Stormy Passion (37 page)

“
Where are ya going?”
Geraldine yelled just as Brenna went out the door.

Brenna stopped. Carol sat in the same chair
Brenna had used last night. Memories flashed uninvited through her
mind. Taylor's smile. The wonderful way he touched her. The
tenderness when he said her name. Stop it. She shook her head and
moved forward. “Here's your coffee and a
Southern Living
magazine I thought you might like to see.”

“
Good. It'll give me
something to do until Taylor comes back.”

“
I'm sure he'll be back
soon,” Brenna tried to soothe her. She wondered why Carol had
agreed to marry Taylor if the woman had doubts. It was strange.
“Breakfast will be ready shortly.”

On her way back to the kitchen, Brenna
wondered what in the world Taylor could be doing outside. And why
was he unhappy? Had she made him that way? He could be so
unpredictable. Hopefully, he would walk off his foul mood. Come to
think about it, she didn't care what Taylor was doing, or what he
was thinking. She didn't want the man to touch her. Let him touch
Carol like he should be doing. He was Carol’s problem now. Brenna
shoved the door a little harder than she meant to, and it hit the
wall.

Geraldine had a bowl under her arm beating
fresh eggs. “Watcha frownin' about?”

Coming back to the real world, Brenna avoided
Geraldine's knowing look as she wandered over to the sink.
“Nothing.”

“
Done something ya
shouldn't have?”

Brenna straightened at Geraldine's words. Was
she a mind-reader? “How did--of course not. What made you say such
a thing?” Brenna tried hard to sound offended instead of
guilty.

Geraldine gave her a knowing grin. “Just a
hunch.”

Opening the drawer beside her, Brenna started
counting out the silverware. Before she could control her mouth,
she said, “I almost kissed Taylor last night.”

“
Ya did what!” Geraldine
shouted, then immediately calmed down and asked. “Why did ya do
that for?”

Brenna turned around surprised at Geraldine's
reaction. Brenna had expected motherly advice or a stern reprimand,
but Geraldine sounded appalled. “Oh, hell, I don't know.” Brenna
shrugged. “Probably stupidity. It seemed like the thing to do at
the moment.”

“
Did he want to kiss ya
back?”

“
I think so. But whether it
was for old times sake, or because he still cared, I couldn't tell
you. We ended up having a fight.”

“
Why?”

Brenna raised her brow slightly as she
watched Geraldine stirring a pot of grits. She sure was nosy this
morning. “Because I wouldn't answer his questions.”

Geraldine dropped the lid on the pot and
shook her spoon at Brenna. “How long ya goin' to let him think bad
of ya?”

Brenna shut the drawer with her hip and
grabbed a handful of napkins. “You, of all people, know I can't
tell him the truth. We could lose the roof over our heads. Besides
if Mrs. Rothschild brought everything out in the open what would
the people around here think? I left River Run to get away from
gossip. Nobody here knows about our past and I want to keep it that
way. I don't want Lisa to remember any of our dark secrets.”
Brenna's mind filled with sour thoughts.

“
I'm sure Taylor will hate
me when he finds out his love meant so little that I took money for
it. He'll never realize that I did part of it for him.”

“
In that case, ya better
forget about Taylor. Remember, he's leavin' tomorrow,” Geraldine
reminded Brenna as she pulled the butter and eggs out of the
refrigerator.

“
I know.” Brenna placed
everything on the tray so she could set the remaining tables.
Tomorrow
, she thought. Sometimes that seemed like a long,
long time. “It's for the best. Then maybe life will get back to
normal.”

Geraldine quit cracking eggs and examined her
with a raised brow. “Will it be the same?”

As Brenna moved out the door, she frowned at
the bossy old cook because she knew she couldn't answer her
question. Life had ceased being normal three years ago.

It wasn't long before Brenna and Lisa were on
their way to town. After the storm last night, the air was still
and the trees bent over from their burden of snow. The cold, crisp
air felt good on Brenna's face. As she glanced around, she thought
Hollow Ridge looked like heaven. Pure white snow blanketed
everything.

