but he’s turned over running it to Riley now.”

“That’s different than Grant—what was it, Clifton?”

“Grant Clifton, right.”

“Didn’t you say he ran the resort?”

“He manages it. He supervises the day-to-day operations, while Riley is still the higher-up.”

“And Riley’s wife, Lisa? What does she do?”

“She’s an animal lover. She’s devoted to animal welfare—if there’s any suspicion of an animal being abused or neglected, Lisa’ll come out with both barrels blazing.” He paused, then concluded, “And that’s the whole bunch.”

For a moment they just sat there silently, watching everyone gather at the lodge’s entrance to continue their hellos inside, to shake hands or clap backs, to exchange a hug here and there. It was very clear what a close-knit group it was and how happy they all were to be together. And Dax was making no fast moves to be in on it.

“Well, it looks like this’ll be fun,” Shandie said with nothing whatsoever to base that on, merely trying to be encouraging.

“Looks like it will be for them,” Dax muttered.

Shandie finally decided to concede what she’d been trying to avoid and said, “If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to.”

It took him a long time to answer that, during which he watched his friends, his exes, his brother from the distance and obviously reconsidered.

But then he said, “Nah, we’ve come this far, we might as well go in.”

“Like I said before, you might be sorry if you don’t,” she said gently to support his decision.

“Yeah,” he agreed halfheartedly. “Who knows? Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

Chapter Four

The drive home from the pre-Thanksgiving dinner was nothing like the drive to it. Where pleasant conversation had filled the truck cab before, afterward there was only silence that made Shandie want to squirm.

In spite of that, she didn’t break the silence. The evening had been so bad, and Dax’s mood seemed so dark as a result, she wasn’t too sure she should.

When Dax pulled into her driveway she half thought he might merely wait for her to get out and just drive away without ever saying a word. It surprised her that he turned off the engine and walked her to her door. But he still didn’t speak.

By then, though, she thought she had to say something. So as she unlocked and opened her front door she said, “I’m sorry—”