The moment Vicki was out of the room, Henry turned to her and said, “What the hell, Lainey? Is this your idea of payback for Thanksgiving? I’m sorry, okay?”
Lainey didn’t know what bothered her more—that Henry was blind to Vicki’s manipulation or that he actually believed Lainey would try to hurt him that way.
“Don’t be an ass,” she hissed in a low tone. “You know I can’t spend a week in Vail.”
“Can’t you just try to get along with them?”
His words were like a punch to the gut. Lainey had been doing nothing but trying. Biting her tongue, forcing a smile when she wanted to rip into Vicki for taking advantage of her brother and acting like the spoiled princess brat she was.
She pushed away from the island, leaving her half-eaten sandwich. Her appetite was gone.
“I do try, Henry, but it would be nice if she met me halfway.”
His face was tortured. “She’ll come around. Give her time.”
“You’re my brother. I will always love you, and I will always be there for you. But I refuse to be treated like crap because your girlfriend feels threatened by your twin sister, for God’s sake.”
“She’s an only child. She doesn’t understand.”
“Then help her understand. She’s a big girl.”
Henry clamped his lips shut, and Lainey knew the conversation was over. It was so frustrating! Henry was a great guy, and he deserved so much better than Vicki, but for whatever reason, he either couldn’t or didn’t see that.
It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, and if Lainey stayed any longer, it would end the same way it always did—with her telling Henry what she really thought and him telling her to back off.
“Thanks for the sandwich, but I have to run. Happy Thanksgiving.”
Lainey didn’t wait for a response. She gathered her jacket and went out to her SUV, angry with herself for losing her temper. Henry was her twin, the only family she had left. She was just looking out for him, wanting him to be happy.
Henry was a quiet, patient man, but he wasn’t a doormat. Eventually, Vicki would push him too far, and then that would be the end of that. Lainey only hoped that he came to his senses sooner rather than later.
In typical Vermont fashion, icy-cold rain began to pelt the windshield about halfway into the two-hour drive back to her place. It was barely six p.m., but the sky was black as pitch. Lainey kept a close eye on the digital dash thermometer as she ascended into the higher elevation. The roads were already slick enough with wet fallen leaves covering them; the last thing she needed was for them to start icing up too.
The rain had changed to sleet by the time she pulled safely into her driveway. One step on the iced-up asphalt confirmed that she’d made it home just in time. Perhaps the words she’d had with Henry were a blessing in disguise. If she hadn’t left when she did, she might have been stuck in the valley for the night.
Lainey changed into comfortable lounge pants and an oversize jersey. Then, she made herself a cup of soothing herbal tea and curled up on the sofa with a fleece blanket.
What was she going to do about Christmas? Going to Vail was definitely not an option. Now that she’d told Henry she had other plans, she should make some. Besides, the thought of spending the holidays alone was depressing.
Better get used to it, Lainey.
She opened her laptop and searched holiday travel packages. Some were tropical island getaways, which she dismissed almost immediately. She wasn’t a hot weather island kind of girl, preferring cooler temps and fresh powder to sun and sand.
A hiking tour of Europe sounded interesting. She bookmarked that one.
Australia? Yeah, she’d always wanted to go there, but winter in North America meant it was summer there, so she put that on hold.
Glass igloo package in Finland? Sounded great ... until she looked at the price. She bookmarked that one too anyway. She was allowed to treat herself once in a while, right?
She was about to call it quits for the night when a pop-up window caught her attention. The image was a polar bear peeking into a window with the caption, Got seal? Intrigued, she clicked on the ad and was taken to a site for Aurora Falls, the self-proclaimed polar bear capital of the world.
The more she read about Aurora Falls, the more intrigued she was. The small village was located on a peninsula in northern Canada, which became an island at certain times of the year. According to several online scientific publications, Aurora Falls was home to species of animals and plants found nowhere else in the world. As it was also in a key position along a polar bear migratory route, it boasted the world’s highest population of polar bears.
Lainey was intrigued. She’d had an affinity for polar bears since she was a little girl. She clicked through the images, her smile growing wider at the pictures of massive polar bears ambling through town, peeking into windows, and striking poses on the ice.
A trip to Aurora Falls sounded like exactly what she needed.
Chapter Two
Finn
“Can you cover for me?”
Finn Isberson accepted the bowl of butter-laden dumplings from his brother-in-law, scooping a hefty portion onto his plate, right alongside the heavily marbled steak. One of the great things about being a polar bear shifter was the ability to process fat without the health implications humans had to worry about.
“Sure, no problem.”
It didn’t matter that Steve was human. He and Finn had been best friends since they were boys, and the years hadn’t changed that. If Steve needed his help, Finn was there for him even if that meant going into town and dealing with tourists.
“I wish you didn’t have to go so far,” Finn’s mother said, worry in her eyes. “There’s a storm brewing. What if you get stuck on the mainland? It could be weeks before you get back.”
“I’ll be fine, Mom,” Hildie answered, rubbing her baby bump. “We’ll be back in plenty of time for Christmas.”
His mother sighed. “What we need is a doctor here, in Aurora Falls. One who can see to our needs.”
“Not likely,” Finn’s dad scoffed. “Docs don’t want to set up in places like Aurora Falls. They want to be where the money is.”
Not only would they need to relocate to a place where freezing temperatures were the norm up to eight months out of the year, but they’d also have to be strong enough to resist the temptation of exposing a centuries-old secret that would undoubtedly bring them notoriety and wealth, Finn thought to himself. In his limited experience, that eliminated most of the world’s human population.
It was a fine line they walked between the worlds of animal and human. With the ice caps melting and their numbers dwindling along with their food sources, they’d entered into a mutually beneficial alliance with the citizens of Aurora Falls, who’d been having some sustainability issues of their own. That agreement—and the knowledge that came with it—was a closely guarded secret and did not extend to outsiders.
“When’s the next tour group coming in?” Finn asked Steve.
“Tomorrow. It’s a small group. Beau’s flying them in early for the holidays.”
Finn nodded. Beau—aka Melvin Beauchamp—was a good friend of theirs. A local guy and former serviceman, he handled most of the transportation for the nearly lodge as well as ran popular helicopter tours.