She stomped the snow off her feet, removed the shabby flannel hat she always seemed to wear and sidled up alongside Liam. “I finally got the plane all tucked away for the night. I didn’t know I was missing out on a party. Wow, look at this. You guys stayed here and waited all evening to see how Posy was doing?”
“The kids were worried about her.” Liam cleared his throat.
“The kids. Sure.” Zoey smirked.
Liam narrowed his gaze at her. “Really. The kids. She gave them a genuine scare earlier. Can’t you tell how glad they are to see her?”
“I can, actually. And you have no idea how happy it makes me to see you all here to welcome her back. It means more to her than you know.”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. It’s something.” Zoey lowered her voice. “She needs this, Liam. She does.”
Liam glanced at her and saw concern in her gaze. He didn’t like it. Not at all. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s just a hunch, but I don’t think her life in California is quite as wonderful as she lets on. I think the real reason she’s here is because without dance, she doesn’t have a life there.”
Without dance. Those were the key words in her sentence. “She’s planning on dancing again, though. You know that.”
“Yes, but...” She glanced at Posy, then back at him. “I saw the kiss, Liam.”
Great. Now not only did he have to accept the fact that he couldn’t undo it, but he was also being forced to talk about it. “Zoey, please.”
She shrugged. “I was right there, you know. I couldn’t help but notice.”
“Well, try and forget it, okay?”
She lifted a brow. “Is that what you’re doing? Trying to forget?”
He looked at her for a long, loaded moment. “It seems I’m always trying to forget.”
“She’s back now, though. Surely that means something.”
“I told you. It means she can’t dance. It won’t last forever. She’ll be on the first plane out of here once she’s better.”
Zoey aimed her gaze across the room at Posy. “Do you really think so?”
There was no doubt in his mind. None whatsoever. “Mark my words. The clock is ticking.”
Chapter Ten
“Are you sure you should be teaching?” Posy’s mother hovered at the foot of the sofa where Posy was stretched out, elevating and icing her foot before she had to leave for church. She’d been doing that an awful lot. Hovering. “You’re hurt.”
Posy adjusted the position of her ice pack. “I was hurt when I got here. Remember? That’s why I came back in the first place.”
“Not this hurt.” Her mother frowned. She’d been doing an awful lot of that, too.
“I’m fine. It’s a sprained ankle. Dancers sprain their ankles all the time.” Granted, they didn’t sprain them in snowball fights, and not when they already had broken bones. But it would be okay. It would. She’d been following Dr. Cooper’s protocol to the letter. Rest, ice, compression, elevation. She was pretty sure she’d been murmuring those words in her sleep.
It would be okay. It had to.
“I still think it would be a good idea if you just stayed home. I’m sure Liam would understand.”
“This isn’t about Liam, Mom. It’s about the girls in the youth group. I don’t want to let them down.” Not to mention the fact that she’d go crazy if she stayed here all day.
A blast of winter wind blew through the living room, and the front door slammed. Posy’s dad walked in, shaking his head. “Well, honey. It looks like your rental car has a flat tire.”
“What?” Posy sighed.
Come on, God. I know there are people out there with way bigger problems than mine, but I’m ready for something to go my way. Anything.
“Oh, dear. I guess that means you’re stuck here,” her mom said. No doubt she was dancing a jig inside.
“No.” Posy shook her head. “I can’t be stuck here. I have a job.”
There was no way she could stay here all day with her mom watching her like a hawk. Not when the kids had waited all night for her to come back from Anchorage.
She pushed herself off the sofa and stood, albeit awkwardly. “I’ll just call a cab.”
“Nonsense. Take my car.” Her dad reached in his pocket and held out his keys.
“Hank.” Her mother gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head. But Posy saw it.
So did her father, but he promptly ignored it. “You don’t need to be driving around in a rental car anyway. Not when we have two perfectly good automobiles sitting in the driveway.”
“It’s okay. Really, it is. I can call a cab and get the rental-car company to come fix the flat.” Posy grabbed her dance bag, slung it over her shoulder and reached for her crutches.
There was a world of silent communication going on between her parents. It made her stomach hurt to witness it.
She’d known the car situation would be awkward, which was why she’d rented one to begin with, even though it would surely break the bank. The last time she’d driven one of her parents’ cars, she’d wrapped it around a tree. And it had been all her fault. Could she blame her mom for worrying? Not really.
“Posy, here. Take the keys.” Her father jingled his key ring.
Posy glanced at her mom, who was busy staring at the floor. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Here. Take them.” He smiled.
Posy didn’t think she’d ever loved him more than she did at that moment. “Thanks, Dad.”
She took the keys, wishing there was something she could do or say to alleviate some of the tension in the room—offer to let her mom go through her dance bag? There was nothing there. She’d never even filled Dr. Cooper’s prescription. As far as she knew, it was still buried in Zoey’s purse.
A search and seizure wasn’t the answer anyway. She was just going to have to prove to people she could be trusted again. Her dad. Her mom.
