Winter Dreams

by Simmons, Trana Mae

  She quickly realized she didn't have to worry about that. Tracie's ebullient energy bubbled over in both her skipping gait and cheerful chatter.

  "This is really nice, Miss Laura," she said at one point. "I like being outside more than anything, but sometimes I have to play inside while Aunt Cristy cleans house or paints. Look!" She pointed up a tree. "There's a squirrel!"

  Unafraid and drawn by the little girl's voice, the fat gray squirrel crouched on a limb, fluffy tail twitching in time to its chittering barks. Tiny brown eyes sparkled, and Tracie's delighted laughter rang out. The squirrel leapt to its feet, racing up the tree trunk and turning around on a higher limb. Then it scurried to the other side of the tree and peered back around at them.

  "Look, Miss Laura!" Tracie clapped her hands in delight. "It's a'playin' peek-a-boo with us!"

  "It sure is," Laura agreed.

  They watched the squirrel until it raced away through the treetops, leaping from limb to limb and showering snow to the ground in its path. Instead of being disappointed at the squirrel's desertion, Tracie eagerly continued their walk, searching for the next surprise waiting around the bend.

  Spying a huge pine tree with cones scattered on the ground beneath it, Tracie raced over. Squatting, she picked up two of the cones, then glanced at Laura. Her eyes, so identical to Sandy's, caused Laura to catch her breath

  "Can we gets a bag in town and pick up some of these on the way home?" Tracie asked. "Mama used them to decorate at Christmas time. I can show Aunt Cristy what Mama used to do. We hadda leave our decorations in Alaska. And Aunt Cristy hadda leave all Gramma and Grampa Montdulac's stuff in Wa — Washington, 'cause we couldn't bring it on the train."

  "Of course we can stop and gather some pine cones," Laura agreed. "And you know what?"

  "What?" Tracie asked eagerly, getting to her feet and stuffing the two pine cones into her pockets.

  "There's way too many Christmas decorations in the attic at my house for me to use. Every year Katie has to stop me from bringing all of them down. If it's all right with your daddy, you and Cristy can use some of them at your house."

  "Yippee! I was a'wonderin' what we'd do for decorations. Christmas is special, you know."

  "I know," Laura agreed, wishing she would be around to watch Tracie open presents on Christmas Day. Always before she'd looked forward to her Duluth trip for Christmas with relatives and friends who had moved away. This year David had already said he couldn't accompany her, since he had two important cases he needed to prepare for trial in January. Her father, also, had hinted at some business dealings, which might make it impossible for him to be gone the entire two weeks she planned to be in Duluth. He did promise to come down for at least a couple days, and they'd compromised by agreeing to have their own Christmas celebration, which would include David, the day she arrived home

  — January second.

  Finally, after an hour's walk, which would have taken them only fifteen minutes by sled or sleigh, Grand Marais came into view. If she'd really wanted to maintain her leg strength, she would have ridden into town and then made the uphill climb to return to Ladyslipper Landing, Laura mused. But then she wouldn't have had Tracie's delightful company, for she couldn't imagine the child holding up to the steep ascent.

  They stopped by Tom's office first, to let him know they had indeed walked into town and remind him not to leave them behind that evening. He invited them to lunch, and they decided to meet at Mrs. Sterling's at noon. As they headed for the general store a few minutes later, they encountered David on the walkway.

  "Hello," he said, glancing beyond Laura's shoulder. "Uh . . . did just the two of you come into town?"

  "Uh-huh," Tracie answered as Laura wondered what had distracted David's attention. "Aunt Cristy is paintin'." She gave Laura a mysterious look, then David a childish wink. He winked back before he reached down and picked her up.

  "Well, then, Tracie-Racie," he said, tossing her into the air and easily catching her. "I guess Laura sprung you from a day locked up in jail, huh?" Settling her on his forearm, he wiggled his fingers on her stomach, and Tracie giggled wildly.

  "My name's just Tracie," she insisted when she caught her breath. "Not Tracie-Racie!" She patted David's cheek. "But you can call me Tracie-Racie. I sorta like that. And it does seem like I'm in jail sometimes, when I have to stay inside and look out the windows, 'stead of bein' out there."

