One Sweet Day (3 page)

“Run?” His brows pinched. “You’re one to talk.”

She winced as if he’d struck her. “You think I’m running?”

Damn it.
“I think if you don’t want to stay in Blue Lake because you don’t like the way things are going in your life, that’s one thing, but if you’re leaving because someone broke your heart, that’s another.”

“I’m leaving because I can’t stand to be the source of the town’s gossip. I won’t.”

He nodded slowly. “You have to do what you have to do.”

“I think it’s about time to get ready for my party.” She stood up slowly and brushed her hands down her coat. “Mind taking me back to my place so I can get ready?”

“I thought you wanted me to take you up when we were finished with lunch?”

“Like you said, it’s all about timing.” She pulled her iPhone out of her pocket and checked the time. “We’re too early.”

Chapter Three

She wasn’t running.

She was separating herself from the drama. Moving out of Blue Lake. Charging forward, toward building a new life in the city.

“Running my ass,” she scoffed, shoving the last box into the trunk of her Mini Cooper. “I’m going to face every single one of my friends tonight.” Groaning, she pushed down on the lift gate, leaning on it with all her weight so it’d close. “Who’s running? Not me.”

She stood in the street and drank in one long, last glance of Sweet Tooth Candy Shoppe. It’d been her home, her sanctuary. A symbol of the life she’d wanted to live with someone who didn’t want to be in her life anymore.

“That’s fine,” she thought aloud. “I’ll make a new one. A better one.”

Even as she said the words, she knew she’d miss this place. How long would it take the owner to fill the new lease, she wondered? Would the new shop owner do the place justice? Would they know that you had to adjust the stove twenty-five degrees hotter than the recipes allotted for? Or that the front door sticks in the winter?

Trying not to think about it, Laney got in the car and drove up the road. She sang along with the Dixie Chicks as their sultry harmony blared through the speakers. Thirty minutes later, she turned into Moose Valley Ski Resort. Following the snow-banked road lit by the light of the full moon, she pulled into a parking spot near the lodge.

She recognized a few of the cars as belonging to her friends. The Audi in front, the Jeep along the side, and the Rav4 taking up two spots near the light post.

Looked like everyone was already here.

Everyone…including Charlie Vonn. His black Chevy Truck was parked beside the lodge in employee parking. Would he stop by the party tonight? Would he look at her the way he did when they first arrived on the beach—like she was something to be taken care of, something to be treasured? Or would he make it a point to tell her that she was running away again?

“Hey,” a scratchy voice said from the direction of the truck.

“Charlie?”

Her eyes adjusted to the dark. He was sitting on the tailgate, drinking something from a Thermos.

“Got a second to talk before the party?” he asked.

Her heart tripped. “Sure.”

She hopped on the tailgate and let her feet dangle next to his. He was suited up to board. Thick snow boots. Black snow pants with cargo pockets. A Black parka zipped up to his chin. Gray beanie pulled low on his head. His gloves lay beside him, piled next to a pair of orange-tinted goggles.

“Coffee?” He offered the mug.

“No thanks.” She put her hands in her lap. “You still going up tonight?”

“Yeah.” He sealed the Thermos and rolled it behind him. “Have you ever seen the Christmas Eve Torch Ski?”

She’d never seen it first hand—Brian had refused to go, no matter how she’d begged—but she’d heard over a hundred skiers and snowboarders lit torches and came down the mountain in fishtails, making it look like the snow was on fire.

It’d be a pretty magnificent sight.

“No, but I hear it’s amazing.” Her breath came out as soft puffs of white air. “Are you one of the skiers?”

“No, I’m here to make sure no one gets hurt. The participants are doing a few practice runs tonight.” He clunked his boots together to shake off the snow. “But I didn’t want to talk to you about that. I wanted to apologize for what I said at the lake. The fact that you’re willing to start fresh in a new city says a lot about the kind of woman you are. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“Thanks.”

“And I didn’t want to see you go.”

Before she could react, Charlie leaned in and kissed her cheek. Instead of pulling back right away, he lingered, his face close to hers. She turned to look at him, their noses nearly brushing in the dark. Her stomach caught, and her thoughts whirled. She
felt
something for him, and not in the friendly, smile from across the street kind of way. She wanted his lips on hers. His arms to pull her close.

