by Linda West
Dodie noticed how beautiful they were—still in love and now bonded in grief during this difficult time. She could tell theirs was a love that had endured many things.
Dodie spoke up. “The doctor said that with the sedatives they gave her for the pain, Kacey should sleep through the night. Why don’t you all go and I’ll stay a while longer, just in case she wakes up?”
Mrs. Anderson nodded. She stood up and gathered her belongings.
“Then I best make use of myself. I’ll gather the women and we’ll do what we can to get a ground plan together.”
Jason leant in and kissed Dodie on the cheek.
“Thanks for being you.”
Then Jason grabbed his coat and with that, the Anderson clan was out the door.
“God bless you,” Dodie whispered, as she watched them rush down the hall and out into the oncoming blizzard.
Chapter 17
Summer finished her shoot on the Malibu pier and the crew was packing it up. It had been a long hot day in the California sun. They had posed the models on the pier, in the sand, on the rocks – and joyous to Summer – she had gotten to ride a couple waves on a surfboard for some ‘authentic’ surf shots.
They had planned to highlight her on the cover of Sports Illustrated and she secretly hoped they’d pick the surf picture instead of her biting her lips, rolling around in the waves.
She smiled to herself. Well, that was over!
She just needed to finish out her contract with Clairol and she was a free agent—or free model, in her case. That meant she was free to go where she wanted when she wanted. No more flying around the world at the drop of a dime. No more lonely nights in strange cities with no one but her cat ‘Fluff’ for company.
In fact, Fluff was a horrible companion to travel with. He always got ruffled after long flights and was extra huffy puffy. It was a version of male feline PMS and not even the super decadent kitty treats would soothe him. He certainly wasn’t going to appreciate the gluten-free cat treats she had just bought to help him slim down.
She dried off her long blonde locks and looked at the blazing sun. It shone off her gold bikini, almost blinding her. She hadn’t been back to California in a while and the hot sun felt good. But she missed Brad and the cold homeliness of Kissing Bridge. She put on her Gucci sunglasses and watched the waves roll in on Surfrider beach for a moment—wishing Brad was standing behind her, with his arms wrapped around her.
Missing him so badly that she had to hear his voice right now, she went back into the makeup truck and fished her iPhone out of her bag. Still no return call from Brad. That was strange.
She knew he was unhappy about her having to go back to work and leave their new life they were starting, but she hadn’t any choice. They had argued briefly about it, but in the end Brad knew she was almost as distraught as he was about her having to leave and finish her contract.
He had planned to work on the house while she was away—they both wanted a pool in the sunroom so they could swim year round. It was an ultra extravagance but would be greatly used. She had to be gone for a month to finish off her contracted shoots, so she was excited to think the pool may be done when she got back.
In the meantime, he and Jason were building up their new business ‘Aero Anderson’ that specialized in small group excursions to the mountain for skiers and other tourists. With Summer’s contacts in the magazine and movie business, it had been easy for her to spread the word and advertise for a “secret special get-away for ski enthusiasts” and stressed out Los Angeles executives. The VIP service was perfect to help local businesses in Kissing Bridge, such as the cafés, the lodge and of course, their new private plane service.
It was working out so perfectly.
Even her having to come to L.A. had, in all actuality, helped build their new business. She had been networking and helping market their VIP service so she could stay home and have their children. She rubbed her flat stomach. Well, she chuckled to herself; she had certainly gotten her money’s worth out of that!
She hoped to have it rounded out with a baby on the way by this time next year when she was “Mrs. Brad Anderson”!
Summer had decided to use her month away to engulf herself in networking and to focus on all the minutia for their wedding on Easter weekend. The color theme had been a no brainer—Tiffany blue.
The tables and the bridesmaids would both be sporting the Lander’s favorite color. She hadn’t broached Dodie yet, but she hoped she would stand up with Summer as her bridesmaid. It looked like she and Jason wouldn’t be so far behind them at the altar and she relished having a sister—or sister-in-law—as sweet and loving as Dodie.
Summer smiled to herself. Her dream was coming true.
All those years of hoping and wondering what her life would have been like if she married Brad, and now here it was, just six weeks away.
She was still smiling when her phone rang and she saw it was her mother on the line.
“Hi, Mom! How are you?”
But her smile fell from her face as she listened to her mother’s words.
Brad’s plane had gone down in the mountains and there was still no sight of the plane, or communication from Brad.
Summer’s head began to swim and she clutched the pier railing to steady herself.
Brad was lost.
Summer feared the Landers’ curse had hit again.
