Snowbound (10 page)

As she skied the final fifty feet to the Log Cabin Chapel, Cassidy could see a snowmobile parked to the side. She assumed that meant Rick was there. Clicking off her skies, she stuck them, along with the poles, in the snow near the machine. She trudged into the chapel and stopped just inside the door in awe. It was so beautiful. There were flickering candles and white roses everywhere. A fire was lit in a beautiful stone fireplace to the left of the altar. It was breathtaking. For a moment she forgot why she was there.

“How nice of you to show up.” Snapping back to reality was quick due to the tone in Rick’s voice.

“Well, hello to you, too. I came up here as soon as I got the message. If I hadn’t gone back to the room until later I wouldn’t even be here now.”

“You’re right, I was just so anxious to see you. I’m sorry. I’m glad you came.” He rushed over and tried to kiss her. She sidestepped his arms and turned her face, so his kiss landed on her cheek. When she looked around at all he’d done to make things up to her, she grew suddenly nervous. How could she tell him this time it was truly over? Seeing him only clarified it further for her. This time her heart didn’t race. His hazel eyes, curly brown hair and stocky, muscular build seemed to have no effect. This time all she felt was dread.

“Rick, we’ve got to talk.”

“Wait. First I have something to show you.” He pulled a small, blue velvet box out of his pocket and snapped its lid open. Cassidy gasped. Inside was the largest diamond she’d ever seen up close. It was square cut and set on a platinum band with a smaller diamond on each side. It was actually a bit too much for her tastes, but it was still tempting to see it closer, to touch it. With a tentative hand, she reached toward the box and then stopped. No. There was no point. Was there? Maybe things could be different this time.
Give your head a shake, Cass. Things are never different for more than two weeks.
She closed her eyes, took a deep break, squared her shoulders back, and then reopened them. Trying to build her nerve she looked around the room.
That’s strange
. Where was the chaplain or pastor or whoever performed services up here? It was a one room building and she didn’t see anyone other than Rick.

“What time is the officiator supposed to be here?”

“Oh, we’re not getting married here. That’s ridiculous. In this remote place? In this tiny room? No, this was all about the proposal, baby. I thought it rather romantic. But still not the appropriate place for a wedding. We need something more elegant, of course.”

She couldn’t believe it. This place was beautiful and ideal for a wedding.
Something more elegant, sheesh.
She was formulating a response to that when he went on.

“I’ve already checked you out of the hotel. We’ll take the snowmobile down to the bottom, where I have a car waiting for us. We’ll get back home and arrange the perfect wedding. Now, let’s get this ring on your finger and get out of here. We need to get down before it gets too dark.” He grabbed for her hand.

“I can’t.” She pulled her arm away. She was shocked he’d checked her out of the hotel without even discussing it with her. The whole thing was just appalling when she thought about it. At first, she had given him credit for arranging this romantic wedding and everything up here. But now she saw it for what it really was. Just another way to control her, to get her to do what he wanted. This was what he always did and it became crystal clear to her that he was not the man she needed or wanted. Part of her wondered how he ever could have been, but they were young when they first got together. They had both changed a lot since then.

“What do you mean you can’t?” His eyes took on a glittery, almost dangerous look.

She took a step back and wrapped her arms around herself, defensively. “I mean, I can’t put the ring on, I can’t go down the hill with you on your snowmobile, and I can’t marry you.”

“Is this a joke?” He paced around the room. “I said I was sorry. Jeez, Cass, what more do you want from me. I got you a big ring. Spent loads on flowers, and you know how I feel about them.”

Oh, yes, she did. He thought flowers were a waste of money. They were expensive and then they died. Better to buy something that had value and would be appreciated rather than something that wouldn’t make it more than a couple of days. Romantic he was not, which was why this whole thing had caught her by surprise. But he was nothing if not self-serving and he was smart enough to know what should sway her. “This isn’t a joke, Rick. Although, I’m starting to think maybe our relationship was. At least the last few years. You left me up here at the beginning of the week. Left me. All by myself. You walked out, Rick. You, not me. And this time there’s no going back. I can’t marry you.”

