Page 7 of Christmas In Love

In seconds, Cade was on his feet. He couldn’t just corner her and demand she tell him why she broke up with him, but his feet had a mind of their own. Maybe it was habit. Even after four years of not seeing Natalie, old habits seemed to die hard. Essentially, the last time he’d been with her, it had been entirely normal—even expected—for him to follow her from a room.

It was also expected he would catch up to her, wrap an arm around her waist, and…

Yeah, that line of thought didn’t need to be explored.

“Hey,” he said, stepping into the kitchen after her.

Natalie jumped backward, her hand flying to her chest and her eyes wide. “Cade. Oh… um… did you need something?” Her tone relaxed, but he didn’t miss the way she chewed the inside corner of her mouth—she’d always done that when she was uncomfortable.

“Yes…” He hadn’t thought quite that far yet and scrambled for an excuse. “I thought maybe you’d have recommendations for things to do around here?” Sure, that was a good one.

She nodded crisply. “I have a pamphlet, one sec.” She skirted around him to the entry.

Oh yay, another pamphlet.

She was back moments later, holding out a folded paper with an arm so straight that it put several feet of distance between them. If she could have folded it into a paper airplane and thrown it instead, she probably would have.

He took it but didn’t look at it.

“So, how long have you worked here?”

Her eyebrows lifted, her eyes shifting to glance at the ignored pamphlet. “I own the bed and breakfast.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize. How long have you owned it?” He’d imagined seeing Natalie again more times than he’d admit. And the further along he’d gotten in his career, the more he’d planned to flaunt his newfound success in the medical field in her face. Let her know what she’d missed out on. Now he was here though, he just wanted to know how she was. And why she’d left him.

And maybe flaunt his success, just a little.Her brow hitched up half an inch, subtly if asking what he was doing, hanging around and making small talk. “Less than a year.”

“What did you do before then?”

“I worked for a company in Denver.”

So, she hadn’t left Denver? For years they’d probably only been a short drive from each other.

“That’s cool.” He didn’t know what else to say, but wasn’t ready to leave.

“Yeah.” She looked around, her eyes landing on her plate of food. The nice thing to do would be to let her eat it while it was hot. But apparently, he hadn’t woken feeling gallant that morning.

“Do you always cook in addition to running the bed and breakfast?”

She inched back until she was on the other side of the worktable where her food lay. “No. I have a cook. But this is Jason’s weekend off, so I cook when he’s gone.”

He? Was it weird that Cade suddenly wanted to know this man’s age, background, and any arrests? Plus, his potential interest in Natalie. Because any man with eyes had to be interested in her.

Except for Cade. Cade was just here for answers.

“Well, I’d suggest the local museum.” She pointed at the pamphlet he was still holding. “Or there’s a yummy ice cream shop just down the street. It might seem silly to have ice cream in the middle of winter, but they keep the shop nice and warm.” She was trying to hint to him that he should leave.

He nodded slowly, not coming up with anything else to prolong the conversation. “Awesome. Thanks for the recommendations.”

“Anytime.”

Somehow, he didn’t think she meant that.

After several hours, a snowball fight with his nieces and nephews, and an internal battle of whether or not to accuse his mother of knowing that Natalie ran the B&B she’d suggested he stay at… Cade had returned to his mountain-themed room for a break before family dinner that night. In the end, he hadn’t called his mother out on the B&B thing. Mostly because he didn’t want to talk about the situation just yet. He wanted to find out what had happened all those years ago… and he wanted to do it without familial interference.

He could perfectly imagine Brooke marching over here and grilling Natalie. As much as he wanted answers, he’d rather not get them that way. He’d get them on his terms, and only then would he tell his family about the B&B’s owner.

Or maybe he’d just quietly finish his stay here… and find a way to convince everyone to go to Brooke’s house for Christmas next year. No need to tell them anything at all.

---