The Dead of Winter (Seasons of Jefferson: Book 2)

by Julie Solano

  “You’ve got it. Let’s go.” She leans in to give T a hug, and we head out the door with one minute to spare. Good thing the gym is only four blocks away.

  We pull up to the ski park around noon. The entire ride was filled with visions of the wreck and Pistol’s lifeless body lying on the bloody, snowy ground. I can’t imagine what the scene really looked like, but I’m sure my imagination is making it far worse than it could’ve ever been in real life. At first, I visualize brains splattered all over a sharp rock. Then I picture his body impaled by shards of metal ripped from his truck. The images spin into worse and worse traumatic injuries, until I’m sick to my stomach.

  I jump out of the bus and run to the side of the parking lot, where I heave over the side of the snow berm. I’ve literally made myself sick thinking about Pistol’s traumatic death. Was I responsible for that too? What if I’m the reason he went over the bank? I know my truck did crashed into his. Maybe there wasn’t a gun. Did I freak out for no reason and cause him to crash? What have I done? Peyton and Pistol? I did this to them.

  Get a hold of yourself. I look up into the clear sky. I take a deep breath of the clean mountain air. There was a gun. There were holes in your truck. You didn’t do this. I bend over, hands on my knees, and take in a few more breaths. Water. I need water. I pull my bottle from my duffle bag and take a swig. I take another, swishing it around and spitting it to the ground.

  “You okay over there, Woodley?”

  “Yeah. Just a little motion sickness. Be right there.”

  When I finally pull myself together, I head up to the lodge, where the team is gearing up. I’ve got to use the bathroom, wash my face off at least. I find my friend so I can give him a heads up. “Hey, Ty. Be right back, huh. Watch my gear, will you?”

  Tyler nods, “You’ve got it.”

  As I stand up and move toward the bathroom, I see brown curls turning the corner. Is that her? Instantly, my mind changes stations from the Horror Channel to Hot Dish Network. I speed up and head down the stairs into the bathroom. There goes that hair. I decide to yell her name, maybe slow her down a little. Otherwise, I’m not going to catch her. “Tangles.” She keeps walking. “Hey Tangles!” The girl turns around. Oh, God. Ohhhh. That’s not her. I raise my hand apologetically and duck my head as I round the corner into the bathroom.

  I splash water on my face. That was so embarrassing. I decide I really should go to the bathroom while I’m in here. I know I need to hurry. We’re going to slip the course in about four minutes. That doesn’t give me a lot of time. I’m in and out. I don’t waste any time fastening my pants while I’m in the stall. I turn my back toward the door, and begin to close them on my way out. When I turn around, mid-zip, there she is … looking down at my open zipper.

  “Are those the same hands that are going to give me my ticket to the New Year’s party?”

  I smile. Unable to speak, I nod, “Mmmhmm.”

  “Well, not unless you go back and wash ‘em.”

  Zip. I swallow hard as I feel the heat rise into my face.

  “Pee right back. I mean be right back.” How embarrassing. I’m a mess. How am I ever going to face this girl again? She just caught me with my zipper down.

  When I return from the bathroom, Tangles is nowhere in sight. Guess I chased her away. I look down at my watch. Crap. I’m late.

  I make a mad dash up the stairs. My gear is sitting there on the table where I left it, but the team is nowhere in sight. I’m so busted. I grab my board, pull on my gloves and run out the door. Thankfully, the team is still in line at the bottom of the lift. I push off and make my way down the small slope toward the back of the line. There’s a whole group of people in line behind my team. Hopefully Coach will know I’m back here. I jump into the singles line, hoping I can get up there a little more quickly.

  I look out toward the lodge, scanning the park, to see if I can spot my coach. I want him to see I’m here and ready to go. The last thing I need today is more trouble to worry about. I don’t even look around to see who’s in line with me. I’m gazing down the hill when I hear singing coming from the inside line. What is that? I listen to the lyrics coming from a dainty voice. I recognize the melody, but the words aren’t quite right. These words are talking about a city boy on a snowboard. Is that “City Boy Stuck?” No way. I look forward, noticing the line has moved ahead. There’s a four foot gap between me and the person in front of me. I begin to push forward, as I look over my left shoulder to see where the song is coming from. Yellow and black flash before my eyes. I turn and do a double take. It’s her. She’s smiling.

