“What’s so funny?” Jack asked, kneeling down to help her with her boots.
“Oh nothing. It’s perfect, that’s all. After coming here in a sleigh, going home in anything else would be an anticlimax—right?” She hadn’t meant to sound sarcastic; it had just popped out that way. He gave her a puzzled look. And for doubting his sincerity, a pang of guilt hit her in the chest. “I’m sorry, it’s wonderful, and very romantic,” she said with meaning, and bent down to kiss his cheek. Jack looked up with a silly grin on his face. “Hey, Prince Charming, don’t forget the stilettos.”
“I wouldn’t dream …” he said, rising with her shoes in hand. “Your carriage awaits, my lady.”
Arm in arm they made their way to the waiting sleigh.
Frank skilfully guided Trudy along Main Street. They passed by places of worship festooned with lights ready for Christmas. On the front steps of a church, carollers dressed in nineteenth-century costumes rehearsed. They held candles and lanterns, their beautiful voices rose in perfect harmony. Their breath fogged out into the clear, still air as they sang, creating luminous halos around them and the lights they carried. Frank slowed the sleigh to a crawl, enabling them to enjoy the hymn as it drifted in the quiet night air. The snow in this area had covered all present-day images, returning the old church, the snow-covered fir trees and the carollers to a bygone era.
Jack’s arm tightened around Katherine, his body warm and solid next to hers as she sat entranced. Was he experiencing the same sense of wonder?
Smiling, she turned to Jack, “I can’t imagine how you arranged for everybody to be on time. I have to assume it’s sheer luck.”
He didn’t speak, but gave her a wicked grin before returning his attention to the singers. Oh my, perhaps he did orchestrate all this. She worked out the logistics of organising everything. Surely it was impossible to get the timing just right. Well, good on him if he had. Either way, her appreciation of him had grown throughout the night.
At a word from Jack, Frank shook the reins to get his horse moving and easing into a gentle trot, taking the sleigh along the quiet back roads to her cabin. After a cheerful goodbye and ‘Merry Christmas’ to Frank, they waded through the powder snow to the cabin. Katherine knocked the snow off her boots, and opened her door. Bubbles woofed and came bounding through the living room, turned a corner, skidded on the old timber floor and slid towards the door.
“Bubbles, come back here!” Leandra yelled. She shuffled sleepy-eyed, down the hall, hair all mussed. The slogan on the front of her pyjamas read, ‘I’m up. What more do you want?’. “Hi, you two.” She waved her hand once and shuffled back to bed.
Jack rough-housed with the dog, and seconds later Bubbles headed out the door for a pee.
Damn, there wasn’t going to be a night of hot, sweaty sex.
“Thank you for a wonderful night. I haven’t enjoyed dancing like that for a long time.” She leaned closer, reached up and kissed him. “Good night, Jack.”
“Good night, Kate. Can I have my photo?”
“Of course,” Katherine stared at him; her pulse went up a notch, and her brain said, see, not a ruse after all. She opened her clutch bag and handed him one of the photos.
“Thank you.” He kissed her mouth, smiled, then turned and left.
“Come on, Bubbles.” Katherine went inside, knowing Leandra would bawl her out for not taking a leap of faith, but to her way of thinking, a giant leap, an all or nothing leap.
Definitely not ready for that.
“Leandra … I’ve got something to tell you.”
Without a care in the world, Jack smiled all the way home. He knew he was in for a sleepless night, and didn’t care—he looked forward to it. Inside his mountain chalet swap-home, he loosened his tie, turned the thermostat up and took his jacket off. He poured himself a glass of red wine from the drinks cabinet, sat on the red leather sofa and picked up the phone to ring Dave. Restless, Jack surged to his feet the moment it stopped ringing.
“Jack?” Dave’s sleepy voice croaked. “You’d better be dying.”
“Dave,” Jack peered at his watch. “Christ, I had no idea it was this late. Look, forget it. I’ll ring in the morning.”
“I’m awake now—speak.”
“I met this girl and—” Jack gazed at the photo taken at the dance and placed it on the mantelpiece.
“You rang me in the middle of the night ’cause you met a girl!? Are you insane? Hang on, don’t say another word.”
