He cocked his head. “Wow. Don’t hold back.”
Kennedy put a hand over his. “Jericho, you might consider that God sent you because you’resupposedto be here. Maybe God is using you to protect her. Because you love her. But loving her means you need to depend not more on yourself—or Harley—but on God.”
And, of course, the argument still resounded in his head.“I’ve spent my whole life looking forpeople in trouble.”
Jericho reached for a burger.
The door opened in the front room, and a few minutes later, Hudson came in. Glanced around the room. “I expected to see whiskey. Neon lights. Jericho at the bar saying ‘pour me another shot.’”
“I don’t drink,” Jericho growled.
Hudson reached for a plate. “So you lost your sense of humor back there when you abandoned everything else.”
Jericho stared at his plate, his appetite gone. “Sorry I left you.”
“I got a ride from Crew. But if you think this is about you abandoning me—”
Jericho got up, carrying his plate. He gave his half-eaten burger to Orlando, then put the dish in the dishwasher. “I’m closing down my tab for the night. I have no friends in this crowd.”
He saw Hudson smirk as he left the room.
At least Orlando followed him. The dog hopped on his bed—made, thank you so much.
He opened his closet door. Glanced at the duffel bag he’d shoved onto the shelf.
“You were never meant tosave her,or the world. In fact,that’s alittle arrogant,bro.”
He closed the door and stood by the window a moment. Outside, snow continued to fall, covering everything in clean white grace.
Jericho pulled out his phone and set it on the side table.
No messages from Harley.
And he should probably text her, but frankly...
He sat, put his head in his hands.“I knewyou would bail on me.”
He deserved that.
Beside him, Orlando sighed.
Jericho laid down, stared at the ceiling. He should sleep. He had promised to head back out to the ski resort tomorrow, their Monday training check-in. So, he had to be there before dawn to check conditions.
But, of course, the fight with Harley just rebounded, round and round in his head.
They hadn’t a prayer of starting over because it would only end up in the same disastrous place.
What was the old saying? You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.
They needed more than a clean slate, more than a fresh start.
They needed to be different people.
He must have slept because his phone alarm buzzed. He rose in the darkness, got up, dressed, made coffee, and was out on the slope just as dawn painted the mountain rose-gold, sunlight catching virgin snow like scattered diamonds.
The resort lay quiet, waiting for the day’s first chairlifts to start turning. But right now, a deep peace settled over the valley, the mountain, captured in the serene whiteness of Aurora Basin.
“Kyle’s all set up.” Marla’s voice came through the radio, and he spotted her, some twenty feet down, her red jacket bright against the snow. They’d used snow machines to ascend, wanting to get the training done before the slopes opened.