  “You disappeared on me.”

  “Or you disappeared on me. It’s all in the perspective, really. Actually, I thought the toilet may have swallowed you up. But then I remembered, you’re just slow.” She winks and pushes forward on her skis.

  She’s next to Jessie May in the doubles line. “Hey, Caden. Did you have a nice Christmas?”

  “Yeah. Got a new truck.”

  “Nice. Does that mean you’re going to pick us up for the New Year’s party?”

  I look down at my board. How do I answer that? Different excuses are rolling through my mind, when I see a ski pole fly up toward my face.

  “We’re meeting him there, Jessie May.” She looks down at me. “Grab on, Grandpa. You’re holding up the line.”

  I grab onto her pole as she pulls me forward. She winks at me and looks back at Jessie May. “I mean, we’re still practically strangers. You can’t expect Caden to pick us up. He doesn’t even know where you live.”

  “Where we live, Avery. You live there now too, you know.”

  I can feel a shift in Tangles mood. Suddenly, she’s quiet. Her face looks almost reflective. Sad.

  I don’t want to butt in, so I keep quiet too. I scoot along, minding my own business when we approach the lift. Our lines merge. As luck has it, we’re on the same chair.

  “You okay in the middle?” I ask quietly.

  She nods.

  It’s uncomfortably quiet on the way up. Almost to the point where I can no longer handle the silence. Is she mad that I’m on the same chair as her? Maybe I smell. Oh gosh. What if I smell? I try to sniff at my armpits a little just to check.

  “Are you really sniffing yourself?”

  I can’t answer that. Well, I can, but I’m not going to. Why does she always catch me at my worst?

  She looks forward, not making eye contact. “It’s not you. I know that’s what you’re thinking. But it’s not.”

  Phew. “I was starting to wonder.”

  “Actually, I kinda like your smell. It reminds me of … pumpkin pie. Kinda sweet. Kinda spicy.”

  Pumpkin pie and vanilla cupcakes. Sounds like a sweet combination to me.

  “Pumpkin pie, huh? I can handle that.”

  Silence returns. There’s really no place to go from here. Change of subject needed. Like now.

  “How was your Christmas?” There. That one sounds safe enough.

  Silence.

  “Okay, did you get any surprises?” Everyone gets at least one surprise on Christmas. “Good ones, I mean?” she shakes her head and looks down at her glove. “No.”

  I look over the top of Avery’s bowed head. Jessie May is looking at me, shaking her head, and signaling me to cut the conversation. I nod my head and turn in the opposite direction to look out over the trees. If I don’t say anything, I won’t say the wrong thing. The chair stops, mid-cable. We begin bouncing up and down. Some jackass in the front of us thinks it’s funny to swing his feet and make the cable bounce. At closer look, it’s Tyler.

  “Hey, dude. Stop bouncing us.”

  He whips his head around. “Hey, Caden. Is that the girl you keep talking about?” He gives me a thumbs up and turns back around.

  I try to cover my face with my gloves and look down. This is the longest ride of my life. Finally, the chair lurches forward. Thank goodness we’re only three chairs away from the end. I can’t even look at Tangles w
hen we get off. I board right, and they ski left, stopping right next to Tyler.

  “What was that?”

  “I figured you needed a little help. She’ll love it.”

  He can use some brushing up on his wingman skills. “Uh, look around. Do you see her?”

  He pulls his lips together. “Oops, sorry, dude. Works with most girls.”

  “She’s not most girls.”

  We take off down the face. I feel like we’re already behind, and I want to take the short route down for my warmup. I watch for Tangles, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Trail after trail, and run after run, I keep my eyes peeled for the one who numbs my mind and brings me happiness. I haven't found that feeling with anyone or anything else. I’ve got to find her. I just want to be close to her. She doesn’t need to talk. She doesn’t need to do anything at all. Just being in her presence gives me everything I want. Everything I need.

  Ding.

