Lakeshore Secrets: The McAdams Sisters - Kate McAdams (By The Lake Series Book 1) (10 page)

He was finding
his
adventurous suggestion much more appealing. “And I will request a short tour and have you back in a couple of hours for your meeting,” she promised as he pulled to the front doors to let her out. She smiled and winked before disappearing into the chalet. He found parking, grabbed his scarf from the back seat and met a thrilled Kate exactly where he had dropped her off.

“They said to meet them around the back,” she said. He motioned for her to go first and placed his hand on the small of her back guiding her along the shovelled and salted rock pathway that led them around the back where a horse and sleigh awaited them.

“I have never done this before,” Kate said. “Have you?”

He shook his head. “Horseback riding would have been much more adventurous,” he told her.

She shook her head at him. “You are like Prince Charming on a horse so that would be only adventurous for me, and I’m not getting on a horse.”

“I think we found something Katherine McAdams is afraid of.”

She glared at him. “You already knew that,” she accused.

He did.

The driver met them at the stairs of the sleigh. He was a scrawny teenager with long hair hanging out from under his toque with a pair of ear buds dangling around the collar of his thick black work coat. He was dressed much better for this ride than the two of them. Marc instinctively took Kate’s arm and helped her up into the sleigh before climbing in himself, leaving that little rebel to shuffle through the deep snow to his position at the head of the sleigh.

A thick, warm antique blanket used from the days of actual horse and carriages welcomed them and Kate immediately wrapped it around her legs and stuck her bare hands underneath with a shiver. He sat beside her and covered his own legs with what was left of the blanket. “You’re cold,” he said as the buggy started to move. “We didn’t come very prepared.”

She shrugged. “It will be worth it.” Her eyes gleamed up at him, the exact same look whenever she was dragging him into trouble. Before she knocked his brother to his knees all those years ago, he didn’t even know what trouble was.

The blades of the sleigh slashed through an already ridden path that was disappearing under the falling of fresh large snowflakes and turned into the darkened bush sheltering them from the nasty wind. Gorgeous ice covered branches glistened whenever the sun peaked through the snow clouds above.

“This is so beautiful,” Kate whispered as another shiver vibrated beside him. She was freezing. He wasn’t much better. He pulled his scarf off and wrapped it around her neck before moving against her side, pressing their bodies together for combined warmth. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and enjoyed her snuggling against him, her head resting against his side. They settled into the relaxing cool ride, enjoying the rabbits scattering throughout the bush as they passed or simply stopping to stare at them, clearly used to the ruckus of sleigh rides in the bush. They listened to the trot of the horse breaking fresh snow. It seemed like time stopped around them, like they had snuck through the wardrobe to the snow covered miracle and time was nonexistent.

He hoped Kate had found whatever had dragged her away all those years ago and he hoped it made her happy. He wondered if she missed him like he had missed her. Or if she longed for him as he longed for her? Or if she was sitting pondering how they could work out a long distance, province away relationship, like he was.
Stop that! She had made it crystal clear she didn’t want to take this any further
.

As the driver guided the horse out of the bush a bump startled the horse into a fussing stop. Marc sat up and watched the driver climb out, giving soothing words to the horse. “Is there a problem?” he called.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he called back waving at them as he stepped around the calm the horse. Marc went to sit back but Kate was also trying to see what was going on and he bumped her. “Hey look,” she said pointing into the snow covered opening. “Over there.” He followed her fingers direction although he was more curious where the driver had disappeared to. Past the bush about thirty feet in an open area sat a little log cottage.

Marc liked the idea of horse sleigh rides. He was going to toss the idea around at the next family meeting. They had horses throughout the summer for the guests and if they purchased an antique working cutter sleigh, which he was sure they could find at the Willow Valley Antique Mall in town, they could also offer sleigh rides in the winter. The winter guests would surely enjoy it especially for Christmas work company parties that generally filled all the ballrooms, as well as booked a minimum of thirty rooms per party. If they added sleigh rides they could turn a profit and make the winter wonderland at the Caliendo Resort even more special. That was if he could pass it by his uncle, he supposed.

“What is he doing?” Kate asked.

He shrugged.

“Do you think something’s broken?”

“Are you going to get down there and fix it?”

She shook her head. “I’m freezing.”

The driver came around to their side. “I’m afraid the ride stops here,” he said. Marc was confused. “The sleigh needs repairing before it will move so I’m going to ride back to the work shed, grab the supplies and head right back. I should be back in no longer than an hour and a half.”

An hour and a half!

The driver was digging in his pocket and pulled out a large ring of keys. He shuffled through them and unclipped a set. “These are for the cottage right over there. You can stay there until I return or since it hasn’t been rented out and this is an inconvenience it’s on the house for the night.”

Inconvenience was putting it lightly.

“We can walk back to the chalet,” Marc said. They were on the short tour and it must have been almost an hour up now so they had to be close to the chalet.

“Sir, it would take you an hour by sled to get back to the chalet.” He laughed. “It would take you way longer by foot. And out in this snowstorm you would get lost.”

Surely this young fellow knew how to calculate time on that little contraption hanging out of his pocket. Marc quickly informed the young lad exactly the calculations.

He glanced at Kate then back to Marc. “Sir you booked the long route. That’s a two hour ride and we are halfway into it. You can’t walk back to the chalet from here.”

Two hour ride! He was going to miss the meeting. Marc stood throwing the blanket aside and noting there was only one horse and three of them. “Can’t you fix it now?”

“With all due respect sir, if I could, I would.”

