Mark took her in his arms without a word as the first strains of the next song began to play. Gradually she was held closer and closer to him and the ground they covered lessened until soon they were barely moving. Despite her scornful opinion of stationary dancing, Ashley was lost in the happiness of the moment.
It ended all too soon however as the loud, pulsating beat of a rock song reverberated around them. Ashley shook herself from her trance and looked around through fuzzy eyes.
Mark asked her in a teasing voice, “Don’t you like this song?” She could barely hear him over the music so she shook her head. He laughed, “I could tell. We should probably go see what’s going on outside anyway.”
She nearly jumped when he reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers. As they left the gym, she caught a glimpse of Shawn and Erin out dancing in the crowd, moving in rhythm with the loud music. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, but for Ashley, the relative quiet and bright light of the hallway was a relief.
Several people were standing around talking as they walked through. No one had gone as far as the foyer however. As they approached the doors, the darkness outside turned the glass into mirrors. It was the first time she had ever seen herself next to Mark. She liked the way they looked together, but she only had a moment to enjoy their reflection before Mark opened the door for them to go outside.
A hush had fallen on the world. Everything was still and white. It looked as though the parking lot had been draped in thick, pearly velvet that clung heavily to every surface.
Ashley stopped in surprise and wonder under the overhanging roof, but Mark let go of her hand and walked out to scrape the snow back from the pavement with his foot. He bent down to study it and then stood up abruptly. He strode back to stand next to Ashley and asked, “Have you had enough dancing?”
“Is it icy?”
“It’s still slushy underneath, but it won’t take long before it’s frozen solid. I want to get you back up that hill and safely home before it does.”
“That’s fine with me,” she said, starting to shiver in her light dress. She rubbed her arms to keep them warm.
“Ok, let’s go get our coats and tell Shawn we’re leaving. We should probably let everyone else know what it’s like out here too.”
As they went back inside, Ashley longed for Mark to hold her hand again, but he seemed preoccupied. “I’m going to figure out who’s in charge of the dance and have them make an announcement about the conditions outside,” Mark told her.
“I’ll go find Shawn,” she offered and headed off to the gym. As she went, she told everybody who was standing in the hallway about the snow. They immediately went to go see for themselves or to tell someone else. By the time she had found Shawn, enjoying another dance with Erin, there was a steady stream of people going outside.
She had a hard time convincing Shawn that they needed to leave. He was an eternal optimist and said he was sure they could stay longer. Ashley shrugged and said, “Well, if you can get another ride home, that’s fine, but Mark says he’s leaving now.”
She turned and left without waiting for him to follow. She went back to the foyer to get her coat and saw that Mark was already there, talking to Kari. She slowly put her coat on, listening to their conversation.
“Come on, Mark. You can’t leave yet.”
“I need to. Our neighborhood is at the top of a steep hill so I can’t wait in case the roads freeze over.”
“But I wanted to dance with you some more.”
Ashley hated the way Kari sounded so sure that this would convince him.
Mark looked silently at the girl for a moment and said, “Look, Kari, I’m sorry. But I don’t think you realize…”
Kari cut him off. “If this is about that girl, you don’t have to be nice to her because you’re friends with her brother you know.”
Ashley couldn’t take anymore and moved up beside them. “You’re right, he doesn’t. There must be another reason for it, huh?” Let Kari take what she wanted from that. “I’m ready, Mark.”
Mark looked down at her, his eyes sparkling with laughter. He took the scarf she held in her hands and wrapped it around her neck. “Do you want to wait in here while I go clean off the car?”
Glancing sideways at Kari, who was still standing there glaring at her, she shook her head no and said, “Just get the car warming up. I’ll be fine.” She took her gloves out of her pocket and put them on while they went outside.
As Mark worked on getting the snow off of his windshield with an ice scraper, they soon saw that there was a layer of ice underneath. He had brought a spray can of deicer that helped clear this off. After a few minutes, Shawn came outside to examine the ground for himself.
“It’s not even frozen,” he complained to Mark.
“No, but it’s freezing.”
“Look, a few more dances won’t hurt. I don’t get to see Erin very often.”
“Sorry, Romeo, but I want to get your sister home safe. I want to get you home safe too, for that matter. Like it or not, your mom expects me too.”
“Well, let me go say goodbye to Erin and make sure she’s going to make it home all right.”
He turned and disappeared back inside. Several other people were following Mark’s example and getting their cars ready to leave, but most went back inside. A few guys started to throw snowballs, however, so Ashley decided to wait in the car. A few minutes later, Mark finished clearing off the windows and joined her. He talked calmly to her about the dance as they waited for Shawn, but she could tell he was getting frustrated.
Shawn finally emerged wearing his coat, which was a good sign that he was ready to leave. As he got in the back seat, he told them, “Erin’s dad is coming to pick her up.”
“Good. Now you won’t need to worry about her.” Ashley responded, but Mark did nothing more than nod his head and put the car in reverse.
