The Broken Lake (17 page)

“I haven’t seen snow in I don’t even know how long.”

I was quiet.

“I think it would be nice,” he continued.

“Are you joking? Come on, Wes. You can’t get cold.”

“I can’t get hot either, so Hawaii is out. Plus, it’s a lot easier for me to keep warm than it is to stay cool when it’s burning up outside.”

“I am not taking you into the snow.”

“Sophie.” He turned to me now, and I was glad I couldn’t see those chocolate browns in the darkness. “I’d really like it. You’re the one who says we need to take the future on a detour. Try new things. What’s more new than that? And I wouldn’t go if I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

I shook my head. “Then why can’t you remember the last time you’ve seen snow?”

“I didn’t have a reason before. Now I do. I
want
to take you to see your friend and I
want
to go somewhere new.”

I didn’t say no, but I didn’t say yes either. It was insane. Was he kidding? Visions of him in hypothermic shock after he jumped in to save that drowning girl last November flashed through my brain. I shuddered.

“I’ll be fine.”

“How can you say that when you almost died just by jumping into cold water? No way. I’m not going there again.”

He moved my hair away from my face, and made me look up at him. He kissed my forehead. “That’s because I wasn’t prepared. Once you got me warm, I was fine.”

“Wes, it’s probably going to be forty degrees or lower, the whole time. No
way
.”

He chuckled. “They have coats and hats and scarves. I
can
go out in the cold. Just not for long periods. They do have houses in Virginia, don’t they?”

“Stop it. Of course they have houses.”

“Then it’s settled. You’re taking me to see some snow.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he kissed me first. I pulled away, but he pressed further, rolling himself on top of me. I felt his wide shoulders hover over me, making me feel small and protected. Making me feel
good
.

He was
so
not playing fair. My eyes rolled back in complete bliss as I let him kiss me. His lips traveled down my neck onto the bare skin that was peeking out from the neckline of my tunic.

I shoved him. “Stop it.”

He lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”

“I know what you’re doing and it’s not working. I don’t want to go to Virginia.”

“Yes, you do.” He kissed me again. Same spot.

“Wes, please. This is serious.”

He stopped. “Don’t you trust me?”

Catching my breath, I said, “Of course I trust you.”

“Then believe me when I tell you I can go to Virginia. I’ll be fine. I want to go away with you.
Please
.”

“Well, get off of me then.”

Taken aback by my request, he responded in a shocked voice, “What?”

“I need to think straight. And I can’t with you seducing me.”

Without argument, he rolled over so that no part of his body touched me.

I pondered the details. Okay, if he had a heavy coat that held in the warmth, and we stayed indoors most of the time, then maybe. Kerry’s family had a nice ski chalet in Wintergreen. Wes would actually like it there. It reminded me of his place. We could stay nice and toasty in there, and the view was to die for. Well, not literally.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. Does that mean we’re going?”

As unsure as I could possibly sound, I answered, “I guess.” It was almost like a question.

He quickly rolled back over and gave me a big kiss. I must say it was nice seeing his mood change. I no longer felt his worry, frustration, anger, or concern. He seemed much better. More relaxed, for sure. I only wished I felt the same.

I
was so glad Wes had stayed the night, because Mom had the alarm activated the next day. No more sneaking in at night. At least, not until I could figure out a way to bypass my zone. It sucked. But it caused me to dive right into making plans for the trip. The more I felt locked in at my house, the more I wanted to get out.

I called Kerry on Sunday to feel her out about a visit, and she was stoked. She said we could use her parent’s ski chalet for sure. She and her boyfriend Rich went up there with friends almost every weekend in the winter. I’m sure they all had a great time, but I honestly didn’t want to mingle with anyone from my old school.

I had to ask. “Is it just going to be you and Rich or are you bringing others?”

“Oh, no. We barely hang out with anyone anymore. There’s so much drama going on. I’m
so
over it. You can bring friends, though. I’d love to see a bunch of people with California tans.”