“You’re amazing,” he said, sitting upright once more. “Next time, don’t settle for a man who doesn’t know it.”

He removed a box from his pocket and slid it to her. It was about the size of a small frosting tub and wrapped in Christmas paper with a bright red bow on top.

“What’s this?”

He hopped off the truck and shoved his hands into his gloves. “Christmas present.”

“I didn’t get you anything.”

“Then it’s a going away present.” He grinned, and her heart pinched.

She tugged on the bow. “Can I open it now?”

“No, please don’t.” His hand covered hers. He took it back quickly, as if she’d shocked him. “Open it later with the rest of your gifts. I’m sure you’ll have a ton.”

She paused, unsure what to say. For the first time since she’d made the decision to leave Blue Lake, she seriously reconsidered. His hazel eyes flickered in the dark, and for a split second, she thought he’d read her mind.

If he would just tell her to stay, she might do it. If he’d scoop her off the tailgate and hold her against him, she might cuddle up into his coat and forget about the party. If he’d ask her out, kiss her cheek again, invite her back to that bench or—

“Take care, Laney,” he said, and took off around the lodge.

After tucking the box into her bag, Laney took a deep breath. Smoothed down her black, country lace dress and retied her silver scarf.

“Better get this over with,” she said on a sigh.

She hopped off the tailgate and made her way to the entrance of the lodge. Yanking open the double doors, she charged inside, half-expecting to be bombarded by the friends she’d made in town. Instead, Rachael, one of her dearest friends and owner of the Blue Lake Historical Inn, met her first, and embraced her in a warm hug.

“I’m only going to ask you this once, and then I’m never going to mention it again,” she said, taking Laney by the hand. “Are you okay? Are you sure you want to be here?”

Oh boy.

“We can turn around now,” she continued, her blue eyes twinkling with excitement. “We can go to the brewery and drink away the night. The first five shots would be on me.”

“Brian’s here, isn’t he?” Laney said.

Rachael nodded. “With Brittney What’s-Her-Fugly-Face.”

“Oh sweetie.” Laney cracked up. “I love you so much.”

“Okay,” Rachael said, linking her arm through Laney’s. “Let’s go kick off your last night in town properly.”

The main lodge was packed, decorated in flickering white lights and fluffy strings of garland. April Cassidy, owner of Laney’s favorite coffee shop was there, along with her sister Sunny, who was pregnant with her first child. Rhonda Wilde, owner of the Blue Lake B&B showed up too, which was surprising since she hardly got the chance to escape her duties. The sweetheart who owned the Book Bandit, Georgia Swift, handed her a red envelope and squeezed her like she really meant it. Lucy Stone, owner of the infamous StoneMill Winery arrived late, but she came with six bottles of wine, so her tardiness was readily forgiven. Laney greeted everyone, and was surprised with how many memories she shared with these women.

Ladies nights at the brewery, and then laughing obnoxiously as they stumbled home over the uneven cobblestone. Monthly book club meetings at the Book Bandit. Gabbing over specialty coffee from April’s café. Dating conquests. Break ups.

She was really going to miss them.

Laney was on her second glass of wine by the time she realized she hadn’t seen Brian and Brittney yet.

God, their names were Brady Family worthy when mashed together that way, weren’t they? She could easily envision
Brittney & Brian
on their wedding stationary and bath towels, cute and curly-cued, stenciled in silver.

Gag.

Through the archway leading to a smaller portion of the lodge, she caught sight of the lovebirds near the Christmas tree. They’d just hung their ornament. Brian tugged Brittney against his shoulder and turned to walk back through the room.

Their eyes met.

His mouth dropped. Brittney beamed.

Here we go.

Laney set down her wine glass on the nearest table and strode through the lodge, feigning confidence she didn’t have. Brittney said something to Brian, who smiled and glanced back her way.

“Good to see you both,” Laney said as she stood in front of the happy couple. She crossed her arms in front of her so that she wouldn’t make the first strike. The urge hadn’t hit her yet, surprisingly. Must’ve been the wine, dulling her reflexes. “Couldn’t wait until after my party to hang your ornament on the tree?”

