Love on the Lifts

by Rachel Hawthorne

  Chapter 10

  “Hot dogs?” Sam asked. “That’s your idea of cooking a meal? Hot dogs?”

  We were sitting at the dining room table. I glowered at Sam. “We’re short on time because we have a party to get ready for. Besides, there’s bound to be food there. Consider this a snack.”

  “I love hot dogs,” Brad said. He’d come back from Cynthia’s shortly after we got home.

  “Clean-up should be a breeze,” Joe said.

  “Absolutely.” I smiled at Sam. “So there.”

  “What are we going to have tomorrow?”

  “We were thinking stew,” Allie said.

  Sam looked over at her, and I thought she was actually blushing.

  “We could put all the ingredients in the crock pot before we leave in the morning, and they’d simmer all day. If you like stew,” she said.

  “Yeah, I like stew,” he said.

  “Since when?” I asked.

  He glared at me. “It’s got meat and potatoes in it, doesn’t it?”

  “And vegetables.”

  “I can pick them out.”

  “We don’t have to put vegetables in there,” Allie said.

  “Yeah, we do,” I said. “Otherwise, it’ll be boring.”

  “Maybe we should take a vote,” she said.

  “I don’t think we want our menus determined by a committee.”

  “Kate’s right,” Leah said. “There’s always going to be something that someone doesn’t like.”

  Allie shrugged. “I just wanted to be fair.”

  “Whatever y’all cook will be fine,” Sam said, looking at Allie again.

  Whoa! Was this my brother talking?

  He looked over at me. “Except for hot dogs.”

  “Whatever. Like I said, we were short on time.”

  “Just make sure you fix a lot of whatever it is, because we’ll be hungry after skiing all day.”

  “We’ll take care of it, Sam.”

  “Speaking of taking care of things, your aunt sure is taking good care of us,” Leah said. “The pantry, the freezer, they’re full of food. I don’t think we’ll have to do much shopping while we’re here.”

  “She likes taking care of us,” I told her.

  “She’s always been like that,” Sam confirmed. “I think because the first time Mom and Dad left us here, Kate cried the entire time.”

  “I didn’t cry the entire time,” I said. “Besides, I was six.”

  “Remember the year we sneaked down to the store after she’d gone to sleep and ate all the marshmallows?”

  Nodding, I laughed. “I was what? Eight?”

  “Yeah. I’ve never been so sick in my life.”

  “I couldn’t stand the sight of a marshmallow for the longest time,” I admitted.

  “Good times,” Sam said. “We’ve had lots of good times here. And more to come, starting tonight.”

  I shoved back my chair, stood, and grinned at him. “Not until after you clean up.”

  “What do you think?” I asked. “Is this too much?”

  Allie, Leah, and I were all in my bedroom getting ready for the party. We’d decided that was the best way to do it. We’d hog one bathroom and let the guys get ready downstairs.

  Leah smiled. “You look great!”

  I was wearing a green cowl-necked sweater. The sleeves hugged my arms and went down to my knuckles. I loved the way they covered my hands, leaving only my fingers visible. The sweater itself wasn’t too bulky, so my figure wasn’t hidden away. I was wearing jeans. It was absolutely too cold to wear a skirt. There wasn’t a lot of parking in the heart of the village, so it was impossible to know how far we might have to walk.

  Leah and Allie agreed with my assessment of wearing a skirt. They were in jeans, too. And sweaters. Leah wore a red turtleneck sweater, and Allie wore a pink one with fluffy white fur at the collar. Leah with her short, dark hair looked mysterious; Allie with her blonde hair draped around her shoulders looked delicate.

  I was somewhere in the middle, not too mysterious, not too delicate. The three of us could be a bedtime story.

  I’d applied a hot iron to my hair to try to straighten out some of the natural curl. And I’d used some light green shadow to highlight my eyes.

  “I don’t look like I’m trolling for guys, do I?” I asked, a little unsure about the makeup, worried that it was a bit too much.