The tears welled up and spilled from her eyes and rolled into the waves below.
Brad.
Chapter 18
Her Brad.
Lost.
Summer was in shock. She had thought their love could overcome the curse and now fate had stepped in to change the course of their lives.
“I’ll get the next plane out,” she said dully. She couldn’t believe Brad was gone and she was 3,000 miles away.
“Impossible, Darling. I’m sorry,” her mother said sadly.
“There is nothing you can do, Summer. All the flights are closed. We’re in the middle of a full blizzard. Brad’s the only one that would fly in this weather, which is why…”
Summer couldn’t control herself and began to weep and shake.
“Mom, I love him. I have to do something!”
Ethel’s heart swelled with feeling for her daughter, so far away.
“Have heart, Darling. The entire town of Kissing Bridge is scouring the mountain for him now. Jason has insisted on looking for him from above, despite the dangerous conditions. We’ll find him, Honey.”
“Oh, Mom,” Summer sobbed. “Poor Brad. It’s all my fault!”
Her mother shushed her on the other end of the line.
“You listen to me, Summer Landers. That curse has been lifted. Brad is going to be found. He’s one of the biggest, toughest guys I’ve ever known, and one heck of a pilot. We’re going to find him and bring him home. You are both going to be happy and safe, and I won’t hear anything but that.”
Summer nodded on the other end, but nothing her mother said could soothe her heart.
The bright day suddenly fogged over. Summer couldn’t think straight. Brad. Brad!
“I’m going to call a friend with a private plane. Commercial flights may not be flying but—”
“Please Summer, please just be safe. Don’t put yourself in danger, flying here now in this blizzard. It would be too much! They aren’t even letting cars on the road—only emergency personnel and the search crew vehicles. I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything. We’ve set up ‘command central’ at the bakery and it’s open 24 hours with free refreshments for all the volunteers.”
Summer held the phone to her ear, but all she heard was a dull drone under the thud of her heart pulsing.
“Have faith, Honey. We’re all here and we all love Brad too. We’re going to find him.”
Summer hung up the phone in shock. She let the wet tears slide down her face.
Brad in danger.
Brad lost.
Gone.
Have faith.
Chapter 19
Tanner paced back and forth in Kacey's hospital room on the phone. His hawk-like face was deep in thought as he listened on the phone and glanced at Kacey, asleep in the hospital bed. She looked beat up. Her face was bruised and she had various cords stuck all over her.
An annoying beep beep from the heart monitor machine taunted his nerves. He had driven the distance from Burlington to see her, and now she looked like she may not even wake up while he was there.
He finally got so anxious that he leaned over the bed and shook her slightly until her eyes fluttered.
“How are you doing, Champ?”
Kacey opened her eyes.
Tanner.
His serious concerned expression and the worry in his deep brown eyes moved her. She had seen him look like that as he was trying to direct the shots for the documentary. His passion showed when he cared.
He took her hand.
She smiled weakly. “Well, I guess I blew it. My coaches…Brody… they all told me to wait, heal, and get stronger first.”
He looked at all the tubes and contraptions all over her. “Did they diagnose you yet?”
“Basics. Broken hip, concussion, herniated disc—again.”
Tanner looked dubious.
“Those are the basics?”
“Well, for a snowboarder, yeah. Injuries happen.”
Tanner looked relieved.
Kacey was caught by how much she was beginning to rely on his intelligence and strength. Despite all of his business, he had made the two-hour hike to see her in horrible weather.
He behaved very unlike Brody, who had not bothered to call or text in over a month—which, even for him, was a record. The break they were on was turning out to be a break-up, after all. She guessed he just hadn’t had the nerve to end it outright—string her on, let her down easy—she guessed. She swallowed hard. She couldn’t think about Brody now. Tanner was her future.
Besides, Tanner was here. Tanner loved her. Tanner wanted to be her husband.
Still, Brody haunted her thoughts. She had thought about calling him when she first woke up out of the concussion. It had been Brody that came to her mind first, Brody that showed up in her dream, Brody; the first call she wanted to make.
She needed his lighthearted optimism, his lack of logic and depth of faith. Oddly, that combination had made him the extreme athlete he was. Even his partnership with her was extreme to the pro circuit, and everyone had warned him against it. Don’t get tied down. . .You’re a star. . . Stay single—the young female fans like to think they have a chance. . . You’re too young. . .But they had stayed together anyway, despite all the naysayers.
They understood each other.
Kacey just wanted to call Brody now and hear his voice. She wanted to tell him how she was and what was happening in her life.
