Summer in Snow Valley (Snow Valley Romance Anthologies Book 2)

by Cindy Roland Anderson

  “Ready?”

  This time Annalisa did much better and after two more run-throughs, they moved on to talent.

  “You’ll do your talent during the day for the judges and then again during the actual competition,” Cameron reminded Annalisa as she unpacked her violin. “The emcee should announce you at the pageant, but when you play for the judges, you’ll need to announce your number, so let’s practice it.”

  It’s Caprice Number 24 by Paganini,” Annalisa said, and started to raise the instrument to her chin.

  “Wait,” Cameron cut in. “You have to do it more formally. Pretend you’re at a concert, how would you announce it then?”

  Annalisa flushed and glanced at Kyle.

  “I’m not trying to embarrass you. It’s important to start off right though,” Cameron said quickly, praying Kyle wouldn’t undercut her.

  “She’s right, Leese,” he agreed.

  “Okay,” Annalisa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and straightened her shoulders. “Good morning. Today I’ll be playing Caprice Number 24 in A Minor, by Niccolo Paganini” she said formally.

  “Much better,” Cameron gave an encouraging nod.

  Annalisa began playing and Cameron’s eyes widened. She knew Annalisa was talented, but this was more than mere talent. Annalisa’s left hand flew along the violin’s neck, making the complex fingering look easy, while her right drew the bow expertly over the strings. She had the piece memorized and played with her eyes closed. There was power and passion and self-assurance in her performance that Cameron didn’t know she possessed.

  “That was amazing!” Cameron said when Annalisa had finished. “I had no idea you could play so well.” She’d been so mesmerized she’d forgotten to get video for Dotty.

  Annalisa flushed with pride and began to carefully pack the violin in its case while Cameron consulted her schedule. They were making progress. “Why don’t we call it a day,” she suggested.

  Kyle sighed and got to his feet. “Sounds good to me. I’ll see you later.” He left the room and Cameron chided herself for the wave of disappointment. What had she expected?

  “Maybe you could see if Josh wants to catch a movie tonight,” Cameron suggested. “Or one of your other friends?”

  “I have to study interview notecards.”

  “Not all night,” Cameron pointed out. “Spend an hour reviewing and then go have some fun, you need a break. Deal?”

  Annalisa looked up with a genuine smile. “Okay, thanks.”

  Cameron found Kyle washing his truck in the driveway.

  “She’s doing great, don’t you think?” she asked.

  Kyle shrugged and moved the soapy sponge over the hood in long, broad strokes. “I guess so.”

  “And her talent is incredible. Did she play like that last year?”

  “Yup.”

  “Why on earth didn’t she win?”

  “It wasn’t because of her talent. Melodee told us later she had the top score. Not enough confidence in the other areas is my guess.”

  “Well now that I’m here, she’s sure to win.” It came out sounding more arrogant than she’d intended and he frowned.

  “Maybe.”

  “Why don’t you want her to win? I think it would do a lot for her self-esteem.”

  “Yeah, well you don’t know her as well as I do,” Kyle said.

  “I’ve seen enough to know she could use your support,” Cameron replied.

  “I’m not saying it hasn’t been good to see her come out of her shell, especially today,” Kyle insisted. “But I don’t think being Miss Snow Valley will give her the same kind of boost it would give you … or my mother. She’s under enough pressure with her regular life; she doesn’t need this on top of everything else.”

  “That’s part of the reason I’m here,” Cameron argued, “to take some of the pressure off by helping her.”

  “Well, maybe you haven’t noticed, but it’s not working. If anything, you’re making it worse.” He dropped the sponge into the bucket of soapy water. “If you want my opinion – and I realize you probably don’t – I don’t think being in the pageant is good for her and you could help her a lot more by letting her drop out.”

  Cameron narrowed her eyes. “Let me guess … you think beauty pageants are exploitative and objectifying.”

  “Partly.”

  “Did you know the pageant system is one of the best ways for young women to earn scholarships?”