  “You mean like Cynthia next door?”

  I grimaced. “Yeah.”

  “You gotta fight fire with fire,” Leah said.

  “So I look like a skank?”

  “No,” my friends both assured me at the same time.

  “You look like you want guys to notice you,” Leah said. “But we all do, right? That’s the whole point of going to a party. To hook up with guys.”

  “Right.”

  “And tonight is all about getting you with Brad.”

  I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Was it?

  “Right?” Allie asked, as though reading my mind.

  “Right.”

  “So what’s up with you and Joe?” she asked.

  “Why would you think there was anything?” I picked up my brush and started dragging it through my hair. It created static electricity, causing the strands to start flying around my head like Medusa’s snakes. I should have left well enough alone.

  “Maybe the fact that you came in with him before supper and you were both laughing and breathless.”

  “Laughing leaves you breathless.”

  “Your cheeks were flushed.”

  “They were cold. Besides, I told you. He stayed and helped during the rush at the hot chocolate counter.”

  “I think he likes you,” Allie said.

  “He likes someone, but I don’t think it’s me. He kinda mentioned her today.” I spun around. “Speaking of kinda liking someone, this morning Aunt Sue told me that she was once in love.”

  Leah and Allie smiled as though I’d shared the secret of the century, their eyes huge. “Really? Who is he?”

  “I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. She thought she was going to marry him.”

  “What happened?” Allie asked.

  “I don’t know. Like I said. She wouldn’t say. She was her usual mysterious self.”

  “I’ll bet there’s a picture of him hanging somewhere in her store.”

  I stared at Allie. I hadn’t thought of that. A lot of the photos did have guys in them. “I’ll bet you’re right. I’ve looked at all of them, but not that closely.”

  “Tomorrow we’ll have to go on a hunt through the shop, study all the photos, and see if we can figure out who he was,” Leah said.

  “I’ll bet he was hot,” Allie said. “He had to be hot.”

  “Maybe he was an artic explorer,” Leah said.

  “In which case he’d be cold,” I said.

  “Lame, Kate!” Leah shouted.

  We were still laughing when we stepped into the living room, ready to go.

  And came up short.

  Had my stupid brother actually styled his dark hair? And what was this? A button-up shirt? Guess he was hoping to hook up with someone at the party as well. Whoever he ended up with would have my deepest sympathy.

  “What’s that stink?” I asked.

  “It’s some fancy aftershave,” Sam said, jerking his head to the side.

  That’s when I noticed Joe standing there, grimacing. I grimaced, too. I thought I’d been insulting Sam. Apparently another miscalculation on my part.

  “Moves, by Adidas,” Joe mumbled.

  “And we’re all planning to make some moves tonight,” Sam said. “Let’s go.”

  “What about Brad?” I asked.

  “He already went to get Cyn. They’ll meet us there.”

  I did my best to hide my disappointment, but since Brad had joined us for supper, I’d mistakenly thought he was back over playing with us. Why didn’t he just move next door already?

  We all grabbed our jackets and
stuffed our bodies into them while heading to the door.

  “Are you driving?” I asked Sam.

  “Nope. I plan to do some drinking,” Sam said.

  “You’re not old enough,” I reminded him.

  “Never stopped me before.”

  “Sam!”

  He halted and glared at me. “What? You gonna tattle to Mom and Dad?”

  Was I? No. But he didn’t know that. Besides, as irritating as my brother was, he was good for one thing: blackmail. And it was payback time for the snowball he’d hit me with yesterday.

  “Not if you make a contribution to the Kate-have-a-good-time fund.”

  “Ah, Kate, come on. I’m not hurting anyone. I’m a responsible drinker.”

  “How can you be responsible if you’re breaking the law?”

  “I don’t drive when I drink. No one gets hurt except me, if I happen to fall flat on my face.”

  “You get that drunk?”

