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Chocolate Kisses and Love Filled Wishes: Kissing Bridge Mountain - Book 3

Page 7

by Linda West


  “What…what are you doing, Tanner?”

  He clicked away photos.

  “Smile, Honey,” he chirped happily.

  Click, click, click.

  Kacey was agape.

  Here she was in a wheelchair—broken and beaten—and he wanted to take shots of her? He wasn’t going to ask how she was? What the doctor had said? If she was all right?

  “Tanner, what are you doing? Please stop shooting pictures of me! I’d rather not have people see me like this.”

  But Tanner didn’t stop. He kept shooting and ignored her pleas.

  “Listen, Kacey . . . I’ve been thinking about this all night. We might not have the life together as exploring partners I had hoped to have with you, but we can still use you for the movement as our poster child to garner sympathy! Cripples sell! We’ll blame the fall on the bad weather conditions due to the climate change.”

  He zoomed in on the black and blue side of her face as if intrigued. He brought the camera in for an ultra close up.

  Kacey was aghast.

  “Did you just say ‘cripples sell’?”

  Tanner pulled back the video camera to get a full view of her entire face, now snarled in contempt.

  “Yes. Give it to me, Kacey. Show your anger for what’s happened to our world. The camera is loving you!”

  Kacey felt disgusted.

  It seemed that the camera was the only thing loving her at the moment.

  She looked back at Justine, who shrugged her shoulders and looked completely confused.

  Tanner continued on his ‘save-the-world’ rant.

  “People have to know what lengths people are willing to go to help the environment! You are a star victim, Kacey. This is an exclusive! Would-Be-Olympic-Gold-Medalist crushed by climate change.”

  Tanner got in her face again with the camera—her now angry face. She was just this side of swatting it away when he pulled back and changed position.

  Now he focused the camera on her unmoving legs covered by a plaid blanket. He panned the camera down her legs slowly, taking video of them.

  Tanner narrated along with taking the video.

  “Lost limbs—the first tiny victims of climate change left uncontrolled.”

  Justine reached around and pulled the blanket up over Kacey’s legs protectively in the wheelchair as Tanner kept taping.

  Tanner continued his sensuous narration.

  “Olympic hopeful now lost of all hope. This is the future.

  Inert.

  Dead.

  Just like poor Kacey Anderson’s legs.”

  With that last bit of expose—extra heavy with fake emotion—he turned the camera on himself, and summoned up a look of empathy.

  “We can stop this. We can make a difference. Help us. Help the children. Because we can’t help Kacey.”

  With that last dialogue, he actually conjured up a fake tear and pulled the camera in extra close to follow its fall from tear duct to high cheekbone, down to chiseled jaw. He zeroed in with a long pause as the tear wavered on the side of his chin before dripping off his handsome face altogether, and he hit the ‘off’ button with finality.

  He turned to them with a self-satisfied grin.

  “That was Oscar-winning shit right there!”

  He lifted a hand up to Kacey to high-five him.

  “High-five, Kacey, that was great stuff!”

  Kacey could not believe it.

  She was certainly getting to see a side of Tanner she had never seen before!

  He might care about the environment, but it appeared he could give a fig about people, or her! It looked like he cared more about his movie and being famous than anything else!

  Tanner was too busy fiddling with the camera to notice what was going on inside Kacey’s head—which happened to be a lot, despite the fall.

  Now, Kacey Anderson might have been young, but she was not naive.

  Having left Kissing Bridge Mountain at the age of 17, she had been around the world a couple of times in her career and met many kinds of people. Sadly, most of them were not like the good town folk of Kissing Bridge. But it had taught her much about the character of people—or lack of character, in this case.

  She realized that she had come across Tanner’s type of character before.

  The faker.

  The user.

  The con artist.

  They always hid so well, at first.

  Acted so nice.

  Appeared so handsome.

  Told you they loved you and wanted to be with you always. Convinced you they loved you so much you believed them!

  Ouch.

  The truth was, they were great actors with nothing inside; soulless and heartless with only their egos being important.

  Narcissists.

  Kacey was forced to consider now that Tanner’s entire courtship had merely been a sham to get closer to her fame—

  to use her for his cause.

  All of those loving words of heartfelt feelings and having a future of serving and traveling the world together seemed to have flown out the window now that she appeared broken.

  Now she was a just role model for his cause, but what did that mean for her heart? For their future?

  She wasn’t sure she could handle the truth about this relationship with Tanner. After all the pain she had felt over the loss of Brody, she thought that she had finally found her soul mate in Tanner. As he continued to shoot video of her so thoughtlessly, Kacey was forced to acknowledge how very wrong she had been, once again.

