Vegas Sunrise

by Fern Michaels

  “Sunny! Harry!”

  “Sage! Sage, is that you? I hear you, but I can’t see you.”

  “Sunny, where are you? Blow the horn.”

  Harry leaned on the horn with his elbow until he heard the snarl of the snowmobile careening to a stop next to their own.

  Sage climbed from his snowmobile to scoop his sister up into his arms. He squeezed her so hard she yelped, her voice hoarse and craggy-sounding. “I’ve never been so glad to see anyone in my life. You too, Harry. Does that machine work?”

  “Yeah. There is only a little gas left. We decided it was better to hole up here, where there was a little protection.”

  “I like your igloo,” Sage laughed. “You’re alive, that’s all that matters. Were you two singing ‘Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer’?”

  “Yeah. Dad made me do it. First he made us build this igloo. Then he made us build the domino bridge and take it down. We wanted to go to sleep so badly, and he wouldn’t let us. He made us sing. Can I go to sleep now, Sage? Please.”

  “Not yet, Sunny. I have to find the others and let them know you’re safe. We branched out to cover more distance.”

  “What others?”

  “Ruby, Metaxas, and some of his men. Birch and Libby. They’re both wild and blaming themselves for this. How the hell do you think I got here in a storm like this?”

  “I just kind of figured Dad helped you the way he helped me. He did, didn’t he?”

  “Shhh. We’ll talk about it later. It’s a damn good thing you were singing, or I might not have found you.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Dad said. I want a fried-egg sandwich and some hot cocoa.”

  “Ready, Harry?”

  “Yeah.”

  “On the count of thirty, blast your horn. Stay as close as you can. Sunny will be watching you. I can find my tracks. I actually think this damn storm is finally starting to let up. A goddamn igloo, huh?”

  “Yeah. You know Dad with his neat ideas. It worked. We were cramped, but we weren’t that cold. On the other hand we’re numb, so I don’t know if we’re frozen or not. How mad is Birch?”

  “He’s not mad mad, Sunny. He’s worried sick. I had this feeling something was wrong, that’s why I came.”

  “Will he forgive us, Sage?”

  “Of course. Birch loves you, Sunny. Don’t ever do a dumb-ass thing like this again. Do you hear me?”

  “Sage?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We survived. Harry and I survived, using our wits. That doesn’t make what we did right. Both of us know now that we can’t survive on our own. What would have happened to us without your gut intuition or whatever that thing is twins have?”

  “Birch would have found you.”

  “We don’t know that,” Sunny blubbered.

  “I know that, Sunny. Birch would have searched for you until he dropped. That’s a given. What in the damn hell got into you anyway?”

  “If I tell you will you yell at me?”

  “No.”

  “We wanted to play in the snow. We can’t do things like that anymore, Sage. My God, some days we can’t go to the bathroom without help. Do you have any idea how that feels? We had a plan. We were prepared. I wanted Harry to have some fun. He’s never been in the snow before. I’d damn well do it again, too. So there!”

  “I hear you, Sunny. It’s okay. If you want to do something crazy, the next time let us know so we can be on the fringes.”

  “We left a note. My only regret was that we didn’t have our dogs.”

  “I see lights ahead. The snow really is letting up.” Sage gave his horn a one-two blast. Harry did the same thing. “We’re going to ditch Harry’s machine and get it later. He can ride with Ruby.”

  Birch was off his snowmobile in the blink of an eye. For a moment he stood rooted in the snow before he galloped over to where Sunny was. “I should blister your ass for pulling a stunt like this. I might even think about doing it later. I was sick to my soul when I found out you were gone. All I could think of was what my life, what all our lives would be without you. Empty. Libby was as sick as I was . . . am. She wants to quit and is blaming herself.”

