Dust of Snow (22 page)

I took my right glove off, offered it to him,
and then lifted my bare hand for him to take with his left. His
eyebrows rose, and when he met my gaze the expression on his face
had turned into something odd I couldn’t read.

“You really are completely out, aren’t
you?”

Some of the happiness of the day darkened,
like a little shadow had passed before my sunshine. “I didn’t
realize you weren’t.”

“Oh, it’s not that.” He put the right glove
on just as I dropped my hand and I bit my lip as my eyes began to
burn. I didn’t think I could do this again: be with someone who
wouldn’t hold my hand in public for whatever reason. The odd
expression on his face cleared, and in its stead his dimples made
an appearance. “It’s unexpected, that’s all. Hell, you surprise me
every day, Greg.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

Ashley slipped his fingers through mine and
squeezed. “You bet.”

We hobbled onto the ice. It took me less then
five seconds to find my balance, but Ashley’s knees locked like a
newborn foal’s trying to stand for the first time. I bit back a
laugh.

“Relax.” I spun around and took his other
hand so he faced me. “Straighten up and take a deep breath.” He did
what he was told, but as soon as I took one slide backward, he
tensed up again and looked at his feet. “Don’t look down, look at
me. Now just gently push off. I won’t let you fall.” I skated back
again, keeping him upright as he clung almost painfully to my
hands.

Ashley laughed self-consciously. His cheeks
were pink, either with cold, embarrassment, or both, but he didn’t
take his eyes off my face. I forgot I was meant to be looking for
Mother, or that there was anyone else on the ice, for that matter.
Slowly the death grip on my hands eased, and Ashley heaved a deep
breath that crystalized in the air.

“I think I’ve got it now,” he said, and we
slowed so I could take my place by his side. “You’re really
good.”

“It’s the only part of winter I like.” We
slid forward a few yards. Ashley wobbled, flailed, and then caught
his balance. I studied him from the corner of my eye. He had a
little scar under his right eye; it followed the curve of his
cheekbone. I’d noticed it before, but today it stood out more.
Maybe it was the cold. “What happened?”

He glanced over when I tapped my cheek,
nearly lost his balance, and tugged hard on my hand to keep it. I
gripped his arm to steady him, and we moved off again. “The first
and only time I went on the ice as a child I fell, and someone hit
me in the face with their skate.”

My turn to stumble. “No!” I gasped. “Ash, if
you don’t want to be here you should’ve s—”

He began to laugh and I snapped my mouth
shut. “God, your face. I was kidding. My family used to own horses
when we lived up north, and a branch whipped me in the face when I
was little. My own fault. I knew better than to gallop on that
path.”

“Asshole,” I complained. Ashley laughed
again. His hair was a little more disheveled than usual, as if he’d
skipped one of his regular haircuts. It suited him. “I like this.”
I squeezed his hand. “And I wish we didn’t have to go back to work
soon. It’d be nice to have a longer holiday.”

“I know. I don’t understand why they won’t
let us have time off between Christmas and New Year. It’s not as if
anyone actually does any work.” He grinned at me until his smile
turned soft. “Have I thanked you yet for what you did for me in
work? Having someone take care of our sales guys as they travel
will take a huge load off my back.”

“Oh.” I hiked up my shoulders and hid my
mouth behind my scarf. “It wasn’t—It’s not—”

“Yes, it is, and I know it was your idea. I’m
sorry about what I said in the kitchen that day with Patricia. I
didn’t mean—” Someone came whizzing past, bumping into me from the
side, and while I managed to keep upright, I did knock into Ash.
For one of those drawn-out cartoon seconds, there were arms and
legs flailing in all directions, skates skidding around as we tried
to keep our balance, but it was hopeless. Ash started to go down,
and I twisted so I’d hit the ice first. I made an ungraceful
oomph
noise as he landed on top of me.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “I’m sorry.” He lifted
his weight off me, his knee wedged solidly between my legs—and oh
boy, I didn’t mind that one bit—but couldn’t make it to his feet.
“Are you all right?”

