“Go three blocks to Fir Street and take a right,” Mia read. “Then left again onto Alder.”
Colin steered them onto Alder. “What’s next?”
“Center Street.” They cruised down Center, the main street in Icicle Falls. Downtown was busy with tourists ducking in and out of shops, buying ice cream, stopping to listen to the German oompah band playing in the gazebo. It was easy to see the town’s appeal. Thanks to all the window boxes blooming with summer flowers and the fancy murals painted on the buildings, Icicle Falls really had the cute vibe going strong.
This town was more than cute, though. It was a friendly town, a close-knit community, the kind of place that called you back from wherever you’d moved.
Mia felt the call growing louder by the hour. Someday, she promised herself, she’d come back with her perfect husband and her two adorable children, a boy and a girl, naturally. She’d buy one of those impressive homes overlooking the river. In addition to donating money to the Humane Society and the Red Cross, she’d also spread the love around town, giving money to the hospital and the historical society. She’d drive into town in her BMW, notice Dylan walking down the street and wave. Look at me now.
She could see it all so clearly. All except the perfect husband. She couldn’t seem to bring him into focus.
How long had Colin and Lorelei been together? What if they suddenly weren’t?
It wouldn’t make any difference to her. She and Colin lived different lives on opposite coasts. They were never meant to be together. It was that simple.
Alpine Street led them to the block nicknamed Foodie Paradise, home to Gingerbread Haus, Bavarian Brews, the Spice Rack and Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company. Sweet Dreams Chocolates to most and plain old Sweet Dreams to the locals. Right around the corner on Lavender Lane was her friend Bailey’s business, Tea Time Tea Shop, with its popular tearoom.
“Where now?” Colin asked.
“To Kringle Court, then go right.”
He turned the car down the small street where Christmas Haus was located. “Are we anywhere near the end of this?”
“We have several more streets to go,” Mia said. It did feel as though they were going nowhere, especially after a few more turns took them in a big circle around town. What was the purpose of this?
“Jump ahead a few,” Colin suggested.
She did and they finally found themselves on the edge of town at a small building not much bigger than a toolshed, made to look like a miniature chalet—the Icicle Falls Information Booth.
“This is it, one and a quarter miles from the Icicle Creek Lodge. I should’ve known one of the clues would be here,” Colin said as they got out of the car.
Inside, the booth held a small desk and a couple of chairs, and on the wall hung racks of maps and brochures for every shop, restaurant and activity in town. Amy Appleton was running it, talking with a middle-aged couple she’d loaded up with brochures. She’d gained weight over the years, but at seventy-five her hair was the same jet-black Mia remembered. Mia had first started volunteering at that booth after leaving middle school, and Amy had been both her supervisor and her public-relations coach.
“Make sure you stop at the Sweet Dreams retail shop and get some of their wonderful chocolates,” she told the couple.
“Oh, we will,” said the woman. “And what’s a good place for dinner?”
“It depends on what you’d like,” Amy said, and then rattled off the name of every restaurant in town. Giving them all five-star ratings, of course.
Mia could see Colin getting fidgety. Grandma Justine had probably hoped they’d enjoy this treasure hunt she’d sent them on, but Mia could tell he’d just as soon be done with it and get out of town. Kind of sad, considering how much fun they used to have with the small-scale hunts Grandma Justine and Aunt Beth designed for them when they were kids.
They weren’t kids anymore, though, and this was poking at a lot of old hurts. She thought of a song in one of those old musicals Aunt Beth was so fond of—“This Nearly Was Mine.”
What would’ve happened if she’d never gone away to school? Would she and Colin be living here? Maybe he’d have his own orchard and she’d be using some of the windfall apples to make into applesauce. Maybe they’d have a couple of kids or a foster child.
Maybe she didn’t want to keep thinking like this. What was her problem, anyway? She was doing fine where she was. More responsibility, more money, a nice one-bedroom apartment not far from Lincoln Park and almost enough money in savings for a down payment on a condo. Really, all that was missing in her life was a man.
When she got back home, she’d take another stab at internet dating. Every man on those sites couldn’t be cheap or a fake who put up a ten-year-old picture of himself. She’d find someone with plenty of ambition who also had a sense of humor and who liked kids. Someone better than Colin. Colin 2.0.
Colin 1.0 sure made jeans and a T-shirt look good.
So what? There were hundreds of men out there. She’d find one and live happily ever after. In Chicago. And Colin could stay in Seattle with Ms. Fitness and...burn calories.
Finally, the couple took their brochures and went on their way, and Amy smiled at Colin and Mia. “Well, Mia, nice to see you again. I can remember when you first started here. You were, what, thirteen?”
“Fourteen,” Mia said.
“You were such a shy little thing. Justine thought working here would help you overcome your shyness. And it did, didn’t it?”
It hadn’t exactly helped her overcome her nerd rep, but it had helped her acquire more confidence and a certain amount of poise with strangers, a skill that now served her well in the business world and got her through those presentations she hated making.
Amy turned her attention to Colin. “And Colin, I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to speak with you at the service. We were so sorry to lose your sweet grandma.”
