Winter Storm

by Barbara Winkes

  After the reading, Asha took the microphone again, reminding the avid listeners that there would be only one autograph per person. Callie smiled to herself. There had been times when there had been no reminder necessary, because only a small group of people stopped by her table. These days, there were always at least a couple of people trying to sneak in one more. Callie didn’t mind, even though she knew Asha would scold her for it later, not to mention her hand would hurt. She enjoyed the exchange. There was always a bit of hate mail or stupid comments on the internet, but those people usually didn’t go all the way to buy a ticket and actually come to see her. The people in this room were here because they had enjoyed her stories. It was safe.

  Most people were happy with a little small talk. She asked them their names and wrote a personalized signature. Some asked her to sign for an absent friend or family member.

  The man and woman brought their daughter who proudly held up a copy of The Girl Who Lived in a Castle. Callie smiled at the girl who was about Maggie’s age.

  “You liked the book?” The girl nodded enthusiastically. “What’s your name?” When the whispered answer came, Callie signed For Becky—Keep reading and handed her the book, looking up to see the happily smiling parents.

  Next, a woman asked her to sign the new book for her absent girlfriend.

  “Annie is out of town, and she doesn’t know I’m here,” she said with a wink. “It’s for her birthday.”

  “So tell me, are Vanessa and Sabine ever going to get married?” a teenage girl, about eighteen, asked.

  “It’s a possibility,” Callie told her. “In any case I’m glad it happened here for real.”

  “Oh yeah. We talk about it a lot in school. Don’t you think it’s stupid to keep people who love each other from getting married? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Callie was admittedly baffled. Her audience, especially the younger segment, mostly came for entertainment more than discussing politics. If these subjects were discussed in school, maybe people were finally waking up.

  “You’re right, Jenna. Thanks for coming.”

  “You’re welcome. I think you’re awesome.”

  “What’s your name?” Callie asked the next person waiting in line. Her head was starting to buzz, and she forced herself to keep up the smile and look up. It wasn’t the woman’s fault that she’d been last in the line.

  “Whatever you like, but Nicky is fine.”

  Callie halted in mid-motion, staring at the woman standing in front of the table in disbelief. It had been over a year since she’d last seen her. She never wanted to see her again.

  “Nicole. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “That is the question of the year,” Asha murmured behind her. In fact, she practically hissed. Callie felt a little safer.

  “Isn’t it obvious? I just wanted to see you.” It was the smile Callie had once found attractive, but too many memories had come in between.

  “I didn’t want to see you, sorry. No, actually, I’m not sorry. I want you to leave.”

  “Come on, Callie, wait. You can’t do that. I know I have a lot to make up for, but this is a public place, and I just came to say hello.”

  “Well, you did. Hello. Bye, Nicole.”

  “Can’t you just give me a few minutes? Please. I swear I’ll get lost after that.”

  “I gave you a year of my life,” Callie said darkly. “Big mistake. I know better now.” A begging Nicole was worse than in her angry times. Callie just wanted to do whatever it took to end this awkward situation the fastest.

  “You want to talk? I can’t imagine anything we would have to talk about.”

  “I want to apologize. For everything.” Her eyes were glistening with tears. “I need to do this for myself as much as I need to do it for you. I know I’ve been a horrible person, but people can change. I know I have.”

  “Good for you.” Callie got up so abruptly she nearly knocked over her chair. “Now that we have cleared that up, I really have to go.”

  Nicole looked disappointed. What the hell had she expected?

  “You know Sean gave me your email.”

  “Oh yes.” Callie had let her brother know exactly what she’d thought about that. “I didn’t ask him to. I think you did whatever it was that you wanted to do. See ya. Oh wait. I hope not.”

  It was remarkable how brave she was with a table between them, and Asha at her back. Callie was aware that her hands were shaking. Nicole sighed, obviously disappointed.

  “I was hoping that we…could maybe have a drink somewhere. Just talk. I promise.”

  “No way, Nicole!”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because she’s with me,” Rebecca said, her unexpected appearance such a relief that Callie wondered for a moment if she’d simply imagined her.

  Nicole’s face fell. The way she was sizing up Rebecca clearly showed Callie she hadn’t changed in so many ways. Nicole was tall, like every single woman Callie had been with, but she still had to look up to Rebecca.

  “I see. I’m sorry, Callie—Sean failed to tell me you were in a relationship.”

  “You know now. If you could excuse us?”

  For all her struggles, Rebecca could be surprisingly cool, and take charge when the situation required her to. Aside from the fact that she was glad about the support, Callie found it extremely sexy.

  “Awesome,” Asha said after Nicole had finally gotten the message and left, if reluctantly. “Rebecca, I really like you a lot more than I ever thought I would. Drinks are on me tonight.”

  “Thank you, but I think we really just want to go home.”

  Callie couldn’t have agreed more.

  Chapter Three

  The ride home was made mostly in silence. Rebecca didn’t know a lot of details about the Nicole situation, but what she knew was enough to make her blood boil. The woman had a lot of nerve showing up and asking Callie out for a drink, new relationship or not.