  Sunny swiped at her tears. “That’s probably one of the nicest things you ever said to me. I’m sorry for causing you worry. I did it for Harry. We survived. It was and is important for us to do things, to stretch our limits. This was the wrong time and the wrong place. You know what, I’d damn well do it again. I just told Sage the same thing. Give me a hug, you big galoot. Ah, don’t cry, Birch. I was okay. We had a few bad minutes, but Dad got me through it. He was right there every time I needed him. He was really worried about Harry. Thanks for caring, Birch. So,” she hissed, “did you sleep with Libby? If she’s leaving, it’s because of what she feels for you, not because of me and Harry. I love you! I love all of you! This is what family is all about. Look at Metaxas and Ruby. They might not have gotten together if it wasn’t for this crisis. Think about that, Birch.” Her voice was so weary, so sad, Birch felt his eyes puddle up again. “Harry’s okay, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah, he’s okay.” Birch’s hold on his sister became fierce. “You hang on now. I’m taking you back to the lodge.”

  “Thanks, Birch. For everything.”

  “Thank Sage. He’s the one who found you. He’s the greatest. I need to tell him that more often.”

  “Yeah, you do. Everyone needs to hear nice things once in a while. I have to go to sleep, Birch.”

  “I thought you wanted a fried-egg sandwich.”

  “I want that, too. I just love everyone.”

  Sage plowed through the snow next to his brother. “Birch, did she tell you about Dad?”

  “Yeah. We’ll talk about it later, okay. I need to talk to you about a couple of other things, too.”

  “I have a little sharing I want to do myself. We’ll hunker in and wait out the rest of this storm. I gotta tell you, Birch, I’ve never seen snow like this in my life. I feel compelled to tell you what we all did was incredibly stupid. All of us could have died out there. What we did defies all logic.”

  “We had to do it. Sunny is our sister. I kept thinking about you the whole time, asking myself what you would or wouldn’t do. Thanks for coming, Sage.”

  Sunny started to cry.

  “That’s it with the bawling,” Metaxas roared. “We’re all alive and well. We should be laughing and celebrating. Pile in everyone, we’re going home. Our passengers are alive and in the need of food and warm beds. Not another word!”

  “I love it when you take charge,” Ruby said, leaning against Metaxas’s chest. She blew her nose loudly. “You said we’d find her, and we did. I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn’t taken matters into your own hands and got us here. I will always be grateful to you, Metaxas. They’re going to be all right, aren’t they?” Her voice was so anxious-sounding, so full of concern she couldn’t help but start to cry all over again.

  “Yes, sweet baby, those two are going to be just fine. They’ll feel the aftereffects for a few days and maybe get a rip-roaring cold, but we can head that off at the pass with some antibiotics and some good old Texas down-home remedies. Sweet baby, I know every one of those remedies. Trust me.”

  “With my life. I have to pee, Metaxas.”

  “Then we best see about gettin’ you womenfolk back to the lodge. I’d like it a lot, sweet baby, if we could share the same room,” Metaxas drawled.

  “I was kind of thinking of something a little more . . . intimate. I was thinking more in terms of the same bed.”

  “Sweet baby, I am your man. Climb aboard and follow me. This old Texan is leading the way. You young’uns stay close, you hear!” Metaxas bellowed.

  “That’s nice. That’s really nice. I’m so glad Ruby is happy,” Sunny murmured. “Isn’t it great, Dad?”

  “Tell her I’m proud of her, Sunny.”

  “Why can’t you tell her? It would mean more coming from you. She loved you, Dad. She l
oves all of us. You most of all. She talks about you all the time. Did I do good, Dad? Is Harry really going to be okay? How come you don’t talk to Birch?”

  “You sure do ask a lot of questions.”

  “It would be nice if you’d answer them.”

  “You did real good, Sunny. I’m so proud of you I could just bust. Harry is going to be right as rain in a few days. Birch isn’t ready to talk to me. He hasn’t forgiven me for a lot of things. If he ever needs me, I’ll be there for him. Tell him that for me, Sunny.”

  “I’ll tell him, Dad. Dad?”

  “What, Sunny?”

  “Can I go to sleep now? I did everything you said.”

  “Sure, baby. You earned it.”

  “Will you watch over me, Dad?”

  “Always and forever, Sunny.”

  Sunny snuggled into the cramped space in the snowmobile, next to her brother, wet snow stinging her face. Suddenly she felt deliciously warm as a soft, gentle hand brushed back the frozen tendrils of hair on her forehead.

