Page 14 of A Runaway Bride For Christmas
He rattles off a phone number so fast I don’t have time to grab a pen.
“Slow down. I didn’t get it.”
He repeats the number, and this time I input it into Hans’s phone as I speak. I want to let her know what happened with the wedding before she hears it from someone else.
I hang up with Dad and call Chloe.
“Who’s this?” she asks suspiciously.
“It’s Allie.” It’s a relief to hear her voice, and I explain what happened at the wedding.
“Oh my god, Allie, are you okay?”
“Yes,” I tell her. “But Mom’s going to disown me.”
“I’m so sorry I’m not there for you. I’ll get there as soon as the roads open.”
“Don’t do anything dangerous, especially not with the storm. You’ll never get up here. I just wanted to check that you’re landed and make sure you’re okay.”
“We’re fine.”
I frown. “We?”
“I mean, my family are fine, and I’m all good too.”
I’m about to ask where she’s staying when she cuts me off. “I gotta go, Allie. I’ll see you as soon as I can. You’re not going through this alone.”
She hangs up abruptly, but I feel better, lighter knowing that Dad and Chloe will always have my back no matter what choices I make. Even if that choice is a hot ski instructor.
8
HANS
Igive Axel a quick call, but he’s adamant that I’m not needed. Everyone’s accounted for and staying safe in their cabins. Those who are at the lodge are having a lock-in party, and luckily he’s got the staff to cover it.
I put in a call to Greta, and they’re snowed in too. Luca giggles in the background, and Lorenzo laughs. It’s not often my surly brother-in-law laughs. I guess my sister must be a good influence.
“We’re fine,” she reassures me. “We’ve got everything we need right here.”
A pang of envy touches me. She’s got someone to love and a family of her own. That’s all anyone needs. For one day, I’ve got someone to love too. And I’m not going to waste it being a miserable bastard. If I get to kiss Allie again, and that’s all it is, then at least I’ll get a kiss.
Allie and I talk easily over breakfast. I love hearing about her student life studying journalism. It doesn’t surprise me that she’s doing something with words. I haven’t forgotten my crushing defeat at Scrabble.
We’re sitting on the couch nursing our second pot of coffee, and I can’t take my eyes off Allie. With her make-up washed off she’s glowing, her youthful skin radiant without the face paint.
“Is your dad okay where they are?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah, but Mom’s still angry.” She winces as she says it, and I wonder what hold her mother has on her.
“And your fiancé?” I notice she hasn’t mentioned him or tried to contact him.
Allie looks away. “Ryan will be fine.”
I hate the sound of another man’s name on her lips, and it’s all I can do to stop my fists from pounding the sofa.
“If I lost my chance with you, Allie, I’d be banging on every cabin on the mountain trying to find you, storm or not.”
She looks down with a smile on her lips. “He’s probably relieved.”
