Crack In The Ice - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Almost everyone's already there when I go down from my room to The Lodge.
Olie sees me first. She stands so I can take a seat at the circular booth by the window, next to Chloe. Olie slides back in next to me, making us a little tight.
Gus sits next to Chloe, followed by Olie redheaded friend Kate, who's leaning into Olie's ex Trey Coleman's shoulder. Next to Trey, sit James Lowell and Chloe's brother Connor.
Paige comes over, her gray apron around her waist and a low blonde ponytail. "Hey, guys."
Connor smiles at her, stepping outside the booth to kiss her on the cheek. "Hey," he says to a blushing Paige.
I have no idea when and how that particular development took place, but I don't really care either.
"Thought you and Han were joining us. Not working," Olivia says with a little frown.
As if on cue, Hannah steps out of the kitchen in an identical apron and ponytail, waving at us with one hand while the other balances a tray.
"We will," Paige says. "Finn is late for his shift and Daisy is sick, so Han and I are doing a little overtime, but we'll be done soon."
"Can you take our orders while you're on overtime?" Kate asks, batting her made-up lashes.
Olie looks at her. "Kay."
"What?" Kate pouts.
"It's fine." Paige smiles, pulling out a notepad and pen from the pocket on her apron. "What will you be having?"
"A mocha latte with extra cream, please," Kate orders.
"Just plain decaf for me," Trey Coleman says, sliding an arm around Kate's shoulders.
Paige nods, scribbling on her pad. "One mocha latte with extra cream, one decaf-," she glances up at the rest of the table, "-two lattes, one with almond milk for Nat, one with normal milk for Gus, one sugarless black coffee for Chloe, an expresso for Liam, two hot chocolates for Connor and James, and one cappuccino for Olie."
She looks up, while she's still finishing off writing something. "Anything to eat? Besides a slice of 'the most outrageous cake we have' for Olie?"
Olie grins. "You do your job good."
"I think that's all, Paige, thanks," Nat says.
"Actually, I want that outrageous slice too," Gus says.
"That's not on your diet plan," Chloe teases through a half-smile.
Gus doesn't even look up. "It's Christmas, Chloe. Fuck the diet plan."
Chloe raises her eyebrows. "Gee, okay. No need to get pissy."
"I'll be right back with your orders," Paige tells us before taking off.
"Are we waiting for anyone else besides Rachel?" Olie asks.
I look at her. "Rachel is coming?"
She smiles shrewdly at me. "Yeah."
I frown. "I didn't know she was in town."
"Got here last night," Olie says.
"Okay."
"I think Devin Miller is coming too," Connor chimes in.
"The skier?" Kate asks, at the same time Trey asks, "Dean's brother?"
"Yeah," Connor says.
"I think he and Hannah are together," Nat says.
Kate wrinkles her nose. "That's weird. Didn't Han have a thing with Dean?"
Trey tilts his head. "I think she was with Owen, not Dean."
"Think it was both, actually," Olie says. "Hooked up with Dean in his sophomore year. Then had an on-and-off thing with my brother for a while in his senior year."
"No. Holmes definitely hooked up with Hannah when we were freshmen," Trey says. "I was there when they met."
"I can assure you they were seeing each other when my brother was a senior," Olivia challenges. "Owen's hilarious when he tries to be cagey, it's impossible not to notice."
"I'm telling you they hooked up when he was a freshman," Trey insists.
"I'm not saying you're wrong. Just that I'm right," Olie counters.
"Doesn't matter," Kate cuts them off. "I just said it was weird for her to date Devin if she had a thing with Dean."
"They just hooked up once, I think," Connor says.
"Still. They're brothers. It's strange," Kate says.
Connor shrugs. "It's a small town."
"It's still weird."
"You're dating my ex. Is that weird?"
Everyone looks at Olie. The moment of tension lasts only a fraction of a second before Trey snorts and Olivia cracks a smile. But I see Kate pull back from the table to lean into Trey's side, her own arms crossed over her chest.
"I'm gonna go help Paige bring our orders," I say.
Olie stands to let me through and before she sits down, Chloe says, "I'll help you."
Olie looks between the two of us and shrugs. "I'll go with you two."
From the counter, Paige smiles as she sees us approach. "Thanks, guys. Let me just finish the hot chocolates."
She walks away into the kitchen and I look back at the table, where James Lowell sits between Trey and Connor. Chloe follows my line of sight. I give her a questioning look and she rolls her eyes.
Olie seems to catch on the little exchange. She narrows her eyes at me before turning to Chloe.
"You ever gave James an answer on his proposal?"
My jaw slacks. My gaze floats between Chloe's unimpressed expression to Olie's smug one.
I settle on Chloe, finally. "You told her."
It sounds like an accusation, because it's meant as one.
"No," Chloe says simply.
Olie smiles.
I gasp. "You did. She knows." I pout. "I thought I was special."
"She knows, but I didn't tell her," Chloe says.
I turn to Olie. "How do you know if Chloe didn't tell you?"
Olie shrugs. "I know most things."
I narrow my eyes. "Witchcraft."
"Close." She smiles. "Gossip."
My eyes widen and even Chloe looks mildly interested.
