Holly Lane Read Online Free Page B

since the divorce, she and the guy she now lived with usually went away for those few days. It wasn’t the warmest time of year, but he and the boys still found plenty to do—hiking, roasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories, and just generally hanging out and doing guy stuff.
    And since he had a standing reservation, he hadn’t bothered cancelling it this year despite the fact that the twins couldn’t come—in fact, he’d decided it might be a good place to blow off some steam and see if he could get back in his normal state of mind.
    But so far, coming here had only made him more irate. Even with only a little snow falling, the roads had gotten slippery on the way over, making for an unpleasant drive. And then he’d found his cabin inhabited by his best friend’s ex-wife. And not only that—she’d been wearing some skimpy pajama top that had given him far too good a view of her breasts, which had made him a little uncomfortable even as it had tightened his groin.
    But maybe it was silly to feel weird about that. After all, he’d known Sue Ann since they were kids, and he’d seen her in a two-piece bathing suit plenty of times over their years of hanging out with the same friends. Yet something about this, right now, had felt different, had felt . . . personal. Even though she hadn’t caught on that he’d been unwittingly staring at her chest half the time they were talking. Damn—the whole situation was beginning to feel a little surreal.
    Snow blew around the entrance to the log-hewn office as he opened the door to see Grayson Collier, the skinny old man who’d been renting him the cabin all these years. “Back so soon?” he asked, friendly as ever.
    Adam pulled the door shut behind him, blocking out the blowing snow and now-whistling wind. He tried not to sound too put out as he replied, though it required effort. “Not by choice. There’s a woman in my cabin.”
    Grayson just laughed. “And you left? I mean, I’d like a woman in my cabin, if ya know what I mean, son,” he ended with a wink.
    Adam just glared at him, unamused. Grayson had picked now to start being a funny guy?
    When Grayson caught on, though, he wiped away his smile and cleared his throat. “Oh, you wasn’t jokin’ around? There’s really a woman in your cabin?”
    “Yep.”
    His eyebrows knit. “Don’t see how that could be, but . . . well, give me just a minute to investigate this.” And with that, he pulled out an old-fashioned registry book that looked like it had been in service for decades. You didn’t find anything modern like a computer at the Snow Valley rental office. “Hmm,” Grayson said, studying the book. Then, “Oh,” “Hmm,” and finally, “Uh-oh.”
    “Uh-oh?” Adam asked.
    “Uh-oh,” Grayson confirmed.
    Adam’s fuse grew shorter by the moment, so it was through slightly gritted teeth that he said, “Uh-oh what?”
    “Well, we got us a new feller workin’ here, and it looks like he took a reservation for your cabin, not realizin’ you’d booked it already. And he musta checked her in before my shift.”
    “I see,” Adam said dryly, trying to keep his cool. “Well then, how about you just give me a different cabin?” He liked his usual cabin, but he’d take any cabin at this point. He slapped the key he’d been given on the counter, ready to trade it in for another.
    “Can’t,” Grayson said.
    And Adam felt his eyebrows shoot up. “Can’t?”
    “They’re all full.”
    At this, Adam simply blinked his disbelief. Usually it was empty here this time of year. “You’re kidding. How the hell many people rent cabins on Thanksgiving weekend, for God’s sake?”
    “Well, ’bout eight from the looks of things. Given that we got seven cabins plus you. Turley family decided to have a Thanksgiving family reunion sorta shindig, and most of ’em’s stayin’ here. ”
    “You’re seriously telling me you don’t have a cabin for me?” Adam barked. “When I’ve had this booked