  "I understand. And Tracie-Racie, it is." He rather belatedly leaned over and kissed Laura's cheek. "Sorry, honey," he said. "I got diverted by this other beautiful lady here. Could I buy both of you beauties lunch later today?"

  "Father's already spoken for us." Laura tried for a saucy tone, but to her ears it fell flat. David didn't appear to notice. "But it would be wonderful if you could join us, too. Twelve o'clock, at Mrs. Sterling's?"

  Setting Tracie down, David nodded. "I'll be there. See you then."

  "He's a real nice man," Tracie said as David strode off and they headed the opposite way, toward the general store. "Aunt Cristy said you and him's gonna get married next summer."

  "That's the plan," Laura agreed. "We still have lots of things to decide upon, but we'll take care of them after I get back from Alaska."

  Tracie fell abnormally silent for the duration of the walk to the general store. Once inside she perked up again. She stared over the displays of goods — everything from perfumed soaps for ladies to pipe tobacco for men. The smells intermingled with the warmth from not one, but two potbelly stoves used to heat the vastness. As usual, several elderly men sat at a table beside one of the stoves, playing gin rummy and gossiping about everything from which young woman had her sights set on which young man — to who would run for election next for the Board of Commissioner terms. Laura knew exactly what types of discussions they held, since she had crept up on them and eavesdropped from the next aisle when she was younger.

  Every eye around the table swiveled to see who the new arrival was, again as usual, and they all spoke a greeting to her in various ways. She responded with a "hello" to the "howdy's," "hey Miss Laura's" and "g'morning's."

  Tracie evidently knew at least a couple of the men well, because she looked up at Laura and said, "Can I go over and say hello to Pops and Clinker?"

  "Of course."

  She skipped away, and Laura continued to the counter, where Cathy Berglind stood. Cathy gave Laura an even snider look than normal, and Laura wished Mrs. Berglind was attending the store. She'd never been able to figure out whether Cathy's sarcastic attitude came from some quirk in her personality, which left her unable to maintain friendships with other females her own age, or something else. The fact was, because of her derisive, gloomy attitude, Cathy had no friends in town, and the only reason anyone bothered with her was because there was no other store in town. If they needed supplies, they had to deal with Cathy when her parents left her in charge of the counter.

  "Hello, Cathy," Laura said politely, unsurprised at not receiving a greeting in return. "Katie asked me to see if you'd received a new shipment of cinnamon yet."

  Cathy glanced over her shoulder. "I don't see any cinnamon lying on the shelf above your name. After all these years, you should know that's where we put the special orders for people, so they can check themselves when they come into the store and not bother us if we're busy."

  Laura bit her lip to keep from telling Cathy she didn't consider her standing there behind the counter with her arms crossed, glaring at the customers, being busy. At one time she had thought Cathy interested in David, but when she'd teasingly mentioned that to her fiancé, David had shivered at the horrible thought.

  "I don't know that Katie special ordered the cinnamon," she said with a sigh of resignation.

  "Well, then, you can check the spice rack to see if there's any there. That's where it would be if we got a new order in."

  Pursing her lips, Laura turned away before she could tell Cathy exactly what she could do with the cinnamon. Tracie skipped up to her, holding
out a lollipop.

  "Look, Laura! Pops gived it to me. But he said I gots to wait 'til after lunch to eat it, less you say I can have it now."

  "Huh," Cathy muttered, but Laura kept her attention on Tracie.

  "Well, it's still a good hour before lunch, sweetheart. I don't see any reason why you can't go ahead and have the lollipop now."

  "Thanks, Miss Laura!" Tracie tore the wrapper off and stuck the lollipop in her mouth, then casually tossed the paper at a trash can by the counter. She whirled away before she could see the paper miss and fall to the floor. Laura chuckled tolerantly and bent to pick up the paper herself.

