Only a Secret by Delancey Stewart

Author:Delancey Stewart [Stewart, Delancey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Delancey Stewart

Chapter 18

The Door

HARRISON

Aubrey and Penny disappeared into the darkened ski shop, which lay at one end of the resort, beneath the finished guest wing. Twenty minutes later, they rejoined the group, which was gathered on the patio outside, standing around the inactive fire pit, as if hoping it might spring to life and take the cutting chill from the air. The first snow was early, and winter seemed determined to stick.

Penny was decked out in hot pink ski pants and a jacket with a pink stripe across the front, a pair of black gloves, a hat with pom-pom on top of it, and snow boots. She looked adorable, and I had to fight the urge to get to work on the zipper, which she had pulled up to her chin.

“What do you think?”

“I won’t lose you on the ski hill,” I said. “Not in those pants.”

“Too much?” She did a little turn in front of me, grinning.

“Never.”

“Fashion show complete,” Ghost said, his barely contained excitement channeling into the pilot persona I remember trusting more than almost any other. Serious, focused, commanding. “Let’s go.” He turned and led the group off toward the trail.

Toward the treasure, we hoped.

Part of me wondered if it would be as exciting being here without the promise of Uncle Marvin’s booty suffusing the place with a kind of lingering magic. Though as she marched ahead of me, I thought that maybe the promise of Penny’s booty could be even more motivating.

When we arrived at the spot where the big rock marked the trap door, it was little more than a lump in the snow thanks to the endless flakes that had been falling.

Fake Tom got to work with the shovel he’d been carrying, and the rest of us watched.

“Will looks good performing manual labor,” Lucy commented to Monroe as they observed.

“Funny,” Fake Tom shot over his shoulder.

Monroe shrugged and bumped Lucy with her shoulder. “All yours. He’ll always be Fake Tom to me. Just a little too . . . something,” she said.

“I can hear you, you know,” Fake Tom said.

“Then you’re not working hard enough,” Monroe said.

I missed our squadron days a little bit just then. The easy camaraderie we’d all shared, the quick wit and sharp tongues, the complete trust in each other. Real life had proven to be somewhat less reassuring, and I’d never felt as capable as when I’d been in the cockpit with these guys on my wings.

“Good to go,” Fake Tom said, backing away from the exposed wood of the trap door.

“I’ll do the honors,” Aubrey said, stepping in to lift the door. It was heavy, and as soon as she lifted a corner, bending down awkwardly in the thick snow, it slipped from her hands. “Little help?”

“I thought you wanted to do the honors,” Wiley said, moving to the other corner of the door.

“Just need a hand, that’s all.”

“Hang on, I need to make a note of the first time in life you’ve ever admitted you need help,” Wiley said, smiling at her.

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