Mark drove slowly, but they didn’t encounter too many hazardous spots until they turned off on their street. Going up the steep hill, Ashley felt the car slide a few times, but they only had trouble once. They had to go around a sharp curve to the left, and as they were half way through it, Ashley realized that the car was sliding to the right off the road. Since there was a steep drop off into trees on the side of the hill, Ashley shouted a panicky warning, but Mark was able to ease the car to a stop.
He didn’t want to risk the car sliding anymore towards the drop off, so he and Shawn got out and pushed the front of the car until it was headed in the right direction. Luckily, there was enough snow on top of the ice, that they were able to get sufficient traction and get some speed up before the hill got too steep. Mark handled the car well, though she could tell he was tense and concentrating hard. It was a relief when they at last pulled into her parents’ driveway.
Shawn told him briefly, “Good driving, man. I’m glad we left when we did.”
“I hope that everyone else gets home ok,” Ashley said anxiously. “
“Yeah. I left my phone in my room, and I want to go check on Erin,” Shawn said before zipping out of the car and inside.
Marked went to help Ashley out of the car, but he hesitated when the door was open. “Your feet are going to freeze if you walk through the snow in those shoes.”
“I made it ok at the church.”
“The snow is deeper up here though. Here, put your arms around my neck.”
“What? Oh no, you’re not going to carry me.” Ashley’s self-consciousness over her weight made her nearly panic at the thought of it.
“Fine. Stand up then.”
Relieved that he had given up on the idea, Ashley got out of the car, repressing a groan as her feet sunk ankle deep into the snow. Focused on her feet, she didn’t realize what Mark was doing until she was lifted into his arms. She yelped in surprise and clung to his neck as he carried her to the porch.
He didn’t seem to be expending much effort, so Ashley relaxed and enjoyed the sensation of being held in his
strong arms. They’d just made it safely onto the porch when her mom came outside with a relieved expression. Mark set her down and she stomped her feet a few times to remove the snow that still clung to her shoes.
“Thanks for getting them home all right,” her mom said to Mark. “The news says that the temperature is dropping quickly and that the snow won’t stop until early morning. I couldn’t help worrying when none of you answered your phones.”
“Sorry, mom,” Ashley said, “I don’t think I even took mine.”
“I must have left mine in my coat pocket,” Mark told her apologetically.
“Well, you’re all here, so it’s ok. Mark, do you want to come in for a while?”
“Um, no thank you. I think I’ll say goodnight to Ashley and head home.”
Taking the hint, her mom went back inside with a knowing smile on her face. Ashley was nervous as she turned to face Mark, her rapid breaths freezing in misty clouds around her face.
She could tell that Mark wanted to kiss her goodnight, but he was hesitating over it. She remembered that he’d wanted to kiss her Saturday night and she’d backed away. No wonder he was uncertain. Well, since she’d resolved to fight for him, she figured that it was up to her.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she put her arms around his neck and gently pulled his head down to hers. It didn’t take any more encouragement for Mark to take over from that point. When his lips met hers, they were firm and urgent on hers, but tender. It was easily the most incredible kiss she’d ever experienced. And so was the next one. In fact, the whole experience was so intoxicating that she understood for the first time how people got carried away by it. When Mark finally pulled slightly away from her, she was disappointed that it was over.
Mark coaxed her head down onto his chest and leaned down to rest his head on hers. They stood that way for a few moments, but then Mark gave a brief, husky chuckle and Ashley looked up curiously.
As he saw her questioning expression, he said, “That was a surprise.”
“What was? Didn’t you want to kiss me?”
“Well, yes, but I didn’t expect you to be so…I don’t know…enthusiastic. Do you always kiss like that?”
She shook her head at him. “Do you?”
He shook his head as well, and his dimples flashed as he smiled and said, “Though I wouldn’t mind repeating the experience.”
She was happy to do so as well. She was so enthralled by the chemistry between them that she was surprised when he laughed with his mouth still against hers.”
“What?” she asked, her lips only a breath away from his.
“You’re freezing to death. I can feel you shivering.”
Ashley wasn’t sure that it was entirely from the cold, but now that he mentioned it, she realized her legs and feet were numb.
“You’d better go in. Man I wish I didn’t have to leave tomorrow night. Can we spend all of tomorrow together before I go?”
“Of course. I was hoping we would.”
They said goodnight, and as soon as Mark turned to go, she hurried inside before she got frostbite in her toes.
She took off her coat, thankful that her parents liked to keep their house toasty warm, and decided that a cup of cocoa and some warm slippers were a priority before she went to bed. She went in the kitchen and put a mug of water in the microwave. As she was waiting for it to heat up, she stood staring dreamily into space until her mom said her name. She looked up and realized for the first time that her mom was sitting at the kitchen table with her own bed time snack, watching her.
“So he finally kissed you, huh?”
Ashley couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at her mouth. “How’d you know?”
“It wasn’t hard to figure out. Everything on you is blue but your lips, and you’re glowing enough to light up the whole house.”
