by Regina Duke
Meanwhile, he had fourteen other passengers to check on, and another four hours of travel before they reached Eagle’s Toe. He leaned close to Sunny and said, “It’s good to see you again. I can’t wait to get a chance to catch up on old times.” Then he turned away to tend to the others.
Sunny’s eyes bulged. Was he kidding? Did he have no conscience? How could he talk to her like a long lost friend after what he’d done to her? A quick glance around placed Brady toward the back. He was talking to a couple of passengers, an elderly couple with white hair and watery blue eyes.
Sunny shook her head in disbelief. If he thought she was going to pretend the most painful night of her life never happened, he’d better think again. In high school he’d been her biggest crush, and when he asked her to the senior prom, she was the envy of every girl in her class. Her mother was the only one who refused to share in her happiness. She was totally focused on shaping Sunny into the next generation of physicist. She was not pleased to have her daughter mooning over “some boy,” as she put it. Sunny wondered if somehow her mother had suspected that Brady would break her heart and make her the butt of a cruel joke.
Santa came back on board and took the driver’s seat. He’d left the bus running so his passengers would stay warm. “Ho, ho, ho! The Christmas Express is pulling out again.” He turned in his seat. “Young lady, may I ask your name?”
“Sunny.”
Santa raised his voice. “Everybody, this is Sunny. Sunny, this is everybody. Buckle your seat belts, please.”
The passengers applauded. Sunny could feel the warmth from the heater. She unzipped her jacket and leaned back in her seat. Her foot bumped something underneath. She reached down and found a gaily colored gift sack.
“Excuse me, driver. Does this belong to someone?”
He glanced in his rearview mirror. “Every passenger gets a surprise. That one’s yours.” His face nearly split in two with the vigor of his smile.
Sunny drew her brows together. “Thanks,” she said uncertainly. For the first time, she was glad Brady was on the bus. If there hadn’t been a familiar face, she’d have thought she’d stumbled into a Family Channel Christmas special. She opened the sack and inhaled the aroma of luscious baked goods. There was a bottle of water, a Santa mug filled with Hershey’s Kisses, and a substantial box wrapped with a ribbon and sealed with oval stickers that read, “The Muffin Man.”
Her stomach rumbled to remind her that she hadn’t eaten breakfast. Her mouth watered. She extracted the box and broke one of the seals so she could open the lid. There were two thick chocolate chip cookies, two fat Mexican wedding cookies, and for the health nut, a raisin bagel, plastic knife, and a small tub of cream cheese. A squeal from the back of the bus caught her attention. The six little ones were getting restless. The shrill sound made Peanut rearrange himself in his crate.
Sunny decided to eat the bagel without cream cheese. That way she could give Peanut little nibbles without worrying about upsetting his stomach. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
It was the elderly woman that Brady was talking to earlier.
“I’m sorry, dear. You’re Sunny? Would you like some coffee? They sent a huge plastic jug of hot coffee with the bus. I poured you some.” She smiled sweetly and held out a cardboard cup with a plastic lid on it. The cup also said “The Muffin Man” on the side.
Sunny’s day was looking up. The woman didn’t look like a psychotic poisoner, so she figured she was safe. “Thank you.”
“No one wants to eat cookies with cold water. Oh, look, you have a little doggie. I’m Dora Washburn.”
Sunny accepted the coffee and was relieved when the bearer of java returned to her own seat. She found a fold-down arm between her seat and Peanut’s crate, and it had a cup holder in it. She got comfortable and decided to save the bagel for later. She dug a fat chocolate chip cookie out of the bag and sipped gratefully at the black coffee between bites. For the moment, she allowed herself to feel safe. It was nice to pretend that everything would work out, and it was easy to hold that thought as she took a bite of cookie and another sip of coffee. If only the snow would stop. She gazed out the window as the flakes began building up and covering the countryside.
The gift sack of goodies meant she would get two gifts this Christmas. The other one was in her suitcase. Her father had delivered it, swinging by her house on the way to the airport.
