Snow Crystal Trilogy: Sleigh Bells in the Snow / Suddenly Last Summer / Maybe This Christmas
and outline her ideas.
And she’d closed the door on Jackson, instead of inviting him in. It had taken willpower she didn’t know she possessed, but somehow she’d maintained distance.
And she’d carry on maintaining that distance. She’d—
A hammering on the door made her jump and she turned to find Jackson standing by the door, gesturing for her to open up.
Her heart accelerated.
She knew he wasn’t a guy who was used to hearing no, but she hadn’t expected him to show up here hours after she’d already wished him good-night.
Wishing she were dressed, she walked to the door, but one look at his face told her this wasn’t a social call.
“Jess is missing.” His expression was grim and serious. “Climbed out of her bedroom window. Didn’t leave a note. No clues. Her phone is still on her bed. Tyler is losing his mind. It’s fifteen-below out there and she’s just a kid. We’re gathering together a group to look for her.”
“Give me five minutes to get dressed.”
She did it in two and was back by the door stamping her feet into her boots while Jackson finished up a conversation with someone called Josh.
“Yeah, right—” Still on the phone, he passed Kayla gloves and a hat and walked to the door. “We’ll do that. And if we see anything, we’ll call you. I don’t want my mother involved yet. Or Walter. His heart isn’t good. And don’t let anyone contact Janet Carpenter, either. No way does she get to do more damage to my brother.” He hung up and Kayla followed him through the door.
“Who was that?”
“Josh. He’s chief of police and a member of the mountain rescue team. He’s going to put the team on alert, but I’m hoping we won’t need them.”
“Could she have gone home?”
“To Chicago? Not at this time of night.” He drove fast down the snow-covered track and pulled up outside a house that overlooked the lake.
The kitchen was full of people, most of whom she didn’t recognize, and Brenna and Tyler were in mid-argument.
“So because I’m trying to be a responsible parent this is somehow all my fault?” White-faced, Tyler paced the kitchen while Brenna spread her hands in exasperation.
“All I’m saying is that you don’t listen to what she wants. You just say no, Tyler. You’re making it too easy for her to rebel against you.”
“I’m doing my fucking best!” Tyler rounded on her. “She wanted to throw herself off the top of a vertical cliff. You think I should have said yes to that?”
“You did it.”
“I skied anything with a gradient, including old Mitch Sommerville’s garage roof. I loved skiing. Speed. It had nothing to do with teenage rebellion.”
“This isn’t helping.” Jackson strode between the two of them. “We need to work out what might have been going on in Jess’s head.”
“Good luck with that. I’ve been trying to work that out for the past twelve years, and I’ve gotten nowhere.” Beside himself with worry, Tyler tugged on his jacket. “I’m done with standing around talking. I prefer action.”
Jackson caught his shoulder. “Not without a plan.”
“My plan,” Tyler said grimly, “is to find my daughter. Finally she’s back living with me, and I intend to keep it that way. The rest of you can stand around talking about teenage rebellion if that’s how you want to spend the time.”
It must have been so hard for him, Kayla thought, trying to bond with a young girl he only saw sporadically. But there was no doubting how much he cared.
As far as she was concerned, that was the most important quality in a parent.
“Maybe it isn’t rebellion.” She hadn’t intended to speak. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it against her rib cage. “Maybe she’s pushing you. Testing you.”
Tyler looked at her, noticing her for the first time. “What are you talking about? You don’t even know Jess. You met her for about ten seconds the other night.”
He was right, of course. She didn’t know Jess. Kayla wished she’d kept her mouth shut, but it was too late because Jackson was frowning at her.
“Testing what? What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” Kayla backed off. “You’re right. I don’t know Jess.”
“Why do you think she could have been testing him, Kayla?”
Everyone was staring at her. Even Tyler, his gaze so fierce it was as if he suspected she’d taken Jess and buried her body.
Kayla licked her lips. “I’m just thinking that maybe this thing with her mother has shaken her up. Maybe she’s looking for proof that you love her.”
Silence spread across the room.
Tyler swore fluently. “You think I don’t love her? Have you any idea how hard I fought to have my daughter living with me?”
Kayla tensed. “I wasn’t suggesting—”
“It sure sounded as if—”
“That’s enough.” Jackson’s tone was hard. “There’s logic in what Kayla says. Think about it, Tyler. Janet calls up and tells you she can’t handle Jess anymore, and suddenly the kid is coming to live with you. No warning. Nothing. Your life is turned upside down.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my life!”
“Put yourself in Jess’s shoes and think how that must have made her feel.”
Kayla stood, frozen in silence. She had a pretty good idea how it had made Jess feel.
She’d felt it all herself.
Tension rippled across Tyler’s wide, powerful shoulders. “I want her here. I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not even pretending I’m any good at it—we’re both still finding our way, but that doesn’t mean I’m not glad she’s here.”
“Have you told her that?” Kayla’s mouth was so dry she could hardly form the words. “Because maybe she needs to hear it.”
“That’s good advice,” Brenna murmured. “Maybe Jess is worried you don’t want her here. That she’s cramping your style. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“So what does that mean? You think she’s run away?” Tyler’s face was white with worry. “I’ve never once said I don’t want her here. If that’s what’s in her head then it was put there by someone else.”
Kayla wondered if that “someone else” was Jess’s mother. She wondered whether Jess had overheard something. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened to a child torn between two parents.
Why does she have to stay with us at Christmas? Can’t she go to her father?
She tried to push back the memories, reminding herself this wasn’t about her. It was about Jess.
“We can deal with that part later.” Taking control, Jackson strode to the door. “Let’s start by searching the resort. Ask people if they’ve seen her. Brenna—you and Tyler take the trail by the cabins. Kayla and I will go to the far side of the lake.”
Brenna reached for her keys. “Have you checked whether her skis have gone?”
Tyler threw her a look. “It’s dark, Einstein.”
“Not everywhere. The bowl is illuminated.” Jackson stopped dead. “So is Devil’s Gully.”
Tyler’s face lost the last of its color and Kayla glanced between them.