  Rebecca had wanted to stay in the back and wait until the signing session was done, but she’d realized soon that something was not right with the last reader waiting. When she’d heard the name, she made the connection right away.

  From what she understood, the relationship Callie had been trapped in for a year had been emotionally abusive, steadily escalating. Callie had eventually found her way out. There were many questions on Rebecca’s mind, but she was aware that now was not a good time to ask them.

  She picked up the phone to order some snacks for dinner, but Callie took the receiver from her, adding a bottle of wine to their order. Rebecca cringed, because she saw the prices. Callie just shrugged.

  “I’ve got enough nightmares as it is. I don’t need her to add to them. How is your head?”

  The question was so much of a non sequitur that Rebecca needed a moment to answer. “Much better. It helps when someone makes me mad.”

  Callie chuckled, then she leaned forward to embrace Rebecca, holding on tight.

  “Your timing is incredible. Thank you for saving me.”

  “Anytime.”

  They stayed entwined like that until the knock on the door announced the arrival of the room service.

  Rebecca was hungry since she’d half skipped all meals before. She noticed Callie barely touched her plate but refilled her glass within a couple of minutes.

  “Hey. I know that must have upset you, but there’s nothing she can really do. We go home in a few days.”

  “Do I seem upset to you?” Callie took a deep swig from her glass. “Oh, fuck it. Fuck her.”

  “Do you want to talk about it? I mean…I don’t know a lot other than she was a mean bitch to you, and I’m so grateful that you got rid of her when you did.”

  Callie gave her a small smile, and Rebecca decided it was a start. Callie was by far the most kind-hearted person she’d ever met. The thought that somebody would willingly hurt her set off some less kind-hearted feelings in Rebecca. She wouldn’t mind calling the police the next time
Nicole showed up. She had Asha on her side too.

  With a heartfelt sigh, Callie leaned back against the cushions, wine glass in hand.

  “I just don’t understand. What happened? Sean gave her my email address last fall. She never cared to write. Which is fine with me, ’cause I didn’t want to talk to her,” she added quickly. “Why now?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she saw an ad or a flyer for the signing session somewhere.”

  “If Sean is still keeping in touch with her, I’m going to kill him. Damn, I told him she was crazy!”

  “How crazy exactly?” Is she going to come after you with a knife? Rebecca didn’t voice that thought. Callie had been right. They were dealing with enough nightmares already.

  “I have no idea, really. For all I know, she might have changed. I don’t care. I don’t want her in my life.” Callie filled her glass again. “Why can’t people mind their own freaking business?”

  “You should eat something.”

  “I’m not hungry. I want to get drunk.”

  Rebecca wanted to remind her that Dina would be here in less than an hour, and things were complicated enough at the moment, but she kept quiet. There was a lot more coming to the surface than Nicole showing up uninvited.

  “You’ve had some good moments today.”

  “Yeah. You know all those polls that show younger people are more open to gay rights? I don’t know. Maybe teenagers just don’t care about anything that much.”

  “You seemed to have good conversations though.”

  “I’m scared, and I hate it. I hate her.”

  Rebecca poured herself a glass. She didn’t really care for the wine at the moment, but she wanted an unobtrusive way to keep Callie from having the whole bottle by herself. She put her glass on the nightstand and sat beside Callie on the bed.

  “Don’t. She’s not worth it. She’s not worth it that you’re even thinking about her now.” If that sounded a tad drastic, Rebecca didn’t care. She meant every word.

  Callie shook her head.

  “She once told me that if I broke up with her, nobody else would want me. Guess who’s having the last laugh now.” She wasn’t laughing though, just the opposite. Rebecca was fairly certain at this point that if Nicole showed up another time, she’d slap her in the face without warning.

  “I know that I’m very lucky.”

  When Dina returned, Callie had succumbed to the effects of stress and alcohol, sleeping soundly, sprawled on the bed in her clothes. Rebecca decided she’d let her sleep for a while and take that moment to reunite with her daughter. Maybe, in the process, she’d have the chance to ask a few nosy questions.

  “Did you have a good day with Erin?”

  “Oh yeah, totally cool. The Sheltons go to Italy all the time. I want to go someday.”

  “Italy, huh?” Dina’s enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air. Hard to think that just a few hours ago, Rebecca had been worried about her. All in all, teenage problems could often be solved quicker than the adult ones. Rebecca wanted to keep her daughter away from that territory as long as possible. “Where exactly does Tomaso come from?”

  She could tell Dina was pleased that she remembered the boy’s name. Contrary to what you believe, I do listen to what you say.

  “Florence, can you believe it? It’s so beautiful. Erin and her parents will go in the summer. Hey, maybe we can go too? I suppose there’s a lot of money coming with the prize Callie won.”

  “Not as much as you think, but I’ll break the idea to her.” Rebecca made sure that neither her tone nor her smile was indulgent. She never been to Europe either. At some point, she and David had talked about the possibility of a longer vacation. They had postponed it when they found out she was pregnant with Maggie.

  “It’s so awesome! Tomaso showed us pictures. You wanna see? I mean, only if you want to.”

  Rebecca had hesitated a moment too long, startled by the offer. “Of course.”