  Kyle rested on hand on the soapy truck and looked at her skeptically. “You believe that crap?”

  “Nationally the prizes are over $40 million per year,” she said defensively

  He snorted. “Yeah, right.”

  “It’s true!”

  “Even if you’re right, and you’re not, how much is Annalisa going to earn if she wins Miss Snow Valley?”

  “I know the prize money isn’t huge at this level –”

  “Two hundred and fifty dollars,” Kyle interrupted, “and my mother has spent at least three times that much on just her evening gown. Not to mention, how much are you costing them?”

  “It’s an investment,” Cameron grated.

  “Really? The scholarship amount for Miss Montana is five grand. So even if she wins this, then goes through a year of prep, then goes to Miss Montana and somehow manages to win that, the award won’t even cover one semester at MSU.”

  “Pageants help women develop confidence and poise.”

  He picked up the hose from the driveway. “I can think of better ways than parading around a stage half-dressed while an auditorium full of people judges you for your looks.”

  “It can also help young women get discovered. Vanessa Williams is a huge star and she got her start by winning Miss America.”

  “And if my sister doesn’t want to be a huge star?”

  “You don’t get it,” she said bitingly.

  “Neither do you.” Kyle aimed the hose at the Xterra and turned the sprayer on full blast, clearly indicating the conversation was over.

  Cameron stalked away.

  Chapter 8

  “Is there a gym around here?” Cameron asked Rayna the next morning. She had spent a restless night and was going crazy with the need for physical activity.

  “There’s the gym at the high school,” Rayna replied. “Anyone can use it when the football team isn’t there.”

  “Do I need some kind of a pass?”

  “No, just go over and poke around; there’s usually a door open somewhere.”

  Small towns – Cameron shook her head. This kind of thing would never happen in Louisville. Any school left unlocked would be vandalized within hours, minutes probably. And yet in Snow Valley, they not only left the school unlocked, everyone knew about it and everyone apparently had free reign.

  She went back to her room to change into her workout clothes – black knit shorts, a black sports bra, and a light purple t-shirt. She was no willowy beauty queen like Annalisa, but at least she had some killer shoes – lime green Nikes with a neon yellow stripe. Her feet could probably be seen from space.

  ***

  From the outside, one end of the high school was the big box she knew was the stage, so the big box on the other end must be the gym. She parked near the auditorium and worked her way around the building, trying the doors as she went, hoping Rayna was right and something would be open. With her luck, there was probably a silent alarm, which she was triggering by messing with the doors. Maybe the police would show up any minute to arrest her.

  Was there even a jail in Snow Valley? Or was it like The Andy Griffith show where drunks dried out in a cell at the police station where they could exchange folksy banter with Sheriff Andy while Aunt Bee supplied homemade apple pie? The idea was oddly heartwarming.

  She hit pay dirt on the third door and slipped inside to a dark hallway, lit by the overhead exit signs. Banks of silent lockers lined the walls and the linoleum floor squeaked under her shoes. The faint smell of industrial strength ammonia d
rifted through the air.

  The workout room was off the gym. The lights were on, but it was empty and she was glad for the privacy. It was pretty impressive for a small town, with rows of expensive weight and cardio machines, huge racks of free weights, and even a sports hot tub and a physical therapy table in the corner. A fierce looking bronc, the school’s mascot, was painted on the wall above a row of mirrors.

  Cameron decided to start with an ab machine. She set the weights at fifty pounds and climbed on, then discovered the platform for her feet was set for someone with longer legs.

  She got off and pulled the pin to adjust the platform, but it didn’t move. Grumbling, she yanked harder. Still stuck.

  “Stupid thing,” Cameron muttered under her breath. She pulled with all her might and the pin came loose, sending the platform sliding with a shriek of metal to the lowest level.

  She knelt beside the machine and pushed on the platform, trying to get it to slide back up, but it was stiff and she couldn’t get enough leverage to move it.