Patiently, Jack waited. He could hear Dave breathing. There were no bathroom noises, so he hadn’t gone to take a leak. And he wasn’t whispering to one of his luscious babes either.
“Right,” Dave announced, “well mate, you’re in deep shit.”
“Yep, it’s possible.” The glass of red forgotten, Jack paced the sumptuous living room. His shoes clomping on the hardwood floor messed with his ability to think straight. Even worse was Katherine’s lingering perfume. “Fuck!”
“Oooh yeah!” Dave said. “Get out of town—the country!”
Jack stopped, kicked his shoes off, moved to the plush cream rug and curled his toes into the pile. On the opposite side of the room, the inky blackness outside made his reflection easy to see in the picture window, and he wished Katherine was standing by his side. He shook his head and shuffled his feet in the lush rug.
“Jack, what’re you doing, packing?”
“No, I’m staring at the shag-pile.”
“You’re a braver man than I thought. You’ll get carpet burns doing it there.”
“Dave!” Jack complained. “That’s not—never mind. Go back to sleep.”
“Wait a sec,” Dave chuckled. “Get this; my boss reckons ballet is a sport. And since I did such a great job on the ballet piece, he wants me to do another.”
“You slept through it. And you’ll probably sleep through the next.”
“Yeah, but you’ll have my back. It’s the dancer’s last performance and it’s in Spruce Valley. How about that!”
“Yeah, what’re the odds!” Jack said drily and thought, Shit, this is getting tricky.
“It’s the same dancer from the other night. He wants me to do a follow-up—her career, her future. I told the boss it was a great idea, and for my trouble I’ll take two weeks off, thank you very much.”
“Dave?”
“Yeah.”
“The girl I met …?”
“No-o,” Dave breathed.
A blizzard woke Katherine during the night. Knowing the cabin had survived decades of storms, she snuggled deeper under the warm quilt and went back to sleep without a care, to dream of dancing with a man who smelled like sunshine.
By late morning the howling wind had stopped. She heaved the feather-down quilt from her head and listened. All she could hear was soft snoring.
Lifting the covers she saw … “Leandra! What are you doing here?”
Bubbles grumbled and made woofing noises from her bed on the floor.
“Huh?” Leandra blinked. “I have no idea. Shut up, go back to sleep.”
“Come on, what happened?”
With a reluctant groan and sleepy-eyed, Leandra raised herself up on one elbow, head resting on her palm. “Have you ever slept in that north-facing room?” Katherine shook her head. “Well, I’ve slept in there countless times, but never on a night like we just had. The wind howled, something was thudding against the wall, and I was freezing, I couldn’t get warm so I moved in. I had to get Bubbles, the two-hundred-pound dog, off the bed first; it’s like shifting a furry car. I’ve had a bad, bad night,” she moaned, flopped back onto her pillow and closed her eyes. “I’ll have coffee and oatmeal, thank you,” she said, and snuggled deeper into the mattress.
Katherine smiled and kissed her forehead.
“Ghghgmmm.” Leandra grumbled.
Katherine flung her legs over the side and sat still for a moment. She could hear her own heartbeat, it was so eerily quiet. Quickly, she dressed in warm fleecy sweats, then he
aded for the living room to look out the window.
“Crap!” Heavy snowdrifts had piled up against the side of the cabin. They’d have to shovel their way out. Fuel first. She stoked the fires and made porridge.
Leandra sauntered into the kitchen looking as if she’d been tumbled in a dryer and needed ironing. Even her hair needed ironing. “Ah, porridge,” she sighed, grabbed the wooden spoon and stirred the pot of oatmeal on the hob, “without lumps. Speaking of lumps, where’s Bubbles?”
“I aim to please. I left Bubbles in the bedroom with you. Shit! We’re snowed in, and Bubbles will need to go pee and poo. Aaagh … crap!”
“If she was only a hundred pounds lighter—make that one-hundred and ninety pounds,” Leandra shuffled to the living room door for a look, “you could almost toss her out the window.”
“Drink up and eat your oatmeal, we have to get digging.” The sound of Bubbles’ click-click nails meant she was up and heading towards the kitchen. “Oh-oh,” Katherine said as her dog came in. “Bubbles, drop it!”
