Winter Wonders

by Delia Latham

  Still, she smiled. She nodded. And she stretched out a hand, which Miss Angie grasped in her own.

  “Well, let’s wait and see what your doctor says then, dear. If you change your mind, the apartment is yours—for the entire winter season, of course.”

  

  

  Winter watched the door for several minutes after Brady and Miss Angie left. For whatever reason, she didn’t want them to go and felt almost certain one or the other would return, if only for a moment.

  But when five minutes elapsed and neither the beautiful woman nor the too-handsome-to-be-a-preacher preacher returned, she sighed and reached for the telephone on a table near her bed. Her purse and phone had most likely landed in the Pacific. Well, better that than in the hands of some dishonest individual who’d steal her identity and make her life miserable. Of course, she couldn’t just hope for the best. As soon as she could, she’d have to take steps to protect herself.

  In the meantime, she had to call her editor before he gave her job to someone else. Winter didn’t see herself staying forever in Cornelius Cove, working for a small television station like KCCN, but for now, it was a rung up on the ladder of success, a step closer to her life plan.

  The phone rang in her ear as she thought about that plan. Cornelius Cove was simply a launching ground. She planned to go places with her career—grand places, faraway places, places she’d only seen in books and movies, only visited in her wildest dreams. But someday she’d go there for real. Someday she’d sit in the anchor chair at a major television network. Her name would be known in every household in America and beyond.

  Winter Wonder would be a celebrity.

  “KCCN. Jeremy Kelly here.”

  “Hey, Jeremy.” Winter stifled a sigh. Did she sound as tired to him as she did to herself? And why should she be tired, anyway? She’d done nothing but lie around in this hospital bed all night and most of the day. “It’s Winter.”

  “Winter! Thank God you’re OK. What are the doctors saying?”

  Startled, Winter couldn’t think of an answer. How had Jeremy known about the accident? She hadn’t called him. “How did you know…?”

  “Oh, some lady called last night. Seems that brother of yours crash-landed in the woods near her home. She found your purse and went through your wallet to find someone to notify.”

  Miss Angie, of course. Winter was glad to know her belongings were safe at Paradise Pines. Even though she didn’t really know the woman, not trusting Miss Angie seemed ludicrous—even wrong, somehow.

  “Oh…well, I’m glad to know my purse is intact and in honest hands. Hey, I’m sorry about the delay in this story, Jer. I’ll get it as soon as they let me out of the hospital.”

  “Not to worry. Callie’s got that one. You just concentrate on getting well—and listen to the doctor, Winter. Don’t be your usual, stubborn self and make matters worse.”

  “You gave Callie my story?” Temper teased at her senses, but she squelched it. Jeremy had been up front about wanting a quick turnaround, which was why he’d insisted on renting the plane. Her current circumstances shouldn’t put a cog in the works at KCCN. And they wouldn’t, because Jeremy always had a backup plan. “Never mind, of course you did.”

  “Darn right. But don’t worry, there are plenty of stories to go around. In fact, this could work out to be a good thing for you. I have a lead on something in Cambria. So when you get out of the hospital, find a place to stay for a while. From what I understand, our subject won’t be an easy mark. How a man can stay hidden for a whole decade in that little seaside village is beyond me, but this guy’s managed to do it. I don’t have a location for you. Don’t even have a name, to be honest. But I have it on good authority that he’s there, in Cambria, somewhere. You’ll find him, get his story, and tell the world about it.” He paused to draw a breath. “This could be big, Winter. Really big. Get well first, but then get on it.”

  Familiar excitement tingled in her tummy, and Winter realized she was smiling. “You got it, boss. As soon as I have a base of operations, I’ll let you know where to send the information you have.”

  “Well, if you have access to the Internet in the hospital, you might do a little research on a kid preacher that was associated with Rory Cope Ministries, back when there was such a thing. And keep me updated. I’ll send you what I’ve got, but it isn’t much. That’s what you’re for.” Jeremy’s familiar, booming laughter had Winter holding the phone a foot away from her ear. “Hey, gotta go. Get well!”

