Snow Angel (23 page)

Stan hailed them as they approached, and they ate sitting comfortably on their rides. Her dad showed off some of the photos he’d taken, making Melinda wish she’d brought her camera on the expedition after all. She’d opted to leave it behind since Jacob was joining her, but her dad had gotten a slew of great shots, including one of an enormous buck half-hidden in the white-plumed trees and staring out over the basin.

“Don’t be late getting back,” Stan said as they were wrapping up. “The torchlight parade and fireworks are at dusk, and we need time for dinner before getting ready for the lodge party. Are you guys going for any night skiing first?”

Melinda said no, but Jacob nodded.

“I think all the guys are,” he said. “You’re not coming, Mel?”

“Nope, I’m going to do my nails and be girly before the party starts. I’ll see you guys when you get there. And don’t come in straight from the slopes! I know you brought nice clothes, so go back and change first.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jacob said, saluting smartly.

Tucking their trash into a sack and packing it in the cooler, Melinda handed it back to her dad to strap to his vehicle and swiped the fresh snow off her goggles.

“Will they be able to have the fireworks in all this snow?” she asked.

“Sure,” Stan said, clearing the covering of white frost from his own goggles and putting them back in place. “As long as the winds don’t get too strong.”

“That’s good, I’d hate to miss them.” Leaning over, Melinda pressed a kiss to her father’s chilly cheek. “Have fun with the photos.”

“See you at the rental office by three-thirty,” her dad said before motoring off.

Melinda sat for another moment, taking in the purity of the view, the quiet of the steadily falling snow, and the comfortable companionship of Jacob beside her.

The scent of icy pine, sharp and clean, filled her lungs.

She might have missed out on some photography for the day, but she wouldn’t trade it for the chance to spend extra time with him, laughing and talking and racing their hearts out.

“Ready?” he asked.

Nodding, Melinda swung her right leg over the seat and started up her sled, following him down the next trail.

She’d planned to ask him about yesterday’s accident, but Jacob seemed so cheerful, she couldn’t see any benefit in dragging up bad memories. She let it go, at least for now.

Full bellies made them mellow. They kept their speed down to enjoy the view, staying far to the right and out of the way of the other snowmobilers and occasional cross-country skiers or snowshoers.

“Hey, Mel,” Jacob called, “what do you call a penguin in the desert?”

“I don’t know.”

“Lost.”

“Har-har,” she said with an exaggerated eye roll, though she couldn’t stop the giggle that went with it. He was so silly sometimes.

The snow began to fall more heavily toward the end of the day, making Melinda wonder if they were in for another big storm that night, and if the fireworks would be canceled after all. So far, they’d lucked out with the winds, but that could change any time.

Melinda led the way down a steep incline, zigzagging her sled and thinking about the party that night.

What would Jacob think when he saw her in her slinky red party dress?

She was toeing a dangerous line, and she knew it. There was a fire in her, a need to poke a sleeping dragon and see if an answering blaze burned inside his belly.

And if it did—

Jacob shouted behind her, the tone of his voice alerting her, and she whipped her head around in time to see him dive off the back of his sled as it began a slow-motion roll straight toward her.

Stifling a scream, she hauled on her handlebars to move her vehicle to the left out of the way and slowed carefully to a stop.

After making sure no one was in the path of danger from the tumbling snowmobile, Melinda twisted in her seat and called back to Jacob.

“Are you all right?”

He waved a hand to indicate he was okay, and clawed his way up, his eyes trained on his sled and its thud-thud-thudding path to the bottom of the hill. Shaking his head, Jacob worked his way diagonally down the mountain to her and climbed on the back of her snowmobile.

“What happened?” she asked as Jacob grabbed the passenger strap with one hand, wrapping his other arm around her waist.

“Snow gave way under the right ski and I overbalanced,” he said with disgust. “These old machines don’t recover very well. I couldn’t pull it back.”

“At least you’re not hurt.”

“I don’t think the same can be said for my sled,” Jacob answered. He blew out a frustrated breath.

“We have insurance. Don’t worry about it. Did you hurt your wrist again?”

“It’s fine.”

Melinda made her way cautiously down the rest of the slope, stopping once so Jacob could pick up the belly pan that had popped off the snowmobile on one of its rotations.

