by Lisa Jackson
From far away, she heard a ringing, and her eyes flew open. She ran to her parents’ room and picked up the phone.
“Hey!” Chris said, and her knees actually buckled. She sat on the edge of her parents’ bed. “How would you like to go sledding tomorrow?”
“I’d love it!” she said, and, at least for the moment, the spirit of Christmas began to glimmer again, if only in her heart.
Chapter 10
New Year’s Eve dawned sunny but cold. Megan could see the icicles hanging from the eaves over her window. Although they reflected the sun’s brilliant rays, they did not melt, but instead hung tenaciously to the sill. It would be an ideal day to go sledding on Mohawk Mountain.
As usual, Megan was ready long before Chris was due to arrive. Such was her nature. The myth that women were forever late bothered her, as she had just the opposite problem. If anything, she was always ready for a date far too early, much to Leslie’s discomfort. Leslie was always late. “You’re just too organized,” she would shout at Megan, while rushing around and trying to get ready.
Now, Megan pulled on her new jeans and sweater and grabbed her ski jacket and some ski pants in case she needed them, both of which she crammed into a backpack. She also tucked in a swimming suit and towel, as Leslie had mentioned there was a pool at the resort. Slinging the pack over her shoulder, she was halfway down the stairs when the front door burst open.
“Surprise!” two familiar voices called out.
She hurried down the rest of the steps to find Natalie and Adam stomping the snow from their boots.
“We decided to stop by on our way home,” Natalie explained, her arm entwined through Adam’s. “It’s great to see you!”
“But it’s early.”
“I know. We came home a day early, to get settled in,” Natalie responded. “I’ve got to go to work the day after tomorrow. We took our chances and flew back here on standby tickets.”
“I wish I’d known. I’m on my way out. Sledding,” Megan said just as her mother, smelling of her last cigarette, hurried up and threw her arms around the newlyweds.
“Oh, my God! Natalie!” Carol was positively gushing as she threw her arms around her daughter and called over her shoulder, “Jim! It’s Natalie and Adam!”
As her father came into the foyer, Megan caught a glimpse of Chris’s car pulling into the snow-covered drive. She bit her lip and looked at Natalie. “Sorry. I’ve got to go.”
“With Chris?” Natalie asked, obviously having seen them together at the wedding and guessing the rest. A dark eyebrow arched inquisitively before her father’s arms swallowed her in a bear hug.
“Yeah.”
“Interesting,” Natalie said.
“Will you still be here tonight?” Megan asked her sister just as Adam gave her a big, brotherly hug that nearly squeezed the life from her. Another time she might have nearly swooned; now, spying Chris walking up the shoveled path, she couldn’t escape fast enough. She opened the door.
“Sure, Meg, we’ll be here,” Adam answered, and bussed her lightly on the cheek. Spying Chris, he stuck out his hand, then dragged his cousin close. “Been busy, I see.”
“A little.”
“Good to see you!” Adam said, but Chris, his jaw rock hard, his eyes darker than usual, just nodded and grabbed Megan’s arm.
“Ready?” he asked her.
She picked up her bag. “Yeah.”
Adam called, “See you around, Chris!” as they headed outside.
“Later,” Chris replied curtly, but never cast so much as a glance in Megan’s direction as he opened the car door for her, then slammed it once she was inside.
They began the drive to the mountain in silence. She pretended interest in the snowfall, and he fiddled with the radio until, once they were out of town, he snapped it off and said, “So, Meg, are you in love with Adam?”
“No,” she said, and for the first time in a long while, she knew she was telling the truth. Not that Chris really believed her. It didn’t matter; the sky cleared as they reached the mountain and connected with the other kids from LaSalle. Leslie was stuck like glue to Ken and, of course, Claire Wakefield was with Brad, who, at least to begin with, seemed sober. They sledded on inner tubes and toboggans, and Megan felt the bracing cold of the mountain air, the bite of snow as she fell off, and the warmth of Chris, his body always close to hers. They laughed and threw snowballs and made snow angels and got to know each other. When they spied a sprig of mistletoe left over from Christmas, they kissed, then laughed, a special joke between them.