“So now our relationship is a joke. Where’s your head? I think the altitude has affected your brain. Come on, Cass. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I had some time to think and I have to have you in my life. Let’s give it another shot. I want to get married. You’ve been bugging me about that forever.” He grinned at her. The infamous grin that use to drive her wild, but tonight it left her cold.

“See? You’re doing it again. You put me down on one hand and then try to hold me up with the other. It just doesn’t work for me anymore. I deserve to be treated better. You deserve someone who can give you whatever it is you are looking for, because obviously I don’t.” Tears threatened to spill from her eyes because even when she was angry, she had trouble keeping them at bay.

“I treated you like a queen. I gave you so much stuff. I gave you—”

“You gave me stuff! You gave me things and then you’d take them away when you were mad, so they were never really mine to begin with.” She was yelling now. “I don’t want this. I don’t want to fight all the time. I don’t want...I don’t love you anymore, Rick.” She turned away from the anger she saw growing in his face and whispered, “It’s over.”

She sensed his movement right before she heard the crash. Whirling around, she saw him sweeping several vases of flowers onto the ground, then picking others up and just dropping them.

“You don’t deserve these flowers. All of this was for you, but now it’s not worth anything. I went to a lot of trouble for this. For
you
.” He stomped over to her, almost childish in his tirade and grabbed her. “You
will
be sorry. You
will
come crawling back and I won’t be there for you. So if you’re ending it you’d better be sure. No one is ever going to love you like me.”

“You’re hurting me. Is that how someone should love me?”

Rick threw her from him. She slipped in the water from the flowers, but managed to catch herself on the wall before falling. She was so shocked she didn’t know what to do or say. He’d never been physical with her before. He’d thrown things and said things, but never had he touched her in violence. Cassidy was frightened so she kept quiet.

He looked at her with a sneer on his lips. “You’re not worth it. I’m outta here.” He opened the door and, without looking back, he left.

Cassidy waited until she heard the snowmobile engine rev up, and then a few minutes more to be sure he was gone, before stepping outside to leave. The sun had dropped in the sky and if she didn’t get down soon it would be dark. She went to the side of the chapel where she’d left her ski gear. It was all gone. She looked around to see if the skis or poles had fallen over and slid away.

Then it hit her.
That rat!
Rick had taken her skis. Surely he wouldn’t strand her up here, even if he was angry. That was just stupid and dangerous. She looked in the bushes behind the cabin, to see if he’d just tossed them aside to tick her off. Nothing.

“Well great. Now what am I supposed to do?” She went back inside the chapel to see if there was anything that might help. Upon seeing the broken glass, water and crushed flowers she started to cry, but then sucked it up immediately.
You are better than this. Don’t let him get to you
. She felt bad leaving the place like this, but she couldn’t even find a broom. Everything was probably in the locked storage shed she had seen behind the building. She tried that as well but since she wasn’t a lock picker that wasn’t working either. Suppressing more tears, she sighed heavily. “Fine. I guess I’ll just have to head down on foot. If I get going now I might be able to beat the sunset.” Although she was talking to herself, it helped her feel less anxious. The silence was slightly overpowering, so she kept muttering to herself as she headed off down the slope.

Chapter
Eleven

Daniel read the note again. “Can’t make dinner. Have to meet Rick, not sure how long. I’ll explain later. Sorry. Cassidy.”

He knew he shouldn’t be as disappointed as he was, but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all day. For the first time since Natasha’s death he wanted to let someone in. He wanted to feel again. Last night after the hot tub, it was all he could do not to take her in his arms, kick open the door and rush her to bed where he would make love to her all night long. Feeling it was too soon, he’d settled for a chaste kiss at the door of her room. When she pulled him closer and really leaned into the kiss it turned anything but chaste. Still, he’d known walking away was the right thing to do. He’d thought there would be other chances. Even thought he may be ready to love again. He shook his head. Good thing this happened now, before he really dived in. He read the note one more time.

