Memories: A Husband to RememberNew Year's Daddy (Hqn)

by Jackson, Lisa

  “Anything’s better than hanging around this place,” Bryan growled, but Travis had noticed a spark of interest—the first since they’d moved here—in his son’s sullen eyes.

  *

  The next day Travis and Bryan headed to Mount Echo. After skiing together for a while, they split up and agreed to meet at two o’clock. Now, Bryan was looking down a very steep run. He had heard about Devil’s Spine from Marty Sinclair, a friend of his in Seattle who had bragged about “getting twenty feet of air,” by jumping off the spine. Marty had bragged and laughed as he’d rolled a joint and offered it to Bryan, who had declined and been rewarded with a cloud of smoke exhaled in his face. Bryan had determined for himself that if Marty could make the jump, so could he. Never mind that he was already late meeting his dad at the lodge, never mind that the run was obviously closed and he’d had to cross-country it over to the ridge, never mind that he was cold and tired and was, deep inside, a little bit chicken about doing this. He had a point to prove. To Marty. To his dad. And especially to himself.

  He’d eyed the jump and it was nowhere near twenty feet. Maybe six or eight, but twenty? No way. Poised at the top of the narrow canyon that wound steeply between trees and cliffs on either side, he screwed up his courage, planted his poles and took off. Tucked low, faster and faster he sped, his skis skimming over the trail. The snow was glazed with ice, bumps carved into the pack so hard they sent shock waves through his legs as he raced through the narrow channel. But there was no turning back. Fir branches slapped at his face, but he didn’t care. He took the final turn and the world seemed to open up as the trees gave way and there was nothing in front of him but cloudy sky. With a final push, he was airborne, soaring through the frigid air, wind rushing at his face, his entire body free and sailing through the sky.

  Adrenaline charged through his bloodstream as he looked over the tops of trees. His heart nearly stopped when he finally glanced down, preparing for his landing. He braced himself, keeping his knees loose. It’ll be okay. If Marty can do it, so can I! But his heart was pounding in fear. His mouth was dry. What if he didn’t land right? What if he turned an ankle. What if—

  Bam!

  His skis slammed into the ground. His body jarred. He was speeding downhill. He’d done it! Exhilaration swept through him just as his right ski caught an edge. He tried to right himself and overcompensated. Before he knew what was happening, he was falling, head over heels. One binding released. His ski flew off and he was tumbling ever faster toward a small fir tree. The second biding broke free. He tried to break his fall, but couldn’t dig in. The sky and ground blurred. “Oh, God,” he yelled, snow filling his mouth.

  He careered into a tree, his body jerked by the force. With a yowl, he felt pain—intense, blinding and hot—scream up his leg and he realized that he was all alone, on a part of the mountain that was closed, where no one would find him. He tried to yell, but blackness swirled in front of his eyes and he had to fight to stay awake. He screamed before the darkness surrounded him again and this time, though he struggled, he passed out. His final conscious thought was that he was going to die. Alone.

  Not that his parents would care….

  Chapter Two

  VERONICA ANGLED HER skis, cutting the edges into the fresh snow as she glared up at the summit of Mount Echo, a jagged, craggy peak nearly concealed by the clouds that clung to its uppermost reaches. A terrain of savage beauty, one journalist had written. Treacherous. Unforgiving. Cruel. “Damn you,” she whispered, then snapped her goggles over her eyes.

  This is crazy, Ronni! You can’t keep blaming the mountain for Hank’s death! It’s been four years. Enough time to heal. Time to move forward with your life.

  Then why did she feel that she couldn’t breathe sometimes, that the need to get back at someone or something was so great it suffocated her? She’d suffered through a grief support group, cried on her sister’s shoulder, forced herself to smile for her child’s sake, but had never completely come to terms with the fact that Hank was gone—irretrievably and forever.

  “Get over it,” she told herself, dismayed that she’d actually sworn at the mountain. Adjusting her straps, she turned her back to the wind that whistled above the timberline and planted her poles. Expertly she skied down a wide, tree-lined bowl. Most of the skiers seemed to be handling the gentle slope of North Alpine Run without much difficulty, though a few hotdoggers and snow boarders barreled at breakneck speeds past their more cautious counterparts.