  "No wonder the child has no manners," Cathy said. Laura straightened and gave her a warning glare, but Cathy didn't back down. "Well, it isn't. She runs wild all the time, just like you're letting her run through my store right now without your supervision. And heaven forbid her aunt pay any attention to the child when your fiancé is around and they have the child with them. Cristy's too busy making eyes at David! I'll tell you, Laura Goodman, for your own good you better put a stop to them spending so much time together."

  She narrowed her eyes, an even more malicious glint entering them. "Or, from what I hear, maybe you don't care if someone else steals David from you. Just what do you and Sandy Montdulac do out in the woods all alone with each other so much?"

  Laura leaned on the counter, pushing her face as close to Cathy's as she could. Cathy stood her ground, but a tentative glimmer of fear replaced the maliciousness.

  "You are an absolute witch, Cathy Berglind," Laura said through clenched teeth, not caring that her voice carried.

  Cathy huffed in outrage, but Laura didn't give her a chance to speak. "No, my female dogs are bitches, and they're very likable animals. You're a jealous, troublemaking, gossiping witch. I've put up with you for years and years, but I will not have you insulting that precious child or her aunt. And while we're on the subject of your witchiness and gossiping ways, let me tell you that if you don't start controlling that vicious tongue of yours, I'll find some way to make you control it."

  She pounded a fist on the counter, and Cathy lurched back against the wall. "My father has several enterprises in this town," Laura said. "I'm sure he could be talked into starting another store to give this one some competition and perhaps bring the prices down."

  "Oh, no! Now what have you done, Cathy?"

  Mrs. Berglind stood at the curtain separating the storage room from the rest of the building, her worried gaze going from her daughter to Laura. "What happened, Laura?"

  Letting out a wail, Cathy pushed away from the wall, then raced past her mother. Her footsteps clumped up the stairwell, which lead to the family's living quarters over the store.

  "Laura?" Mrs. Berglind repeated.

  "It's nothing that's your fault," Laura relented. "I know you try to keep Cathy in line, because I've heard you talk to her before. She just stuck her nose into business that didn't concern her, and I guess I overreacted a little."

  Mrs. Berglind shook her head sadly, wringing her hands together. "All of our other children are married and settled, with fine families and wonderful, satisfying lives. Connie's husband would love to give up his woodcutting business and help us out in the store, but he won't put up with Cathy. I just don't know what to do. Cathy's my daughter, too, but Dick's ready to retire if we could just get Connie's husband in here to take over."

  She pulled her hands apart and walked to the counter. "I'm sorry, Laura. I didn't mean to tell you all my troubles. What can I do for you today?"

  "Tracie and I are going to do some Christmas shopping, Mrs. Berglind. I was checking with Cathy to see if you'd received a new order of cinnamon first, before I looked around."

  "It just came in today." Mrs. Berglind started back to the storage room. "I'll unpack it and have some waiting here at the counter for you."

  "Thank you."

  ***

  Chapter 10

  It surprised Laura how much difference having Cristy and Tracie around made, now that she wasn't out on the trail every day. It became a habit for her to go over to the cabin each morning after Sandy and Pete left with the teams and Buck arrived to take care of the feeding and cleaning. Some mornings Cristy wafted around with a distracted look in her eyes, which Laura came to recognize as a deep desire to get to her painting. Tracie and Laura would head out for their walk, then have lunch with Katie. Afterwards, they read or played either a game of make-believe or board game. Other times they decorated Laura's house or Sandy's cabin for Christmas.

  A couple mornings Cristy asked if she could join their walks, saying she'd stayed inside way too many days in a row and needed to refill her creative well. Hers and Laura's friendship deepened, and whenever Laura recalled Cathy's gossiping comments, she mentally waved them away as just that — gossip. Very possibly, she concluded, there was some jealousy also, as Laura had thought when she and Cathy confronted each other.

  Two days before Laura had to leave for Duluth, Tracie, Cristy and she made another day of shopping. Lunch with Tom and David was a gay affair, and afterwards Laura made plans to have dinner with David in private the following evening. Tom closed his office early and shopped with the women, and they headed back to Ladyslipper Landing in mid-afternoon.

  Tracie nodded with sleepiness by the time they arrived, and Tom offered to carry her to the cabin for Cristy.