“Thanks,” Colin said, his smile fading.
“We’re going to miss her so much,” Amy continued. “She was such a mover and shaker. She was still coming in on Saturday mornings right up until the end. I hope I have that kind of energy when I’m in my eighties.”
“Did she, by any chance, leave something with you for us?” Mia asked.
Amy’s smile turned sly. “Why do you ask?”
Mia could almost hear Colin grinding his teeth. Patience was not his strong suit. “She’s sent us on a bit of a treasure hunt, and we think our next clue is here somewhere.”
“Aren’t you the smart ones? As a matter of fact, there is something here for you.” Amy stepped over to the desk and pulled a postcard out of the top drawer, then handed it to Colin.
Mia looked over his shoulder. The picture showed Icicle Falls at its best, all lit up for the holidays.
“Isn’t that the most charming picture ever?” Amy asked. She probably wasn’t expecting an answer, since she didn’t leave any conversational space for one. “I love every season here in Icicle Falls, but I must say Christmas is my favorite. All the buildings decked out with lights and the caroling and the fun, and our pretty mountains—it’s simply magical, isn’t it?” At last she paused, allowing time for someone to agree with her.
“Yes, it is,” Mia said. Christmas in Icicle Falls felt like the set of a holiday movie—beautiful and heartwarming. She’d loved going to the tree-lighting ceremony as much when she got older as she had when she was a child. Waving to Santa, singing Christmas carols in the town square with the throng of locals and tourists. Watching the giant tree in the middle of the square come to life with all those colored lights. And when it snowed, it was like living in a snow globe.
Special as all of that was, the times with the Wright family were what had made Christmas in Icicle Falls so wonderful. The huge holiday dinners, the presents under the tree, the laughter and teasing. T
hat was something she’d been unable to duplicate living in Chicago. That was something she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to duplicate.
“But I still like summer the best—when the flowers are in bloom and we have all our summer celebrations,” Amy went on. “So many lovely things happen in the summer.”
Family picnics, hikes in the woods, swimming at the pool, hanging out with friends—yes, summer was a lovely time. But if anything bad was going to happen to Mia, it seemed that fate always put it on the summer calendar.
* * *
The summer after Colin graduated from high school was busy and happy. In between her working at the information booth and his being in the orchard or at Swede’s garage, they’d hike or laze on the riverbank. He’d be fishing, she reading. Or they’d be hanging out with their friends at Herman’s, sharing milk shakes. And kisses.
Oh, she loved kissing Colin. She could kiss him all night long and never get tired of it. She never got tired of being with him, period. Every day she’d wake up excited to see him, and every night she went to sleep dreaming of him.
Then came the annual street dance on July third, and it had been, as Amy would say, magical.
Mia and Colin had enjoyed corn dogs and shaved ice, laughed with friends and danced so close it was hard to tell where one of them began and the other left off. Colin, her knight in shining armor, was the center of her universe and she loved him with all her heart. That was the night they were finally going to do it, she just knew. He hadn’t pressured her to go all the way, but she knew he wanted to, so she’d decided it was going to be that night.
But she’d chickened out at the last minute, memories of Adrian Malk’s assault tainting the moment in the back of Colin’s car. “It’s okay,” he’d said. “This is a crappy setting, anyway. We need someplace romantic.”
On the afternoon of the Fourth of July, he found it. Everyone had stuffed themselves with fried chicken and potato salad at Grandma Justine’s and they were sitting around the backyard, letting their food settle before starting on dessert.
“Come on,” Colin said, taking Mia by the hand.
“Don’t be gone long,” Gram called. “We still need to crank the ice cream.”
“And your dad and I aren’t gonna be the only ones turning that crank,” Uncle Mark added.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back,” Colin assured them.
They left the house and the yard and the rest of the world behind and entered the orchard, their own private world. Sunlight filtered through rows and rows of trees filled with apples, ripening for the harvest.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said. A warm breeze stirred the branches, making them flutter just like Mia’s heart did when Colin pulled her close.
“Yeah, it is,” he said. “And so are you.” He kissed her, and there went her heart again. He smiled at her, then led her down one of the rows. “I could see myself taking over for Gramps someday.”
“I bet Grandma Justine would like him to get someone to take over now. She wants him to slow down.”
Colin gave a snort of disgust. “If Gram had her way, he’d be sitting around the house all day shelling peas. That’s not Gramps.”
“She’s just worried he’s going to wear out. He’s so tired lately.” Surely Colin had noticed that. They’d all been watching a movie on TV earlier in the week and he’d fallen asleep right in the middle of it.
Colin frowned. “It’s hard to imagine Gramps ever wearing out. I mean, he’s always been so healthy and strong. I figure he’ll be around till he’s ninety. Heck, he’ll probably make a hundred as long as he takes his medication.”
“I think a lot of times he doesn’t,” Mia said.
Colin looked at her, puzzled. “Of course he does. Why wouldn’t he?”
Sometimes Colin wasn’t very observant. Maybe he didn’t want to be, where his grandfather was concerned. So she just shrugged and settled on the grass under an apple tree.