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Did you think I’d forget?” He handed her a paper sack. Inside was a Christmas gift. “Your mother says it’s too cold to get out of the car. She thinks I’m giving you a list of instructions for taking care of the house while we’re gone.” He chuckled. “The house is fine, so don’t give it a thought.”
“But Daddy, I haven’t wrapped your present yet. I thought we’d have coffee before you left and exchange our gifts.”
“It’s okay, pumpkin. After we get back from Malaysia, I’ll come over and we’ll drink hot chocolate under your tree. You can give it to me then.”
The car horn beeped.
“I’d better go. I don’t want to make her mad. I have to sit next to her on the plane for the next twenty hours.” He made a face, then gave her a quick kiss. “Don’t you dare spend Christmas alone, you hear me?”
“I won’t, Daddy. I promise.” Another reason she’d told her cousin she’d come to Denver.
Two more screeches from the rear of the little bus grated on her nerves. A moment later Brady appeared and dug into a box on the seats across the aisle. He spared her a glance and a smile as he straightened up with his arms full of small packages. “Time for toys.” With that, he headed toward the back.
The children’s cries were now filled with delight. The sound of happy laughter was a lot easier to tolerate, and Peanut agreed. He settled calmly in his crate and closed his eyes for a nap.
Brady earned another round of applause as he moved again to the front of the bus. He stood in the aisle, slightly bent to look out the front window at the snow coming down.
“What do you think, Tony?”
The driver shrugged. “No worries yet. If it gets much deeper we’ll have to chain up.”
“Just holler when the time comes. The two of us will get them on in half the time.” He turned to head back and again gave Sunny a warm smile.
Now she was really confused. He kept smiling at her. No sign of remorse, no indication that anything had ever happened between them at all. She wondered if she was hallucinating everything. Could she have frozen to death in her car and this was some weird idea of heaven?
No, she was alive. After coffee and a cookie, she was sure of it. She was alive and dangerously close to feeling content. She frowned. She needed to be on guard. Every time she thought things were going well, her life turned upside down. For all she knew, Santa might turn around any minute and demand payment for her passage. And of course, at some point, she’d need to send a tow-truck for her car. Her heart sank, and the cookie sat like a lump of coal in her stomach.
Brady was back with another smile. “You’ll be able to walk your dog for a few minutes in Trinidad. We have a couple of passengers to pick up there.”
Sunny was horrified. “Walk him in this snow? He’ll never get warm again.”
Brady cleared his throat. “I was using ‘walk’ in the sense of letting him go pee.”
“Oh. Oh, great. I’ll try to find a place that isn’t too snowy.” Before she could stop herself, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. Darn! He was so clever, talking to her about her dog! She always smiled when she talked about Peanut. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
Trinidad’s streets were a little snowy, but not bad. It was as if the snow had decided not to fall in town, and the clouds seemed brighter as well. The little county seat was clean and tidy, filled with historic buildings. Christmas decorations were strung across the main street. The gray stone of the city hall and the three-story red brick façade of the Columbia Hotel alwa
ys reminded Sunny of the old mining days. She wondered how the locals kept body and soul together since the coal mines closed in the Raton Basin. The little bus pulled up in front of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Its gray stone, round window, and cream-colored spire stood guard over a modest nativity scene at the side of the church. The grass under the leafless tree was winter yellow, but there was hardly any snow there at all. Sunny slipped her jacket on, opened Peanut’s crate to lift him out, and followed Santa off the bus.
The driver went straight to the double doors and entered the church. A few moments later, he reappeared and stood on the red carpeted steps, waiting. A moment later, Brady left the bus to join him. They exchanged a few words, then Brady went into the church.
Sunny let Peanut sniff around under the tree, but was careful to keep him away from the nativity. She gave a quick command. “Hurry up!” Right on cue, he lifted his leg on the tree. “Good boy! Let’s get you back inside the bus.” She scooped him up. As she walked past the rear windows, six little faces pressed against the glass, talking excitedly as they pointed at Peanut. Sunny grinned from ear to ear. She counted six little dog lovers on the bus with her.