“Definitely not riding it back with this thing detached,” he said, looking it over.

When they reached the bottom and the crashed sled, she and Jacob pushed it off the trail out of the way of other riders, left the belly pan on the seat, and Jacob climbed back on with her for the rest of the ride to the rental office.

“Lucky we were headed back anyway,” he said.

Melinda nodded in agreement and focused on the trail. The snow poured down, harder by the minute now, and even the lightly stirring wind whipped cold through every layer of clothing, but she hardly noticed the frigid temperature with Jacob tucked tightly against her back.

Logically she knew they had on too many thick, insulating layers to actually feel his body warming her head to toe, or his heart beating steadily against her back. It was nothing like being all snuggled up together in her bed with only thin cotton between them, their bodies putting off a furnace-worth of burning heat.

And yet, with his arm securely around her, Melinda’s skin hummed, hyper aware of her body plastered to his, basically sitting in his lap.

Sensation overwhelmed her, like being burned from the inside out.

The urge to throw the snowmobile’s stop switch, flip around on the seat, and burrow into Jacob’s chest both stunned her and flooded her body with a tingling pleasure she could hardly wrap her mind around.

And it sucked.

Even if she could throw away her own dreams to follow him around the country, even if she could talk her way past their lifelong friendship, Jacob never would.

Hadn’t she been in this exact situation before, longing for some sign from him, reading too much into innocent glances, only to have it all fizzle away into nothing once again?

Maybe he looked at her in that certain way sometimes, and maybe he’d wanted to spend the day with her instead of skiing, but when it came right down to it, he’d never given her any serious indication that he saw her as more than a friend.

Melinda sighed.

Her emotions had been all over the place since Mitch dumped her. Clearly she wasn’t thinking straight. Yet there was something about Jacob, she couldn’t deny it. Something that, if she were honest, she would admit had been there long before Mitch or any other guy had ever caught her fancy.

The question was, what could a best friend do about any of it without risking the friendship, and still stay true to herself at the same time?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jacob held tight to Melinda, his chest pressed against her back, breathing in the ice-laced scent of her glossy hair where wispy strands had escaped the braid tucked into her helmet.

It sucked that his sled was toast, but at least he hadn’t hit anybody, and since its temporary death gave him a chance to ride wrapped around his best girl, he planned to take advantage of every minute.

He’d woken with one thought in his head that morning. It was New Year’s Eve. There was a big party happening at the lodge that night.

And at midnight, there would be a perfect excuse to kiss Melinda’s lush, rosy mouth.

Grinning to himself, Jacob tightened his arms around her in a fierce hug.

“Okay?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Great!” he said, a little louder than he’d intended, but he could blame that on the noise of the engine.

He had a hazy memory of kissing Melinda once before. Kissing her senseless, the way he wanted to do again.

In his memory, they’d both been more than a little drunk, more than a little giggly, and very enthusiastic. He wasn’t sure if it was a real memory or a wishful dream, but he couldn’t wait to repeat the experience in the here and now.

Finally, the rental office came into view.

Melinda’s dad stood out front waiting for them. When he saw that they were doubled up on one sled, he jumped down the front steps and started toward them, but Melinda waved to him one-handed to indicate all was well.

After they explained what had happened, and where they’d left his sled, they repeated the story for the rental agent. Clay seemed less than happy. Despite the insurance coverage, he was out a sled until the money came through to replace it, and it was peak season.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Jacob said.

Clay shrugged, then bowed his head regretfully and stomped inside, muttering under his breath.

“You’re sure you’re all right, Jake?” Stan asked, a hand clamped to his shoulder.

“Never better,” he answered, silently acknowledging that while he was sorry about the sled, overall his mood was pretty damn cheerful.

Midnight was coming.

By the time they sorted out the details and filled out the necessary paperwork, it was after four. They needed to get back for the parade and early fireworks.

The shuttle dropped them at the lodge for the opening festivities, where they met up with the rest of their group. They ranged along the edge of the deck surrounding the lodge, the massive overhead heaters on full and everyone’s attention focused on the top of the closest slope.

The snow lightened just in time for the parade, as though it had only been awaiting the entertainment.

