A Sister Would Know

by C. J. Carmichael

  “Oh, sure. She was wild. I’ve never seen a woman drink like that. After she’d had enough, she’d get up on the kitchen table and dance. God, Grant, you should’ve seen her.” Peder wiped his brow as if just the memory had him sweating.

  “What about Ramsey? Was he ever at those parties?”

  Peder looked startled. “Hell, no. Can you imagine straitlaced Ramsey turning up for something like that?”

  He fell silent, as if suddenly realizing that what “straitlaced” Ramsey had turned up for, had been a hell of a lot more wild.

  IT WASN’T SNOWING, but howling winds lifted the surface crystals and created a haze like a dust storm. Amalie held a hand up to protect her face while she watched Grant talk to the man from the Canadian Armed Forces.

  The 105 mm howitzer was mounted on huge wheels that allowed it to be moved from one firing location to another. Since the machine couldn’t be fired by a civilian, every winter a gunnery unit from the army was stationed in Rogers Pass. A member of that unit was currently talking to Grant.

  “It looks like a cannon, don’t you think?” Davin asked. He aimed the disposable camera that they’d bought at the drugstore yesterday and clicked a photo.

  “It is big,” Amalie agreed, eyeing the powerful gun, which had just been settled onto a secure concrete pad along the edge of the closed highway. The blowing snow was so pervasive and cloud cover so thick and gray she couldn’t even make out the shapes of the mountains where the avalanches were to be triggered.

  Beside her was one of Grant’s team members, an approachable-looking young man named Peder, who spoke with the slight staccato of a Norwegian accent. His job was to maintain radio control with Grant, who would be watching the imminent avalanche from closer range.

  “I think we’re ready.” Grant’s authoritative voice traveled across the expanse of clumpy, old snow. He was dressed warmly in his snow pants and anorak, his head covered by a tight black knit cap and his hands in thick gloves. Still, a frost had formed on the faint stubble of an unshaven day’s growth, and his cheeks were ruddy with the cold.

  “How will they know where to fire?” she heard Davin ask him. “I can hardly see anything.”

  She’d been wondering the same thing; she moved in to hear the answer.

  “We have stakes set up all along the highway.” Grant pointed in front of the gun, where a ribbon of red was just visible through the white haze. “We’re going to be shooting about thirty targets today. In three hours, it’ll all be over.”

  He left then to drive his truck down the road to where he would position himself on the target slope. Amalie told herself this was all in a day’s business to him; there was absolutely no reason for her to feel tense and worried. Bunching her gloved hands in the pockets of her suede coat, she paced restlessly as Davin bombarded Peder with endless questions.

  She could see now why Grant had said they’d be safe. The avalanche they would soon be triggering was well out of range of their current location. Not so for Grant. He was planning to stand right at the foot of the avalanche path. What if he miscalculated the quantity of snow that would be released? What if he was swallowed and buried, like Helena and Ramsey?

  “Do you ever worry that something might go wrong?” she asked Peder, stamping her feet on the hard concrete pad.

  “Not really. And you shouldn’t, either.” His smile was engaging, reassuring. “We’re all well trained, and we don’t take unnecessary risks. Grant won’t let us.”

  The radio crackled. Grant’s voice was coming in from the distance. “Mount target number three.”

  The men around the gun moved into action. First the bearing number was called out. Then the elevation.

  “Okay,” Grant said, “load.”

  Davin snapped another picture as the missile was loaded into the howitzer.

  Suddenly, Amalie realized the wind had died and the snow crystals had settled. Now she saw the outline of the mountain before them.

  “Let her go!”

  “Fire!”

  The howitzer blasted; the empty casing fell to the ground. From the mountain came a rumble, like distant thunder.

  “Wow!” Davin clicked another picture, then another. Amalie strained to see in the distance. Grant had warned them that not every cannon shot was successful. But it appeared this one was. As they watched, a huge cloud of snow began to form on the opposite peak.