“
Isn't it a beautiful day?”
Lisa laughed as she scooped up a handful of powdered flakes and
took a bite.

The white snow contrasted with Lisa’s navy
blue nylon jacket, and Brenna realized her sister would be a
beautiful young lady in a few years. There had been many times when
she thought Lisa would be permanently scarred by their past, both
mentally and physically. The vivid nightmares Lisa had the first
year made Brenna's blood run cold. Through her sister's eyes, she'd
relived bits and pieces of that bloody day, and always Brenna
blamed herself for not being there to stop the bloodshed. Her
father had never been a violent man so nothing that happened that
day made any sense. The police said her father had simply gone
crazy. Brenna didn't accept that, but she finally learned she had
to put everything behind her if she was going to heal both their
wounds.

“
Brenna! Are you
daydreaming?” Lisa shook Brenna's arm. “It is a beautiful
day.”

“
It couldn't be better,”
Brenna said cheerfully as she slid her hands into her pockets,
thankful they lived in the safe little town of Hollow Ridge. “Look
at that blue sky, there isn't a cloud anywhere.” She nudged her
sister with her elbow. “What's the first thing you want to
do?”

“
Let's go see the ice
carvings. I heard there's one of a giraffe. Then I want to go to
the ice castle where they're selling hot-pink
toboggans.”

“
I think we can manage
that.”

Once downtown, the murmur of the crowd lent
itself to the feeling of a carnival. The first place they visited
was the Great Ice Rock where icicles, ten feet long, hung from the
rocky surface. They spoke to several of Lisa's friends and promised
to see them later.

The ice carvings looked like blown glass and
defied the human imagination that a person could create statues
with a chain saw and chisel. There were all sorts of animal
carvings and snowmen.

Downtown was full of small shops just like
most tourist towns. Yet, Hollow Ridge had a special quaint aura
about the place, making it different from the big resort towns. Of
course, Brenna realized she might be just a bit predigested.

Next, they went to the crystal shop, and
Brenna bought some prisms to hang in her windows at home. She had
always been fascinated by these little trinkets. They sparkled just
like the snow did today.

A half-hour later, they came out of the shop
and strolled down the sidewalk. “Mmm, I can smell coffee,” Brenna
commented. They spoke to the townsfolk and nodded to the strangers
visiting the festival. An artist stopped them as they walked by,
insisting that Brenna and Lisa have their portrait made. Lisa sat
down first and Brenna stood behind her, while the painter worked
rapidly with the pastel chalks.

“
That's what I call a
pretty picture!” David slipped behind the artist and peered at the
sketch attached to the easel.

“
You have good taste, my
friend,” the craftsman said. He tore off the paper and handed the
finished etchings to Brenna.

“
I agree. You do very good
work,” she told the tall, thin man who wore a smock over his ski
pants. “This is a good likeness of Lisa.”

“
I'll say.” David took the
paper out of her hand. “I want this one for myself.”

“
You want a picture of us?”
Lisa didn't try to hide the surprise in her voice.

“
Who wouldn't want a
picture of two beautiful ladies?” David smiled at them. “Can I
treat you to some lunch?”

Brenna agreed even though her sister frowned
her displeasure. They ate at The Souper, a quaint, outside snack
bar. The smell of good food mixed well with the cold air. After
they had devoured bowls of delicious homemade vegetable soup,
Brenna sat back with a cup of hot coffee, watching the steam rise
above the rim as she listened to David talk about his business. He
ran the local hardware store, and though Brenna smiled and nodded
every so often, there wasn't much that interested her. Tools were
boring.

David was sweet, and he was a good guy, but
unfortunately, he wanted more than she could give. He was a friend
plain and simple. She had no desire to ever give her heart away
again. The pain was too hard. Brenna glanced at her sister, who
stared out into space; it wasn't hard to see the boredom in Lisa's
eyes.

“
Look! There's Taylor.”
Lisa jumped out of her chair. “I'm going over and talk to
him.”

Brenna swung around in time to see Taylor
holding Carol's hand as she sat down. A lump of emotion lodged in
Brenna's throat. Before she could stop her sister from being so
rude, she was gone. Brenna looked back to David, a little
red-faced. “Sorry. You know how kids can be.”