After a few more runs down the hill followed by a quick lunch, a group decided to hit the pool. Though outdoors, it was heated and sounded like heaven. “I’ll meet you down there,” Megan whispered to Chris as they began to head out the door to the pool. “I left my purse back at the table.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You don’t need to. I need to change anyway.”
Chris seemed dubious, but Megan hurried back to the table, found her purse, and tucked it into her backpack before heading to the locker room, located down a short flight of stairs. Several girls from Upland-Gable were in the locker room, changing into swimwear. Ignoring them, Megan changed out of her sledding gear into her swimsuit, pulled out her lipstick, and found a mirror located behind a stack of blue lockers. The other girls were talking and laughing among themselves, but Megan didn’t think that they had seen her.
She had just snapped her purse shut and was about to head back up the stairs when a loud voice attracted her attention. She would have recognized it anywhere as belonging to Claire Wakefield.
Megan froze. She didn’t want to hear the conversation, but since Claire was on the other side of the bank of lockers, she had nowhere to go.
“Who’s that girl that Chris is with?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
“Chris Johnson?” Claire asked innocently. “I think her name is Megan something-or-other.” The contemptuous tone of Claire’s voice indicated her opinion of Megan, which just about matched her own of Claire Wakefield. What a snob!
“I’ve never seen her before,” was the other girl’s comment.
“She’s from Central.”
“Oh.” One word said it all.
“Isn’t she the girl who was with him at the LaSalle sleigh ride?” another voice asked.
“I guess so,” Claire commented dryly. “I really didn’t notice.”
“Come off it, Claire. You couldn’t take your eyes off of Chris all night.” Megan recognized the voice as belonging to Jeanette Mc-Davis.
“I was with Brad, Jeanette, so I barely noticed Chris,” Claire countered angrily.
Megan held her tongue.
“Yeah, but . . .” Jeanette’s voice filled the locker room. “I know you were with Brad on the sleigh ride, Claire. I was there, remember? And, okay, so you’re with Brad again today. But what’s that all about? I thought you broke up with him.”
“We got back together,” Claire said.
Jeaneatte obviously wasn’t buying it. “Because Chris wasn’t interested.”
“Give me a break.” Claire sounded bored.
“Fine.” Jeaneatte seemed tired of the argument. “Come on, let’s go to the pool. The guys are probably already there.”
“They can wait for a few minutes. I’m not ready.”
“We’ll meet you up at the pool then,” Jeanette called.
Megan heard the sound of retreating footsteps. She and Claire were in the locker room, alone. She felt her mouth become dry and the sweat begin to bead on her forehead, then she told herself to get over it. She couldn’t let one girl intimidate her. So Claire had been interested in Chris—so what?
Claire came around the corner of the stacked lockers and met Megan’s gaze in the mirror. Her poise faltered for just a moment, but she recovered quickly. Adjusting the straps of the bikini visible through her cover-up, she stared pointedly at Megan.
“Well . . . this is embarrassing.” Claire found a tub
e of lip gloss and touched up the shine on her lips.
“Yeah. Awkward.”
“No doubt you overhead the conversation I had with my friends.”
Megan nodded, wishing she could think of something clever to say. God, she’d be terrible on the debate team if she ever made it through tryouts. One look from this girl and she found her throat frozen. Claire tossed her blond locks behind her ears and pouted into the mirror as she surveyed herself. “How are you getting along with Chris?” she asked casually as she slipped the lip gloss into her purse.
“Fine,” Megan answered noncommittally.
“He’s a nice guy.”
“Uh-huh.”
“For the life of me, I can’t imagine how the two of you ever got together.”
“He’s . . . a cousin of my brother-in-law.” Why was she explaining herself to Claire?