  As the sun blared through the clouds, Kacey noticed for the first time the hardness around Tanner’s eyes. The set of his lip curled in satisfaction as he got the video shots he wanted and manipulated them to mean whatever he chose. He was, in fact, everything that he hated about the ‘establishment.’

  A fake.

  Tanner continued to shoot footage of the hospital and now close-ups of Justine as well, holding onto her wheelchair.

  “Do you think you could wheel her around a bit for an action shot, Sweetheart?”

  Before poor Justine could say anything, Kacey leaned to her side and whispered to her, “Just follow my lead, Justine.” Justine nodded.

  Now, Kacey Anderson had grown up the youngest of five children. She was the only girl and the baby of the family and so had had to endure life with four older brothers ruling the nest. Kacey learned a lot of things from her brothers.

  She’d learned how to snowboard like a guy, how to hide the last cookie, pogo off the back of a truck, and how to play poker like a pro.

  Late nights at the Anderson house would often find the five siblings seated around the fireplace playing poker with household chores as their chips.

  Kacey would bet her laundry chores, Jason the floors, Jeremy the polishing, Jordan the dishes and Brad would bet his snowplowing the driveway. (Nobody wanted that one.) All in all, she had learned a lot from those late night poker games with her wily brothers, and one of those things she learned was how to bluff when you wanted someone to lie down their hand.

  So . . . Kacey decided to bluff.

  “Tanner, my love,” she said sweetly, “… Aren’t you concerned about us traveling the world and you having to push me in this wheelchair? Won’t it hold you back?”

  Tanner struggled to keep a smile on his face.

  He at least had the decency to put the camera down and knelt down beside her to deliver the bad news.

  “You mean this….” He motioned to the wheelchair and her inert legs “… might be for good?”

  Kacey bit her lip.

  “It’s possible…?”

  Tanner looked blank.

  Kacey pressed on.

  “Does it make a difference in how you feel?’

  Tanner tried to compose himself.

  He looked around at Justine still holding the wheelchair. He cleared his throat loudly.

  A few times.

  “No, Baby, of course not. I love you for always. Just… I’ve been thinking
about our engagement… and well, I’ve got places to go, things to do, and they involve legs and not really . . . marriage.”

  Kacey got choked up, but it wasn’t on tears.

  She wanted to barf at his shallowness.

  “You understand?” Tanner continued.

  “Of course,” Kacey smiled bravely, “Legs are good.”

  Tanner smiled broadly, now relieved. He packed up his camera equipment and prepared for a quick exit.

  “So we’ll keep in touch. I’ll send you a text from the Maldives.”

  With that, he scrambled into his bright red mustang car and drove away in the snow storm (which was actually illegal during a white-out, but had been allowed, as he had come to pick up Kacey.)

  Kacey watched as his flashy red mustang disappeared in the sheets of white and became a small red dot moving further and further away.

  The girls didn’t say anything for a long time until it was fully out of sight.

  Kacey sighed. “I guess he forgot he was my ride home.”

  She felt like crying, but decided he really wasn’t worth it.

  Justine looked concerned. “I . . . I’m so sorry, Kacey. I’m not sure what just happened.”

  Kacey reassured her.

  She had called Tanner’s bluff and she had seen his real hand.

  “It’s okay, Justine. What happened was, he showed his true colors. His true ugly colors. I’m fine with it.”

  Oddly, she realized she was.

  Tanner had been a great distraction for not dealing with her real feelings for Brody or for her career, but she didn’t actually love Tanner.

  She knew that now, without a doubt.

  Justine was confused. “You could have just told him that the wheelchair was just for a couple of days and that your legs are just fine…”

  “Yeah,” Kacey smiled, “I could have...”

  Then they looked at each other, and they broke out laughing.

  Chapter 21

  Dodie made her way down the slippery street in the Lander’s Bakery delivery van, barely able to see through the blizzard. An officer stopped her and explained that no cars were allowed on the road due to the dangerous conditions.

  It was Old Man Jennings’ son, Kurt.

  Kurt was a lively redhead with a sprinkle full of freckles across his face. He did not make a menacing presence as a policeman, but that fit Kissing Bridge just fine. There was rarely a need for a ticket, nor emergency call, in Kissing Bridge—save a cat in the tree or some other cat-strophe of that vile sort.

  “Hey, Kurt! What’s going on?” Dodie smiled.

  “Hi Miss Dodie, sorry but there’s a no-car ban going on right now. It’s not safe to drive.”

  “Oh, I know, Kurt. I’ve got special permission. I’m on my way to get Kacey out of the hospital. Then we’re going straight back to the bakery.”