  The line went dead, and she sat holding the phone, her bottom lip gripped between her teeth. Had her laptop survived the crash? Even if it had, it wasn’t here at the hospital, where she could start looking into that Rory Cope lead. She groaned. Of all the rotten times to be without the devices that kept information at her fingertips.

  This could be big, Winter. Really big.

  “Yes!” She whispered. “Big is good. Big is real good.”

  Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.

  She jerked her head toward the window, where the cardinal perched on the narrow ledge. When Winter looked at him, the bird turned his head to the right, and then the left. Right. Left. Again and again.

  “No?” This could not be happening. Could it? “Are you…trying to tell me something, Red?”

  Tap-tap-tap. One last sharp series of pecks to the glass. One last twist and turn of his pretty, crested head in a decidedly negative motion. Then he lifted off the ledge and flew away, this time not even bothering to perch on a branch. He flew off into the distance, as if in a huff.

  “You’re losing your mind, Kalani. That blow to your head isn’t just giving Kai a headache, it’s stealing your sanity.” She shot a sour glance toward the window. The cardinal hadn’t returned. “Kamehameha ulaula manu…”

  Crazy red bird. Despite herself, she almost smiled. Almost.

  Instead, Winter slammed the phone onto the receiver and dropped back against her pillow with a groan. She had to stick around Cambria if Jeremy really thought there was a “big” story to be found here. But as far as she was concerned, her best plan of action would be to get in, get out, and get back to Cornelius Cove before anyone at KCCN discovered she was talking to birds and accusing handsome preachers of having dropped right out of Heaven.

  And calling herself Kalani—even if she was alone.

  5

  Thank goodness she’d spoken to Jeremy before Doctor Julia Rafferty showed up just after noon. Otherwise, Winter’s obstinate side might have made an unfortunate display of itself. Despite the entertaining antics of the cardinal that seemed to have taken up residence outside her window, being trapped in a hospital room was not conducive to a smooth temperament on her part.

  The doctor refused to release either of the twins unless they promised to stay nearby long enough for a follow-up examination in one week. They clearly fascinated and mystified Dr. Rafferty, since both Winter and Kai complained of pain in areas of their bodies where no injury had occurred. Winter attempted to explain the whole twin transference thing, but that didn’t fly with the medical professional. Not that she could be blamed for being skeptical. Aside from a cut that the doctor seemed to consider unimportant—other than the fact it was healing at an abnormally rapid rate—Kai’s leg showed no sign of an injury that might explain the intense pain Winter was experiencing. And despite the hunky preacher’s insistence that she’d suffered a head injury in the crash, there’d been no wound when she arrived at the hospital, so suggesting she’d transferred a concussion to her brother accomplished nothing more than raised eyebrows.

  She gave up on trying to convince the very polite but unmoving physician. What did it matter? Jeremy wanted her in Cambria anyway, and from what she’d gathered in his sketchy explanation of the story Winter would be seeking, she might be here a while.

  She’d set out from Cornelius Cove with nothing more than her purse, laptop, camera, and tape recorder, so at the very least, clothing would be a must. A quick call to
Jeremy guaranteed she’d have money waiting at the nearest Western Union office. She hung up, wondering what she was supposed to wear out of the hospital. As far as she knew, the garments she’d worn for the trip no longer existed, and Kai hadn’t brought a change of clothes either. They’d look pretty odd walking out of here in matching hospital gowns.

  Winter contacted Miss Angie to make sure the lodge apartment was still available, and hung up, shaking her head. She could’ve sworn the woman was waiting for her call.

  “Your apartment is ready and waiting, dear. A couple of sweet young ladies came over and helped me brighten it up. I think you and Kai will be quite comfortable here.”

  “I appreciate it, Miss Angie, but you didn’t have to do anything special for us.”