“
I don't mind.” He smiled
as he twisted the brim of his red ball cap in his hand. “Now I have
some time alone with you. How would you like to go out next
Saturday?” He placed the cap on his head and reached over and took
Brenna's hand. “It's been a long time, too long for me.”

“
I guess it has been a
while,” Brenna hesitated, “But I really haven't felt like going
anywhere. We’ve been busy which is a good thing.”

“
No problem. I'll just come
by and see you then.”

Brenna smiled. She tried to find some way
out, but could think of none. Anyway, by that time Taylor would be
gone, and she'd probably be glad for the company because she sure
wasn't going to sit around and mope about Taylor this time. Perhaps
it was time for her to start thinking of other men.

Taylor waved at Lisa just about the same time
he saw
that man
reach for Brenna's hand. Just who in the
hell did he think he was? Taylor had a good mind to get up and
punch the SOB in the nose. And then he shook himself with a strong
dose of reality ...
Brenna didn't belong to him anymore.

“
Look, here comes your
little friend.” The sound of Carol's voice brought his sanity
back.

“
Hi, Lisa.” Taylor nodded
to her. “What are you up to?”

“
Can I sit down?” Lisa
asked. Taylor reached over and pulled the chair out for her. “I'm
trying to get away from that boring man we're having lunch with.”
She made a childish face, crossing her eyes and sucking in her
cheeks. “I don't understand what Brenna sees in him.”

“
Is that her boyfriend?”
Carol asked.

“
Gross! He's so boring.”
Lisa frowned. “Brenna has gone out with him a few times, but she's
never commented about the dates.”

Taylor needed to get his mind on something
else. He had already spent most of the morning convincing himself
he didn't care why Brenna had left him. He decided he would make a
new start with Carol. “What are you doing this afternoon,
muffin?”

“
After lunch, Brenna said
we're going skiing. This is my first year, so I'm not very good
yet.”

“
If you're anything like
your sister, you will be,” Taylor said before he
thought.

“
Have you been skiing with
Brenna?” Carol asked.

“
A few times,” he said.
“When we were in school there were several ski clubs. Brenna and I
belonged to the same club.”

“
I see,” Carol said and
then looked back at Lisa. “I'm not very good either, so I know how
you feel. My skis want to go every way except straight.” She
laughed.

Lisa giggled, too. “Maybe you can ski the
bunny slopes with me.”

“
I'd love to.” Carol wiped
her mouth and put the napkin on the table. “Listen, since we're all
going skiing this afternoon, why don't we ride
together?”

Taylor opened his mouth to say it wasn't a
good idea, but before he could, Lisa all but shouted. “That's a
good idea!” She hopped up from the table. “We'll take the jeep.
I'll go tell Brenna.”

Lisa ran back to the other table, thankful
that David had finally left them. “Guess what?”

Brenna arched an eyebrow at her kid sister.
“Jumping up like that was very rude, young lady. You could have at
least excused yourself and told David goodbye.”

“
I don't like him--he's
boring.”

“
It was still
rude.”

“
All right, All right, I'm
sorry, but guess what?”

“
What?” Brenna looked down
and picked up her purse.

“
Carol is going to ski with
me on the bunny slopes. You won't have to stay and keep an eye on
me.”

“
That's nice of her.”
Brenna said, being careful not to reveal her worries that Lisa
might injure her hip again. Brenna had only let Lisa ski the bunny
slopes the last two years, making sure Lisa was in good condition
before tacking the more advanced slopes. Brenna tried hard not to
baby her sister, but she wanted to be careful.

“
I thought so. So I invited
them to ride with us.”

“
You did what?” Brenna
asked between gritted teeth. Her chest tightened. She took several
deep breaths. How could she have a normal conversation with Taylor
after last night? She'd fallen so willingly into his arms and she
hated herself for her lack of self-control. And he knew it. The
only bright spot she could see in this mess was that this was the
last day she would see Taylor. She had tried to keep her distance.
But it seemed her dear little sister had just ruined all Brenna's
good intentions.