“She checked out? Wow. I mean... I had no idea. We had a great time last night, but...I just got a note from her about meeting Rick.” He showed her the note.

“Rick? He came back? How dare he? Why would she go meet him? How is she going to explain if she’s not here anymore?”

“I don’t know, Aunt Sandra. I guess that’s the way it goes.” Daniel shuttered his eyes against her probing gaze. He knew Sandra would be concerned about him getting hurt.

“It’s not right, it’s...Hold on a sec, Daniel. Janice, the desk clerk, is waving at me. Please, wait here for me, ok?”

He nodded and paced in front of the fire, then noticed he’d crumpled up Cassidy’s note, which he still held in his hand. Throwing it into the fire, he watched it burn. He felt like he’d been burned, so why not?
Yeah, buddy, that’s a bit extreme. Her boyfriend is here and she wants to see him. What’d you expect her to do?
Daniel was angry. He couldn’t believe that jerk had come back. Or that, after the way the guy had treated her, Cassidy still went to him when he called. Unfortunately, while it was a fact that Rick was a jerk, he was also the jerk Cassidy had arrived with and had been in a relationship with for years. There was no competing with history. Daniel hoped that their time together would have at least shown her how she deserved to be treated.
How I’d like to continue treating her.

“First of all, it was Rick who checked Cassidy out. She didn’t do it herself. I didn’t think she would leave without saying goodbye, but...” she shook her head and continued, “Apparently he reserved the Log Cabin Chapel for this afternoon and sent a boat load of flowers up as well.”

“Sounds very cozy for them. I guess he’s finally going to make it right with her.” He tried to make sure his voice came out calm and even, as if he couldn’t care less, even though calm was the last thing he felt. “Where’s the problem?”

“The problem is that Rick apparently talked our desk clerk into giving him access to the chapel when it was supposed to be closed. The whole back run has been closed for a few days as we are trying to do avalanche control back there. So far it isn’t stable and there have been reports of rumbling back there this afternoon.” Sandra sighed, appearing frustrated. “To top it all off that damned closed sign keeps falling off, so we don’t know how many skiers may be back there.”

“Didn’t the desk clerk tell Rick the run was closed?”

“Well she did, but I guess he was persuasive. I’ll be dealing with that later. Right now we need to get someone up there to make sure they get out of there safely.”

“So send the rescue team. I’m sure they’re fine. How long does a wedding up there take anyway?” He looked at his watch. “The happy couple is probably on their way home as we speak.”

“Who said anything about a wedding?” Sandra looked perplexed.

“Why else would he book the chapel and send up flowers? Anyway, I’m sure it’s all good.” He paced again.

“No one has seen them leave. Their hired car is still waiting on them—I checked. I’m not saying they are still up there, I don’t know. But, we need to make sure everyone is safe. The rescue team is already dealing with some crazy snowboarders who thought it would be fun to run some jumps in another closed and unstable area. As a result, there was a small accident. They are being brought down now.” Sandra reached out to him and stopped his pacing with a hand on his shoulder. “Daniel, you work on the rescue team part-time. You know this mountain. You know what Cassidy and Rick look like. Please, can you go?”

He knew that the safety of the skiers and visitors to this resort was the most important thing. His feelings aside he knew that he had to do the right thing. “I’ll go.”

Her eyes gaze flashed warmly at him. “You’re a good boy.”

He rolled his eyes. “Man. I’m a man now,” he said. As he walked away, under his breath, “...and I’m not always so good.”

* * *

Cassidy grew colder. Her face was becoming wind chapped and she was tired. She tugged at her foot one more time. With mounting frustration because she didn’t have a clue what to do any more, she swore softly. Her foot would not come loose and the harder she tried the more it hurt.