I’d been winded, but I managed to stand,
holding on to Ashley’s arms and dragging him up along with me. “I’m
fine. You?”

“Yeah, no problem. Thanks for breaking my
fall.” He hooked his arm around my neck and brought his mouth to my
ear. “But I guess you owe me after leaving me so sore on the
kitchen table.”

“Ashley!” My entire face heated up but I
couldn’t stop grinning. We wobbled again. He clung to me, trying to
gain balance, and looked over my shoulder.

“So, would you say your mother is maybe
around sixty years old?”

“Something like that.”

“And she is dating a woman?”

“Yes. Why?” His eyes grew wide, and I was
afraid—so very afraid—to turn around.

“Because there are two ladies. On the ice.
Making out.”

I moaned. “Say it ain’t so.”

“I’d be lying.”

I cast my eyes heavenward, but I doubted any
divine intervention would help me now. Gingerly I turned around,
and right he was. Fused together at the mouth like teenagers, my
mother and her flame twirled in the middle of the ice.

And a flame she was. I doubted the red hair
was natural, but she’d sure grown a lot of it. In skintight black
jeans and a white bomber jacket, with her arms firmly wrapped
around my mother’s waist, she looked fitter than I had probably
ever been in my entire life.

“Whoa,” Ashley breathed after about five
seconds of ogling in disbelief, which just about summed it up.

“Let’s go pry them apart,” I grumbled,
“before I have to post their bail for public indecency.”

Ashley laughed. “They’re not that bad,” he
said, but he followed me anyway. Granted I didn’t leave him much
choice. “I think it’s adorable.”

I sputtered but Mother spotted me before I
could say anything. She smiled in flushed delight, and her eyes lit
up even more when she noticed there was a man attached to my right
hand.

“Darling!”

“Hello, Mother.” I dutifully offered my
cheeks to be kissed thrice. Ashley hadn’t let go of my hand yet, I
noted.

“Gregory, this is Valerie, my-my…” Mother
faltered and my eyes jerked toward Valerie the Valkyrie.

“Her girlfriend,” Valerie supplied with a not
unkind smirk. I took her gloved hand in my bare one and she gave it
a squeeze.

“Lovely to meet you,” I said. “This is Ash,
my—” Oh God, my turn to stutter. I whipped my head up to stare at
him, and Ashley’s eyes crinkled in quiet amusement.

“Friend and colleague,” he supplied easily,
taking Valerie’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” He turned toward Mother.
“And you.”

I gathered my wits before they scattered on
the breeze, never to be seen again. “This is Magdalena, my mother.
Don’t call her Maggie.”

Valerie gasped. “I’ve been calling you Maggie
for months!” she cried.

Months?
How long had this been going
on?

Mother flushed pink. “I don’t mind it from
you,” she said while I gaped with my mouth open. I couldn’t help
it. Mother
blushing
?

“You don’t have to explain,” Valerie
murmured, pressing her face into Mother’s hair.

I think I made a pathetic keening noise.
Something close to a dolphin call. Beside me Ashley smoothly
reached out his hand and shook Mother’s.

“I think I have to get out of these skates,”
he said. “I can’t feel my feet.”

“We could meet at the Downtown Cafe for hot
chocolate,” Mother said.

“Will there be rum?” I asked weakly. Everyone
laughed like I’d said something funny.

FOURTEEN

EVEN THOUGH I’d seen Ashley only the day before, my
heart gave a little lurch when I found him leaning against my desk,
his long legs stretched out in front of him. He held a large coffee
cradled against his chest—ugly coffee glove firmly in place—but
that wasn’t the only reason my pace increased a fraction.

“Hello, gorgeous.” I glanced around at the
still-empty cubicles and gave him a quick kiss. The office was
always a weird place to be during the holidays. Everyone was
present but no one felt like working. He handed me the coffee, and
I took a grateful sip. “Thank you.” Ashley watched me shrug out of
my thick, wool-lined coat—a late Christmas gift from him. I
cherished it. Just to make him laugh, I gave it a little hug before
I hung it away. He didn’t so much as crack a smile.