  “The shock waves trigger the release of snow,” Peder explained as the cloud grew bigger and bigger. “Look closely. As the snowpack travels down the mountain it’ll gain speed and momentum and set off the snow in the lower regions.”

  “Does it look larger than you expected?” Amalie swallowed nervously. Not for a second had she forgotten that Grant was standing at the foot of that mountain.

  “It’s sizable. But don’t worry. Grant knows what he’s doing.”

  Amalie nodded, wrapping her arms around her body as she felt a chill unconnected with the weather conditions. She thought of Ramsey, who also should have known what he was doing. Was Grant right? Had it been Helena’s carelessness that had cost them their lives?

  Amalie stared up at the mountain slope, unable to see a thing other than clouds of tumbling snow. The rumbling sound gave testament to the forces of nature at work. Where was Grant?

  She eyed the radio, willing it to pulse to life with his voice. Only when she heard him would she believe he truly was safe.

  GRANT WAS HAPPY with the quantity of snow that came off the mountain during the three-hour shoot. It was definitely more than he’d expected, and a couple of times he’d had to do some quick maneuvering to get out of the danger zone. Now he radioed to Peder and told him they could call it a day.

  From his truck, he could see the snowplows already at work, clearing the roads. Within the hour the highways would be open and safe for travel.

  Arriving at the last gun position, he found Amalie and Davin waiting for him. Amalie looked cold, those same worry lines etched into her forehead. Davin, on the other hand, was exuberant.

  “Well? What did you think?” Grant asked.

  “Can I work here with you when I grow up?”

  Grant’s glance cut to Amalie. The lines on her forehead deepened at Davin’s question. He threw an arm around the young boy’s shoulders. “You’ll probably change your mind ten times between now and when you’re finally old enough to make your choice.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  Davin kicked at a clump of snow, then punched a fist into the air. The kid was euphoric after watching the morning shoot. Looked like he had some energy to burn. “Ever tried snowshoeing?” Grant asked him.

  Davin straightened, eyes bright. “No. But I’d like to.”

  “I’ll take you out this afternoon—if your aunt agrees.”

  She was shaking her head. “Aren’t you exhausted?”

  “Lunch will revive me. How about we head for pizza?”

  By going to Pizza Paradise, Grant was hoping he could get a chance to speak privately to his buddy about that story Peder had told him. Of course he’d have to be subtle. He didn’t want Amalie knowing he was investigating her sister’s relationship with Ramsey for Denise.

  He’d started out trying to help Amalie learn about her sister. Now he’d promised Denise that he’d find out how long Helen and Ramsey had been having their affair. The whole situation was becoming so convoluted he was beginning to feel like a double agent.

  This kind of stuff was so easy in the movies. In real life, Grant felt like a jerk. He didn’t like searching for information behind Amalie’s back or hiding his growing friendship with Amalie from Denise.

  James Bond, he definitely was not.

  Although, he wouldn’t mind trying that skydiving stunt he’d seen in the last movie, and winning the lady over in the end….

  AT THE RESTAURANT, Grant sat back and again reflected on how different Amalie was from her sister. Peder had looked at him as if he were crazy for not having been attracted to Helen. But Grant had
never been enticed by superficial beauty. So far all his serious relationships had been with women who shared his passion for adventure and the outdoors.

  In that respect, Amalie was an exception. She seemed to have an innate fear of the mountains. But Grant was confident she would overcome it. Once this business with Helen and Ramsey was cleared up.

  Today, the soft blue of her sweater matched her eyes, and both reminded him of the sky on a frosty winter afternoon. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, he could see the sweep of her cheekbones, the sloping line of her jaw, and her small, smooth chin. She looked youthful. But not carefree.

  Reaching out, he pressed his thumb along the lines that formed between her brows. “It’s over, Amalie. Time to stop worrying.”