Bubbles opened her mouth and dropped a stiletto. “Good girl.”
“Aw, how sweet. She’s bringing you presents.”
“I saved hard for this Badgley Mischka shoe!”
“Your dog has excellent taste. And she’s sniffing about, looking for the other shoe. Or … she has to go pee-pee. I’ll dress,” Leandra mumbled around a mouthful of porridge. She turned and hurried down the hall.
Katherine took her coffee to the back door. She looked out at snow a metre high. “Bubbles, see this wall of snow?” She played with the dog’s ear. “We have to move it before you can get out. I suggest you cross your legs or something.”
“Woof!”
“Yeah, I know. And I’d better ring Pierre and see if the performance is on schedule.” She went to the sideboard and picked up the receiver. Nothing. “Bugger!” That meant she would have to try to get a connection using her mobile. She took off her slippers and stood on a dining chair, holding the phone up, hoping for a signal. She climbed on top of the table. Her mother would have a fit if she saw her doing this again. With care, Katherine slowly swung around to find a connection. Trying to get home for Christmas, she knew her mum was keeping an eye on the weather all over Europe and Canada. She dialled her mother first and told her not to worry, then rang Pierre.
Singing at the top of her lungs, Leandra came back dressed for digging snow. Katherine gestured, asking for quiet. She finished her call and got down off the table. “In case you’re wondering, the performance is still on, and Pierre can’t get here to help dig us out. He could ring around and find someone, but we’re not the only ones stuck.”
“We can do this. Men are useless anyway. Except for Pierre of course, but then he’s really one of the girls,” Leandra said, and began digging.
It wasn’t long before they’d cleared a corridor with a long snow ramp leading up. Katherine climbed out, tugging Bubbles, while Leandra pushed the dog’s rear.
“Ugh—ugh! Crap! Bubbles farted. Ugh gross, what do you feed this puppy?”
“Sorry, Lea.” Katherine laughed. “She does have a big arse.”
“Oh, really? I’d never have guessed,” Leandra called back.
Outside, Katherine turned her face to the winter sun and closed her eyes, enjoying its meagre warmth. She looked around at the untouched snow crystals sparkling on fir trees and snowdrifts. With her back to the cabin, Katherine could almost imagine she was in a forest clearing and not her backyard.
“I’d better go and check on George and his wife Francie,” Katherine said. Just as she was heading towards the gate, a lump of snow arced through the air. “Seems they’re okay. It’s probably their grandson Bo, shovelling his way through to their front door.”
“Really? I might go and help.” Leandra winked.
“Stay right there. Do not make moves on Bo.”
Leandra leaned on her shovel, catching her breath. “Aw, spoilsport,” she teased.
“Come on, we’ll stretch our legs and finish breakfast later.”
“I’ll go up and check on the cars,” Leandra said. More lumps of snow went flying. “Bo must have energy and muscle,” she whispered to Katherine as she headed for the back gate.
The six-foot-high fence had snow piled up on the other side. Getting through the gate was impossible. Katherine shaded her eyes and called out, “Wait, Lea, I’ll give you a leg-up.”
“I don’t need a leg-up, jeez.” Leandra leapt and caught hold of the top, pulled herself up and climbed over army style. Katherine shook her head and smiled.
When Bubbles had done her business and had a frolic, Katherine scooped up her dog’s poop, bagged it for binning and went back inside.
After stoking the fires, Katherine fed Bubbles her breakfast, reheated the oats and made another coffee. She was just taking her first mouthful when Leandra yodelled as she slid down the snowy ramp. She shucked off her outer layers and boots and walked into the kitchen, laughing. A glance at her watch told Katherine they had a couple of hours to kill before they needed to get ready. “What’s happening with the cars?”
“What cars?” Leandra raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “We’ll have to shovel them out and even then we don’t know if the roads are clear. Mountain View Road doesn’t look to be.”
“Shit!” Katherine paused in thought. “I wonder how Bo got here?”
“I talked to him on my way back,” Leandra grinned. “Guess what we’re doing?”
