Elkin Brothers Christmas The Complete Series - Leslie North Page 0,124

about the time Chase belly flopped off the high dive at a campground they’d gone to out west. It had been the first of many antics on the trip.

Jonas wanted to lose himself in the story, wanted to focus on the past, when things had been less complicated, but he couldn’t. They were going to notice. Any second now, they were going to notice that the little boy in the room looked exactly like him. Or they were going to notice that Jonas couldn’t stop stealing glances at Rachel.

Rachel, on the other hand, showed no sign of nervousness. No fear of discovery. It was up to him to keep them distracted. Jonas had a few stories himself that would serve the purpose. “What, nobody’s going to mention the cake?”

“Why would we do that?” Gabe laughed. “You’ve been telling us not to talk about that for years.”

“Now seems like an opportune time, if the object is to laugh and be natural.”

Chase cocked his head to the side. “You can’t be serious.”

“Tell us about the cake,” Tana insisted. “I’ve never heard this story.”

“I haven’t either,” put in Anna, still slightly nervous, but with a genuine smile on her face. She and Gabe had only gotten together over the holiday, but it had looked so easy. Well—not exactly easy. There had been the matter of her ex showing up at the resort and skeletons from her past getting dragged into the light, but they’d moved beyond all that. Gabe reached for her hand.

“I wanted to ask a girl to the prom,” Jonas said, and everyone turned to focus their attention on him. He didn’t like the story, but it was for a worthy cause. “And I thought I would be clever and make her a cake. I spent hours on it, but it turned out lopsided and weird. And this poor girl thought she was going to be getting a cake from the Elk Lodge kitchens.”

“Oh, Jonas,” Anna groaned. “Did she still go to the dance with you?”

“Yes,” he said. “But she told everybody about that cake, and for years, these guys repeated the story just to embarrass me.” Jonas stood up. “What about some photos with just the women?” he said, dragging his brothers with him to the side of the room. He felt Rachel’s eyes on him all the way.

“You don’t have to worry,” she called out. “I’ll get all the shots you need.”

Don’t worry. Well, he was worried. Scott made his way over to them, and Jonas met the boy halfway across the floor, waving his brothers to make their way to the windows. “I’ll join you all in a second.”

He took Scott by the hand and led him back toward Rachel. “Hey, kiddo, let’s go over here, by your mom. Rachel, why don’t we move on to portraits of—”

“Let’s take five,” Rachel called. “Everybody get comfortable, and I’ll be back in a few. Jonas, come with me—I need your help.” The tone of her voice didn’t bode well.

Rachel snapped her lens cap back into place and took Scott from Jonas.

He glanced back, the lines of tension on his face deepening as he noticed his family watching them with an unbelievable amount of suspicion.

“Now would be good,” she told him, keeping her smile in place.

Jonas followed her out to the hall. She set Scott down, letting him wander over to a nearby alcove he was intent on exploring. After double-checking to make sure everything was safe, she turned to Jonas, taking a deep, cleansing breath.

His eyes met hers, but then slipped away, glancing back toward the door. How could he look so strong, so powerful, and so worried at the same time?

“You’re driving me insane,” she declared. Shock filled his blue eyes, causing her heart to thump harder despite her irritation.

“I’m trying to help. There’s a lot on the line right now.”

“Okay, but—” she tempered her response, realizing Jonas was nervous. For that matter, she was nervous too. This was obviously a big deal for him—his son, mingling with his family. But he had to let go and trust her if it was going to work—both the photography gig and any kind of relationship between them. It didn’t necessarily have to be romantic, but he seemed like he wanted to get to know his son. But she wasn’t backing down.

He had to let her do her job. “I hate being micromanaged. And you’re micromanaging. I’ve got this, Jonas. Everybody in there is having a fun time, but you’re too focused