  “Oh, I wanted to! I love having nice, cheery, comfortable spaces for myself. ‘And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.’ That’s the Golden Rule, you know, from Luke chapter six, verse thirty-one.” Miss Angie’s soft laughter took the edge off Winter’s instinctive reaction to having biblical passages shoved her way by someone she barely knew. “You said you’re being released at about three o’clock? Summer and Autumn have volunteered to pick both of you up. They’ll be bringing something to wear, as well. I can’t imagine you’d want to be sporting your lovely hospital lingerie out in public.”

  For the first time, Winter felt a little lightheaded. Maybe she did have a concussion, after all. “Summer and Autumn?”

  A soft chuckle seemed almost to warm the phone in her hand. “Oddly enough, I’ve had guests the past few seasons whose names coincided to the time of year they stayed at Paradise Pines. Summer and Autumn were my guests during the seasons for which they were named.”

  “So, no one stayed there during the spring?”

  “Absolutely. That was Raine, but even she fits the trend. Her name is actually Spring Raine. And now you’re here for the winter.”

  Was anything around here just common and ordinary? She couldn’t conceive of Miss Angie telling an untruth but, coming hard on the heels of each other, all of these oddities were beginning to stretch her ability to believe. “But my name isn’t really Winter.”

  “Oh, I know, dear. I had to get into your identification for the hospital. Which reminds me, your purse is in your apartment, along with everything I was able to find on the crash site that appeared to be personal belongings.” Winter heard the smile in the older woman’s voice. “Kalani is a lovely name, dear. But you’ve chosen to be Winter, so at least for now, that’s who you are, and I hope you’re able to stay at the lodge for the entire season.”

  Not a chance. She’d be there long enough to dig up the story Jeremy wanted, not a moment longer. Then she’d be back in Cornelius Cove, at her place in the human interest anchor chair—unless she got promoted, in which case she’d be happy to move to something a little more crucial than stories no one cared about.

  “Thank you, but I don’t expect to be here long, Miss Angie. I need to get back home as soon as possible. I’m staying on a little longer only because I’ve been assigned a story here, in lieu of the one I missed in Santa Barbara. My editor seems to think this one will be bigger and better anyway.”

  “Well, I’m inclined to believe God paints a silver lining around each and every cloud. You and Kai are here for a reason, my dear.”

  With that, Winter heartily agreed. Someone at Hank’s Hangar would be hearing from her lawyer about that faulty little jelly bean with wings. Had anyone else been piloting that toy plane, she might have chalked up the misbehavior of the engine to coincidence or pilot error. But it had been her brother, who lived and breathed being in the air, was known for being a superb pilot, and had taken a lot of good-natured ribbing from co-workers about his overly conscientious attention to safety procedures. The accident was not Kai’s fault—she didn’t waste ten seconds wondering about that—but every time she realized how close she’d come to losing him, her heart and lungs curled up in tight, painful little balls. She couldn’t breathe or even think until she reminded herself that he was alive and in a room just down the hall. The silver lining around this cloud was that Kai was still with her.

  An image of dark hair over eyes the color of pure sapphire formed in her mind, but she shoved it aside. The hunky preacher had nothing whatsoever to do with either the cloud or its silver lining.

  

  

  “Winter? Oh, no…please tell me you weren’t sleeping!”

  She blinked, surprised to find she had indeed dozed off. Well, what else was there to do, trapped in a hospital room in a town where she didn’t know anyone?

  The sweet, musical voice from the doorway preceded the entrance of two young women—both lovely, but nothing alike. The slightly taller of the pair sported stunning, silvery-blonde hair, hazel eyes and a shy smile. Winter instinctively knew the greeting from the doorway had been hers. The other woman’s bright auburn hair, huge brown eyes and curvy figure brought on a stab of envy, which Winter squelched on the spot. “Let me guess…Summer and Autumn?”

  Winter and Autumn both burst into laughter.

  Summer approached the bed with an amused smile. “How are you doing? Miss Angie told us what happened.” She shuddered. “I can’t imagine how frightened you must have been, being in that plane and knowing you were going to hit the ground. I’ve never been comfortable in the air, but even if I were…it’s a miracle you lived to tell the tale.”

