“Lana?”

“Hmm?”

“Stop worrying about me. You have enough on your plate.”

Allowing himself a moment of sheer self-indulgence, Rick held out his hand to her in silent request. When she placed her fingers in his, he stepped closer, wrapping her up in a much better hug. This time, she rested her cheek against his chest.

“You’re a really good guy, Rick.”

“It’s all a lie. I rob banks and seduce billionaires when no one’s looking.”

This time, her smile was softer but real. “Then I’ll have to be on my toes.” Pressing a quick kiss to his cheek, Lana said, “Thank you.” Then she hurried away, tugging her jacket around her to ward against the cold.

Rick watched her go, then he rejoined his friends inside. Ash and Easton had been having far too much fun setting up Rick’s dating profile.

“Delete it,” he told them firmly. “I’m going to ask Lana out.”

Ash pulled out her phone, typing into it. Her movements were quick and precise, the way they always were when she was pissed. “You’re an idiot. East, tell him he’s an idiot.”

Easton took a drink, smart enough to not get in the middle.

“Graham, please save him from himself.”

Graham watched through Frankie’s window as Lana headed down the steps to her car. “She’s a sweet girl. Just don’t know how long it’ll last, buddy. She’s never here in town. But if you’re just looking for a holiday fling…”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Rick admitted quietly. “But I’d rather figure it out with her.”

“Fine.” Ash stood up, resigned. “She did shoot you in the arm. Makes sense for you to shoot yourself in the foot. If you’ll excuse me, the princess needs a ‘lift.’”

As a sky-blue SUV drove toward the resort, Rick knew that he wasn’t waiting anymore. Jen had moved on, and it was time to do the same. Time to start living his life while he still had it. A guy could be mistaken for a moose any day.

Rick was going to ask Lana out—for real this time—and pray she said yes.

* * *

“Is there a reason why I pulled the short straw today?”

The usual acerbic tone in Ashtyn’s voice was almost lost beneath the thwapping of helicopter blades cutting through the cold winter air.

Normally, Lana would have met Ash at the hangar on the far side of town, but she had been wrapped up in phone calls, and she needed to be back for a meeting with Hannah about the Christmas party. If she wanted to do this, she needed to go in a very small window of time, meaning it was far more convenient to have Ash pick her up at the resort’s private helipad.

“Shuttling people to and from the airport isn’t my gig. Tell me why I agreed to this again?”

“Because I asked nicely,” Lana said as she climbed into the copilot’s seat, pulling a headset over her ears. “And I doubled your normal fee for the convenience.”

Through the headphone, Ash’s sarcasm came through loud and clear. “There are other pilots, you know.”

“I prefer to support female-owned businesses.”

Ash snorted. “I’m not buying it.”

She might not believe Lana, but it was true. There was no point in trying to argue with someone who couldn’t be convinced, so Lana looked out the window instead.

“Besides,” Lana said, “the other pilots were too scared to go up here in December.”

“Don’t do me any favors.” Ash’s lips had curved into a smug smirk as they lifted off, angling over the mountainside. “Nice penis, by the way.”

“I’m growing rather fond of it. Hannah is going to tell on me if I don’t get rid of it.”

“Good luck with that. Jax thinks it’s hysterical.”

The familiar way she seemed to know the resort owner’s feelings caught Lana by surprise. “Oh. Are you and he…?”

Ash grimaced. “Not if his life depended on it. I grew up with the little brat. There’s no way I’d ever get with him. I wasn’t aware we came up here to discuss my love life. I should have charged you more.”

“Trust me.” Lana grinned at her. “You’re charging me enough to have proved your point.”

Ash snickered before seeming to realize she wasn’t supposed to. Slipping her sunglasses on, Lana settled in to appreciate the view as they flew higher into the snowy mountain range. In another place, she and Ashtyn could have been friends. Lana didn’t only respect her. She honestly liked the other woman. She’d love to hire someone like Ashtyn Lockett and keep her on the payroll for those tough jobs that needed doing. There was nothing Ash was afraid of, except for maybe the massive mountains her brother was so famous for climbing.

Lana didn’t blame her. Freezing to death on the top of Mount Veil wasn’t Lana’s idea of a fun time either. Ash was far smarter than her twin, as far as Lana was concerned.