“What’s the matter?”

“Gregory, we need to talk.”

My stomach plummeted, dropping all the way
through the floor and landing somewhere in the basement with a
pathetic flop.

I sank down in my chair and rolled away from
him. “We couldn’t we have talked last night?”
Or not at all?
My heart thumped. I should have known this was coming. Why had I
left myself get carried away? It had probably been some
eggnog-induced psychosis on his part. He didn’t
really
like
me. Now that we were back in the real world he’d realized it,
and—

“Stop thinking whatever you’re thinking,
because it’s not that.” Ashley took the armrests of my chair and
pulled me toward him. He spoke quietly. “I drove past your house
this morning to see if you wanted a ride, but you’d already
gone.”

“Yes, I had some errands to run before work.
Carl flew in from France this morning and is coming straight here
because he’s nuts. And I dropped off my dry-cleaning.” I stared at
his serious face, not understanding what I’d done wrong. “I’m
sorry? Just send me a message first next time, and I—” I fell
silent because Ashley was shaking his head.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. David
pulled out of your driveway as I turned into your street.”

For a few seconds I blinked at him,
uncomprehending. “David? I have no—Wait. Are you accusing me—”

“I’m not accusing anyone of anything. I’m
just telling you what I saw. You didn’t know he was there?”

“Of course I didn’t,” I practically
shouted.

“Then the question is, what was he doing
there? I don’t trust him, Greg.”

“Neither do I.” Grimly I turned on my
computer and typed in my password. I had seven unread mails in my
personal e-mail and one of them was from David. “Oh my God,” I
whispered as I read it. Ashley leaned over my shoulder, and his
knuckles turned white on the armrest of my chair.

“That fucking bastard,” he hissed in my
ear.

Numb, I pushed to my feet, but Ashley made me
sit down again. “Is he likely to hurt the cat?”

“I don’t think so. But I’m going to hurt
him
.”

“What’s in the stuff he’s demanding
back?”

I sighed and rubbed my chest, wishing for the
first time in a while I had my antacids. “It was just a load of
junk sitting in my basement. I warned him before Christmas I’d be
getting rid of it if he didn’t pick it up. He didn’t, so I gave it
all to a thrift shop.”

“You have proof you gave him warning?”

“I have it on e-mail. He sent me some whiny
reply about why it was inconvenient. I’m going to find out where he
lives and I’m getting Curly back.”

“Hold on,” Ashley said. A wicked glint
blinked on in his eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to have any of his
information from when you lived together, would you?”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Ashley grinned. “Social
security number, bank accounts, insurance.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered when it dawned on me
what he meant to do. Ashley’s dad had been in the CIA, but surely
he hadn’t been an assassin. Right? “I don’t know if I’m willing to
go that far.”

“He broke into your house and kidnapped your
cat,” Ashley said fiercely. “And in my opinion, that’s the least of
the wrongs he’s done you. If he meant to catch you at home, he
could’ve planned to harm you a lot worse. Maybe you should call the
police.”

“The only reason he got the upper hand last
time is because he caught me unaware. That won’t happen again. You
know I can take care of myself. All I want is my cat back, and
fast.”

He lowered his voice. “Okay. My dad wouldn’t
do any irreparable damage. He’d just make sure David would think
twice about harassing you again. He wanted to do the same to Frank,
but Phoebe wouldn’t let him.”

“All right,” I agreed, thinking of my poor,
frightened pet. Curly knew David, and I didn’t think David would
hurt an animal, but did he even have a proper carrier? Or the
treats Curly liked the most? “What kind of monster kidnaps an
innocent cat anyway?”

“Someone who’s probably willing to go
further.” He pulled out his phone and tapped on it. “I’m e-mailing
Dad now.”