  “I’ve got better things to do than discuss my life with you.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “How much?”

  “Twenty should do it.”

  “Five.”

  “Ten.”

  He held out the bill that had one of my favorite presidents on it. “You know, Kate, no one likes a snitch.”

  I snatched it from his fingers, folded it up, and shoved it into the front pocket of my jeans. “Payback’s a bitch, Brother.”

  “What?”

  “I wouldn’t have tattled. But I didn’t like getting hit with a snowball yesterday, either. So now we’re even.”

  He snapped his fingers. “Give it back.”

  “Nope. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

  “You don’t even know what that means.”

  “And I suppose you do.”

  “Hey, y’all, can we go?” Leah asked. “The cute guys are gonna be taken by the time we get there.”

  “No, they won’t be,” Sam said. “Because you’ll be arriving with them.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Please, give us a break!”

  Sam jerked open the door. “Let’s go.”

  We all filed past. He closed and locked the door, and we were on our way. Somehow Sam took the lead with Allie and Leah flanking him, leaving me and Joe trudging along behind them.

  I glanced over at Joe. He was wearing a turtleneck sweater and a leather jacket. He didn’t even have the jacket buttoned up. His hands were shoved in the front pockets of his jeans, and he was staring at the sidewalk like he expected it to disappear at any second and he wanted to be prepared. I think he’d styled his hair, too.

  “Aren’t you cold?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  Eyes straight ahead. Jaw clenched. I didn’t think the tight muscles in his jaw were because of the cold. Although I could have been wrong.

  “Your aftershave doesn’t stink. I thought Sam was wearing it. I was just giving him a hard time. It actually smells good.”

  He smelled really good, as a matter of fact.

  He sliced his gaze over to me. If I’d been a snowman, the heat in his eyes would have turned me into a puddle of melted snow.

  “The bottle slipped and splashed too much on me. I didn’t want to take time for another shower. If I’d known you and Sam were going to go at it for so long, I would have taken the time.”

  “Don’t you and your sisters ever pester each other?”

  “Sure, but you and Sam are at it constantly. You should cut the guy some slack.”

  “That works two ways you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. Your brother’s not such a bad guy.”

  “You’re just saying that because you’re his friend.”

  “I guess. So since I tossed snow at you earlier, am I going to have to make a contribution to the Kate-have-a-good-time fund?” he asked.

  I angled my chin haughtily. “You might. It’ll cost you more, though, since you also tackled me to the ground.”

  “I’m strapped for cash. We might have to work it out in trade.”

  “What kind of trade?”

  He gave me a grin that made me think I was in deep trouble.

  “We’ll work something out. Maybe it’ll end up being a good time for us both.”

  Chapter 11

  I really tried not to think about Joe’s comment on making a deposit in my good-time fund. I was supposed to be at a party enjoying myself, practicing my flirtation skills, getting Brad to notice me. But it seemed like I was spending most of my time trying not to think about Joe or something he’d said or done.

  If I wasn’t thinking about his hazel eyes, or his smile, or the rich timbre of his voice, I was thinking about the way he moved around the hot chocolate counter helping customers with that confident swagger, or the way he’d landed on top of me, or…

  The way he was totally ignoring me now that we were at the lodge.

  He’d slipped away almost as soon as we’d arrived, getting lost in the crowd. Probably off to make moves on the girl he’d mentioned earlier. Of course, sooner or later, Joe would have to return to my side. After all, I’d promised to dance with him.

  “Hey! You made it!” Paige gave me a hug. Her blonde hair was clipped on top of her head, tufts of it sticking out here and there. “Isn’t this the best party?”

  “Absolutely!”

  The lodge was shadowy, with a fire in the massive fireplace providing most of the light. A few candles burned, a few lamps in corners were turned on, but mostly it was shadows.

  “The bar’s over there, so help yourself.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “We’ve got music playing.”

  “Yeah, I can hear it.”

  “And dancing over there.”

