The Dead of Winter (Seasons of Jefferson: Book 2) (16 page)

Not ten feet ahead of me, I spot the unmistakable brown curls, spraying out from beneath the helmet. She pulls to a stop. Looking back over her shoulder, I hear her voice flair, “Hey Grandpa, you really need to take that clunker to the golf course. It’s more your speed. Plus, I hear they’re giving away free Depends … you know, just in case you mess yourself on the big kids’ playground.”

I don’t have a chance to respond or react, before she raises her hand, shooting up what looks to be her middle finger, and then takes off.
No way. Who is this girl? What a biotch! You know what? It’s time to squash the bumblebee.
I center myself on my snowmobile, lean forward, and tear across the snow like a bat out of hell.
Game on!

Within seconds, I spot my prey. She’s moving at a pretty good rate, but I know if I climb the hill off to the left, I can drop down and take her. I shift my balance knowing that I have to compensate for my injury. I rev my engine and climb toward the tree-line.
She won’t even see me coming.
I stalk her for a few minutes, fascinated by her speed, as she weaves in and out of downed trees. This chick has nuggets.
So Tangles does have skill
.

I continue to sneak along, high on the hillside, ducking around bushes, and riding almost parallel to her. As soon as I see the path widen, I’ll make my move. But for now, I want to stay hidden from view. It’s entertaining watching her ride. I continue to stalk her as I see her begin to shift in her seat. She’s moved into a kneeling position.
What is she doing?

As I look down the path, I can see the large mogul she’s spotted. I watch her pick up speed as she hits the huge mound and kicks her legs back away from her body into a full extension. A loud “Yeehawwwwww!” booms up the hill, as she slams back down onto her seat.

Maybe she doesn’t have nuggets after all.
I flash back to some of the freestyle tricks I learned last season.
I’ve pulled that one before. No man wants to land that one wrong. Ouch.

It’s time to get another look at this X Games princess up close. I make my move to drop down in front of her.
Too bad this bum arm is keeping me from flying by with my Superman Seat Grab, but at least I can show her my speed.
With the slope of the angle, I have to step off onto the left foothold, so I don’t roll. I’m standing upright, trying to work out my balance without losing speed. It’s tough to hang on with my arm tied up.
This stupid arm. I can’t wait for my appointment next week to see if I can get this sling off.
My eyes cut through the trees, lining out a perfect path to pass Tangles
.
Quickly, I shoot down the hill, cutting right in front of the ice queen.

She whips her head around in such haste, that I know I’ve caught her off guard. Just as I pull in front of her, slide around to the hood, and jump onto the front skis, she whips her handlebars to the right. I try to maintain a hold on the throttle, but the play of events unravelling before me, brings my showboating to a stop. “Whoa there, baby,” I call out. I release the throttle, and jump off, right in front of Tangles, who’s lying in a heap next to her snowmobile.

I have to laugh when I see her struggling to move. She looks like a turtle flipped on its back. I bend down to give her a hand up, meeting her blazing, mocha eyes. A ball of fire burns its way into my chest, leaving sparks in its path. I jump back in shock by the force of the internal flare that caught me off guard.
Holy crap. Stop that, Caden
. I bend down again holding out my hand. Tangles stares it down like it’s a snake, ready to strike. “Take it.”

“You’re an ass.” She struggles to move on her own, dropping back down to the ground. She wraps her arms around her chest. “Owww,” she wheezes, finally propping herself up on her elbows. “You knocked the wind out of me.”

“I’ve been known to take a girl’s breath away a time or two, but I didn’t do it
to
YOU
. How do you figure I knocked the wind out of you?” I pull my helmet off my sweaty head and toss it off to the side. Her eyes meet mine, and I hear a sharp, sudden breath. Her mocha cheeks blush pink.
Interesting reaction.
I can’t help but smirk.

“You jumped out of the bushes and cut me off. Are you trying to kill me today?” Tangles mumbles a few more words under her breath. Her dainty eyebrows bounce up and down and her perfectly round lips babble away, popping her dimple as she mutters. At one point, I think I catch the words, “come in here with your sexy a…” as I watch a faint smile play at the corners of her lips. I struggle to hear the word that follows
sexy
, but she turns her head away a little too quickly.
Damn, missed it
.

