Free Snow Angels by Fern Michaels, Rosalind Noonan, Marie Bostwick, Janna McMahan Page B

it comes to putting on makeup.”
    “Oh, go on. Let me get these packages wrapped before Bryce discovers what I’m doing. You know what a sneak he can be.”
    “I’ll keep him occupied downstairs while you’re wrapping. Hide them under the bed when you’re finished.”
    “Good thinking.”
    Downstairs, Grace found Bryce where else but snooping into the fridge. “Is that all you do?”
    “What?” He shot her his all-American smile. Bryce was as handsome as their father had been, with his coal black hair and dark eyes. He’d just completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in history, same subject as their father, who’d been a professor at the University of Colorado. Starting in January, he would tackle his first real teaching job at the same college. Seeing Bryce all grown-up would have made her father proud. He’d died of a massive heart attack when Bryce was sixteen.
    “Every time I look at you, you’re eating,” Grace teased.
    “Hey, I’m a growing boy. I haven’t had real food in ages. I wish I could cook.”
    “Then I’ll make sure to get you a cookbook for Christmas.”
    “Thanks, Sis. I can always count on you to be practical,” Bryce said between bites of banana nut bread.
    “You better save some of that for the girls. And what’s that supposed to mean?”
    Bryce poured a large glass of milk, downed it, then answered, “Just that you’ve always been the more practical one. That’s not a bad thing to be, Gracie.”
    Suddenly, Grace wanted to cry. Good old practical Grace. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Think that’s why no one ever…well, you know, fell head over heels in love with me?” Grace could ask Bryce anything, and she could count on him to tell her the truth.
    “Probably. Or they never thought they were good enough. My money’s on the latter.” Bryce winked at her.
    “You’re a good brother, you know that?” Grace wrapped him in a hug. Though she was older by six years, he was twice her size, a rock of solid muscle. Years on the ski slopes had guaranteed that.
    Which made her think of Max. “Remember that guy you used to go all gaga over? The Olympic skier?” Grace wasn’t sure if he would remember, but she wanted to see if it was possible if Bryce knew anything about Max, other than what had been in the news during his career.
    “Max Jorgenson? Darn straight I remember him. As a matter of fact, some of the guys and I are going to Maximum Glide next week. Jorgenson owns the resort. Why? You thinking of taking up skiing?”
    “I might. I was just curious. I don’t know if Mom mentioned it or not, but I…uh, spent the night at his house.” Grace grinned when she saw how big Bryce’s eyes got. They looked like two giant black holes.
    “What do you mean, you ‘spent the night at his house’?”
    Grace swatted him with a kitchen towel. “Not spent the night like the way you’re thinking. When I was coming home from Eagle Valley Friday night, I was detoured by the local cops. The snow was so bad I couldn’t see, my cell phone wasn’t charged, long story short, I wound up knocking on his door at two in the morning. Amanda and Ashley were with me.”
    “Maybe I was wrong when I used the word ‘practical.’ ‘Sneaky’ might be better.”
    “Stop it! I knew you were a big fan when you were in junior high, just thought you might want to know.”
    “So that’s it? Did you two do…anything?” Bryce asked, his eyes downcast, a grin the size of Texas spreading across his face.
    “Why you little shit!” Grace laughed so hard she lost her breath. Of course, that was when her mother chose to make her grand entrance.
    “Grace, I haven’t seen you laugh that hard since you wrote ‘I love you’ on all of your brother’s Valentine cards.”
    “Oh my gosh, I did do that, didn’t I?” She folded over laughing as she remembered when Bryce was in the fourth grade. He came home from school swearing he wouldn’t ever return because all the girls thought he liked them.