We planned the trip for the following weekend, and once I finished talking to her, I moved on to Mom. It was surprisingly easy. I had gone skiing with Kerry several times, so she was fine with it. She didn’t even ask me if I was taking anyone, so I didn’t have to go there. She was used to me flying back there alone, and just assumed it was the same old, same old.

The next morning, I called Mr. Healey and told him that I couldn’t work with Chase anymore. I didn’t mean to get Dawn in trouble, but I told him that if Dawn was going to be out and Chase was filling in, then I’d have to take off. He agreed, but asked why. I didn’t go too far into detail, but I did tell him that Chase purposely distracted me at work.

No offense to Mr. Healey, but I thought it was the smart thing to do. I couldn’t stand the tension between Chase and me anymore, and there definitely didn’t need to be any more encounters between him and Wes.

While I had him on the phone, I requested Friday and Saturday off, assuring him it was only because I was going out of town to visit my friend in Virginia. Not that I was avoiding work altogether. He had no problem with that.

By the time Wednesday came around, Dawn was already in on my request off. I guess her dad was trying to find coverage. She called me first thing that morning.

“Why are you sticking me with him?”

“Who?” I asked, barely awake.

“Chase.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb. I know what happened last weekend. Chase told me that Wes attacked him.”

“What? Dawn, please. Wes wouldn’t attack anyone.”

“Well, that’s what Chase said.”

“Well,
he’s
a liar.”

“So what happened then?”

“Chase was being Chase and purposely trying to get on my nerves. He was flirting with me in front of Wes, and then told Wes he should put me on a leash before someone steals me.”

“No way.”

“Yes, way. And when Wes and I tried to leave, he still kept egging him on. Then he sucker punched Wes in the back and grabbed my hair. Wes had no choice but to put that little punk in his place.”

“Oh, my gosh. That is
so
not what he said.”

I really didn’t care what he said. I was over it. All I wanted to do was avoid him.

“Well, anyway, thanks to you, he’s all over me now. Messing with me. Asking me what your problem is all the time. Ugh.”

Sorry to hear it, but he isn’t my problem anymore.

“So where are you going anyway?”

“Skiing.” I answered, still not quite believing it myself.

“Where?” She shot back.

“Virginia.”

“Oh, cool. You’re so lucky.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Well, the real reason I’m calling is because I was hoping you could give me a ride to work. My car’s in the shop, and Jackson has to work.”

“Sure.”

I picked her up at 3:30. She usually arrived at work at 4:00.

She wasn’t in the car two seconds before she started up with our earlier conversation. “So who’s in Virginia?”

“My friend Kerry.”

“Cool. Are you going
alone
?”

“No…”

“I knew it! That is
so
not fair. I want to come. And Jackson. Please take us with you. Please.”

I looked at her and she had her palms together, like she was praying.

“Please?” she pleaded.

I did not plan on bringing anyone but Wes. I really didn’t want company, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she and Jackson just might provide more company for Kerry and Rich than we could. We were going to a ski area, and I wouldn’t be able to ski. Wes and I would mostly be holed up in the house.

Although that sounded wonderful, I considered the pressure we might face when Kerry and Rich wanted us to go outside a lot. Dawn would get along well with Kerry, and having her there might actually afford me more time alone with Wes.

“Kerry did say I could bring some friends.”

“That’s awesome! I can’t wait to call Jackson!”

“How are you going to get your dad to okay it?”

She was already calculating. “Oh, he loves you. He’ll let me go as long as it’s with you. And let’s just say he doesn’t have to know about Jackson.”

Oh, geez.
I didn’t want to be a part of her lie.

Oh, who am I kidding?
My mom didn’t know about my traveling companion either. I just hoped to goodness none of our parents came right out and asked.

We pulled up to the store and there was a gray four-door car parked out front. Chase was leaning in the window. I cringed and chose the farthest space I could. He looked up and then looked away as if he didn’t know it was me. Dawn got out, completely excited about planning her newfound trip.

“Do me a favor, Dawn?”

She turned back. “Sure.”

