Snowed In For Christmas: A Fun Feel-Good Holiday Romance Novel - Kimberly Krey Page 0,46

long? Nature specialist as he was, Easton could probably live a long happy life in a yurt or a snow hut, with only the wolves and wildlife as his friends.

Would he hide out in the wilderness from one season to the next, become some sort of caveman, all to dodge a fate he couldn’t face? Thank heavens Easton had Chantelle. He loved her too much to disappear completely, Ivy knew that much. And he’d want to be around when the baby was born.

But where did she fit into the equation? And what about the potential lawsuit he faced for bailing? Marsha wasn't exactly the vindictive type, but she was known to get what she wanted one way or another, and she wasn’t above getting her hands dirty.

If only Nancy hadn’t sent those files to Marsha, if only Ivy hadn’t sent them to the company cloud back on that snowy day, she and Easton might have really stood a chance.

Was she just fooling herself to believe he would ever be able to fall in love? Not just in love in general, which seemed a great enough feat in itself, but in love with her. That, among all the madness of the last few days, seemed impossible to her now. One could only suspend disbelief for so long before it all came crashing down.

And as Ivy thought back on the time she’d spent with him, whether wrapped in his embrace, dancing about the yurt, or enjoying his passionate kiss, she was glad she had the memories to cherish.

She tugged open her desk drawer and retrieved one of the ornaments he’d made. While preparing to leave the yurt, they’d decided to divide the handmade ornaments in two, each taking half. Ivy had scattered them about, hanging one of the twig crosses he’d made on her rearview, and another on her bedpost. Between the rooms in her house, the drawers in her desk, and her car’s glovebox and mirror, she was greeted several times a day with the lovely trinkets that put a smile on her face and a skip in the beat of her heart.

But over the last few days, the items seemed to haunt her instead. To remind her of what she’d almost had.

A buzz came from her desk phone, and Ivy wasted no time snatching it up. “Hello?”

“I need to pick your brain about Easton,” Marsha said. “The media’s buzzing about it, and I need answers.”

Oh, great. The media?

“Come up to my office, please.”

Ivy straightened up. “Okay.” A burst of encouragement pushed through her. Perhaps Marsha was looking for a way to let Easton out of his contract. Perhaps he’d gotten in touch with them. She hurried to her feet and headed toward the elevators. She was halfway to Marsha’s office before she realized she’d left her phone behind.

An irrational sense of fear took over at the thought of missing a call from Easton. Stop it, Ivy. You’re probably the last person he’d call right now.

The sad truth of that statement made her eyes sting. It made her heart feel like it was bleeding suddenly, from a very raw and aching gash. Had she ever really had a chance with Easton? And if so, were those chances as squashed as she believed they were?

Marsha stood next to her open door, moving aside to let Ivy enter as she arrived.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, voice even and calm. The woman motioned for Ivy to take a seat.

She did, watching as Marsha walked to the front of her desk and leaned against it, arms folded over her chest. The woman surveyed her for a moment before speaking up.

“I talked with Chantelle again this afternoon. She told me that Easton confided in her before the crew showed up.” Marsha snatched a stapled stack of papers off her desk, flipped a few pages, and stared at the image beneath—a close up of Easton.

Oh man. Ivy hadn’t seen his face since they’d said goodbye. In her mind, yes, but in print, right before her eyes…

Ivy couldn’t take it. She clenched her eyes shut and dropped her gaze to the floor, but it was too late. All she could see was his head shot—no doubt provided by Chantelle. An outdoor photo, of course, where Easton was in his true form. He wore a navy blue shirt. She hadn’t seen that color on him yet. In the photo, it did wonderful things for his olive skin tone.

The smile, on the other hand, she’d witnessed that several times.