It’s funny watching her struggle to put on the tough girl act, but I can barely handle letting her go on in obvious discomfort.
My mom raised me better than this
. “I don’t bite. Take it!” Exaggerating the movement, I extend my hand again.

She looks my arm up and down, “Are you sure you’re strong enough? I do weigh 95 pounds.”

I have to throw my head back and take a breath. I can’t speak through my deep chuckling. I bring my eyes back down to meet hers. “What makes you think I’m a city boy?”

“Well, for one, you don’t know how to drive in the snow …”

I don’t hear another word.
She’s right. I don’t know how to drive in the snow. If I did, I’d be here with Peyton right now, not chasing down some spicy, spitfire country girl all afternoon. She’s not even nice. She’s the polar opposite of Peyton. Shit. Peyton.
Again, my girlfriend’s crystal blue eyes haunt me. I think back to the day on the cliff. I can picture her face as we tumble down the canyon. Sheer terror. I couldn’t stop us. All I could do was wrap myself around her … until the blackness came. I pry my mind away from the memory and look back at the mocha-skinned beauty at my feet.
It would kill Peyton if she knew how much fun I was having tangling with this girl.

The sound of fingers snapping, draws my eyes downward. “Where’d you go? Geez, I was only kidding.” Tangles raises her hand to mine.

I take it gently and tug her to her feet. “Let me get that sled turned back over for you. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you wreck.”

An incredulous look comes over her face. “What? No kiss my ass? It’s your fault? Nothin’? Yep, you’re a city boy alright. A country boy would’ve never taken that kind of crap from me.”

“Guess you’ve never met a
country
boy whose mama raised him right.”

“Mmhmm.” She rolls her eyes as I watch her struggle with her chin strap.

“Here. Let me help you with that.” I brush her hair away from the snap. At my touch, she pulls her lips together, and freezes in place. Her only movement comes from her big, brown eyes, which intently watch my hands as I work to secure her strap.
Are her lips turning blue?

“It’s okay, you can breathe,” I chuckle.

Her piercing, brown eyes narrow in on my gaze, as a slight blush of pink softens the tan of her cheeks. I can see I’ve embarrassed her by insinuating that I took her breath away.

“I would breathe, but I don’t like the smell of wet dog.”

Not bad. She’s quick.
With the pop of her dimple and the upward tug of her lip, I can tell she’s hiding a smile under her snide remark. Her combination of spunky, wit and country charm have left me bemused. I have no comeback.

“I’ve gotta get back to my friends, no more time for arguing. You want to lead the way?” My voice rattles, as I slip my helmet back over my head.

“If you think you can keep up,” she laughs, as she mounts her snowmobile.

“Oh, I can keep up,” I smirk, climbing on and starting my engine. I take off, passing her, but then ease off the gas so she can catch up. We ride for what seems to be hours. No words are spoken. No gestures are shared. Though we ride together, we are alone in our thoughts. It’s comforting really, knowing she’s there beside me. I don’t know this girl. I don’t even know her name, but I feel a deep connection to her that I can’t explain. I needed this time, and something tells me she did too.

As the sun sets off in the distance, we take off back over the hill. As we near the main entrance, I catch a glimpse of Jessie May. She sits just beyond the trees, waving to Tangles to join her. I guess it’s time for us to part ways. She doesn’t say goodbye. Our sudden split leaves me feeling a bit empty. I kind of enjoyed my silent riding partner. She must not have enjoyed the same peace I felt riding side by side, or she wouldn’t have taken off without so much as a wave goodbye. I can’t put a finger on it, but I feel like a tiny bit of me just left with her. A bit unsettled, I continue on toward my friends, who are waiting in the parking lot.

“DID YOU EVER THINK TO
check your cell phone once? You had us worried sick,” Brody huffs as he opens the truck door.