“Oh, I see. You’re related.”
“No . . . he’s related to my sister’s husband.”
“Cozy.” Claire’s eyes moved back to her own image. She smiled as she brushed her long, thick blond hair.
Though Megan wanted to say something more cutting to Claire, she only managed a quick, “It’s just the right amount of cozy,” then walked to the stairs to get out of Claire’s dagger-like stare.
Megan followed signs to the pool area and found Chris and some other kids already in the aquamarine water. Steam rose from the pool, and the cold air was bracing.
“What took you so long?” he asked, taking her arm in his and pulling her closer to him after she got into the pool.
“I . . . I ran into a girl I know, down in the locker room,” Megan replied, all too aware of his nearly naked body touching hers. Wet skin to wet skin. No way was she going to mention her conversation with Claire. Not today.
Chris smiled warmly and kissed her cheek. With a wink, he said, “Well, I’m glad you finally made it up here.”
“Me too.”
Claire had dived perfectly into the water, and come up near Brad. Leslie and Ken were making out in one corner, and the other kids were swimming and splashing. Several of the boys were loud, their voices echoing over the water, and Brad, again, was the ring leader.
Megan remembered the last time that she had seen them act this way—on the night of the sleigh ride. She wondered if Brad and his friends had been drinking again. As the hours rolled past, Brad became more and more boisterous, pushing other kids into the pool, even a poor girl who was dressed in her ski clothes.
“It looks like Brad didn’t learn his lesson,” Chris said. “If Father Anthony catches him, he’ll be thrown off the team and out of school.” He shook his head. “And we’ll all be in for it.” Sighing, he added, “Maybe we’d better get going.”
Other kids were already climbing out of the pool. Even Claire, dunked one too many times by Brad, had left him.
Megan glanced up at the sky, clouds now covering the moon, a few snowflakes beginning to fall from the dark heavens. She hated the thought of leaving, of ending the fun, but Chris was right, so they agreed to change in the locker rooms and meet in the parking lot at the car.
By the time Megan found Chris, he’d already started his car, the engine idling, the heater blasting. Snow was falling steadily again, and there was talk of the roads icing over. It was time to go. As Megan slid into the passenger seat she spied Brad, dressed in ski gear again, but walking cautiously as if staying upright was difficult. He nearly fell into the backseat of Ken’s car and found the whole incident uproarious.
Chris’s jaw clamped tight. “Ass,” he said, then turned his attention to watch Claire, her hair pulled away from her face, her usually perfect makeup gone, cast a wistful glance toward Chris’s car before sliding in with her date. What was going on here? Megan wondered.
As the other car pulled out of the lot, Megan got a glimpse of Brad kissing Claire; her eyes were open, staring over his shoulder, as if she really wasn’t into making out, at least not with him.
Megan figured she knew why, and it had more to do with Chris than the boy Claire was with. As Chris drove down the winding mountain road, Megan said, “So I overheard Claire and some of her friends talking. They think she’s got a thing for you.”
“A thing?” he repeated, but he didn’t smile.
“Whatever you want to call it.”
“I don’t want to call it anything.”
“Something’s going on. I saw how she looked at you, and, sometimes, it seemed like you were looking back.”
“Jealous?” He slid her a glance.
“Should I be?”
“No.” But then, to her surprise, he pulled off the road, stopping at a lower parking lot reserved for cross-country skiers. Chris’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” he admitted as the wipers slapped snowflakes off the windshield.
“About what?” Oh, God, was he going to tell her he was in love with some other girl, that they shouldn’t date, that being together was all a mistake?
“Me. And . . . and the fact that I used to date Claire.”
A part of Megan wasn’t surprised. A part of her was. Another part was disappointed. As the windows started to fog over from their mingled breaths, she wished she could run away. If Chris still loved Claire, Megan didn’t want to hear it.