Liam.
Why did her thoughts keep going back to him, time and time again?
Her cell phone rang, and she was grateful to have something else to occupy her mind. Until she fished her phone from her dance bag and saw the name of the caller on the display screen.
Gabriel. The director of the ballet company.
A wave of panic washed over her. Why was Gabriel calling?
Calm down. He’s probably just checking on your injury.
Right. And just what was she supposed to tell him? She turned the ringer off and shoved her phone back in her bag.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” her dad asked.
She shook her head. “It can wait.”
Could it? Could it really?
* * *
“I close the pond for one night and this happens.” Liam crossed his arms and stared at the reindeer in the middle of the ice. The animal had been lying there with his legs tucked beneath him when Liam had driven by just to check on things on the way to church, and an hour later he was still there.
Fortunately, there was only one reindeer in town notorious for getting in trouble. And Liam knew his name, as did pretty much everyone in a fifty-mile radius of Aurora.
“Palmer,” Alec muttered. He’d come straight over when Liam called with news of the reindeer sit-in.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Liam said.
“Of course it’s him.” Alec rolled his eyes. “It’s always him.”
He might sound exasperated, but Liam knew Palmer was Alec’s favorite reindeer on the farm he shared with Zoey. He had a soft spot for the animal in spite of his mischievous streak. Maybe because of it.
They stood on the snowy edge of the pond, watching...waiting. Alec sighed. Liam sighed. Even Sundog sighe
d.
Finally Liam asked, “What are the odds we can get him to move before tonight? Or should I just tell everyone to skate circles around him?”
“I can get him up. I was just sort of hoping he’d see me and decide to amble on over here.” He pulled a handful of carrots from his pocket.
Sundog stood, tail swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Alec tossed him a carrot.
“Every time I see your dog, he’s either eating something or planning his next meal. Snow. Carrots. Buckets.” He aimed a bemused glance at a shredded red bucket half buried in the snow beside the snack bar. Sundog’s latest casualty. “Do you ever feed him?”
Liam lifted a brow. “Come on. Sundog isn’t all that bad. Besides, people with runaway reindeer shouldn’t throw stones.”
“Point taken.” Alec shrugged. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you. How did you come up with the name Sundog anyway?”
Liam grew very still. “Why?”
“No reason. I just like it, that’s all. It’s different,” Alec said.
He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the dog. “It just came to me, I guess. No particular reason.”
“Give me a hand with the beast?”
“Sure.”
They walked across the pond, stepping gingerly on the ice. Palmer didn’t move a muscle, even when they got within three feet of him. He snored so loud that Liam wondered if the ice might crack.
Alec rested a hand on the reindeer’s head. “Hey, bud. It’s time to go home.”
Palmer woke with a snort.
Alec backed up and held out his hand with a carrot resting in the center of his palm. The reindeer scrambled to his feet.
“Here.” Alec tossed Liam a rope.
Liam looped it over Palmer’s massive head while he munched on carrots. A leash of sorts. Now that Liam thought about it, the reindeer wasn’t all that much bigger than Sundog.
Liam handed Alec the rope, and they began a slow, careful walk off the ice.
“So the pond was closed last night, huh?” Alec said over the sound of Palmer crunching on a carrot and Sundog barking with envy from the sidelines.
“Yeah. I was at the Northern Lights Inn with the kids. They were waiting for Posy and Zoey, and I didn’t want to leave them there alone.” As if they were five-year-olds instead of teenagers who had jobs and would be going off to college soon.
“Right,” Alec said, the single syllable carrying more weight than it should have.
Liam sighed. “You’ve been talking to your wife, haven’t you?”
Palmer gave Alec a nudge with his muzzle, and Alec offered him another carrot that was quickly gobbled up. “We tend to do that on occasion. Talk to one another.”
Funny. Very funny. “Look. I don’t know what she told you, but...”
“Actually, she told me that Posy didn’t want the prescription for pain pills that the doctor gave her,” Alec said quietly. “In case you were interested.”
“I’m not.” Liam’s response was automatic, even if the tug of longing brought about by Alec’s words was anything but ordinary.
“Fair enough.”
There was a beat of silence and then Liam heard himself ask, “Did he give them to her anyway? The pain pills?”
What was he doing? He’d promised himself he wouldn’t get involved.
“He wrote her a prescription,” Alec said.
Unease settled in Liam’s gut.
“Which she gave to Zoey,” he added. The knot in the pit of Liam’s stomach unwound ever so slightly. “She tore it up when she got home. It’s in our trash can right now in tatters.”
Liam said nothing. As much relief as this information brought, it felt wrong being privy to it. As if he were spying on Posy.
“Look,” Alec said after a long silence, “I just thought you’d want to know.”
“Thanks, but it’s really none of my business.” Liam stepped off the ice and onto the snowy bank of the pond.
Alec followed suit, with Palmer now walking obediently alongside him. Even the town’s naughtiest reindeer could be better behaved than Sundog. Super.