Once inside, she carried Peanut to the back of the bus and let the kids say hello.
“Quiet voices,” she said. “See how big his ears are? Your voices are magnified for him.”
All six began whispering.
Sunny exchanged a conspiratorial grin with their mother.
“Okay, I’d better put him in his crate and buckle his seat belt,” she said at last.
Back in her seat, she settled Peanut in his crate and gave him a tiny dog biscuit and a small bowl of water. He lapped briefly at the water before settling with his biscuit. Sunny closed the door, and peered out the window to watch the front of the church. Snowflakes waltzed to the ground. The door of the church opened and Brady emerged. He held the door as an attractive woman walked out with an elderly man on her arm. The old man was short and gnarled. He reminded Sunny of an ancient tree. The young woman with him was blond, and she had very long elegant fingers that were reddening quickly in the cold. Brady took her hands briefly in his, then pointed to the bus.
Sunny sagged in her seat. Of course. She should have known. He obviously had a woman in his life already. Perfectly normal. So why did she feel like she’d just lost her best friend?
CHAPTER THREE
HALF A MINUTE LATER, the blond woman and the elderly man were climbing onto the bus. Peanut barked a greeting. The blond woman glanced in Sunny’s direction and gave her a friendly smile, but she was too busy making sure her elderly charge found a seat to stop and talk.
Santa climbed aboard and took the driver’s seat again. A few moments later, Brady rejoined them.
“Let’s go, Tony. Vicky says the snow is getting worse in Eagle’s Toe. She just called her husband. We don’t want to dawdle.”
“Yes, sir.” Tony closed the bus doors. “Ho, ho, ho. Here we go.”
Sunny’s heart lifted. If the blond just called her husband, she couldn’t be Brady’s love interest. There was still hope, though she wasn’t exactly sure what it was she was hoping for. She forced herself to stare out the window, but her ears strained to pick up any further clues about Brady’s status.
It felt as if the snow closed in around them as they crossed the city limits. Thirty minutes later, Tony and Brady pulled over and put on chains.
“Will we make it?” Sunny asked as they climbed back aboard. Tony’s Santa suit was layered with snow like cake icing.
Brady brushed an inch of snow off his own jacket. “We’ll make it,” he said. “The road isn’t too bad, but it’s getting deeper as we drive north. Don’t worry, this bus can handle it.”
Tony pulled back onto the highway, and as the bus moved, Brady lurched sideways and nearly landed in Sunny’s lap. He caught himself on her armrests, but his face was an inch from hers, his lips so close she could feel his breath.
“Gee, you could try a less corny approach,” cracked Sunny. But the closeness awoke memories of her teenage attraction, and she became very aware once again of how handsome Brady was. In high school, he’d been gorgeous in a football star sort of way. Now, he was breathtaking in a grown man sort of way, and her pulse raced as he shifted his position and pushed himself upright.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I lost my footing.”
Sunny could hear him breathing, and for a moment, she realized that he’d been caught off guard. Their sudden closeness had robbed him of his façade of cool indifference.
She cleared her throat. “We always were a handsome couple,” said Sunny. “At least, that’s what all my girl friends told me.”
“Well, half of us was certainly beautiful. I mean, your half. You.” He drew back and leaned against the armrest of the seat across the aisle.
Sunny laughed softly. If only he were as good as he looked. She turned away and pretended to fuss with Peanut’s crate.
“Cute little dog,” he said.
Sunny resisted as long as she could, but even if he were the devil himself, she could never miss a chance to talk about Peanut. She found herself turning to look up into his brown eyes, the same eyes that had won her heart in high school. She shifted her gaze to his forehead. Maybe if she didn’t look into his eyes, she would get through this bus ride. “He’s bigger than most papillons you see in the show ring, but he’s perfect for me. Ten pounds of the smartest little dog on the planet. He has twelve different titles.”
“Really?” Brady tilted his head to one side. “Do I have something on my face?”