Olie puts us out of our misery. "Marlene, who works at the jewelry store, saw James buy the ring and told her sister, Justine, who works front-desk at the resort with me. And there's just not much Justine keeps to herself. I was never good at math, but I can still put two and two together."
"Wow."
She smiles proudly. "Not much gets past me."
"Bet I know stuff you don't know," I say.
"Mh. Bet you don't."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
I narrow my eyes at her.
"In case you're still interested," Chloe breaks through our staring contest. "James and I talked. He's fine with keeping the ring and proposing again after the Olympics."
"Really? That's great." I smile. "Right? It's what you wanted?"
Chloe smiles a little too. "Yeah."
Paige comes back with two steaming mugs and sets them on a new tray. "I'm going to go cut the two slices of cake. Can you start taking the drinks to the table please?"
Chloe, Olie and I each grab a tray to balance cups and mugs on it. I've seen Hannah and Paige balance these trays full of drinks and not drop them, but the three of us don't have the skill for that, so we take them a little lighter.
Years ago, I used to see Eli carry these trays full of drinks too. He used to tease me for only taking half the load so I wouldn't drop them. Once I tried taking a full tray to shut him up. I dropped it. He laughed at me, but helped me clean it up. I pushed my luck by letting my hand brush his as we were picking up pieces of a broken mug. He let me had a single second before pulling away without eye contact to grab a mop.
"Earth to Liam."
I blink rapidly. "Sorry, what."
Olie smiles. "You and Rachel ever talked after she went away?"
I look at her from the corner of my eye, as I carefully set the tray on the table for people to grab their drinks.
"Probing for gossip?" I match her low tone, which gets drowned out by the chatter around us.
Olie smiles. "No. I already know. Rachel tells me everything."
"Even after she moved away for college?"
"Yeah. It's this modern thing called phones. The wonders they do for long-distance communication."
I roll my eyes at her, sliding back in my seat after Chloe. "You're funny."
"I know," Olie says.
"Seriously," I say. "Ever considered a career in comedy?"
Olie nods. "Many times."
"You should. Chloe," I nudge her with my elbow, "tell her she should."
"You two exhaust me," Chloe says.
Olie and I exchange a smile.
Olie pulls her cappuccino to her to blow on it. "Rachel?"
I shrug. "We don't talk much."
"I know."
I roll my eyes. "It's fine, though. It's not weird or anything. Seeing her."
"Mhm."
"We were never serious."
"Mh."
"It's honestly fine."
Olie looks at me without expression.
"We talked before she left," I say. "There are no hard feelings."
"What about some soft ones?"
"You're starting to exhaust me too."
She laughs, shoveling red velvet and cream cheese into her mouth.
Chloe digs her heel into my toes non-too-gently and I yelp. "What?"
She nods toward the door.
Rachel McKinnon used to be one fourth of Olie's friend group in high school. Along with Paige and Kate, they were all in the drama club together, and one year behind us. When Paige started working part-time at The Lodge, in their senior year, the other three starting hanging around a lot. That's how I got to know Rachel.
After they graduated, Rachel was the only one who moved away for school. Paige started full-time at The Lodge, Olie started working front-desk, and Kate jumps between different retail jobs.
I haven't heard much of Rachel since we parted, but it's hard not to keep up with the other three. Not a lot to do in small towns aside from talking about other people's lives.
Rachel reaches our table with a long sigh. "Sorry I'm late, guys. My mom thinks I owe her every hour that I spent away."
Olie smiles, standing up to hug her friend. "It's fine. Just glad you're here."
"Want anything, Rach?" Paige asks.
"An expresso, please."
"Right away."
"Thanks."
As Paige goes to get her drink, L
Olie gestures for Rachel to take her seat. Rachel slides in next to me, making everyone wiggle a little closer when Olie slides back to the end, squeezing her friend between us.
At nine sitting around a single booth, we are officially too tight to be comfortable. And Rachel is pressed right to my side.
I give Olie a look to let her know she's completely transparent, but the little shit doesn't even look my way.
"Hey," Rachel says to me.
"Hey." I smile.
"I've been following your competitions. You two are doing great." She shoots a smile Chloe's way.
Chloe returns the smile. "Thanks."
"Can't wait to root for you two at the Olympics."
"Thanks." I grin. "What about you? How's  college senior year?"
"Busy. But I like it."
"You always did see the empty slots of your calendar as a challenge."
She laughs. "I promise I'm getting better at that. Been taking some lessons from Olie on self-care."
"She is the master," I muse.
Olie smiles. "Damn right."
"And what's your self-care like? Asking for a friend," I say.
"Started volunteering at an animal shelter near school," Rachel says.
I frown. "That's work."
"Unpaid work," Olie adds.
Rachel shrugs. "Kinda. It's mostly just hanging out with puppies for a couple of hours a week, to be honest."
"Got any pictures?" I ask.
"Sure. What do I get if I show them to you?"
I smile. "My profuse gratitude."
She narrows her eyes. "What can I do with that?"
I shrug. "Claim some favors."
"Is that so? What kind of favors?"
"Depends on my mood."
"Mh. I'll keep that in mind."
I snort. "You should."
As Rachel reaches for her phone in her back pocket, with some difficulty due to the lack of space, Olie catches my eye from over her shoulder. Her smile is completely transparent, but I don't think she cares.