  “What did you say, Sunny?” Birch shouted.

  “I was talking to Dad. He said it was okay for me to go to sleep.”

  “No, Sunny, it is not okay. Please, stay awake.”

  “Dad said it was okay. He gave me a message for you. He said if you ever need him, he’ll be there for you. You have to forgive him first. That means you have to open up your heart. Don’t worry about me. Dad is watching over me and Harry. ‘Night, Birch. I love you. Tell Sage I love him. Tell everyone I love them.”

  Birch clenched his teeth so hard he thought his jaw would shatter. “You damn well better be watching over her. I’m not buying into this gobbledygook. I’m not into spirits and spooks. If Sunny believes she talks to you, that’s okay, but it’s not okay with me. You should have done all these good things when you were alive. Being dead isn’t going to cut it with me. I can’t conceive of me ever needing help from the netherworld. Stop that crap with Sunny before she goes off the deep end.”

  “If you believe that, exactly who are you talking to?”

  The snowmobile swerved and almost plowed into a two-foot-high drift next to a clump of pine trees. “What?”

  “What, SIR? Show some respect. Do you talk to yourself? I’ve been called a lot of things in my day, but I don’t think anyone ever called me a spook. I resent it.”

  “Get real.”

  “I can’t. I can only deal with the cards in my hand. The message was simple. It stands. Tuck it away for future reference or discount it. The choice is yours.”

  “You’re dead.”

  “That’s a brilliant observation. Sunny’s fine, she’ll sleep round the clock. Harry will be fine, too. You’ll all fly out of here, and your lives will go back to the way they were.”

  “Like I didn’t know that.”

  “There’s a lot of things you don’t know, Birch. You play the same games I used to play. You hate me, but you’re following in my footsteps.”

  “That’ll never happen.”

  “It already happened. You were unfaithful to your wife. You not only raised your hand to her, but you struck her. With all my faults, I never raised a hand to your mother.”

  “What you did was worse.”

  “There is nothing worse than abuse. Nothing.”

  “I don’t get it. Sunny said if I ever needed you, you’d be there for me. I don’t need you, so what the hell are you doing here?”

  “You were talking to me. I responded. Get it through your head—I don’t want you to be like me. I want you to be your own person. The person I know you can be. I won’t make any promises where Sunny and the others are concerned. See you around, Birch.”

  “Not likely.”

  Birch brought his snowmobile to a stop behind Metaxas’s machine. The big Texan was out in the blink of an eye, Sunny in his arms. “Lead the way, sweet baby.”

  Birch watched, hands on hips, as two of Metaxas’s men picked Harry up. He felt confused, disoriented.

  “Birch. Thanks for coming to our rescue. Sorry is just a word, but it’s the only one I know. I want you to know we couldn’t have made it without your dad helping us. Sunny’s sleeping, isn’t she?”

  “Yeah, she is.”

  “I saw the light first and then I started to feel warm all over. I guess your dad thinks I belong. At first I thought it was all bullshit, that we were delirious, you know, half out of it, for a while. Man, I became a believer real fast. Anyway, thanks.”

  Birch nodded. Harry was right the first time. It was all bullshit. “Are you okay, Birch?” Libby asked.

  “Yeah. How about you?”

  “Cold, but that’s okay. A cup of hot tea and some dry clothes will fix me right up. This is just a guess on my part, but I think tea and warm clothes aren’t going to do it for you. Am I right?”

  “We’ll talk later, Libby. Go with Ruby and help Sunny get settled. We’ll take care of Harry.”

  “Whatever it is, Birch, cut yourself some slack. You’re too hard on yourself.”

  “Save some of that tea for me, but I want something in it besides sugar, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, what am I supposed to do?” Birch muttered. “Do I listen to my heart or do I listen to someone I lost all respect for, someone who is dead?” He was still muttering under his breath as he held the door open for Metaxas’s employees. Harry offered up a high five that Birch returned, a silly grin plastered on his face. There were some things in life that were better left unanswered.