On the pretext of helping to keep her warm, Jacob scooted as close to Melinda as he could manage, not quite brave enough to reach for her hand in front of everyone. Not yet. But putting his arm around her shoulders—for warmth, of course—was totally normal.

The main lights all over the resort went out, and the Christmas lights strung across the ski slope flickered on in cheerful holiday colors.

At the top of the run, torches flared to life, and as the skiers holding them aloft began their descent, fireworks sparked across the sky in the background, drawing cheers and whoops from the crowd.

More fireworks would go off at midnight, but the lodge didn’t stint on the early display.

Jacob sat with his arm draped casually around Melinda, her head resting against his chest. She clapped along with everyone else, a smile lighting her face as she watched the show.

He watched Melinda instead, and found her more beautiful than any light in any sky ever created or imagined.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the torchlight parade ended, Melinda headed back to the condos with the grown-ups, while the guys grabbed a quick meal at the lodge and went out for some night skiing.

She turned once on the trek to the shuttle, feeling eyes on the back of her head. Her gaze met the intensity of Jacob’s as he stared at her over Danny’s shoulder, making her shiver with an emotion that had nothing to do with the cold.

Jacob’s dad had brought his gear from the condo for him that morning and stored it in a locker, so Jacob didn’t have to waste time going back to grab it.

A pity, since they could have snuggled up on the shuttle.

Melinda climbed aboard with the others and stared out the dark window. Night had already fallen, and the slopes blazed with colorful strings of Christmas bulbs and the bright glow of the overhead lights guiding night skiers down the trails through the steadily falling snow.

Once back at the condo, Melinda ate hurriedly, then showered and took special care with her hair and makeup.

She’d discovered another message on her cell from the unknown phone number Mitch had called her from before, but she’d deleted it without listening, blocked it, and washed the memory of the call away along with her shampoo suds.

He was not going to intrude on her New Year’s Eve.

Wrapped in a robe, she sat at the kitchen table and did her nails, painting them a pretty shell pink to offset the siren-red of her slinky dress. She was going to dance her ass off and enjoy every minute of the party, which was scheduled to go until two in the morning.

Her mom twirled into the room in a sparkly midnight-blue dress that showed off her youthful figure and glowing skin, and Lois swept in behind her in a gorgeous knee-length sheath of deep apricot.

“You both look stunning,” Melinda said, for some reason finding herself tearing up.

“Aren’t you sweet,” Lois said, beaming. “We won’t hold a candle to you, but I think we cleaned up pretty well.”

“I’ll say,” her dad said, walking down the short hallway while he shot his cuffs and scanning his wife from top to bottom and back up again, making her mother giggle like a young girl. He kissed her cheek, then took her hand and gave her a whirl. “As beautiful as the day we met.”

“Oh, stop,” Karen said, but she smiled and kissed him back. She brushed away imaginary lint from his suit collar. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”

“We can’t let the kids have all the fun,” Bill said, coming to a stop beside Lois and giving her the same once-over Stan had given Karen. He waggled his brows at her and said in a stage whisper, “On the other hand, maybe you and I should stay
in
tonight.”

“Aren’t you ready, honey?” Karen asked Melinda, noting her fuzzy robe and slippers.

“Give me five minutes,” she said, and whisked upstairs.

It took her ten, but when she descended the spiral stairs and saw the expression on her parents’ faces—glowing pride on her mom’s and wary protectiveness on her dad’s—she decided it had been worth the extra fussing.

Her smile spread ear to ear. Jacob was going to notice her as a woman tonight.

Not just a friend.

Maybe, if he saw her in that light, something more might spark between them.

The idea both terrified and excited her, yet the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to explore the possibilities. The more her emotions expanded, the less important their different life goals seemed.

Anyway, with time, she was sure he’d change his mind about settling in Pasodoro. Why wouldn’t he? Most of their friends and families lived there. It was perfect.

So she’d explore those feelings.

Cautiously.

Being careful of their friendship, of course. Always.

Yet something was happening inside her, and it seemed, every once in a while, like an answering something might be happening inside Jacob.

She needed to know if this was only another—stronger—crush phase, or rebounding from Mitch, or something more.

A tiny voice whispered this was a dangerous path to tread, even as Jacob’s eyes danced in her mind and her pulse scrambled with a nervous sort of hunger.