“How’s your brother?” she asked.

“Preoccupied. He’s got this informal thing going with a local newspaper reporter, but she wants more than he does. East doesn’t know how to let her down easy. He’s dragging it out and causing himself all sorts of problems.”

“Easton never seemed like the settling down type. I always guessed he’d stay a bachelor as long as humanly possible,” Lana said.

“You and me both. But you never can trust people.” At Lana’s questioning look, Ash explained. “I don’t like change is all. Seems like lately, everything is changing around here. You’re not helping things.”

“People grow,” Lana said. “So do towns. Stilting Moose Spring’s potential is like trying to keep a child frozen in time. We all grow up eventually.”

“Some versions of adults are far superior to others,” Ash said drily. “If my town is unrecognizable in ten years, don’t think I’m not blaming you.”

There wasn’t much Lana could say to that. She already knew.

Overlook Ridge lay high above the town of Moose Springs, right before the tree line gave way to ice and snow. Between the remaining evergreens and the constant gusting of winds off the monstrous Mount Veil in the distance, the ridge was a particularly difficult place to land. A deep blanket of snow was spinning off the ridge in flurries, obscuring the visibility but leaving a small area clear. If the pilot was skilled enough to combat the combination of elements fighting to toss a helicopter back off the mountain.

Ash was skilled enough.

They landed much quicker and with less curse words than the last person who had flown Lana up here, which was the point of using Ash’s piloting services. She was the best. And while being budget conscious was always important, Lana preferred to save her coupons for when she wasn’t on the edge of a thousand-foot drop-off.

Lana waited until the helicopter was settled in place, then she unbuckled her seat belt.

“You’re not going out there, are you?” Ash’s eyes widened.

“Don’t worry. I’ve been here before.”

“If you get blown off the mountain, I’m not jumping after you.” Ash killed the propellers and unbuckled her seat belt. The Lockett blood had too much protector built into it to keep her in the aircraft, no matter what Ash liked to say.

They edged along the ridge until they were out of the worst of the flurries. Here, they had the best view of Moose Springs. Several thousand feet below them, the town was a tiny dot against the base of the mountainside.

“Okay, why are we up here?” Ash asked. “If it’s because you’re buying the whole mountain range, you’ll need to hike down. My ass is leaving you up here to reconsider.”

Lana didn’t answer. She knew her reasonings weren’t going to be what her pilot would appreciate.

There were only about six and a half hours of daylight in Moose Springs in December, with the mountains obscuring much of the sun’s light. Farther north, that amount of time decreased to much less. Higher up where they were, Lana had a chance to feel more sunshine on her face than the people she cared about would feel down there.

She wasn’t oblivious to the privilege of being able to charter a flight to Overlook Ridge just because she needed some time to think and the perspective of distance to do it in.

“Watch out over there,” Ash warned, jutting her head to indicate a loose bit of rock beneath Lana’s boots.

Nodding gratitude at Ash’s warning, she braced her feet wider for stability. Sometimes in business, one had to step back from the minutiae that could bog a project down. Stand back and really see the project as the whole it was supposed to be, not the individual parts.

Moose Springs was Lana’s project, and lately, she’d been far too bogged down in the tiny details. Tiny details were important, but Lana had been raised to see the big picture first. Thirty thousand feet worked better when one was in an airplane, but three thousand feet worked too.

“There aren’t a lot of roads in and out of town, are there?”

Ash glanced at her. “Not many, but we keep them clear. Why?”

“I’m trying to see this from a different angle,” Lana said. “I know what the group wants for Moose Springs, and I know what Moose Springs wants for Moose Springs. I’m trying to see if there’s another way to look at it. There’s nothing else around here, is there?”

“No,” Ash grunted, crossing her arms. “Just us and the rest of the mountains.”

“And Moose Springs used to be a mining town?”

“They closed the mines a long time ago. No one’s opening them back up, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Lana shook her head. “I’m trying to imagine what would be here if the resort was gone. Why people would be here. How far they’d have to go to find work.”

Opening her mouth then shutting it again, Ash must have decided to keep her thoughts to herself. At least initially.