  18

  Birch Thornton sat alone, staring at the fire. For the past several hours he’d been guzzling scotch and smoking one cigarette after the other. He looked around, wondering why he was alone. He hated being alone, hated thinking the kinds of things that were buzzing inside his head. His nostrils told him they would serve dinner shortly. He wondered if he’d be dining alone since everyone else was still sleeping. His eye fell on the scotch bottle. He’d had enough, but then again, what was enough? Who decided how much was enough? He wished he could put a face to that particular person. He shoved the bottle farther away on the table.

  The flames danced in front of him, toasting his legs. Warmth had never felt this good. Was his mother worried about them? And Celia, was she even aware of what had gone on here in Vermont? Yes to the first and no to the second. How much longer was Libby going to sleep? She probably wasn’t sleeping at all. She was probably curled up in front of the fire in her room thinking horrible thoughts, just the way he was. Everyone was alive, safe, and well. That had to count for something.

  Birch’s feet thumped down hard on the floor. He had to get up, move around, clear his head. He smelled fresh coffee, roast beef, and cinnamon. Dinner would be plentiful and hearty. Would anyone eat? He walked to the front windows to stare out at the white world that surrounded the lodge. How much longer would they be lodgebound? A day, two, three? He wished he could open the door, walk out, and never come back. He’d done that once before when he left Nevada after his accident. He’d run away to find himself. The only problem was, he hadn’t been successful. The same demons plagued him, and now he’d made matters worse. His father was right. He was following in his footsteps. Hell, he was wearing his father’s shoes.

  He didn’t hear his brother or see him until he felt his comforting hand on his shoulder. “I thought you’d sleep the clock around, Sage.”

  “I thought I would too, but here I am. What’s wrong, Birch? Two heads are better than one. It always worked before.”

  “That’s because we were kids. We thought it worked.”

  “If that’s the case, then why did we always come up with our answers?”

  “I don’t know,” Birch said.

  “Let’s sit down and have a drink.”

  “I’ve already had more than my share. Something weird happened to me earlier. It’s bothering me.”

  “I’m listening, Birch.”

  “I guess I was more or less daydreaming on the ride in. Maybe I was just so numb
with cold I didn’t . . . I had this conversation with Dad. I was a little bent out of shape over Sunny. She said . . . what she said was she’d been talking to him. She kept mumbling and muttering. At first I thought she was delirious. I’m not sure that she wasn’t. She said she had a message from Dad which was, when and if I needed him, he’d be there for me. It pissed me off. Like he was ever there for us. Oh, yeah. I was muttering to myself. You know kind of railing him out, that kind of thing. He fucking answered me.”

  “Stuff you didn’t want to hear, huh?” Sage said propping his legs on the table in front of the fire. “I swear, I didn’t think I’d ever be warm again. This feels so good.”

  “Yeah. He said he didn’t want to see me turn out like him, and yet I’d set the wheels in motion. He knew . . . things. Maybe it was my own guilty conscience. You want to believe that crap, don’t you?”

  Sage’s voice was barely a whisper. “Yeah.”

  “Sunny too.”

  “Sunny too,” Sage said.

  “It’s bullshit, Sage.”

  “If it’s bullshit, then why are we even talking about it?”

  “Because I can’t get a handle on it, that’s why.”

  Sage looked thoughtful as he too stared into the flames. “I think it’s one of those things that either you believe or you don’t. I lived through it, so that makes me a believer. I rather think Sunny feels the same way. Harry could go either way. Then there’s Ruby, who says she talked to him, too. Metaxas said he showed him the way down. He swears he carried on a conversation with a voice that said his name was Major. That big Texan is not one to buy into what you call this bullshit. Let’s say it’s an either or and let it go at that.”

  “It’s not that easy. I said some ugly things because it was how I felt at the moment. Guilt sucks. I slept with Libby this morning. I’m asking Celia for a divorce.”

  “Oh.”

  “That’s it, oh. Is that the best you can come up with?”

  “Are you planning on . . . what about Libby?”

  “She says she’s going to leave the center. Not because of Sunny but because of me. She . . . we went to bed because it . . . it was one of those one-for-the-road memories that would carry us to our rocking-chair days.”