  Veering to the left, Ronni steered down a narrow cat track that headed into rougher territory, where the steeper grade of Redrock Canyon usually took its toll on less experienced skiers. As part of the rescue team, she patrolled the slopes, helping stranded or injured skiers get back to the lodge safely. Years ago, before the accident, she and Hank had worked the slopes together and after his death, she’d continued her association with the rescue team, helping the injured, vowing to prevent Echo from taking more victims, hoping to assuage the guilt that still kept her awake some nights. It was her personal quest—her vendetta against Mother Nature.

  She spied a little girl in a pink ski outfit who seemed alone and lost. The child, around twelve, judging by her size, was standing on the edge of Jackpine Run, a trail that changed from softly rolling terrain to a steep mogul-filled slope. Veronica was about to see if the child needed help, when a man—probably the kid’s father—swooshed up to her and together they tackled the difficult terrain.

  All in all it had been a quiet day, thank God, but the temperature had dropped, the wind had picked up and on the east face even the groomed runs were icy. Treacherous. Unforgiving. She plunged her poles into the snow and started downhill. For years she’d told herself to give up this part-time job. Between managing her growing mail-order business and being both mother and father to Amy, she had her hands full. But she couldn’t stop. It was as if she was compelled to tackle Mount Echo, to try to save lives, to help the injured, all the while spitting in the face of the mountain that she loved and hated.

  She probably needed to see a psychiatrist, she thought, someone to help her quit blaming herself and the mountain for Hank’s death.

  Skiing down a final slope, she weaved easily through the throng that had collected around the base lodge. Skiers and snowboarders were moving in all directions, heading for the warmth of the lodge, the lift-ticket lines, the chairlifts, rope tow or parking lot. On the back deck of the lodge a crew was still barbecuing chicken. Black, fragrant smoke curled to the sky, and each time the lodge door opened, the sound of music added a throbbing backbeat to the general hubbub.

  Maneuvering to the emergency hut, she was just pushing out of her bindings when Bobby Sawyer threw open the door. “We’ve got two new ones, Ronni,” he said as he stretched his fingers into his gloves. “Both on the north side. One on Double Spur, the other in Devil’s Hollow.”

  “Let’s go.” She snapped off her skis, held them against her and together they climbed onto a waiting snowmobile. Bobby drove and Ronni tucked her head against the wind. The snowmobile roared up an icy cat track, away from the skiers.

  Yelling to be heard over the noise of the engine, Bobby filled Veronica in on the details. “I’ll go up to Double Spur, that’s where a little girl slammed into a tree. There’s a possible head injury and we may have to life-flight her.”

  Ronni’s heart sank. No! No! No! This mountain couldn’t claim another life, not that of a child.

  “The other injury is a kid who was taking a jump off the rocks on Devil’s Spine. I think he ended up tangling with a tree. From the reports it sounds like leg problems. Tim’s already coming with the sled.”

  “When did it happen?”

  “Someone saw him less than ten minutes ago.”

  “I thought the spine was closed today.”

  “Either the guy can’t read or he ignored the warnings.”

  There was always some fool who didn’t think the rules applied to him and took off on his own. Bobby dropped her of
f near the empty chairlift that linked the base lodge with all the runs shooting off Devil’s Hollow and Veronica snapped on her skis. She sped under the lift, shot through a narrow trail that cut through the trees to the ridge of boulders and run that was known as Devil’s Spine or just the spine. Icy and treacherous, the mountain wasn’t giving an inch on this side. She caught a glimpse of the downed skier lying in the snow beneath the rocks. Both skis had been thrown off. One lay split near the protruding red boulders that formed the vertebrae of the spine; his other ski was tangled in the broken branches of a small fir tree.

  “Hang in there, kid,” Veronica said under her breath as she skied down to him. “Hey, you all right?” she said when she reached him.

  He didn’t move.

  “Oh, God.”

  First-aid training swept through her mind.