Crap. I didn’t even think about ditching my friends. I was too caught up in the chase.
I feel bad. I know if it was one of them that disappeared, I would’ve been frantic. I should’ve checked my phone, it’s just that I’ve been trying so hard to forget for awhile. Every time I look at it, I’m disappointed all over again. Peyton hasn’t texted. Not once. It kills me every time I see her name missing from the list of recent messages.

“It’s a good thing we ran into Jessie May out by Whaleback. I’m glad she saw that buddy of hers tailing you, otherwise we wouldn’t have had any idea where you went.”

“So, you talked to the friend?”
Tangles was chasing me?
“Then you knew I was okay.”

“Guess so. Well, at first we thought you were fine. But then, we ran into Jessie May and she couldn’t find her friend either.” I can tell he’s agitated. His hands move uncharacteristically as he speaks. “Just don’t go pulling anything like that on us again. You could’ve gone over a cliff or something, and we wouldn’t have known where to find you.”

Brody’s not the only one who’s upset. The others look worried too. “I’m sorry guys. I guess I just got caught up in the moment. It’s been so long since I felt … happy.”

Jenna’s grimace melts into a smile. Eyebrows raised, she looks around at the gang. “Okay, let him off the hook. It made him
happy
.” Everyone else continues to stare at me, scowling in silence.

Very persuasive, Jenna.
Good try.

Finally, grinning through her closed teeth, she snarls, “Ha-ppy… Let. It. Be.”

“Happy, okay, happy.” I hear ringing out in different voices as we continue climbing into the truck. Brody jumps into the driver’s seat, while Jenna and Mason pile on top of each other right beside him. Kaitlyn and I spread out in the back, making wisecracks about the sardine sandwich up front.

As we drive away into the darkness, I pull my phone out of my pocket. “So, you guys tried to call?”

Kaitlyn answers dramatically, “Only a thousand times. Check your messages.”

There are so many notifications on my screen, that I can’t see them all. Hesitantly, I open my messages.

Sadie: Christmas Party @ my place if you’re up for it. Day after tomorrow ~> 7:00. Wear your ugly sweater!!! ;)

Coach: Let me know if you can still make B-Ball Tryouts (Dec. 13).

Brody: Dude, you lost us.

Lennart: Hey, Pres. Got some great video footage of our Christmas foreign ex-change party. Where should I send it for the JHS newscast?

Brody: Where are you, man?

Kaitlyn: Caden? Where are you?

Mason: It’s about 1:30. Try to meet us at the Long Loop by 3:00.

Kaiya: Movies in Mt. Shasta tonight. Wanna come with our group? Text ME!

Jenna: 3:30. We’re looking for you. Kinda scaring us Cade Monster!!! >;(

Officer Marnia: We’ve recovered your truck. No Pistol, but interesting news on that front. Call me for details.

Brody: Ridiculous! Meet us in the parking lot.

Kaitlyn: You’re such a brat, Caden! Call us. This isn’t funny!

Shoot. Missed the movies with Kaiya. That was two days ago. Wow, I’ve been neglecting everyone. I don’t even know where to start with this list. I should get back to some of these people. Where to begin?
“I’m really sorry guys. I just wasn’t thinking. It won’t happen again.”
Check four people off my list.
I skim back up to the top.
Sadie? Hmmm. What a sweetie. She must be working with Kaiya on trying to get me out of the house.
“Did you guys hear about Sadie’s Christmas party?”

“Got the message like two days ago,” Kaitlyn chimes in. “You should check your phone more often.”

“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t really miss anything.”
Still no Peyton.
“Just a reminder that I can’t play basketball this year, and some student government stuff that can wait til the weekend’s over.”

The cab is silent. Even though I try to stifle it, I know everyone senses my depression. It’s weighing heavily in the air, and I can feel the brains around me fumbling for ways to fix it. Jenna is the first to speak. “Hey, I have an idea. I was thinking since you can’t play basketball, you might be able to join the snow sports team. I mean, I know you have to use your arms for balance and stuff, but you don’t have to shoot or anything like you have to when you play basketball.”