  “It’s never over, Grant. Once one problem’s resolved, there’s always another.” She frowned, replacing the lines he’d just tried to erase. “I sound like my mother when I say that.”

  “Are you sorry you came on the shoot?”

  Her gaze slid over to Davin, who was working on his third slice of pepperoni and cheese. “How could I be? I’ve never seen him so excited. Not even at Christmas.”

  Davin grinned around a mouthful of food.

  “I give you full marks for not letting your fear stand in the way of something that was important to Davin. A lot of mothers couldn’t be that brave.”

  “I felt safer than I expected. The hardest part was knowing you—”

  She stopped, but the idea that she’d been concerned for his safety was flattering.

  “Have you ever been injured doing avalanche control?” she asked.

  “My first year I broke my arm. That’s about it.” He could see the doubt in Amalie’s eyes.

  “I still feel people aren’t meant to live in this part of the world,” she said. “Not just because of the avalanches. I mean, think about it. The terrain is practically impassable. It snows almost all the time, and even your summers are measured in weeks rather than months.”

  “Now, that’s not true—”

  “That’s what I read yesterday when I was helping Davin with his research.”

  “Did your research tell you how it feels to stand on the Abbott Ridge Trail and look over the sweep of the Asulkan Valley?” Grant wished he had the words to explain how he felt about these mountains, about this rugged country.

  But part of him acknowledged the validity of what she was saying. This area of the world was both remote and wild. There were reasons the native Indians had never ventured into the Selkirks, why the land was uncharted and unknown when the first explorers came, searching for a railroad route that was to unite the provinces into one country called Canada.

  Those same reasons had cost him a relationship or two in the past. Getting involved with Amalie, he could see, would probably take him down that same path. If he was smart, he’d back away now, before he’d invested too many feelings.

  Davin put down the glass that had been full of milk and was now empty. “I saw a neat bookstore down the block. I’d like to check it out for my research. Could I?”

  Amalie nodded, no doubt pleased with his interest in books, even though the subject was hardly to her liking. “If you find any that seem interesting, I’ll see if I can order them at the library.”

  Once the boy was gone, Grant stretched an arm over the back of the vinyl seat. “So,” he said, “is life much better in Toronto, then? Are you a big-city girl at heart?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. We didn’t actually grow up in Toronto. Our parents lived in a small town about two hours north of the city. We had quite a protected childhood, really. The community revolved around the church, and our parents were pretty strict. They kept a very close eye on us.”

  He could picture her in a smaller place. “Why did you move to Toronto?”

  “I went to university there, planning to return to work in Barrie when I graduated. It’s just north of Toronto, and not nearly as big,” she explained.

  He nodded. “I’ve heard of it. What happened to your plans?”

  “In one word—Davin. If my parents had been more accepting of him, I probably would’ve moved closer to home when I finished school.”

  “What was with your parents? Were they upset that Davin was born out of wedlock?”

  “That’s an understatement. They barely spoke to Helena again after they found out she was pregnant. They also didn’t approve when I decided to raise Davin. They felt Helena should have given him up for adoption.”

  “But he was their grandson.”

  “I know. Believe me, I’ve struggled to understand their attitude. I think it stemmed from disappointment. They came to this country so that Helena and I would have every opportunity. To have Helena drop out of school without her grade twelve…”

  “But you got your degree. You’re a nutritionist, right?”

  “Yes. But they’d hoped I would be a doctor.”

  “Still, you’re hardly a failure.” To him, her decision to raise Davin was both noble and courageous. He tried to imagine himself at eighteen, taking sole responsibility for an infant. It was a real stretch. “You’re one incredible woman. You know that, right?”

  Amalie’s rueful smile made her look vulnerable, young. “Come on, Grant. Don’t make me out as self-sacrificing. Raising Davin has been the most wonderful part of my life.”

  “And where was Helen during all this?”