  "I'm going over to the kennels, Father," Laura said. "Buck brought some supplies we needed today, and I should enter them in the books. Pete hasn't had a lot of time for that lately."

  Tom murmured a quiet agreement as Tracie snuggled into his arms and Laura walked away. She detoured by Blancheur's doghouse and released him. To keep him somewhat in shape, Blancheur had accompanied her and Tracie on their walks after that first day, and according to Erik the dog would be ready for the harness for at least a brief run again tomorrow.

  She'd debated delaying her trip for a week in order to get some time in on the sled again. However, whether it was spending time with Sandy once more or the looming threat of the overnight campouts she still had to go through for her training, she decided to only do this one run and wait until she returned after Christmas to resume full training. Blancheur would be fully ready by then. She'd tell Sandy her decision when he came back from the training run today.

  She settled at the desk in the kennel office, and Blancheur curled up on the floor. When she reached for the ledgers, Sandy's face swam in front of her. In an uncharacteristic fit of annoyance, she slammed her palms on the desk surface and closed her eyes.

  She'd hinted in her correspondence with her friends and relatives in Duluth that she might not make her holiday trip down there this year. She needed this training time as much as Blancheur did, and she knew without doubt missing the fun and gaiety wouldn't bother her that much this year. More and more she was realizing that she could have just as much pleasure in the season here as in the larger city.

  Yet she had given in to her relatives pleas to reconsider and still make her trip. She'd given in not because she wanted to experience the gaiety, but because she needed to distance herself from the temptation of a pair of teal blue eyes, broad shoulders and a voice that whispered her name with a longing that fired an even deeper yearning in her.

  Hopefully a couple weeks away from Sandy would give her time to gain some perspective on her feelings. She could never break her engagement to David. She couldn't do that to him. He'd done nothing to deserve her giving his ring back.

  Besides, it wasn't as if her being free would assure her of a chance to pursue her feelings for Sandy, she thought, chastising herself as soon as she realized how selfish that sounded. She would make David a good wife. They had everything in common and their friendship to build on. So what if David's kisses didn't fill her with a whimpering need to make love to him. They would have a quiet, placid life together.

  Wasn't that why she had insisted on participating in the Alaskan Race to begin with? Because she knew her
life with David will be lacking in the excitement she craved? She'd thought herself so mature when she decided to have this one huge adventure and make the memories last the rest of her life — her placid, unexciting life with David.

  She'd spent many a restless night listing in her mind the reasons a future with Sandy was out of the question. On the other side of the balance sheet, she'd mentally listed the reasons to continue her engagement. David was a good man. David would make a fine husband and a wonderful father. David would treat her with respect, in bed and out, although David wouldn't make her tremble with desire. David had every quality a woman wanted in the man she married and lived with the rest of her life.

  David wasn't Sandy Montdulac.

  Opening her eyes, Laura reached for the ledgers again. Buck was already gone, and she'd noticed full food bowls and fresh water waiting for the sled teams when they returned. The water might be frozen over when the teams got back, but if so, it would be Sandy and Pete's responsibility to replace it. Buck had done his job.

  In a tray beside the ledgers, she found more than just that morning's entries needing input. With Pete busy training the team, it was up to her to do this job, and she mentally rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

  When the kennel door opened and closed a long while later, Laura glanced up. The clock showed two hours had passed, and it was getting close to supper time. At least the bookwork was caught up. It would do until she got back from Duluth.

  Instead of Pete, whom she expected, Sandy strode into the office, halting abruptly when he saw her. A look of hunger entered his eyes for a brief instant, but his gaze quickly blanked.

  "I didn't know anyone was in here," he said without greeting her.

  "Hello to you, too, Sandy," she said irritably.

  "Hello, Laura," he said reluctantly.

  Sighing, she pushed the chair back and rose. "I'm leaving for Duluth the day after tomorrow, Sandy. But Erik was by early this morning and gave Blancheur the go ahead to get back into harness for short runs. I'd really like to know how the teams are doing before I go, so I planned on making the run with my team myself tomorrow. If you prefer, I can ask Pete to go with me."