“You sure about that?”
Yes. “Mostly.”
“One more thing...”
Liam sighed. He knew it would come around to this. Did married people have to talk about everything? He threw up his hands. “Yes, I kissed her. All right? It was a mistake—one I don’t intend on repeating. But I did it. I kissed her right there in front of Zoey. Satisfied?”
Alec frowned. “No, actually. She didn’t tell me that part.”
“Really?” Liam watched as Sundog gave Palmer a wary sniff. The dog seemed taken aback to meet a creature taller than himself.
Palmer snorted. Sundog leaped backward and hid behind Liam’s legs.
“Really.” There was a distinct note of bewilderment in Alec’s tone. Apparently there were a few things married people managed to keep to themselves.
“Oh.” Liam gave Sundog a reassuring pat on the head. “Do me a favor and forget I told you. I’m doing my best to forget about it myself.”
Alec laughed. “Good luck with that.”
“Your commentary isn’t helping.” Liam slid him a sideways glance.
“Sorry.”
A change of subject was in order. Pronto. “So what is it, then? The one last thing you wanted to tell me?”
“Oh, right. Zoey has a flight scheduled up to Kivalina in a few weeks. She has a load of medical supplies to drop off. Your parents are up there, aren’t they?”
Liam nodded. He knew what was coming, and it was the one topic he wished to discuss even less than the kiss he’d given Posy.
“Zoey says you’re welcome to tag along if you’d like to visit your folks.”
“I don’t think so. Between the youth group and the skating rink, my plate is pretty full.”
Alec nodded and was kind enough not to remind Liam that he’d just closed the pond the night before. “I understand. Believe me, I do. She just asked me to pass along the offer.”
Liam pasted on a smile. “Tell her I said thanks.”
“Will do.” Alec stroked Palmer’s head in the round, flat space between his antlers. “And I appreciate the help with Palmer.”
“No problem. Have you and Zoey figured out why he keeps getting out?”
“No. It’s a mystery.” Alec gave Palmer a long, thoughtful look. “He’s got everything he could ever want or need back home. He’s happy there. He’s loved. I suppose that no matter the circumstances, there will always be certain souls who want to wander. The restless ones.”
“I guess you’re right,” Liam said.
The ache that had hit him when Alec first mentioned Posy returned with gnawing intensity.
There will always be certain souls who want to wander. The restless ones.
Maybe Alec was right. Maybe it couldn’t be helped.
But what about the others? The ones the restless souls left behind, aching in their wake?
What about them?
* * *
The numbness afforded by Posy’s ice pack began to wear off faster than Posy could back her father’s car out of the driveway. By the time she reached the stop sign at the end of the block, her foot was throbbing again.
Ever so briefly, she thought about the prescription that Dr. Cooper had written for her the night before. She closed her eyes and heard the scratch of his pen as it moved across the paper.
No. I can’t. I won’t.
What was more, she didn’t want to. Not really. She needed to feel everything that was going on in her body. The pain was her teacher. If she paid attention to it, she would know when she was overdoing it and needed to rest. She needed to listen to her body instead of muting it like before.
She’d learned that much. As much as she didn’t like dwelling on the past, there were parts of it that clung to her. Memories forged. Lessons learned.
If she didn’t let herself feel, she risked hurting herself so badly that she would never recover, never dance again.
Let myself feel. She gripped the steering wheel and lifted her gaze to the lapis-blue sky. Why is that so hard to do?
She squared her shoulders and guided the car in the direction of the church. It would pass, this explosion of sensation. Everything in Alaska seemed bigger, brighter, more intense than it did anywhere else. But that was normal, right? It was only natural to feel a bit sentimental now that she was back home.
Everything would be fine.
She’d just about convinced herself that was the case when she guided the car around the next corner and found herself driving beneath the graceful blue branches of a majestic tree.
The tree.
She slowed to a stop, as if she could somehow prevent the onslaught of memories from rushing forward. The darkness, the rain, the way everything had looked so surreal and blurry around the edges. The squeal of the tires. The sickening jolt of the impact when she’d slammed into the centuries-old tree trunk. How even then she still hadn’t been coherent enough to process what was happening. None of it had seemed real until she’d seen the wreckage reflected in the sorrow of Liam’s eyes.
In the here and now, a terrible ache blossomed in her chest. She had trouble catching her breath. Every gulp of air seemed inadequate.
She pulled over to the side of the road and rested her forehead on the steering wheel.
Breathe, Posy. Just breathe. It was a long time ago.
Then why did the memory feel so fresh? Raw. As if it had just happened yesterday.
Probably because she hadn’t been back here since that awful night. Even before she’d left Aurora, in those final weeks after everything had come to humiliating light, she’d steadfastly avoided this route. When her mother had driven her to and from her doctor’s appointments, she’d gone the long way around the center of town. They’d never discussed the fact that Posy could no longer bear to look at the tree. It had simply been an unspoken understanding between them.
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