“Yah, well, it was pretty fabulous,” she confided.
“I take it that things went well at the dance. No problems from Kari?”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve just decided not to let her bother me.”
“Good for you. And if Mark enjoyed that goodnight half as well as you did, I guarantee he’ll be dreaming about you tonight and not her.”
“Well, if he enjoyed it as much as I did, he won’t be able to sleep at all.”
Chapter 13
Let Your Heart Be Light
As Ashley stood looking out the window the next morning, it appeared as though a million diamonds had been strewn across the front lawn. The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the snow, but not doing much to melt it off. The temperature was still below freezing, but would most likely rise during the day.
She sipped the mug of cocoa she held to see if it had cooled off yet, and resigned herself to the inevitable thaw. An overcast sky would have helped preserve the snow and ice, but nature had other plans. She glanced over to where she could just make out the corner of Mark’s house. Lying awake in bed last night, reliving their last few minutes together, she’d hoped he’d be snowed in. If the sun kept shining like this, though, the roads would clear in no time.
Ashley felt herself getting cranky because she had yet to see or hear from Mark that morning, but she didn’t know what to do about it. She wanted to call him, but she wished she had an excuse besides wanting to ask him, “What the heck is taking you so long?” Of course, it was only 9:30, so she realized that she was being impatient.
After finishing her cocoa, she took her mug back to the kitchen where her mom and Jessica were busy cleaning up after the huge breakfast they’d made. Ashley had been too anxious to get dressed and ready before Mark came over to eat much of it, but that had probably been good for her figure.
She’d put on a thin, purple sweater with ¾ length sleeves and dark denim jeans. The antique silver flats she wore were heavily embellished with crystals and were like jewelry for her feet, but they wouldn’t do much to keep her feet warm if she went outside.
Ashley caught her mom before she closed the dishwasher, and quickly found an open spot to put her mug in. When the dishwasher was shut and started, her mom stood wiping her hands on a dishtowel and looked Ashley over.
“You look nice today. I haven’t seen that sweater before.”
“It’s pretty new. I like the way it fits, but I don’t usually wear this color.”
“Well, purple looks good on you. So, since you’re dressed so early, I guess we can be expecting Mark any time now.”
“Ha ha.”
“When he gets here, I was wondering if you two could go to the grocery store for me. I’ve got a lot of prep work to do since tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I need some things.”
“I don’t know, Mom. The hill is still covered in ice.”
“I thought you could take Dad’s truck.”
"I’ll ask Mark, but he seemed to be pretty worried about driving on the ice last night.”
“Well, I’m afraid that Shawn is getting sick, so I don’t want to send him. I could ask Keith to go, but it wouldn’t be safe for Jessica to go with him in her condition and Keith will never find everything I need. I’d rather you went. I guess you could go with Keith, but ...”
“All right, all right. I’ll ask him. Admit it though, you want to throw Mark and I together some more,” Ashley said teasingly.
“I think I can safely leave that up to you two now,” her mom said with a satisfied smile.
Jessica was sweeping the floor, but she said over her shoulder, “I heard you got kissed by…” Jessica gave a descriptive whistle. “I’ll bet you’re looking forward to a romantic Christmas.”
“Actually, Mark is flying to Idaho tonight.”
Jessica stopped and looked sympathetically at Ashley as she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, it’s a total bummer, but I don’t think he’s going to be gone long.”
“Well, I’ll have to get to know him a little today, since we’ll probably be gone before he gets back. I probably won’t see him aga
in until the wedding,” Jessica said, with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Oh, my gosh! Don’t start that.”
“I’m just teasing. If I were you though, I’d go convince Mark to take you into town. It may be the only chance you have to get him alone today, and wouldn’t it be too bad if you got stuck in town together for a while?”
“That would be terrible,” Ashley agreed, laughing. She ran upstairs to call him. A minute later, he groggily answered her call. “Did I wake you up?” she asked, feeling no desire to apologize.
“Uh, yeah. What time is it?”
Ashley glanced at her clock. “It’s almost 10:00.”
“Wow. Sorry. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“What time did you go to sleep?”
“I don’t know. After midnight I guess. I stayed up packing so I could have the whole day free today.”
“And then you nearly slept half of it away.”
“Not half. Not even a quarter. I’ll be over soon.”
“No hurry,” she said, her voice serene. He didn’t need to know how impatient she’d been to see him all morning. “Oh, but hey…would you be willing to drive me into town in my dad’s truck?”
“I guess so. What’s up?”
“Mom needs groceries to do some more baking to feed this hungry crowd.”
He laughed. “An emergency trip then. I’ll get you there. How does it look outside?”
“It’s still bad. Do you mind?”
“No. It won’t be so bad in the daylight, and they’ve hopefully cleared the roads downtown. Plus you’ll be dressed for the cold this time, right?”
“I am. No heels or bare legs today.”
“That’s a pity, but probably wise. Ok, well I’d better get going. I’ll see you in a minute, sweetie.”
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