And, surely, things would right themselves with Jules. Perhaps not that day, but eventually—at least she hoped so. That left just one more thing for Lucy to be brave about. She thought back to how terribly wrong her last seduction attempt had gone, but try, try again, right?
“Will?”
“Yes.” He smiled, encouragingly.
“Is there a bed in this cabin?”
His eyes widened. “Uh, yes, the couch … it’s a pull-out. I, uh, I changed the sheets this morning, so it’s, uh …” It seemed that it was Will’s turn to be embarrassed.
“I do think I know, yes. That was very, well, prepared of you.”
He shook his head and grinned, “Yeah, yeah.”
“No really, it was thoughtful.” She stood on her tiptoes and cupped his face with her hands, regarding it closely. Goodness, he was handsome, like the icing on a particularly scrummy cake. “You know something? I quite adore you, Will Reinhardt.”
His eyebrows lifted, and his lips curled into a slight smile. “And I adore you, Lucy Browning. Adore, want …” His lips were brushing her neck as he whispered that last word, and the tiny puff of breath she felt as he hit the “t” sent a jolt of lust right through her.
Her “snowed-in” fantasy would pale in comparison to reality.
Chapter 31
Jules
Jules perched on the edge of a wooden bench on Matt’s veranda while he was inside prepping dinner. They were barbecuing again—salmon this time—and he’d insisted on doing everything himself so she could make her call, even though he was still bandaged up.
She was nervous, and no wonder. She’d managed to hurt two of the people she loved the most. With Will, even when her was telling her off, Jules knew it would be okay between them. It always was. But what if she’d screwed things up with Lucy for good? Well, if she had, she wouldn’t know for sure unless she tapped the “call” button on her phone.
Six rings and she was about to hang up when Lucy’s sleepy face appeared on the screen, grainy from the lack of light on her end. “Hello?” Lucy yawned and shook her head quickly, as though to wake herself.
“Hey, Luce.” God, she’d missed Lucy. Why had she let their rift go on so long?
Lucy blinked at her several times. “Jules, hello,” she said in a quiet voice. “What time is it?” Jules wracked her brain trying to calculate the time difference and came up short. It didn’t matter anyway, as she’d obviously woken Lucy up.
“It must be late there, I’m so sorry. I can call another time.”
“No, wait!” Lucy whispered. Lucy looked off screen, a small frown on her face. “Um, Jules …” She looked back at the screen. “I may as well come clean. I’m not alone, if you get my drift.”
Blergh! It really was a bad time to call. Jules had a firm and very quick talk to herself—It’s weird, but it’s fine and you love them both—and ploughed ahead. “Oh, right. So, do you want to move into another room?” Practical solutions, that’s what Jules was good at.
“Oh, it’s just that we’re at the cabin. The hunting cabin, I mean. There is no other room.” Jules did her best to hide her surprise; her best friend and her brother were literally shacked up. “Unless you think I should go outside,” added Lucy. Jules scrutinised her friend’s face and saw the smile tugging at the corner of Lucy’s mouth. She was kidding.
Jules loved Lucy even more for the lifeline—joking with her instead of telling her off, which she was completely entitled to do.
“Look, if Will hasn’t woken up yet, he probably won’t. That guy could sleep through anything. It’s one of the things I hate about him.” Lucy sniggered and the two friends shared a smile. “Look, Lucy—”
“I know what you’re going to say, and you don’t have to say it.”
“I do. I do have to, Lucy. I was a total asshole to you, and you didn’t deserve that. I’m so sorry.”
Lucy pressed her lips together and nodded. Jules saw in that small gesture that she had hurt Lucy with her harsh words on Christmas Day. How was an apology over FaceTime ever going to be enough? “Luce, please forgive me.”
“I forgive you.”
“Really? I mean, you can tell me off if you want to. Will did.” Lucy’s eyes widened, then narrowed as her brows furrowed and Jules could see her chewing on her thoughts.
“All right, then. You were hurtful.”
“Yes.”
“You acted like I wasn’t good enough for Will.” Jules nodded, the tightening in her throat preventing her from speaking. “You made me feel small, Jules,” Lucy whispered.
Anguish tore through Jules’s heart. “Oh, Lucy, I’m so, so¸ sorry. You are good enough for Will, of course you are. And you are not small. You’re one of the best people I’ve ever known. I wish I could take back everything I said, but please know that it wasn’t about you. It was my own fucked-up way of seeing the world and not because of you, okay?”
Lucy was crying now, tears streaming down her face, and Jules’s heart lurched. “I wish more than anything that I was there to apologise in person—well, I mean, not right now, in the cabin with you and Will, but …”
“Hah!” exclaimed Lucy. Was that laughter or crying? Wondered Jules. Lucy ran her fingertips under each eye and, as her whole body started to shake, Jules watched anxiously. “Oh, my god,” said Lucy, her face erupting into a broad smile. “Can you imagine?” She laughed again, shaking her head and Jules blew out a long sigh of relief.
Lucy had forgiven her.
“Are we good, Luce?” asked Jules, just to be sure.
Lucy’s laughter subsided. “We’re good, Jules.” Lucy blew out her own sigh. “So, tell me all about Australia. Where are you right now?”
“At Matt’s … Chloe’s friend. He’s …” Jules wasn’t quite ready to articulate what Matt was to her. “It’s beautiful here, Luce. Look.” She swivelled the camera on her