Sunny frowned. “No. Why?”
Brady reached up and rubbed two fingers above his eyebrows. “You keep staring at my forehead.”
“Oh.” Sunny’s cheeks burned. “Sorry. I was, er, wondering why you still wear your hair the same way.” She flinched inwardly at the ridiculous comment.
Brady gave her the lopsided grin that always meant he could see right through her. “I see. Well, I tried growing it long and wearing it in pig tails, but my customers kept calling me Miss Felton, so I cut it short again.”
Tony laughed out loud.
Sunny felt a spurt of alarm. She’d been about two words away from flat out asking Brady why he’d abandoned her at senior prom. She lowered her voice. “Can he hear us over the engine?”
Brady shrugged and grinned. “Does it matter? We’re just talking.”
Sunny dropped her gaze. Maybe it didn’t matter if someone overheard. She should just ask him outright about that night so long ago. Yes, that would be the smart thing to do. Filled with new resolve, she looked up at him and opened her mouth to speak.
But Brady beat her to it. “Oops. Sorry, Sun, I’m being summoned. I’ll be back.” He stood up and moved toward the back of the bus.
Sunny collapsed against her seat. She’d missed her chance. A tiny spark of hope flickered inside her. Could he possibly have a reasonable explanation? A part of her hoped he did, because another part of her was being physically reminded about how attracted she was to him in high school. And he called her Sun, just like the old days.
Then she scolded herself. She was supposed to be on her way to Denver to spend Christmas with Donna, and here she was thinking about her chances with an old flame. A rotten jerk of an old flame to boot. She reached into her complimentary gift bag and pulled Hershey’s Kisses out of the beribboned cup. Sometimes a girl just had to have some chocolate.
She heard the other passengers gasp as one, then felt their little bus sliding sideways on the highway!
CHAPTER FOUR
THE NEXT FEW SECONDS SEEMED to last an eternity. Sunny wrapped one arm around Peanut’s crate and braced herself. But the emergency was handled quickly and efficiently by Tony, who managed to stop their slide and straighten the bus before they left the pavement. The shoulder of the road in this part of the highway was no place for any vehicle.
Brady moved quickly forward, hanging on to the rail along the overhead storage bins.
Tony exhaled in a whoosh. “Sorry, boss. I guess it’ll take us a bit longer to get into Eagle’s Toe. I was trying to keep us at thirty-five, but I’ll have to take it down to twenty-five.”
“Well, let me know if you need a break,” said Brady. “Driving in these conditions is nerve-wracking to say the least.”
Tony nodded. “I may take you up on that.” His eyes never left the road.
Brady stopped again by Sunny’s side and perched on the arm of the seat across the aisle.
“I hope that didn’t scare you too badly.”
“No, I’m fine. And more importantly, Peanut is fine. It’s getting pretty slick out there.”
“Yes, the temperature is falling. But we’ll make it. Only two more hours to Eagle’s Toe.”
“Two more on dry roads or on snow?”
Brady’s eyes moved left, then right, looking for an answer. “Let’s cross our fingers and plan on two more hours,” he said. “If it gets too bad, we’ll stop in Pueblo. But the road between Pueblo and Eagle’s Toe is well cared for and well patrolled, so we should be okay.” This time his smile was on the grim side.
“Say, Brady,” Sunny began hesitantly, “I was wondering about something.” She felt her courage slipping away and changed directions. “How are your parents?”
“They’re fine. Still working away.” He pulled two fingers across his lips in a zipping motion. “Still can’t talk about it.”
“Ah, yes, the joy of having top secret parents. My dad would mention something that happened at the Lab, and mother would jump all over him. As if I would post it on Facebook or something.”
Brady’s face skewed into a question. “I wonder what it would have been like going to high school somewhere with kids who weren’t all made to feel part of a national security project? Our parents tried to keep our lives normal, but occasionally they failed miserably.” He shook his head, thinking back to the end of his senior year. He’d felt like his world had ended. No graduation with his classmates. No senior party. “All that drama.”