“Phone someone to pick us up.”

“I called the office and they are all out on different trails and none are close to us, but I can send one as soon as possible. Or you can have the cabin for the night.”

He clenched his fists at his side. “I meant by vehicle.”

He shook his head. “This trail isn’t permitted for vehicles.”

How convenient. “Can you bring a couple extra horses for us to ride back to the chalet?”

Kate grabbed his arm. He had completely forgotten she was there until her little fingers gripped his forearm tightly. “I’m not riding a horse back,” she said.

He wasn’t missing this meeting. He turned his head to her. “Think of it as an adventure,” he snapped.

Couldn’t she very well sit back and let him figure out a solution? Of course it didn’t matter that he was frustrated and trying to structure out a way out of missing the meeting. She shook her head. “No, I will take the cabin,” she snarled at him reaching past him to grab the keys. She smiled at the young boy and stuck the keys in the pocket of her wool jacket. She tried to pass him but he moved in front of her.

“I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“I didn’t say you had to.”

“I’m not staying.”

She smiled. “I’m a big girl.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I think I might even spend the night.” She wriggled beside him and let the driver help her into the deep snow bank. Marc groaned as her short boots disappeared into the bottomless snow. She was walking over thirty feet with snow halfway up her calves.

He growled inwardly seeing no other alternative and climbed off the sleigh, his own leather loafers landing just as deep into the white fluff. He was thankful it was fluff and not wet packing snow soaking immediately through their clothes.

She hadn’t bothered to wait at for him and she was quickly trudging through the snow as though she had no feeling in her legs.

He glared at the little punk that he was sure was not even qualified to be giving these rides, since proper backup was not even on his list. He didn’t even seem to notice that Marc was furious, his thin brown eyes just staring up at him without even so much as a hint of remorse at the situation at hand. “I want you to call the cabin as soon as you can pick us up,” he instructed then barely caught his nod of understanding before taking off after Kate.

Kate must have heard him because she didn’t bother to even glance over at him as she hollered, “Not double straddling the horse with the driver?”

He ignored her and called her to stop. She was still quite a distance away but she turned and her eyebrows peeked with curiosity. Evidence of her cold state stained across her porcelain face, mostly pinching her rosy cheeks and nose.

“I will carry you the rest of the way,” he called.

Her face squished together, perplexed. “You will what now?”

Had she really not heard him? He repeated himself anyway then added, “So you can either get on my back or I will throw you over my shoulder.”

She bit her lower lip as if contemplating her options and crossed her arms in front of her, rubbing her chin as a trembling smile formed across her lips. “I like this whole,” she paused and waved her finger at him, “muscular man thing you got going on in your old age.” He wondered if there was ever a time in this woman’s life where her mouth stopped talking long enough to do what needed to be done. They needed to get out of two foot snow and into the dry cabin. “I mean back in the day I would have been slinging you over my shoulder.”

“Those are your options.”

She pursed her lips together as if actually contemplating her choices. And of course she wasn’t.

“I think I’m going with choice three.” She sunk her bare, no doubt freezing, hands into the snow and pulled a handful of snow creating a ball in her hands. It infuriated him and excited him at the same time.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

He knew it would only spark her. “Oh I would,” she said, before throwing the snowball at him. He dodged it. She had good aim; it flew right past his head. He found himself laughing and forming his own snowball. But she was much quicker and hit him in the arm before he’d even rolled his.

He wasn’t afraid to throw one back at her, she was nothing like his sisters who would cower away. He rounded one up and threw it at her hitting her arm. She gasped and laughed looking shocked he was participating. “Oh Caliendo you are going to pay for that,” she threatened swiping damp hair from her cheek then digging back in the snow for more.

“Only if you can catch me.” He darted towards the cabin with ulterior motives. He had to get this silly woman out of the cold even if she thought she wasn’t ready. She was going to get frost-bitten feet.

She laughed in delight as he passed her and threw a handful of loose snow at him. “Ouch,” he called. “Watch out for that white fluff,” he teased.

“Oh
you
watch out for the white fluff!”

He wasn’t prepared when she jumped on his back grabbing his shoulders and lifting her body up, wrapping her legs around his waist and they both went tumbling into the snow.

She screamed in surprise as they landed on their sides separating at the ground and rolling away from each other. “I have snow everywhere,” she cried.

He rolled onto his knees and sat up. She was lying beside him on her back, that aggressive white fluff across her like a thin blanket. She stared up at him in shock. “Apparently you still can’t hold my weight.” She raised her hands to the sky above to dust the white snow off her sleeves.

“Oh I can hold your weight.” He didn’t give her a chance to react and grabbed her raised hand and in one quick motion he pulled her up to her feet and over his shoulder; option number two. Against her objections, he carried her straight to the cabin. Unfortunately he didn’t have the key and was forced to drop her to her feet by the door.

“It’s freezing out here,” she complained, only half-heartedly, while she fished the key out of her pocket doing a little jumping dance. Her hands trembled as she tried to stick the key in so he took it and quickly unlocked the door.

They stepped into the dim cabin. A small, old-fashioned one room kitchen/living room combo with a fireplace against the far right wall and a couch facing two overstuffed chairs, each garnished with a knitted afghan folded neatly across the back. The room was pulled together by a large hand weaved and braided rug and an old baggage cart transformed into a coffee table. The kitchen was a small nook with small wooden cupboards that wrapped in a “U” shape with hand built tall stools and a small log table and matching chairs. There was a door on the far wall that was likely the bedroom.