  My phone rings out from my pocket. “Hey Ty, I need to check this, k?” I pull over to the side of the run next to a tree and take out my phone.

  TANGLES: Hey, pumpkin pie. Sorry I had to run! Just couldn’t wait around for you all day. ;) About the New Year’s Party. I’ll meet you in the upper parking lot at 7:00. Jessie May says if you can get an extra ticket, bring your friend. The hot one from the bouncing chair.

  “Tyler! Tyler!” I wave to him about thirty yards downhill. “What’re your plans for New Year’s?”

  I ski down, holding up my phone. When I finally reach him, I let him read the text. A huge smile grows on his face. “Guess I’m hitting the party with you and the hotties from the lift.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “See, have a little faith, dude. I told you it’d work.”

  “WELL, HOW DO I LOOK?” I struggle to open the top button of my suffocating collar, as I walk into T’s room looking for some kind of reassurance. Tonight is a big deal, and I don’t want to mess it up with a goofy looking outfit. I’m used to warm ups and tees, so I’m definitely out of my element trying to dress myself for a black tie event.

  Relief comes over me when I hear the fox whistle. “Impressive.” Kaitlyn gives me the once over, raising her eyebrows when her eyes meet my shiny, new tie. “I didn’t think you knew how to tie one of those. Who has you looking so spiffy? I haven’t seen you dress like for … well, I’ve never seen you dress like that.”

  “I’ve got a pretty special date tonight.”

  “Really. You’ve done a good job of keeping it under wraps.”

  “Well, I had to work pretty hard to make it happen. I wasn’t sure it was going to pan out.”

  “It’s New Year’s Eve. Where are you taking her?”

  “The party at the ski park, remember?” Of course she’s not going to remember. I haven’t talked about the party at all. I don’t want to make anyone feel bad that I’m ditching them tonight. Not to mention, I can’t answer the predicted onslaught of questions about “the new girl.” Not yet, anyway.

  “Oh yeah, the one I didn’t have a chance to get into because you sent us home with Jenna.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. She’s a little bent out of shape too. I thought they’d at least give us a couple more guest passes, but we only got one per team, and ours is going to Tyler.”

  “Jenna’s Ty?”

  “No, Tyler R. We’re going on a double date with my teammate from the Dash.”

  “It’s okay. The rest of us are going to the Fear Factor party at Timmy’s house. I hear it’s a pretty good time.”

  “You’re not kidding. Last year, I heard Lane and Trenton dared him to jump off of his second story balcony into his swimming pool. Little did he know, they figured out how to fill it with jello first. Besides snapping his collar bone, I guess he was digging slime out of every hole in his body for a week.”

  My stomach flips when I think of flying teenagers, wild animals, and tow ropes. Crap. They’re planning to run down to the city park and try out the merry-go-round dare this year. I hope she doesn’t get herself killed doing something stupid. “Do me a favor. Stay with Brody, will you? And don’t lose your head. I think they’re planning to do some outrageous stunts this year.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be safe. But what about you? Who is this mystery girl, anyway? I’d really like to get a thorough background check on this one.”

  I know Kaitlyn is still ruffled over how my relationship with Peyton turned out. I need to reassure her that I’m going to be okay. Sound casual. “You don’t know her. She doesn’t live up here. And, she’s pretty cool. I think you’d really like her. She’s cute, feisty, and country to the core.”

  “Really? How do you know her well enough to get that kind of info? Especially if she doesn’t even live here?”

  “Well, she was at the snowmobile park that one day. Then, I’ve run into her a few times at ski practice. And, I already told you, she was my teammate for the Dash to the Pole.”

  “Ah, the elusive snow princess. Always present, but never seen. I kind of want to meet this girl. Any chance you’ll be bringing her home?”

  “I’m working on it.” I can’t help but smile when I imagine my family seeing Tangles for the first time. She’s like nobody they’ve ever met before. “Let’s see how tonight goes first.”

  Kaitlyn looks down at her watch. “Well, you’d better get a move on it. Otherwise you’ll only be spending half the night with her.”