  “Now, Summer, you should look at flying like being a little closer to God.” Autumn gave her friend a one-armed hug and then hiked an auburn eyebrow at Winter. “But I gotta admit, it does sound pretty scary. How are you doing?”

  “Mostly OK. Kind of thinking I might have crossed over into the twilight zone though, to be honest. I don’t understand how my brother and I managed to crash land into the forest without some serious injuries, but that’s what happened. Both of us have a couple of painful areas without any injury to explain them, but I’d say we were pretty lucky.”

  “Blessed.” Summer’s sweet smile took any possible sting from the quick contradiction. “You’re both incredibly blessed.”

  “I suppose so.” Winter eyed the large shopping bag at Autumn’s feet. “I sure hope there’s a blessing in there that will save me the humiliation of wearing this lovely gown out in public.”

  “You know it!” The redhead set the bag on the bed next to her. “My fiancé is delivering a change of clothes to your brother as we speak. Do you need help changing?”

  “No, I think I’ve got it.” She swung her feet off the bed and peeked beneath the tissue protruding from the top of the dainty package. A burst of teal and royal blue brought on a wide smile. “Wow. I don’t know what’s in here, but I like the colors already.”

  “Miss Angie picked it out. She said it was perfect for your coloring, and she was right—as usual.” Summer’s admiring gaze traced Winter’s face and hair. “I watch your spot on KCCN all the time. You’re even prettier in person.”

  “Thank you, but I feel anything but pretty right now.” Winter grimaced and ran a finger through her tangles. Waist-length hair could be fun to show off, especially when she let it down and took on her off-the-air persona, but it didn’t take kindly to plane crashes and extended contact with a pillow, especially without a brush or comb to smooth out the damage. “I’m sure I don’t look much like what you’re used to seeing on television.”

  “Well, you don’t look like a diva, but—”

  “Autumn!” Summer’s eyes widened and beautiful color swept her cheeks.

  “What? She doesn’t.” Autumn’s impish grin demanded one from Winter in return. “Then again, you look downright awesome for someone who just survived a plane crash.” She stepped back. “Get into those clothes, girl, and let’s make tracks. Hospitals are not my favorite place to hang out.”

  “I’m with you there.” Winter headed for the tiny lavatory. “You’ll both be here when I come out, right? Do not abandon me
here.”

  Their laughter followed her inside the restroom, and their friendly chatter remained clearly audible even after she closed the door.

  A washcloth and towel hung over a sturdy rod on the wall. “Kaʻoliʻoli!” Joy! Winter made grateful use of both, along with a generous amount of boring hospital soap, before pulling out the new clothes Miss Angie had sent over. In addition to the long-sleeved, ocean-toned top, she found a pair of jeans, a sleeveless, calf-length tunic, and a pair of sandals. Miss Angie had even thought to include a brush and…what was this?

  Winter gaped at the narrow, braided headband that matched the top to an exact shade. Over the years, she’d come up with her own eclectic style that she called Bowaiian—a blend of island flair and Bohemian casual. But the kindly woman who owned Paradise Pines had no way of knowing what Winter wore when she stepped out of her professional suit and heels. A little tingle shivered up her spine, but she shook it off and picked up the brush. Simple coincidence, that’s all.

  Within moments, she looked and felt more like herself. She used the built-in fringed slide to tighten the headband at one side of her forehead and grinned at her transformed reflection. Miss Angie might be old-fashioned and hung up on religious mumbo-jumbo, but the woman possessed impeccable taste.

  She slid on the sandals, which echoed the sandy color of the cardigan, somehow unsurprised when they were a perfect fit. One last glance into the mirror and then she pushed open the bathroom door. With an exaggerated pirouette, she struck a dramatic pose for her new friends. “What do you think?”

  Autumn clapped her hands. “Perfection!”

  Summer eyed her with obvious approval. “If you’ve never worn that style before, you need to make it a permanent part of your fashion repertoire. You’re the epitome of the sixties flower child—and I mean that in the best way.”