She wanted to say, “Hey baby, I had a horrible fall but I made it. I need you.”
But she hadn’t called, and now it was Tanner who stood over her with a soft, caring look in his eyes.
Tanner Williams, the star activist, was dressed in a tie-dyed shirt that read Save the Maldives—his next endeavor. His dark wavy hair fell to his shoulders as he paced the room.
“I had hoped to have us on a flight to the Maldives next week,” he said. “Do you have any idea how long until…?”
He knocked into Kacey’s exposed foot by mistake. “Oh sorry, did that hurt?”
Kacey looked confused. “What hurt?”
“I just knocked into your leg. I didn’t know if it hurt your hip or something.”
Kacey screwed up her face. “I didn’t feel anything.”
Tanner’s dark brows drew together. He walked over and started massaging her foot. “Do you feel that?”
Kacey’s eyes dazed over with a worried look. “No.”
She tried to wiggle her legs.
Nothing.
A look of fear came over Tanner’s face.
“I’ll go get the doctor.”
Chapter 20
The following day the pin striper volunteer nurse, Justine, wheeled Kacey out of the hospital into the bright morning light. The brightness of the light off the snow hit Kacey’s eyes hard and blinding.
“Sorry, Kacey,” Justine said. “I should have brought you some sunglasses!”
“Oh, you’re so sweet, Justine. It’s okay. The light feels good on my face.”
Kacey and Justine had grown up together in Kissing Bridge and attended the same high school.
“‘Worst blizzard since ’77’ the news is saying…” Justine explained to Kacey. “Only emergency driving is allowed right now and all the stores are closed.”
Any other day, the white-out conditions would have thrilled Kacey because that meant fresh snow on the mountain. Powder conditions on the way. She looked down at herself in the wheelchair and sighed heavily. She’d really done it this time.
She wondered about Tanner.
He had been a mess last night.
He’d been so worried. He had left abruptly when they couldn’t locate a doctor to help get any straight answers.
Kacey found it odd that he hadn’t called to find out what the doctors had determined was wrong with her legs.
She knew he was shocked but somehow she felt slighted.
She had spent the night lying awake, fearing the worst for her future and wishing she wasn’t alone.
She could heal from broken bones, but if her spinal cord was affected in the fall, then her fate would be so much worse than she could imagine.
A possible lifetime in a wheelchair.
If she couldn’t walk, she couldn’t snowboard, and that would be worse than death. It had been the longest night of her life.
For some reason, she had wanted to call Brody all that night. She wanted him to tell her that everything would be all right like he always did—bring her spirits up and remind her (in that goofy way he always did), “You’re Kacey Anderson, darn it!”
Goodness knows they had each been through hospital stays and mends together before.
They had been through sleeping on friends’ floors and having the bigwigs set them up in 5-star hotels.
They’d seen each other through the Gold and through the sadness of loss, when Brody’s mother passed away. They had been each other’s strengths. Boy, how Kacey needed that strength now.
She lay awake alone, staring at the ceiling, with that thought running through her head all night, until her doctor had arrived in the morning.
Now as she sat in the wheelchair with the snow falling all around her, as she waited to be picked up, she wondered why she had ever come home again.
The weather was some of the worst she had ever seen in the main town of Kissing Bridge, nearly whiting out everything in sight. She shielded her eyes from the hurling sheets of white and caught sight of a blurry image coming through the snow toward her.
The image was coming closer, closer…
Out of the storm emerged Tanner.
Kacey smiled.
“You made it! I wasn’t sure you Texas guys could drive in the snow,” she joked.
The truth was she wasn’t sure she’d ever see him again after the way he had looked at her in the hospital bed last night.
It had been the look of the owner of a prize race horse that had just broken its leg.
Sadly, Kacey thought, in a way it was exactly like that.
But here he was.
“You can count on me, Babe,” Tanner said. The smile he gave her didn’t quite make it to his eyes.
He looked her over in the wheelchair and cringed in a covert way.
She smiled weakly.
Kacey hadn’t been able to count on him actually. She had been afraid—more afraid then she could ever admit—and he had gone home, without a word.
But he was here now. Looking at her uncomfortably.
She wasn’t sure how she felt.
Tanner was acting strangely.
Kacey noticed he shied away from getting close to her, as if what she had might be contagious. Suddenly, his eye lit with a great idea and he rushed back to his car and pulled out his equipment bag. He ran back to them and pulled out his camera from his bag and started pointing it at Kacey in the wheelchair.
