Page 4 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

She had a small apartment and books.

Carter had everything.

Who could blame Benny for being more into his dad than he was her? When he went to see Carter it was like being on vacation.

She was just his real, boring life.

“They’re good books,” she said. “And this is an adventure.”

“As long as there’s Wi-Fi.”

“There’s Wi-Fi,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I think even the one-room schoolhouse has Wi-Fi.”

“I’m bored.”

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “We’re almost there.”

She gritted her teeth as they continued on down the dirt road, and she wished that she were even half as patient as she pretended she was on the outside. She was an expert at keeping her emotions to herself. She was fantastic at keeping a placid expression while she listened to all manner of nonsense being spoken directly to her face.

She did it professionally, as a therapist, but that wasn’t personal.

She didn’t know when she had gotten quite so good at applying it to her personal life. When the skill had first eventuated, it was difficult to say. But she had honed the skill during her divorce, and even more in recent years.

She was now absolutely fantastic at it.

It took several minutes to get from the main road back onto the narrower one that took them to McCloud’s Landing. There was a small sign made of planks of wood with the name McCloud hand carved into it.

“That looks like pirates,” Benny said, looking suddenly intrigued.

“Well, maybe they are pirates,” she said.

She could see Brody McCloud as a pirate. He was... Well, he was a rogue.

She didn’t know that much about rogues, but she could recognize one when she saw him. Or maybe he just gave off such a vibe that it was easy enough even for women like her—with no real experience of dating and men—to see it.

“Well, that would be cool.”

“Super cool,” she echoed, with absolutely no conviction behind the words.

The road began to climb a mountainside, and she knew that the back portion of the property was flat, perfect for horses, but the area where all the houses were nestled was protected by this mountain and by a river, right below.

She knew that if nothing else, Benny would be temporarily impressed by the scenery. For one moment, he quieted, and she took that as a win. Because there could be no complaints over this place. The tall pine trees reaching up toward the fathomless blue sky and the rushing white water below. She had been driven to the cabin once by Gus when she had come out to visit, and was shown around, and she had made great mental note of exactly where it was so that she could find it again without having to ask for help.

She recognized a particular mossy rock, a bend in the road, and a change in the river. It was still where the cabins were. A watering hole that would be nice for swimming.

Though, she might have to make sure that he had a life jacket on at all times when he was anywhere near the water.

He would hate her for that. Maybe hate was a strong word. Maybe she was just channeling how she felt the teenage years would likely go.

She didn’t have high hopes that she would be any sort of hero.

No. Of course it would be his distant father. Because he didn’t have to do the hard days. He didn’t have to do school routine on homework. He got to blow everything off on the weekends when he actually did take Benny and do whatever he wanted.

She put that out of her mind. Things were different now. Now, if Carter held to it, Benny would spend a month in the summer there, rather than visiting on the weekends. He would also spend some school breaks with Carter, and while it would be hard to be away from him for long stretches of time she did feel like it would force Carter to actually plan and be present with him.

“Look how much space there is,” she said.

Of course, she would have to figure out a way to feel comfortable letting him explore that space, and she had a feeling that would be easier said than done.

---