  “Ty should be here any minute. He’s probably double checking his pits. He hasn’t had a date for a while, and he doesn’t want to mess this one up. He’s totally stoked to be going with the hotties from the lift, as he calls them.” I air quote hotties from the lift.

  Kaitlyn laughs, “That kid. He’s so girl crazy.”

  “Yeah, he chased one of them all over the ski park the other day. I’m not sure he even realizes it’s the same girl.” I have to laugh at the thought that he may not know his date is shiny, blue suit. “It’ll be worth the extra deodorant. She is pretty damn cute.”

  The doorbell rings. “Oh, here, let me fix you really quick. Stay right there.” She runs into the bathroom and comes back in with a glop of green stuff on her hand.

  “What are you doing?” I squint and pull back from the attacking blob.

  “Trust me. She’s gonna love it.”

  I close my eyes, and feel the cool jelly ooze into my scalp. She’s tugging at the ends of my hair. Is she spiking it? Seriously? “T, this is how I used to do my hair when I was nine. Please don’t do this to me. She already calls me a city boy.”

  “Well, it’s too late to wash it out now. Take your chances. If she doesn’t like it, it’s only one night.”

  “Yeah, like the most important night of my life. I don’t want to mess this up, T.”

  A funny look crosses her face. It’s almost a look of amusement.

  “What?”

  “Oh nothing. It’s just, I like what I’m seeing here.” She stands away from me, smiling and nodding with approval. “You’re moving on. You actually care about this girl, don’t you?”

  I hadn’t really thought about it that way. Moving on. When I’m around her it feels good. It feels right. I’m excited about going on a date with Tangles. I try to bite the side of my cheek to hold back the smile, but it pulls itself away from my clenched jaw. I have to chuckle.

  “You can’t hide it, can you?” she giggles. “Well, it’s good to see she’s putting a little life back into you. That’s quite a feat, you know … bringing something back to life in the dead of winter. She must be doing something right.”

  This is getting too deep. I can’t think like this right now. I just want to have some fun with a pretty, funny girl. “Alright, alright. Thanks for your approval. But I gotta go.” I throw my head back toward the door. “Ty’s waiting, remember?”

  “Be safe, big brother.”

  “You too.”

  My hand is shaky as I pull the handle to release the door. I can do this. I can do this. I have to convince myself to keep going. My legs are sha
ky, but not only from the fear of the ride in the blustery snow. I’m a bundle of nerves. I’ve been clenching my muscles for an entire hour, trying to stop the insane butterflies from pounding an escape through the very core of my body. Why does the icy air always seem to make them intensify?

  I can’t believe I’m going on an actual date with her. I can’t focus. I look up toward the glowing lodge, surrounded by fiery torches and twinkling lights. I see silhouettes of sleekly dressed ladies popping through the windows. I wonder if she’s already up there. She’s supposed to meet me at the Mountain Shop to get her ticket. I look down at my watch. 7:15, crap. We’re late. She’s still got to be outside. Waiting for me. I rush to slide out of Ty’s monster rig, nearly losing my footing. Luckily, I find the truck bed, just before my feet completely slide out from beneath me.

  “You okay there, buddy?” Ty laughs as he pats me on the back. “I’ve never seen you so fidgety before. You were bouncing around like a jackhammer the whole way here. Reminds me of kindergarten, when we were all in the dugout, and you had to go to the bathroom. The coach wouldn’t let you, remember?”

  “How could I forget? I peed my pants right there on the first baseman’s shoe. Most embarrassing moment of my life.”

  “Hey, but she still let you kiss her inside the jungle gym after the game. She must not have been too traumatized by it.”

  “That’s a rumor, dude. A big fat rumor. It never happened.” I hope that sounds convincing.

  “Mmmhmm. Yep. Whatever you say. By the way, I was there.”

  I’ll never live that damn story down. Change of subject. “It’s hot out here.” I pull off my jacket and toss it in the truck, then begin tugging at my button-up collar. I’ve already released a button, but I feel like I’m suffocating inside of this thing. I hope I wore enough deodorant.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Ty looks up in the sky and opens his mouth to catch a snowflake. “You can’t be that hot. It’s cold enough to snow. You’ve got it pretty bad, don’t you?”