  Kurt tipped his hat. “That’s a valid reason! Send her my best then, and be careful! It’s icy, on top of the bad visibility.”

  Dodie noticed a red Mustang that was parked by the side of the road. She saw Tanner in the front seat, looking angry. Dodie pointed over to him.

  “What’s going on with him?”

  Kurt looked over to the sulking figure of Tanner.

  “Driving violation. I have to give him a ticket. Like I said, no cars on the road except special reasons such as yours, Miss Dodie. Justine, from the hospital, was kind enough to give us a call and alert us about a speeding mustang.”

  Dodie raised an eyebrow.

  Good for Justine.

  She always had liked that girl since she had met her in cooking class. It had been Justine that called her from the hospital to ask her to pick up Kacey, and explained what had happened with Tanner leaving.

  Dodie was happy to pick up Kacey, and kind of glad inside that he was gone. Tanner had seemed great at first, but ever since she’d met him in the flesh, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was one big phony. Of course, she’d given him the Christian benefit of the doubt, and treated him with kindness, but still, she wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.

  As Dodie drove away, she saw Kurt writing out a ticket for Tanner and couldn’t help but giggle.

  When Dodie arrived at the hospital, it looked like an abandoned village.

  Barely a car was in the parking lot.

  The snow continued to fall harder then Dodie had ever seen. She pulled the bakery van right up to the front door.

  Justine and Kacey came out when Dodie pulled up. Dodie and Justine helped Kacey into the van. The doctor had given Kacey a new metal hip, as she had fractured her own in the fall, and had managed to bring down the swelling on the unhealed disc that had been pinching her nerve. The pressure from the disc on the spine had caused the initial loss of movement in her legs. Luckily, the pressure had come down, and now all she needed was to stay off her feet for a while until her hip healed.

  Her disc was another story. It looked like she had successfully screwed up her career for the rest of the year.

  Justine folded up the wheelchair and put it in the back of the van. “Just a couple more days in that and we’ll switch you out for some crutches!”

  “Thanks for everything, Justine! You’re a star.”

  “I’ll bring by some crutches when the blizzard lets up. Best of luck with Brad!”

  Kacey was confused, but waved at her as they drove away.

  The snow was continuing to fall in crazy sheets of white, making it almost impossible to see. The entire town was snuggled in their homes keeping warm as the town was blanketed in snow. Little lights twinkled from inside windows and smoke billowed out with the smell of fireplaces burning fresh logs.

  Theirs was the only car on the road, save for random emergency vehicle or large steel belted trucks trudging by on their way up the mountain.

  “Lots of action going on up the hill for blizzard conditions,” Kacey said. “That’s odd. Hey, Dodie, we missed our turn off.”

  Dodie bit her lip and focused on the road.

  Dodie wondered how best to tell her about Brad.

  Kacey had been through a lot, poor kid, but she was going to have to broach the subject sooner than later, especially since she wasn’t taking her back to the lodge.

  Dodie drove past the turnout to go up the mountain and pulled into the small town village, eventually stopping in front of Landers Home Baking.

  Kacey smiled. “Need some sweets before we make the hike up the mountain?” She looked around at the busy store with lots of people and big trucks, and her face clouded with confusion. “Looks like the whole town is here…”

  Dodie turned to Kacey and took her hands in hers.

  “Kacey, I’m sorry but I can’t take you back up the mountain to the lodge right now. It’s dangerous and it’s closed. I’ve been spending the nights at the Landers in between shifts here…”

  Kacey didn’t understand why Dodie looked so distraught. “You’re working long nights?”

  Dodie shook her head. “It’s your brother, Brad. His plane went down and he’s lost in the mountains up there by Eagle’s Peak, we think. We’ve set up a command post here. They’re trying to get the National Guard in tomorrow, but the weather is inhibiting everyone.”

  Kacey swallowed, trying to digest the horrible news. “How long has he been missing?”

  “Three days.”

  Chapter 22

  Dodie and Kacey entered the bakery and the place was in a controlled chaos. Ethel and Carol Landers were busy baking and serving coffee, sweetbreads and sandwiches to the volunteers.

  Many of the girls from the cooking classes—including Stephanie, Tassy and Carina—were also there, helping keep people fed and warm. In a corner, were blankets, cots and pillows that had been donated so people could sleep when needed. It was a 24-hour look-out post. Ham radio operators were in one corner. A big screen TV had been brought in to monitor the news and weather.

  “I hope Earl is okay,” Ethel said to Carol. Earl had the mountain
command post up at the lodge where most of the men were gathered for warmth and sustenance between searching.

  “Just keep praying,” Aunt Carol said back, thrusting a pan of uncooked loaves into the oven.

 

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