you leave.” She left the room and returned seconds later with the jewelry box, lifting the bracelet from the velvet lining. “Before you go, could you help me put this on?”
They’d been naked in the tub minutes ago, but somehow it seemed just as intimate to touch the delicate bones of her wrist and to close the intricate clasp of the watch bracelet.
Anna admired it in the light, turning it this way and that, and walked him to the door. “I’ll be around,” she said, her smile verging on the shy side. “Obviously.”
He laughed. “I’ll find you in a bit.” It felt strange, walking away without telling her something—but he couldn’t say I love you. That would be way over the top. And not strictly true. Or maybe it was strictly true, and he’d fallen for her. That would explain the tug in his chest when he left her in the suite instead of holding her hand as the two of them went to Jonas’s office. Like a couple.
Get it together. Gabe couldn’t lose himself in his feelings now. Not during this conversation.
Jonas’s door was open. Gabe entered, finding his brother sitting at his desk, furiously tapping something on his computer. Jonas glanced up but kept typing. “One second.” The stream of tapping tapered off a minute later, and Jonas met his gaze.
Gabe dropped into a chair across from Jonas’ desk.
“What’s up?” Jonas asked, leveling a frown at him.
“We need to talk about Grandmother.”
His brother let out a breath and rubbed at his forehead. “It was a good thing they were able to start the treatments early on, but she’s tired.” A sheen of tears appeared over his eyes, but he blinked them away. “Not that she wants anyone to know it.”
She’d made the announcement at Thanksgiving about her cancer, and Gabe had missed it. If he thought about it too long, it ate at him, sticking in his thoughts and keeping him up at night. But she would never get into details like this, even with everyone gathered around for the holidays.
Especially with everyone gathered around for the holidays.
It wasn’t done in the Elkin family. Gabe’s heart pounded. When his parents had died, he’d spent months on edge, wondering when the next shoe would drop. It had been years since then, but it still felt like this was what he’d been waiting for. It didn’t make him worry any less. It didn’t make it any less awful.
“No,” Gabe agreed. He’d had questions for Jonas, things he wanted to talk about, but now the words dissolved on his tongue. He searched them out by a sheer force of will. “Do you think she’ll beat the odds?”
It sounded so strange coming from his mouth. Beating the odds was a cliché, but the thoughts that dogged Gabe were starker than that. He couldn’t bring himself to say them to his brother.
“I don’t know. The odds—well, Grandmother might not have long, no matter the treatment. It’s impossible to say. If she knows differently, she hasn’t told me.” Jonas shrugged. “What I do know is that you made her happy with the engagement. She mentioned the wedding to me yesterday, hoping you’d have it here. You know, before anything happens to her. Are you—planning to have it here, that is?”
Guilt swam up and threatened to choke him, but Gabe swallowed it down. “We haven’t discussed it yet.”
His brother arched an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“No. The engagement happened fast.”
Jonas let out a short laugh. “I would’ve thought you two had the whole thing planned out. She’s great for you.” His brother seemed to have had a change of heart about Anna.
He couldn’t meet his brother’s eyes, his gaze settling on a silver Christmas tree at the corner of the desk. Anna was great for him. They complemented each other. And with every day that passed, he was more and more interested in her. Truly interested.
“The Elk Lodge could be good for you, too. For both of you.”
Gabe snapped his gaze back to Jonas’s. “What?”
“Yes, you’re a great businessman, and your company is hugely successful. Those things are both true. But Gabe, you could be doing so much with the resort. With your family legacy.” Shock caught up with Gabe in a rush of blood to his head and a thundering heart. “Nothing would make Grandmother happier than to have all of us here, taking over the resort together.”
“I—”
“You’ve at least thought about it, haven’t you? Anna seems to love it here. The two of you could be