“Don’t go talking about it, okay? It’s no one else’s business, if you know what I mean.”

She smiled and then winked. “Gotcha. Lips are sealed.”

As I backed out of the space, I couldn’t help looking over at the car again. Two men in some kind of uniforms were talking to Chase. He was nodding and shrugging his shoulders. They appeared to be giving him instructions. By then I was out of the space and turned my Jeep the other way thinking only happy thoughts of not having to work with him anymore.

I told Wes that Dawn and Jackson were coming, and he agreed that having them might take the pressure off of us to ski. He immediately called for the extra tickets. Although I didn’t mean for him to pay for all of them, he did anyway.

I worked on Thursday and, thankfully, Dawn showed. She was giddy all day. I thought she was going to blow it for sure. She couldn’t stop talking about how excited she was. I was hoping to play it cool in case Mr. Healey started asking a bunch of questions. Luckily, he didn’t.

Later that evening, Wes picked me up to go shopping. Neither of us had any real winter clothes anymore, so we both needed warm, rugged gear, and he knew exactly the place. Located near the mountains was an extreme sports shop. The parking lot was filled with SUVs with bike racks and two or three had kayaks attached to the roof. I laughed.

“What?” Wes asked.

“Well, I think this solidifies that I’m an outdoorsy girl.”

“Oh, your getting into the lake solidified that.”

His eyes were beaming at me with such pride that I couldn’t help but remember how great it had been. Getting away with him, trying something new, it all came back to me about how wonderful this trip was going to be. I just wished I could shake the feeling that we were insane.

But, I have to admit, he did a good job of leading me toward sanity. He, as always, was thinking ahead. As soon as we entered the store, he walked right up to the counter and asked for help. The three employees standing there in their fleece vests and khaki pants looked well qualified to assist.

A little too quickly, the girl in the pea green vest stepped up. She looked like she was about our age, maybe a little older, and she didn’t take her admiring gaze off of Wes for one second. A little possessiveness surfaced, but I quickly remembered my previous lesson in insecurity.
You can look,
I thought.
Just don’t touch.

Wes politely asked, “Can you tell us where to find your heated jackets?”

She looked at him with a smile that stretched from one ear to the other, but not in a friendly “I’m here to provide great service” way. It was an “I’m trying to look sexy in my pea green vest” way.

“Sure, they’re right over here.”

She walked ahead, and Wes motioned for me to go first.

“So,” she turned back, disappointed that I was the one right behind her, “going camping or something?”

I glanced at Wes, realizing that my proximity to her meant that I was the best person to answer. “No, we’re going skiing.”

She looked back again and forced a grin. “Oh, that’s nice.” We arrived at a section of fleece jackets. “Here you are,” she said.

“Thanks,” Wes and I replied at the same time, which was awkward. She didn’t know who to look at first. After she figured it out, she told Wes that she would be nearby if we needed anything. Once she was gone, we were free to shop.

“What are these?” I asked.

“They’re heated, windproof fleece jackets. I read about them.”

I picked one up. It wasn’t very heavy. “How does it work?”

He picked up a different one, and flipped it inside out. “See, it has a battery pack that sends heat through these wires. It keeps the chest and back warm.”

I smiled instantly. “You are so smart.”

There I was, thinking he would be shivering to death on the trip, and he found a heated jacket. It was perfect. “What size?” I asked.

He flipped the one he was holding back the right way. “A large will do.”

We both started looking through the coats for the right size when I heard that voice again.

“We have heated gloves and socks, if you like.”

I turned to see the clerk lurking by the coat racks. “Thanks,” I shot back, really meaning it. I looked at Wes. “You are
so
getting some of those too.”

I was getting really excited now. It was sinking in that the trip was actually going to happen, and the best part was that it would really work. Wes could stay warm without being wrapped in a zillion layers of down.

We found the gloves and socks, along with some heavy sweaters. He wasn’t interested in special pants or anything. He insisted he would be fine in regular jeans. I figured if we decided to hit the slopes, we could find him some ski pants once we got there, but I doubted that would happen.