  She looked over Dina’s shoulder when she logged in on her Facebook page, watching her type in the password. She pretended not to have noticed.

  Dina had roughly two hundred “friends,” including Erin Shelton and Tomaso De Luca. She hadn’t promised too much—the photographs on his site were truly beautiful, a dream landscape. Well, dream was the imperative here, because Rebecca couldn’t see herself making such a big trip at the moment.

  “I bet he’s missing the pizza from home,” she commented. Dina rolled her eyes.

  “That’s such a cliché. We have good food here…okay, actually he does.”

  They laughed together. Rebecca cherished the happy carefree moment even more considering it had become rare lately.

  “With all those friends, when do you have time for school?”

  “Don’t start, Mom. I’ve got all the A’s. Anna’s parents watch her like hawks, and by proxy I get to study all the time too.”

  Her friend’s parents had reason to be cautious. Anna had asked Dina to hide a pregnancy test for her in the past year.

  “That’s not so bad then.”

  “No.” Dina smiled. “I liked being good at something. You want to show Callie?”

  “Tomorrow. She’s pretty beat from the day.”

  “I bet it’s exciting too. If I was her, I don’t know if I’d want to come back to Autumn Leaves, ever. I mean because of Tim and Matt…”

  “They’re in jail now,” Rebecca said, sharper than she had intended. She didn’t want to get into that topic, and she didn’t like the implications of Dina’s words. There was absolutely no reason for Callie to leave.

  “Yeah, thank God. Too bad they’re not going to keep those assholes forever.” For once, Rebecca saw no reason to correct her daughter’s language. “What will you and Callie do when they are out?”

  “There’ll be a few years to come before that. They might not even come back to Autumn Leaves where everybody knows what they did.”

  How did they get from pictures of sunrises and wine to the next scary subject? The two men had been found guilty of rape. Callie had escaped them in time, but her nightmares were an indication of how close it had been.

  “I don’t want to spend all my life there either,” Dina claimed. “I know you were always comfortable there, but I want to see more of the world, you know?”

  Rebecca wanted to hug her. It was too early for her to not spend time with Dina on a daily basis—way too early to have her go to faraway places.

  “I’m sure you will. All those good grades will pay off for you.”

  “How did you know, Mom?” Dina was changing gears quickly once again. “With Callie, and before, with Dad? How did you know you really wanted to be with them?”

  “Is there someone…?”

  Rebecca had an uncomfortable flashback of a conversation they had the year before, after finding the pregnancy test Dina had hidden for her friend—Anna who was grounded for life by her parents, as it seemed. While Rebecca didn’t think it was the best solution, she could definitely understand them.

  “No. I’m just thinking about these things…I want to be prepared when it happens.”

  Rebecca had to suppress the smile. In a teenager’s mind, a parent knew nothing one moment, but was supposed to be omniscient the next. How did anybody know? Rebecca hadn’t had a lot of boyfriends by the time she met David Lowman and somehow knew that this was the man she wanted to have a family with.

  Callie was a whole other story. Rebecca had simply let go of everything that had been familiar in her life, not knowing or caring if there was a safety net. She couldn’t bring herself to regret anything. She was truly happy.

  “I don’t think you can prepare for that. You’ll just know.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Could you be any more vague?”

  “I could try.”

  Dina’s smile was genuine. “Thank you. I mean it. It’s awesome you let me come even though I kind of tricked you. I had a great time today.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad you’re here too. D
on’t stay online too long, okay?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Callie was just barely stirring when Rebecca returned to the bedroom.

  “That half a bottle really knocked you out,” she said affectionately. “I almost forgot what a lightweight you are.”

  Callie mumbled something unintelligible, and then straightened to sit up.

  “I hope you didn’t show this to Dina as a bad example? She’s home?”

  “No, and yes. Besides, you were just sleeping. That’s hardly a bad example.”

  “I’m glad you think so.” Callie yawned. “What a day. I think I need to wash it off some more before I can go to sleep for real. I’m going to try out that bathtub.” She got up from the bed, starting to strip as she went. “You’re welcome,” she said which could be interpreted in many ways.

  Rebecca decided she would enjoy the view for starters.

  * * * *

  When she finally leaned back into Rebecca’s arms in the warm water, the sweet scent of peach rising from the bubble bath, Callie decided it was time to count her blessings. Nightmares were just that, a delusion, a distortion of reality. Nicole’s appearance had been something of a freak accident. At this moment, life was good. She could actually go back to the events of the day and find not everything had been bad. Callie thought of the girl who’d said the ongoing discussion of marriage equality was talked about at her school. It was probably the last thing on Rebecca’s mind right now, with her own divorce that had not gone smoothly in everything, but at some point…

  She was still amazed how things that had seemed so vague and unreachable in her life were taking shape, just in the past few months. Callie was looking forward to going back to Autumn Leaves soon and settle in for real. She might end the Heart Fever series. It seemed like a good time to go back to children’s literature, too, or even young adult.

  “Are you falling asleep on me?” Rebecca asked. “Then we should get out of here.”

  “It’s fine. Just a few more minutes, okay?”