“It’s over,” he assured her, but she wasn’t convinced. “I met her late last summer when we moved here from Boston. She lives a few houses away from me and, well, she invited me over to her house for a swim one day.”
“A swim?” Ironic, Megan thought as she remembered Claire in her little bikini casting flirty looks at Chris in the outdoor pool.
Chris shrugged. “It wasn’t any big deal, at least not to me. She had another boyfriend. . . .”
“Brad?”
Chris nodded. “He was away for the summer, and so Claire and I were together a lot. Until school started, I didn’t know many of the kids at LaSalle, and then Claire and a couple of her friends at Upland-Gable. So we hung out.” It explained a lot. “Anyway, Brad came back, and for a while we both dated her. I wasn’t really all that interested in her, but she had been nice to me when I didn’t know a soul.”
Megan had trouble thinking that Claire could actually be nice to anybody, but she wondered if she had judged the Upland girl too harshly. It wasn’t easy to lose someone you cared for, even if you did have a backup boyfriend in tow.
“Did you break it off with her?” she asked.
“I didn’t have to.”
“Because of Brad.”
“Yeah, but I did call her, the day after Adam’s wedding. The day after I met you,” he said. “And I made sure she understood that I was interested in someone else and we could be ‘friends.’ ”
“And how did she take it?”
“Like a dare, I guess.” He looked over at Megan in the dark interior of the car. “It was like she didn’t believe me, even though she was dating Brad. But seeing you, with me, I think she finally understood.” He sighed. “It’s funny.”
“Funny?”
“Yeah, she didn’t really want to be with me. I think she kind of used me to get back at Brad. But once she couldn’t have me, she got a little more interested.”
“And what about you? How do you feel?”
“It’s over with her. You see, I’ve found someone else, a girl from Central. The trouble is, I’m not sure she likes me.”
Megan felt herself smiling. “I think she probably does,” she said, and he laughed, flicked on the ignition, and drove the rest of the way to her house. Once he’d parked, he carried Megan’s backpack to the door. Natalie and Adam’s car was gone. “I guess they got tired of waiting,” Megan said, disappointed, though it was as much about missing her sister as it was about Adam, which was a surprise. She wondered if the change in her feelings was because he was married now, officially had become her sister’s husband, or because of Chris.
It didn’t take long for her to decide. She was falling in love with Chris. It was just that simple, and the thought of it brought a smile to her face. When he dropped her backpack onto the porch, she didn’t wait for him, but put her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. He glanced overhead, as if searching for a sprig of mistletoe, but she giggled.
“It’s not there,” she assured him.
“No?”
“Uh-uh. No tricks this time. Just you and me and the fact that I want to kiss you very, very much.” And so she did it again, and this time his arms surrounded her and he drew her close. She swayed against him, closing her eyes and thinking that she’d been foolish, mooning over Adam for far too long. Maybe it had been because Adam was off-limits and could always be a fantasy, but this boy with his sexy smile, devilish glint in his eyes, and way of looking at her as if he really cared, he was the here and now. Real.
And if she thought about it, she was pretty sure she could fall in love with him.
Maybe forever.
Chapter 11
“Megan?” Adam’s voice caught her off guard, bringing her crashing back to the here-and-now of the waiting room at County General. With a start, she looked up to find him standing over her, his face a mask of concern. “How is he?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted, and turned her head to glance at the chart again. Nearly an hour had passed since she’d last read the information on his chart. Her heart sank. No change. “He’s been in surgery for four hours.” It seemed like a lifetime. “I talked to his admitting nurse, though.” As Adam took the chair next to hers, she explained the situation as best she knew it and realized how little that was.
Once she was finished, he snorted, his jaw set. “And they’re not telling you anything else? That’s ridiculous.” Jerking his head toward the woman manning the single desk, he said, “We need answers.”
“I’m sure we’ll get them as soon as there are any.”
“I’m not so certain.” His lips were compressed, and he was agitated. “I’ll talk to them.”