  She was out of her skis and next to him in an instant. “Hey, are you all right?” she repeated. “Can you hear me?”

  Eyes, a startling blue, blinked open and focused. A good sign.

  “How do you feel, hmm?” she asked, watching as consciousness slowly returned.

  “Like hell,” he finally whispered. He tried to move and winced.

  “I’ll bet that was quite a fall you took,” she said, just talking to keep him awake. He lifted his head, then closed an eye.

  “Just lie still.”

  “My leg,” he whispered, blinking rapidly as the tears started to form in those incredible eyes.

  “Shh. Let me look at it.”

  He tried to move again. “I can’t get up,” he said with an edge of panic to his voice.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of you. All you have to do is relax and don’t move.”

  “It hurts,” he said, then uttered an oath under his breath. He had the look in his eyes of a wounded, cornered dog and Veronica’s heart went out to him.

  “I’m sure it does,” she said, offering him a smile. “Hang in there, we’ve got a basket coming and we’ll get you down. Do you hurt anywhere else?” She was touching him gently, looking for signs of injury. He had a bruise forming on his chin, but thankfully there were no signs of other head injuries.

  “No.”

  “No headache?”

  “No.”

  “But you did pass out?”

  “Yeah—” He looked around and blinked again, “I guess I did.”

  Aside from his leg, he didn’t appear to have sustained any other injuries, but she had to check and the fact that he’d lost consciousness earlier wasn’t a good sign. Either he’d hit his head or nearly scared himself to death. “How about your back, neck or arms?”

  “Just my leg, okay?” he shouted, then clamped his mouth shut and looked guilty as sin. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said quickly, realizing how scared he was. He was big, five eight or nine and probably somewhere between the ages of twelve and fourteen, but he still resembled a little kid. “How long have you been here?”

  “Don’t know. Not long.”

  Good. He was dressed warmly, so he shouldn’t have any frostbite. But he couldn’t move his leg without biting hard on his lower lip. She glanced at the sky, ever-threatening, and noticed the wind was too fierce for any snow to collect on the branches of the surrounding trees.

  “My skis—”

  “We’ll take them, too.” Or what’s left of them. “What’s your name?”

  “Bryan.”

  “Got a last name?” she asked, watching carefully for any signs of shock setting in. Come on, Tim. Hurry up.

  “Keegan,” he said.

  “Okay, Bryan Keegan, I’m going to untangle you from this Douglas fir and if anything hurts too bad, you let me know, okay?”

  “’Kay.” He didn’t utter a sound as she worked him gently away from the branches of the trunk. Tears filled his eyes and he brushed the drops aside with the back of his gloved hand when he apparently thought she wasn’t looking. She had seen the tears and the look of embarrassment on his face, and her heart went out to the hurt boy. Somewhere nearby, she heard a snowmobile rush by and in the distance was the wail of an ambulance. Above both sounds was the disturbing sound of a helicopter’s rotor. The little girl on Double Spur hadn’t been as lucky as Bryan.

  Ronni thought of Amy and sent up a silent prayer for the injured child, then she looked at her new charge. “That’s not for you,” she assured him. “I think it’s about time for formal introductions, don’t you?” Before he could answer, she said, “My name’s Ronni Walsh and, if you haven’t guessed yet, I’m part of the ski patrol,” she said, even though her red jacket and name tag said as much. “Are you skiing here alone or are you part of a group?”

  “My dad. He’s here somewhere. I, uh, was supposed to meet him at the lodge.”

  “Good.” She hoped to sound reassuring. “We’ll find him and let him know what’s happened. That way he can meet you in the clinic. What’s your father’s name?”

  “Travis.”

  “Keegan? Same as yours?” These days she didn’t want to assume anything.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” He was finally untangled from the tree and some of his color seemed to be returning. Rocking back on her heels, she asked, “What day is it?”

  “Sunday.”

  “Do you know where you are?”

  “Mount Echo. Devil’s…Devil’s Bowl?”

  “Close enough.” He didn’t seem to have any kind of memory loss, which heartened her. “As soon as my partner gets here, we’ll take you down to the lodge and find your dad. Sound like a plan?”

