The snow so many had felt and smelled on the air had settled on the tip of Taos Mountain, which would undoubtedly make the skiers happy. Max rolled his shoulders, realizing he hadn’t slept well. Not that he’d dreamed, at least not that he remembered. He’d thought of Lake. He’d thought of Alyssa, and somewhere in his mind the two had entangled and had left him worried and anxious. He could still see the way Lake had looked at the gate last night after Alyssa had walked through it, warning him to watch out for her.Irritation slithered through him as he finished shaving. Cold outside air blew fresh through the cracked window. He hated stuffy air and, though it was cold, it wasn’t that cold. Max breathed deep and tried again to figure out what worried him about…about…what? Was it that Alyssa was more at peace lately than she had been in a long time? That she was no longer worried—or quite so worried—that she was weird and different? Actually, she’d probably always be weird and different by some people’s standards, but she was a tad more mainstream than she had been.