  At the mention of her sister’s name, Amalie seemed to lower an imaginary protective shield between them. “Don’t blame her, Grant. My mother was very hard on her, very critical. At that point in her life, Helena’s self-esteem was at an all-time low.”

  Silently, Grant gave thanks for his own mom and dad. Travelers and adventurers, they’d taken a laissez-faire approach to parenting, but he’d always known they loved and approved of him.

  “Did Helen drop out of high school because she was pregnant?”

  “No. The pregnancy happened later, once she’d moved to Toronto with a girlfriend. She dropped out of school and left home the day after she’d been chosen for the lead role in the high-school musical.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “My mother told her she wasn’t allowed to perform in the show.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Afraid not. Helena left home the next day. Her dream was to model, but she ended up working in retail.”

  “And then got pregnant?”

  “Yes.” Amalie’s expression, as she glanced out the window, became pensive. “Helena never told me who the father was. She said he didn’t care about the baby and didn’t have the ability to pay any support.”

  “That’s a sad story.”

  “Yes. I often think Helena’s life was full of people who let her down. Some of us did it unintentionally.”

  He thought about that word us.

  “You think you let her down? But you raised her son for her….”

  Amalie smiled gently. “That’s something Helena did for me. Let me raise her child.”

  “I still don’t see how you let her down?”

  “I was always the one who caught on the first time, who did things right, who never made our parents angry. How frustrating it must have been for her to feel she had to try to live up to me.”

  “You can’t honestly blame yourself for not screwing up.”

  “Maybe not. Maybe it was our parents who should have made more of an effort to see us as individuals. They always thought, if Amalie can do it, then why not Helena. I guess their rationale was that we were identical twins.”

  “Identical twins, but not identical people.”

  “Exactly.” Amalie touched his hand for a moment, then slid out from the booth. “I need to use the washroom. When I get back we should probably leave, if you plan to snowshoe in the light of day.”

  “Yes.” Grant jerked his thoughts from her childhood, back to the present. If Amalie was going to the washroom, then this was his chance. He had to flag down Blaine.

 
; “Hey there, buddy.” The former mountaineer caught Grant waving his arm. “Want a refill on that coffee?”

  “No, I just wondered if I could, um…” Grant lost his voice for a second and had to clear his throat. “Could I ask you a few questions?”

  “Interested in a change of career?”

  Grant grinned at the idea of working in a pizza joint. “Confined indoors ten, twelve hours a day? No, thanks.”

  He gestured Blaine to sit in the seat opposite him. “I wanted to ask you about Ramsey.” He twisted in his seat so he could check the door of the women’s washroom. It was still closed. “And Helen,” he added.

  “Ahhh.” Blaine leaned back, a knowing gleam in his eyes. “So you’ve heard they had dinner here?”

  “There was a rumor.” Grant tapped his fingers on the smooth table. Prying was not in his nature. But he’d promised Denise…“Is it true?”

  “They came here once. Sat over there.” He pointed to a small, out-of-the way booth.

  Grant nodded. “Can you remember when that was?”

  “About a week before the accident. They seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation. At one point Helen was crying.”

  Blaine’s eyes widened as someone approached from behind Grant’s right shoulder. Even before he twisted to look, Grant knew it had to be Amalie. Shifting his gaze, he saw that her expression was grim, her posture tight.

  So much for being subtle.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “TIME TO SETTLE THE BILL.” Grant reached into his pocket for his wallet, wondering how much of his conversation with Blaine Amalie had heard.

  “You paid last time,” she said. “It’s my turn.”

  She’d heard enough, he figured, judging by the frost in her voice and eyes. Not that he blamed her for her anger. Damn, but he was a fool. He should have just told Amalie what he was doing.

  Out on the street, he discovered Amalie wasn’t the type to stew in silence.

  “You were talking about my sister, weren’t you?” she asked. “Why were you doing it behind my back?”

  He saw no option but to come clean. “Denise Carter asked me to find out how long your sister and her husband had been seeing each other.”