  “I guess,” he said warily, but offered her the faintest of smiles.

  Tim Sether arrived pushing the basket-sled, which was shaped like a canoe with bicycle handles and runners. Together they helped Bryan into the sled, covering him with a plastic thermal blanket before strapping him in tightly. Kneeling beside the rig, Tim laid a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder and explained the procedure. “I’m gonna take you down the hill. Just relax and go along for the ride. I’ll do all the work. Ronni, here, she’ll try to find your dad. Okay?”

  “’Kay,” the kid mumbled, his teeth chattering.

  “Let’s do it,” Tim said to Veronica as he tugged on the edges of his knit cap.

  The going was rough, the wind a blast of arctic air that blew across the snow. Veronica skied down first and Tim followed behind, never losing his grip on the sled as he guided it, plowlike, down the hill. At a path, they cut across the face of the mountain, back to the protected area and groomed runs. Within minutes they were at the basement of the lodge where the small emergency clinic was housed.

  An ambulance, lights flashing, was already waiting at the double doors and a little girl wearing a cervical collar and strapped to a gurney was being hauled into the back.

  “It’s going to be okay, Jackie,” a man in a black jumpsuit was saying as he leaned over the stretcher. His goggles hung around his neck, his face was ashen and his eyes were worried.

  A middle-aged woman in a purple jumpsuit who was fighting tears cleared her throat. “That’s right, honey, you just hang in there.”

  “Don’t worry,” the doctor, Syd Fletcher, was saying. “I’ve called Dr. Bowman in Portland. He’s a good man, been to him myself. He’ll be able to help you get back on your feet again, Jackie.”

  The woman blinked rapidly. “But a crushed pelvis—”

  “It’ll be fixed. Come on, let’s go.” They didn’t have time to argue and the mother climbed into the back of the ambulance before an attendant slammed the door and the vehicle tore out of the parking lot.

  Veronica stepped out of her bindings. “Are you all right?” she asked Jackie’s father.

  He was still standing where his family had left him, his eyes fixed on the brake lights of the disappearing ambulance.

  “What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, fine,” he said brusquely before letting his mask of bravado slip a bit. “It’s just that Jackie’s our only child and if anything
happens to her…” Kneading the stocking cap he was holding, he let his voice trail off. “Damn it all, anyway.” He shook his head and seemed to snap out of it. “I don’t know what I’m doing standing around here like a dime-store dummy, I’ve got to get to the hospital.”

  “Maybe you should have a cup of coffee first—give yourself a little time to pull yourself together.”

  “No time,” he said as he gathered skis and headed across the parking lot and disappeared behind a bus.

  Dr. Fletcher turned his attention to the boy on the stretcher. “What have we got here?”

  “Right leg—though the injury seems to be confined to the knee,” Tim said. He’d already stepped out of his skis and was unstrapping Bryan from the sled. “Possible head injuries, he was knocked out, but he’s stabilized, no sign of concussion.”

  Fletcher frowned. Bending down, he ran expert hands over Bryan’s head, examined his eyes and asked him a few questions. Apparently satisfied that Bryan wasn’t injured more seriously than Tim had said, he smiled at the boy and clicked off his penlight. “Knee, is it, son? Haven’t had one of those today.” Fletcher gave Bryan his famous relax-and-let-me-take-care-of-you smiles which people always said reminded them of an old-fashioned country doctor who made house calls. In truth, Syd Fletcher was a sought-after internist whose thriving practice in Portland was more than enough to keep him busy. A skiing enthusiast who spent every other Sunday working in the clinic, he spent as much free time as possible on the mountain. “You’ll be my first this afternoon. Kind of an honor.”

  From the looks of him, Bryan didn’t think so.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Bryan…Bryan Keegan.”

  “His father is somewhere on the mountain,” Veronica said to Fletcher, then smiled at the boy. “Okay, Bryan, hang on to Tim and me and we’ll carry you inside to a wheelchair.”

  “’Kay.” He didn’t argue and within seconds they’d maneuvered him into a chair.