“My parents are practicing for the Torch Ski,” Brian said. “They participate every year, though I’ve never seen the event before now. Brittney convinced me to come.”

Of course she did.

“I thought it’d be a good time to meet his folks.” Brittney wrapped her arm around Brian’s back and snuggled against him. “We’re going to watch them ski and then go out for dessert.”

“Sounds peachy.” Laney fidgeted with her hands, and then looked up into their eyes. Laney expected anger to surge through her veins. She expected to hate them with a burning passion. Instead, a cold stream of indifference soothed away every ounce of tension in her bones. They looked good together, they really did. Just then, a mental image of Charlie sitting on the bench at the lake invaded Laney’s thoughts. She didn’t know why, or where it came from, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. “I hope you two are really happy together. If you’ll excuse me, I need to find—”

“Are you okay?” Brian said, touching her arm. “All of a sudden you look pale.”

She glanced down at where his hand gripped her. There was no zing. No chemistry. That
thing
that should’ve been there was noticeably missing. As she thought back over the last few months, Laney realized it’d been that way for a while. They hadn’t gone out on a date in as long as she could remember, and they hadn’t had sex in weeks.

She didn’t even mind, and there was something very wrong with that.

They’d been drifting apart.

How had she not noticed?

“I’m going to be fine,” she said, shaking out of his grip. “Better than fine.”

Needing a few seconds to digest what just happened, Laney left them standing at the tree and walked downstairs to where racks of snowboards stacked against the wall. She sat on a bench near the door and removed Charlie’s present from her pocket. She peeled off the bow. Ripped through the wrapping and opened the box.

A silver heart-shaped pendant lay on a pink velvet pillow. Brushing her fingers over the pendant, her fingers bumped along tiny ridges. On second glance, the ridges weren’t ridges at all—they were words.

She read:
Here, I am yours.

“Charlie…” The loving words she’d read on the bench flooded back to her. She covered the pendant with her hand and let her gaze trail over the snowy mountains outside the lodge windows. “He couldn’t have…”

Everything in her heart told her that he’d taken her to the bench in order to show her the inscription. If he didn’t write the message himself, he’d wanted her to read it for a specific purpose.

He didn’t want her to leave.

Suddenly all the little things Charlie had done over the years came together to paint a picture she’d been too blind to see. His laughter and subtle flirting, the way he always disappeared when Brian came around. The way she’d catch him staring at her with those dreamy brown eyes.

How had she not noticed his feelings for her? And how did she not recognize the feelings for him building within herself? They’d been friends. She’d somehow categorized him that way in her head and hadn’t thought about the possibility that they could be more.

The prospect excited her.

Outside the lodge, tiny balls of fire wound down the mountain, snaking this way and that, creating a criss-crossing pattern that looked too magical to be created by people on skis.

He was up there.

She had to find him and it couldn’t wait. They’d wasted too much time already.

Rushing through the rental area, Laney grabbed a winter coat and a pair of snow pants. After sliding the gift box into the coat’s pocket, she dressed quickly, borrowing a beanie, gloves and goggles. And without a single thought in her head about what she’d say when she found him, Laney pushed out the lodge doors and into the cold.

A few skiers reached the lodge, skidding to a stop near the entrance.

“Excuse me,” Laney said, the cold stinging her lungs. “Have you seen Charlie Vonn?”

“He’s the snowboard instructor, right?” The guy holding the torch called. “Wears flannel with his snow boots? Big smile, kind of goofy.”

She repressed a snort. “That’s him!”

“If you hit the top, he’ll be on the right, about a quarter of the way down.”

“Okay, thanks!” She turned, ran a few steps, and then stopped. There was no way she was running all the way up the mountain.

“The lift! It’s still running!” The older guy said, as other skiers carrying torches reached the bottom. “We’re about to go for another practice run.”

She gave a thumbs up and took off at a dead sprint. Her boots sank into the snow and slowed her pace, but still she ran. She took the lift to the top, burrowing her face into her coat the whole way, and leaped into the snow when she reached the top. She fell, rolled, but got to her feet and took off to the right of the slope.