  “Argggh!” Cameron growled and beat at it with her foot.

  “If you break my equipment, I’m gonna be mad.”

  She gasped and spun around. Kyle was leaning against the doorframe.

  “Don’t do that; you scared me to death!” Cameron said.

  “You scared me to death with all your racket,” he countered.

  He was dressed much like he had been the day in the grocery store, in gym shorts, a t-shirt, and athletic shoes. She was immediately aware of her own tightly fitting clothes and had an impulse to suck in … everywhere. “What are you doing here?” she said instead.

  “I’m the gym teacher, remember?”

  “I knew you were a teacher, but I didn’t know you were the gym teacher.” If she’d known that, she never would have come. “Besides, it’s summer,” she said.

  “Someone has to keep the riffraff out.” He jerked his head toward the machine. “Those sliding mechanisms can get sticky. Want some help?”

  “No, it’s fine where it is,” Cameron said stubbornly.

  She climbed onto the ab machine and positioned the padded bar that moved the weights across her collarbone. She wiggled to adjust her position and found if she sat on the edge of the seat and pointed her toes, she could reach the platform … barely. It wasn’t ideal, but Kyle was still watching and she was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her fail.

  She leaned forward into her first crunch … and found it much harder than she’d anticipated. Without a way to firmly plant her feet, she had to tense all the muscles in her legs and butt to get the leverage she needed.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  Sweat broke out on her forehead.

  Four.

  Five.

  Why had she set it at fifty pounds? She should have started with something more manageable … like zero pounds.

  Six.

  Her neck started to ache with the strain.

  Seven.

  Kyle hadn’t moved. He stood in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  “Don’t you have anything better to do than stand there laughing at me?” Cameron gasped.

  “I’m not laughing,” he said, very seriously.

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  Seven … or was it eight? How about ten? Please could it be ten?

  “Okay, stop!” Kyle came over. “You’ve made your point, now please let me help you before you hurt yourself.” He knelt at her side and used both hands to wrestle the platform up to where her feet could reach it comfortably. She glanced down at his head and had an almost irresistible urge to run her fingers through his thick brown hair. She bit her lip.

  “Better?” Kyle asked when he’d secured the platform with the pin.

  “Yes, thanks.”

  He looked up and their eyes met. “I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said. “I guess I get a little tense when it comes to Annalisa.”

  “You’re a good big brother,” Cameron said. “I’m sorry too.”

  He grinned and got to his feet. She was sure he would leave and go back to whatever he’d been doing when she started clanging around the weight room, but he hopped on a nearby spin bike and started pedaling.

  “What about you? Any siblings?” he asked.

  “One sister,” Cameron said. “And yes, I’m older, which means I’m the bossy one.”

  “I could have told you that,” Kyle said with a sly smile as he fiddled with the controls on the bike. She sat watching him until she remembered she was supposed to be doing crunches and started up again.

  “So are you a former beauty queen, or what?” Kyle finally asked.

  “No,” Cameron admitted. “I wanted to be …” crunch … “I always…” crunch … “liked …” okay, it was impossible to talk and crunch at the same time. She stopped moving.

  “I always liked it,” she said. “We’d watch the Miss America pageant every year and I was totally obsessed. I really thought it would only be a matter of time before it’d be me up there in a fancy dress and a sparkly tiara. I guess when you’re nine, anything is possible.”

  She slid out from the ab machine and climbed onto a bike next to Kyle.

  “So you didn’t do the pageant circuit?” Kyle asked.

  “My Barbies sure did. My sister and I would put on huge pageants all the time. We’d make a stage with a folding table and the piano bench as the runway; curtains from leftover fabric; colored cellophane over lamps to make stage lighting. Once we even had an ice rink.”

  “Ice rink?” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “How’d you accomplish that?”

  “We used a mirror. All the contestants were figures skaters that time. And they all had to trade off because we only had one skating costume and one pair of skates.”

  Kyle laughed. “Sounds pretty elaborate.”

