Highlander for the Holidays by Janet Chapman Read Free Book Online Page A

this looks like the employee parking lot, and there’s the woods,” she said, pointing to the back of the lot. “Just do your business and come right back,” she said, holding the door with her hip as she hugged herself against the cold.
    She finally had to give him a shove to get him going, as Toby wasn’t all that sure he wanted to actually step in the snow. He did start eating it, though. “Hey, cut that out,” she scolded, nudging his head. “Dr. Pace said it would give you diarrhea. Now go on, go pee.”
    Acting as if he were walking on eggshells, Toby slowly made his way into the parking lot. Jessie gathered her robe at her neck with a laugh, wishing she’d brought her camera. “Damn, I forgot my cell phone,” she muttered, pushing the door open wider to keep Toby in sight. She looked at the outside knob to make sure it had a card lock and noticed the sign over the lock that said only employee cards would work.
    Maybe she’d ask the front desk for an employee card so she wouldn’t have to traipse through the lobby just to let Toby out first thing in the morning. She’d only been able to book a room for two weeks when she’d called for reservations, because the entire resort was closed for a special event the middle week of December. When Jessie had told them she wanted to stay longer, the person she’d spoken with had explained there were several nice inns in town.
    That is, unless the impossible happened and she bought a house by then. Maybe it was just good luck that Ian and Duncan had a cousin who was a real estate broker. Katy, they’d said her name was. Well, if for some reason Katy didn’t show up this morning, she’d ask at the front desk how to reach the woman.
    “Toby?” she called, noticing he’d wandered out of sight. “Where are you?”
    That’s when Jessie heard what sounded like heavy machinery rumbling down the mountain toward the back of the hotel. They couldn’t be grooming trails yet, could they? There were only two, maybe three inches of snow. She stretched out arm’s length from the door and saw headlights flickering through the trees. “Toby!” she shouted, realizing the woods were maybe fifty feet wide and that there must be a ski trail on the other side of them. “Toby! Get back here! Now!”
    Jessie stepped back into the hall to look for something to prop open the door, but apparently the resort managers were neat freaks. She started undoing her belt to wedge it in the door when she heard Toby give a loud, excited bark. “Toby, no!” she shouted, turning toward the woods, only to spin back to see the door click shut. “Dammit,” she growled, heading into the parking lot at a run when Toby barked again. But she hadn’t taken three steps when her smooth-soled slippers went skidding in opposite directions and she fell, landing with a thud that sent up a cloud of fluffy snow.
    Realizing Toby was headed toward the ski trail when she heard him give a series of excited barks, Jessie scrambled to her feet and started running, this time being more careful of her footing. She slipped again just as she reached the woods, and grabbed a tree. “Toby, come here!” she commanded, not knowing if he could hear her over the revving engine that was so close now, she could feel the ground shaking. So she started praying instead as she made her way toward the trail. “Please see him. Please see him,” she petitioned the driver, suddenly glad she’d bought Toby a brightly colored sweater. She slumped against a tree in relief when she saw the large, brightly lit, bulldozer-tracked machine suddenly halt and heard the engine slow to an idle.
    A door opened and a man got out. “Toby?” the guy said, his hand outstretched as he walked toward the middle of the trail. The guy looked around. “What are you doing out here all by yourself, big man?”
    He knew her dog’s name?
    “Ian!” Jessie cried, pushing off the tree to go to him, only to fall flat on her face in the snow—which