  “You don’t have to sell me on the party, Paige,” I said.

  She laughed. “Once a sales clerk, always a sales clerk.” Her eyes brightened. “There’s the hottie. I’ll catch you later.”

  I watched her head toward Joe, the welcoming smile he gave her, then the way they sauntered over to the dance floor. I wasn’t sure why I felt this sudden twinge of loss. It wasn’t like she was wrapping herself around Brad.

  Brad…I needed to find Allie and Leah, then put my plan into action to draw Brad away from Cynthia. Tonight I would be the magnet to his sliver of metal.

  I wandered through the crowd. I knew most of the nontourists because I came here every winter break, so our paths often crossed. I’d served hot chocolate to many of the tourists. So there was a lot of greeting going on—hey, how are you, good to see you, great powder today—that kind of stuff. I tried not to get bogged down in conversation while I searched for my friends.

  I spotted Allie first. She was talking with Sam who had one shoulder pressed to the wall in this am-I-hot-or-what-but-I’m-giving-you-some-time stance. I thought about going to her rescue, but then Sam shoved himself away from the wall, took her hand—took her hand!—and led her to the dance area. She really needed rescuing now. I’d seen Sam dance.

  But like Leah had said, sometimes you needed to play with the frogs to catch a prince. So maybe that’s what Allie was doing. Practicing with my brother so she’d be up for the ski instructors when she finally escaped Sam.

  Speaking of ski instructors, that guy dancing with Leah had to be hers. Oh, my gosh. He was to die for! Tall and slender, he had blond hair that fell to his shoulders. He reminded me of models on the covers of romance novels. No wonder she’d pretended to be a klutz in order to have to take the class again. Wow! Good going, Leah!

  At least one of us was seriously on our way to finding love on this trip.

  I wended my way among the people who were laughing and talking, until I reached the table where all sorts of wintry comfort foods had been laid out. I scooped some clam chowder into a bowl.

  “That looks good,” I heard Aunt Sue say from behind me.

  I looked over my shoulder and smiled. “Want some?”

  “Sure do.”

  I handed her my bowl and filled
another bowl for myself.

  “Join me by the fire,” she said.

  At that moment there wasn’t anyone I’d rather be talking to—except maybe Brad, who had yet to make an appearance. Considering that Cynthia “loved parties,” I’d expected them to be there early.

  I sat on a sofa beside Aunt Sue. It was toasty warm in front of the fireplace. I lifted a spoonful of chowder, blew on it to cool it down, then slurped. Really good.

  “Having fun?” she asked.

  “Having a great time,” I lied. “Got Sam to make a donation to the Kate-have-a-good-time fund earlier.”

  “How did you manage that?” she asked.

  “Fooled him into thinking I’d tell Dad he was drinking tonight.” I peered over at her. “Don’t suppose you want to make a contribution?”

  “Katie, you know my philosophy on money.”

  “It can’t buy happiness?”

  “No. I work too hard for it to simply give it away.”

  “Yeah, right.” Aunt Sue was always donating boxes of books to libraries and schools across the country, around the world. I knew because I’d helped her lug them to the post office too many times to count. She was always giving in other ways, too.

  “What do you need to buy to have a good time?” she asked thoughtfully.

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I always like to be prepared.” I slurped some more soup.

  “Well, when you have a definite goal in mind, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I do have a goal. Have fun.”

  “But you haven’t figured out how to achieve that yet.”

  “Sure I have.”

  “No, you haven’t. Or you wouldn’t be sitting here with your old aunt.”

  “You’re not old.”

  “Getting there.”

  “So tell me about this guy you almost married.”

  She laughed her boisterous laughter. “Ah, Katie, why don’t you tell me about the guy you’re trying to hook up with?”

  “I don’t think he’s here.” I looked at her, searching her face for the truth. “Have you seen Brad or Cynthia?”

  “So you haven’t given up on him?”

  “Should I?”

  “You tell me.”