But for now…

Melinda raised the camera in her hand. “Stand over by the window, you guys, I want a picture of you all decked out.”

Her parents and Jacob’s complied, their arms around each other and bright smiles on their faces. Melinda’s heart swelled as she studied them. They made such a striking pair of friends, and she loved them all so deeply.

For a moment, doubt assailed her, and her own smile wobbled.

Would they be unhappy if she and Jacob started dating? Would it destroy their friendships, too, if it went badly? How could she risk it?

Straightening her spine, she reminded herself of one of the key lessons her parents had taught her growing up—not to live her life worrying about what-ifs. Life was meant to be lived, and love was meant to be loved.

She almost bobbled the camera.

Love?

Holy crap.

Her heart leapt forward like a horse charging out of the gate, racing so fast her head swam with the speed. She couldn’t deny the truth. She’d used Mitch and her mixed up feelings as an excuse long enough. He was but a distant memory now, a faint echo of pain.

She couldn’t—wouldn’t—deny her own heart any longer.

This was real.

Somehow, some way, some time, she’d fallen in love with Jacob. This was not a crush, not a passing fancy, not a childish dream or a teenage fantasy.

It was love. Pure and true and all-consuming.

A sigh trembled from her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, half in fear of the unknown, half in the first full, excited flush of her secret admission.

Love.

It was at once new yet familiar, breathtaking yet reassuring, astounding yet completely normal.

She was deeply, achingly, madly in love.

With Jacob.

Her best friend.

Now what was she going to do?

Melinda’s eyes popped open. Oh, God. She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t tell anyone. That much was certain. He’d run for the hills faster than any horse in Nancy and Peter’s stable.

“Sunshine, you okay?” her dad asked, snapping her back.

She realized she’d been standing and staring at her parents, slack jawed, for nearly a minute.

Was she okay?

No. She was wonderful, and terrified, and happier than she’d ever been, and a nervous wreck. She couldn’t lay claim to anything as simple as
okay
.

“I’m great,” she said, and meant it, though her voice wavered. “Say ‘champagne and strawberries.’”

“Champagne and strawberries!” the four of them chorused as she raised her camera.

Whatever happened, she’d answered one all-important question. She knew what love was, without a shadow of a doubt, and it had nothing to do with what she’d imagined for Mitch. Her feelings for Jacob transcended anything she’d ever known or even allowed herself to feel before.

She was light years beyond okay.

Melinda held that love firmly in mind, a full-wattage smile covering her face from ear to ear. She imagined it was bright enough to dispense with the flash on her camera.

She snapped several photos. Her parents and Jacob’s were laughing and talking in each one, unstudied and natural, and each picture was wonderful in its own way, but Melinda already knew the first photo would be her favorite.

All four of them had their heads thrown back, mouths wide open with raucous laughter, arms around each other and the women’s hands on their husband’s chests. With the snow swirling outside the glass behind them and the warmth of the lights highlighting their party clothes, Melinda thought it was the most beautiful shot she’d ever taken.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The women carried their heels and clutches in plastic bags to protect them from the snow and wore their after-ski boots down to the shuttle stop. They stood in a tight huddle, covered in thick coats, and still froze, even with Bill and Stan blocking the worst of the wind.

Sparkly party dresses and bare legs were no match for a Utah winter.

Hopping gratefully aboard the heated shuttle, they sighed with relief and settled into their seats, rubbing their chilled hands and legs. Melinda listened to the older couples’ chatter with half an ear, wondering where the guys were and how long it would be before they showed up to the party.

Aunt Pat and Uncle Allan, along with Nancy and Peter, had headed over earlier for drinks in the bar. Now it was already eight-thirty, though night skiing would run until ten o’clock. If the guys stayed the whole time, went back to the condos to change, and then came over to the lodge, they might not get to the party until close to midnight.

A little of the evening’s shine seemed to dim.

If they arrived that late, the party would practically be over. Melinda pursed her lips into a brief pout. She wanted time with all of them. Especially Jacob. But she was determined to have an amazing night, and plenty of people her age would flood the lodge for the party. She would not sit in a corner waiting for someone to notice her and ask her to dance.