  Cameron smiled at the memory. “We’d spend days setting it up, picking out music, making costumes, planning choreography … everything. We made tiaras out of tin foil and banners out of ribbon and glitter. My sister, Linda, even made a grand piano once with encyclopedias and Legos.” She shook her head. “My parents were so patient. They lived with our messes for weeks and never complained about it or stopped us from doing it.”

  For a moment she was a kid again – sorting through the big box of Barbie clothes with Linda, picking out the perfect evening gowns for each doll. The redheaded Barbie got the green sequined dress, the blonde looked best in the sky blue ball gown, and the brunette had the yellow chiffon.

  She pulled her focus back to the present and flushed. “Sorry. I tend toward TMI sometimes.”

  Kyle shook his head. “I like hearing it. So the Barbies competed for the title. Who won?”

  “Duh. I’m older so of course mine usually won,” Cameron said. “Occasionally I’d let Linda’s win … occasionally. And once in a while, they’d both win – then we’d make two tin foil tiaras and two banners.”

  “Dreaming all the while about the day when it would be happening to you instead of your doll?” Kyle said.

  Cameron’s face fell a bit and she nodded. “Something like that.”

  “What happened? Why didn’t you?”

  “Puberty,” she said with a sigh. “I stayed short and grew curves in all the wrong places. Beauty queens are tall and skinny and willowy, not …” she thought self-consciously of her body, on full display in her workout gear. “Not like me.”

  There was a pause and then Kyle cleared his throat. “I think you’re beautiful,” he said and then blushed a bit. “I mean, you … you look good.”

  Her stomach flipped. “Thanks.”

  They rode for almost an hour, the conversation moving easily between them. Given their history, Cameron was surprised how easy it was to talk to Kyle.

  “That explains it then,” Kyle said, when she told him she’d grown up in Ohio.

  “Explains what?”


  “Why you don’t have a Kentucky twang,” he grinned.

  “Ah don’t know whut you’re tahlking about,” she replied. “Anyway, you’re the one with the accent, Montana.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he drawled, and took his hand off the handlebars to mime tipping a cowboy hat in her direction.

  “Have you lived in Snow Valley all your life?” she asked, then remembered he hadn’t.

  “Mom and I moved here when I was eight,” he said. “Before then, we lived in Arizona. The first time I saw snow I was in heaven. Our first winter here we had fifteen foot drifts and I loved it.”

  “Skiing?”

  “Eventually. As a kid though my favorite thing was to climb a fence and jump off, head first into a snowbank.” He smiled ruefully. “Just FYI, if you’re going to do that, make sure you know what’s under the snow first.”

  Cameron winced. “Sounds like there was an incident?”

  “I hit a fallen tree,” he admitted sheepishly, “had to wear a neck brace for two months.”

  “Yikes,” she laughed.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What’s your plan for the rest of the day?” Kyle asked as they finished up at the gym. “I assume you’ve got Annalisa scheduled?”

  Cameron’s mind churned; it was difficult to remember anything at the moment. All she could think about was how weird it was to be standing here with a hot guy after a workout and not feel gross and awkward because she was all sweaty.

  “I think Annalisa is getting her hair trimmed and then we’re talking platform and sponsorship opportunities if she wins,” she finally said.

  “You’re both working really hard,” Kyle said in a carefully neutral tone. He held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “Don’t get mad, I just think there’s such a thing as overkill.”

  “I guess a little bit,” Cameron conceded. “I thought we’d need more time to work on her talent, but she’s obviously got that one in the bag.”

  Kyle grabbed a paper towel and a spray bottle of disinfectant and began wiping down the bikes. “Yeah, she could probably get a music scholarship to any college she wanted,” he gave her a sideways look.

  “You mean if she wasn’t bogged down competing in beauty pageants?” Cameron finished for him. “They’re not mutually exclusive, you know. It’s not like she’ll busy twenty-four seven. Plenty of reigning beauty queens go to school and have a life during their year.”