She was a tourist, doing touristy things. And yes, he’d ruined her Christmas Eve, but there would be more in the future for her to enjoy.

Her moment of contemplation was interrupted by the howling of dogs, and she emerged through the trees to see a crazy amount of activity in front of the lodge.

“Alix!” Robyn waved her over. “This is Erik’s cousin, Astrid. Her family owns the dogsledding business that we use for our guests. Usually, we take the guests to her, but today she has bought the dogs to us so that we can give Holly a little taster ride.”

Alix’s mood lifted. It was chaos, and chaos was good. It reduced the chance of awkward intimate encounters with Zac.

He was standing to one side with Seb, who was zipping Holly into what looked like a onesie.

“Thermal,” Christy said, appearing by her side. “We don’t want her getting cold. Of course, I’m totally freezing, but don’t anyone worry about that. How was your night?”

Alix ignored the meaningful look and deliberately chose to misunderstand. “Satisfying. Eight hours of uninterrupted sleep does that for me. What’s the plan here?”

“Robyn is going to drive the bigger sled so that Seb and I can be with Holly.”

Alix glanced at the other sled. “But—”

“This is for you and Zac.” Astrid beamed at her. “It’s a two-person. We thought you’d like a chance to try it out by yourselves. Tonight will be different. Erik will be your musher, and you’ll be able to enjoy the trip. It’s going to be romantic.”

That was fast turning out to be her least favorite word.

Still, at least Zac was too far away to overhear.

“You actually want me to drive this thing?” Alix moved closer to the sled, while the dog teams howled and yipped around her in a chorus of anticipation. When Robyn told them she’d arranged a dogsled ride through the forest, Alix hadn’t expected to be driving the team herself. She’d imagined sitting in the sled, letting someone else do the work while she enjoyed the scenery. It wouldn’t be romantic at all, she thought. The way she felt at the moment she was probably going to kill him and throw his body into the forest. “When you mentioned taking Holly on a short sled ride, I assumed I’d be a passenger and someone else would be in charge of the tough stuff. What if the dogs run away?”

“That’s the point.” Robyn harnessed the dogs to the sled. “This will only be a short trip. We don’t normally recommend it for children of Holly’s age, but she loves the dogs, and it’s a special thing to do. We need to make sure she doesn’t get cold.”

“I’m not cold.” Holly was bundled up in arctic gear borrowed from Erik’s sister. The warm, insulated clothing hampered movement, but still Holly managed to make everyone nervous with her ability to find danger.

“Sit down while we get organized.” Christy tried to grab her daughter as she tripped over the harness.