Free Boom by Stacy Gail Page A

right. “Then for my own peace of mind, I need to know I’ve done all I can to salvage our relationship. And if it’s unsalvageable, I need to close that chapter in my life completely , so that I can move without thinking what if .”
    “Honey,” her aunt sighed. “That’s something you can do right now, just by deciding it in your own mind. Let Jackson go by not giving him another thought. He doesn’t deserve your devotion.”
    “ I deserve answers, Deb, one way or another. I’m making this journey for me, not him.”
    “What you deserve is to have a gorgeous knight in shining armor come along, see what a treasure you are, and take you away to his beautiful castle.”
    Mia frowned. “Did knights have castles? I thought they just defended them.”
    “You know what I mean. All that sappy medieval romantic shit—you deserve it.”
    “Apparently Fate disagrees with you, since I’ve been given a hellacious polar vortex instead of a beautiful castle.”
    “A Presidential Chalet isn’t anything to sneeze at, sweets. What does this Kingfisher dude look like anyway?”
    A gorgeous knight sprang to Mia’s mind, and she had to bite her lip to keep from blurting it out loud. “I think you’d approve.” A sudden beep sounded in her ear, prompting her to glance at her phone. “Crap, I’m down to ten percent on my battery, Deb. Do me a favor and call Daria to let her know what’s happening, okay? I’ll call you guys later to let you know when I’m continuing on to Seattle.”
    “Feel free to enjoy the mountain resort life,” came the quick response. “No need to hurry off to Seattle the moment the weather cle—”
    Her aunt’s voice cut off, and another glance at her phone showed Mia nothing but a blank black screen.
    Crap.
    With a sigh, she crawled off the bed to rummage around in her purse for her power cord.
    Then she rummaged around in her carry-on.
    Then she dumped her entire purse out on the bed to paw through the contents.
    Where the hell was the damn power cord?
    The memory of inviting other passengers to use the cord came back with crystal clarity.
    But not the memory of packing it back up.
    Arrrgh.
    She stared at her dead phone, then at the iPad in its leather case, now also without a cord, and mulled the problem over. Her cord might be miles away, but that didn’t mean the situation was hopeless. This was a resort, after all. True, it was still a couple weeks away from its grand opening, but there could still conceivably be some sort of gift shop stocked with basic items that travelers commonly forgot to pack. Or, at the very least, Quinn might have a power cord that she could borrow.
    To find out, she’d have to talk to him.
    A groan escaped her, and she collapsed onto the edge of the bed. She didn’t want to talk to Quinn. She didn’t want to even acknowledge his existence after that kiss. Life in the chalet was going to be insanely awkward now, filled with a never-ending parade of uncomfortable moments as the memory of that kiss sat between them like an elephant in the room.
    What the hell had he been thinking, kissing a total stranger like that? A stranger who wasn’t available, no less. She’d been upfront about Jackson, so Quinn was way out of line for kissing her when another man had put a ring on her finger.
    Except that Jackson had never put a ring on her finger, technically speaking. That was something he’d promised to do just as soon as he could afford it. But he had proposed, and she had said yes, so a damn metaphorical ring was there. Quinn shouldn’t have kissed her.
    And she shouldn’t have enjoyed it.
    She had, though.
    She groaned again and pressed her fingers to her mouth. She’d thoroughly enjoyed Quinn’s kiss, and all the words preceding it, because those words had hit close to a tender place in her soul she hadn’t even known was there. When he’d said he appreciated her sacrifices, it was as though every cell in her body bloomed. She’d never known a handful of