“I have no idea and the suspense is killing me,” Katherine said, elbow resting on the table, chin in the palm of her hand.
“Bo arrived this morning. He didn’t have a problem getting here on his Skidoo and he pulled a trailer with his snow-blower on it. He said if we didn’t mind a bit of a squeeze, he’d take us into town. Our worries are over, but we have to be ready in an hour. Oh, and I knew you’d worry so I asked, and Bo said he’d clear the back gate and back door so George can look in on Bubbles.”
Katherine pushed her chair back and, arms out, headed for Leandra. She gave her a tight squeeze. “Thank you. That’s brilliant!”
“Yeah, I know,” Leandra said, eyebrows raised. “What would you do without me?”
Showered and dressed, Katherine waited in the living room for Leandra, who’d said she had a surprise.
“Here,” Leandra said, “one for you and one for me.” She had two enormous, puffed-out plastic bags the size of exercise balls.
“Wow! What is it?”
“Open it,” Leandra urged.
Scotch tape sealed the top. Katherine picked at it to find an end.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Leandra exclaimed, grabbed the bag and ripped it open.
Like a spring-loaded soft toy, the whole lot burst free and grew to three times its size.
Bubbles leapt about and barked.
“Shush, it’s okay. See?” Katherine held it near her dog’s nose. “Nothing to worry about. Aunty Lea brought it and she’s going to tell me what it is.” Discovering it wasn’t something to eat, Bubbles ambled to her bed, circled several times and, with a grunt, made herself comfortable.
“It’s going to look amazing.” Leandra found the collar and held it up. “It’s a fake fur floor-length cape-coat.”
“I’m in awe. What a beautiful thing. It looks so real the way it’s banded horizontally. Where did you get them?”
“The promoters. Part of the prize package at Chamonix.”
“It’s sensational, I’m going to love wearing it.” Katherine laid hers carefully on the back of the couch.
Warming their hands around mugs of marshmallows melting in hot chocolate, they waited for Bo to call. While sitting by the old combustion stove, they chatted about men.
“By the way, you still owe me all the glorious details about your date last night,” Leandra said, and licked froth from her top lip.
Katherine sipped her hot chocolate and, over the rim of her mug, gave her friend a look.
“Well?” Leandra demanded
, waving a teaspoon loaded with marshmallow. “Don’t just sit there with an I’ve got a secret, na-na-na na-na face. Give!”
Leandra’s straight talking could always make Katherine laugh. “Jack is …” she began, not knowing where to start. “He’s interesting, and a great dancer. You know what it’s like to slow dance and lose yourself as you float across the floor in a man’s arms?”
“Yeah, indescribable. You move as one, it’s so … sexy.”
“Uh huh, and you just want it to go on and on, through to the bedroom. Trouble is, you’re nowhere near a bedroom. Had I been near one, I—”
“Ooh, stop it.” Leandra hugged herself. “You told me once when a guy knows you’re a dancer, they’re too intimidated to even try.”
“Not this man. His focus was on me—the person, not the career. He was dreamy, intoxicating. We arrived in a sleigh and went home in one.”
“Wow! That’s so romantic. Why doesn’t that ever happen to me?”
“Maybe fellas think you’ve seen enough snow. And they feel they can’t compete with all the excitement in your life.” Katherine inclined her head. “It’s just a theory, Lea.”
“Yeah, but it’s a good one.” Leandra nodded, her face all cute and perky. “I know it shouldn’t matter these days, but men are intimidated at the way I race down a slope at speeds that scare the hell out of them. And it’s something they don’t want to admit. At least, I haven’t met one that would.” She spooned melting marshmallow into her mouth, her voice muffled as she tried to speak through the froth. “There’s nothing happening in my life, so I’ll live vicariously through yours. Come on, what happened? Did you … did he …?”
“You were here. We kissed, I said goodnight and he left with a smile on his face.”
“And he was smiling because?” Leandra waited. “Come on, that’s not fair, you’re not giving me the juicy bits.”
“All the juicy bits happened on the dance floor.” Katherine eyed her friend. “And don’t read anything into that. He’s a good dancer, end of story.”
Finding Elizabeth Page 12