“Do you know something I don’t?” he asked, sitting down next to her.
“No,” she lied.
“Yeah, you do. What?”
Mia plucked a blade of grass and studied it. “I heard Grandma and Aunt Beth talking. He thinks it’s like messing with nature. Grandma has to nag him to take it.”
Colin frowned again. “Well, he’d better. Now I’m gonna nag him, too.”
“I feel like a tattletale,” Mia confessed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Yeah, you should have.” He placed an arm around her. “Sometimes I think you know more about what goes on in my family than I do.”
“They’re my family, too,” she reminded him. She hadn’t been born a Wright. She was connected by friendship and commitment and love, and in the end that connection could be as strong as shared DNA.
“Thanks for telling me,” he said as they cuddled under the tree. “I’m glad I have you.” And then to prove it, he kissed her. It was a tender kiss, his lips gentle, his hands slipping through her hair, sending tingles through her body. Colin was such a romantic guy, so sweet. There was no one else she wanted to be with. Why did she worry about sex being scary when she was with him? That didn’t make sense.
Surrounded by all those trees, the dappled sunlight warm on their skin, she knew this was the perfect spot to give herself to him. “I think I’m ready,” she whispered.
He looked at her, his expression a mixture of hope and concern. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I’m sure. We’ve waited long enough.”
He grinned and pulled a condom out of his pants pocket. “Good thing I’m prepared.”
She giggled. But then he kissed her again and she got serious. “I’m a little scared,” she confessed.
“So am I. I’ve never done this before, either, you know, but I’m gonna try my best to make it good for you. I love you, Mia. I always have and I always will.”
“Oh, Colin, I love you, too!”
With that, the kisses turned passionate, and soon Colin’s shirt was off and her top and bra were discarded. And even though she felt self-conscious she wasn’t scared.
“I want you so much,” he murmured against her neck, and she slithered out of her shorts.
Yes, this was going to be wonderful, she thought as he started fumbling with his condom.
“Col. Where are you?”
Colin froze, half in and half out of his new fashion accessory, and Mia’s eyes popped open. “Your dad!”
The romantic moment died a quick death as they scrambled for their clothes.
“There you... What the hell?” Dylan Wright stopped in midstride, his eyes narrowing to slits and his lips pressed together in an angry slash. “Get your clothes on, both of you,” he growled.
He didn’t have to tell Mia twice. Face flaming, she turned her back and put on her bra. This couldn’t be happening.
“Jeez, Dad,” Colin protested, struggling into his pants. “You could have, like, given us some notice.”
“I’ve been calling you for the last ten minutes,” Dylan snapped. “Now, come on.”
Dylan grabbed his shirt and shoes.
“Mia, Beth wants you to help her slice strawberries.” A simple request, a nice, friendly request. Except the words came out like chips of ice.
She nodded and pulled on her shorts then scooped up her sandals and ran for the house.
As she went she could hear Dylan scolding his son. “What the hell were you thinking? And Mia, of all people. Do you know how that could have ended?”
And Mia, of all people.
The words scalded her heart. Dylan had never been very friendly, but she’d had no idea how much he disliked her. What a fool she’d been, thinking herself worthy to someday become a real member of the Wright family. She was only the little orphan they’d taken
in.
She found it hard to explain this to Colin, who later insisted that everyone loved her.
“Except your dad. I heard what he said.”
“He was just pissed off. He thinks we’re too young.”
It was more than that, she was sure. Of course, she supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised. The Wrights were well-off financially, and important. They owned an orchard, for crying out loud, and Uncle Mark had his own company. Dylan was a lawyer. Grandma Justine was one of the town’s leading citizens. And who was Mia? Her mother never got more than a high school education and her father was a loser.
The only way she could prove herself worthy would be to go out and really make something of herself. She was already taking Advanced Placement classes and checking into college scholarships for state schools. Now she’d have to up her game and climb higher on the prestige ladder. Any old four-year college wouldn’t cut it.
As for having sex, between Dylan’s reaction to their attempted lovemaking and Aunt Beth’s lecture on the sanctity of sex and how Mia should wait until she was married, she decided maybe she wasn’t ready, after all. She just hoped Colin would understand.
“This is between us,” he insisted the next time they were alone together. “It has nothing to do with anyone else.”
“I know, but now I want to wait. Your dad’s right. We’re too young.” And I’m not in the same class as the rest of you.
Colin swore. Then he pouted. Then he got over it. “I’ll wait until you’re ready. You’re killin’ me, but I’ll wait.”
“When we’re older, when we know it’s serious.”
That made him angry all over again. “You think I’m not serious? I’ll prove how serious I am. I’ll get you a ring.”
“Colin, you’re just starting college and I still have to graduate from high school,” she reminded him.
“Well, guess what you’ll be getting for a graduation present.”
True to his word, he gave her a ring. It was made of Black Hills gold and decorated with a flower that had petals of black and pink. Between the fun of her senior prom and the thrill of being class valedictorian, graduation had been an exciting event. But Colin’s gift had been the biggest thrill of all.
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