Snowed In Read online

“So is Chase.”

  “Do you think about Chase all the time?”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “You’re hopeless.”

  No, I was scared. Scared she was right about everything.

  20

  The next two days were hell. Mostly because I didn’t want to run into Josh, so I got out of bed way too early and headed down to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. I was nestled safely in my room, with no plans to come out, by the time I heard activity downstairs.

  I finished designing the website, and I decided now was as good a time as any to begin working on my novel. Maybe if I killed off a few fictitious people I’d feel better. After a day and a half, I’d typed, “Chapter One.” Which I thought was a pretty good beginning.

  Where to go from there, though, was a mystery.

  I was sitting at the computer staring out the window—thinking about Josh, not the story—when someone knocked. It was Mom, and she looked worried.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I pointed to the computer screen. “I’m working on my novel.”

  She was holding a small package, but she still managed to cross her arms over her chest. “You’re not avoiding someone?”

  I shook my head.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Okay, if you’re sure. But if you are avoiding someone, he’s left for the day.”

  “I’m not.”

  But I was glad to know he was no longer there.

  She set the package on the desk. “This came for you.”

  I knew what it was.

  “Thanks.”

  She studied me for a minute. “Tomorrow, Mr. Wynter and I are going to the mainland to look at some different wallpapering. Josh is taking the day off, so you’ll be here all alone. Will you be okay with that, or do you want to come with us?”

  “I’m a big girl. I’m okay with that.”

  I couldn’t be sure, but I thought Mom looked relieved. She headed for the door.

  “Mom?”

  She stopped with her hand on the doorknob and looked back at me.

  “Mom, I’m really confused about when you know whether or not a guy should be your boyfriend.”

  “Don’t think about it so much, Ashleigh. It’s not something your head decides.”

  “Do you think you’ll ever have a boyfriend again?”

  “I hope so.”

  “But aren’t you afraid of getting hurt again?”

  I thought I saw tears glisten in her eyes. “You know, Ashleigh, some of my very best memories include moments spent with your dad. Yes, it hurt when we split, but what we had for a while made the hurt worth it.”

  When Mom left, I sat for a long time thinking about what she’d said. Then I called Dad.

  “You know, we actually had some snow flurries today,” he said. “I thought of you.”

  “I’ve been thinking of you, too, but not because of the snow. I…” Gosh, this was hard, and I realized that Josh breaking up with Nathalie had probably been a lot harder for him than just staying with her would have been. That it took a lot of guts to admit a mistake and do something about it. “I was mad at you, mad about Marsha.”

  “I know.”

  “I just…I didn’t understand everything, I guess. Anyway, I thought maybe I could come spend spring break with you.”

  “We’d like that.”

  “Will you tell Marsha that I’ll be one of her bridesmaids?”

  “I sure will. That’ll make her very happy.”

  Strangely, I thought it would probably make Mom happy too.

  Dad and I talked for a while longer. I didn’t tell him about Josh because I didn’t know what was going to happen with us. And I figured he’d fly up to check him out. I wasn’t ready for that. I figured Josh wouldn’t be, either.

  After we hung up, I decided I needed to do one more thing. I opened the box Mom had brought up. Inside was another little box. It contained an eggling. Tara had given me one as a going-away present before I left Texas. Last night I’d gone online and ordered one for Nathalie—a peace offering, even though I wasn’t the one who started the war. I dropped it into a little gift bag and stuffed tissue around it. I bundled up.

  Maybe it was because I’d been inside for two days, but it seemed a lot colder as I trudged to Sweet Temptations. I’d given Nathalie’s situation a lot of thought, and I’d decided that if she really loved Josh, she’d have fought for him. And that she would have called him by name instead of by label. For her, it was all about having a boyfriend. Not the right boyfriend.

  Still, this island was my home now. It had to be big enough for the two of us.

  “I’ve got to check on something in the back room,” she said as soon as I walked in.

  “Wait,” I said. “We need to talk.”

  “If you want to talk, talk to my boyfriend.”

  “Look, about Josh—”

  “Not Josh. Chase.”

  I must have had a confused look on my face, because she rolled her eyes.

  “Chase is my boyfriend now.”

  I looked at Chase. Folding his arms on top of the counter, he grinned.

  “Wow. That was quick,” I said.

  “Not really,” Nathalie said. Her voice was sharp, impatient. “He’s liked me for a long time and I liked him. It’s just that I had a boyfriend. Until you came to town.”

  “So we owe you big-time,” Chase said. “How about a pound of free fudge?”

  “We agreed you’d stop giving away free fudge,” Nathalie said.

  “We agreed I’d stop giving away free fudge to get dates.” He winked at her, then turned his attention back to me. “So what do you want?”

  “Actually, I do need to ship some fudge, but I have to talk to Nathalie first.”

  “I’ve got nothing to say to you,” she said.

  I walked over to where she stood and set the bag on the counter. “This is for you.”

  She looked at it like it might suddenly transform into a monster. “What is it?”

  “Look inside.”

  She took out the box. “An eggling? What’s that?”

  “It’s a tiny little garden. You crack the top and water what’s inside. And it grows a little plant so you’ll have spring before spring.”

  “Oh, cool.” She looked at me. “So why are you giving it to me?”

  “Because you’re my friend. And I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

  “He said you weren’t the reason, but if you weren’t the reason, then I was the reason.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I didn’t want to be the reason.”

  “Sometimes, no one is the reason. It just happens. It happened with my parents. That’s why we moved here.”

  “It hurt.”

  “I know. And I’m sorry.”

  She leaned toward me and said in a low voice, “I was afraid if Josh wasn’t my boyfriend that I wouldn’t have one, and I really wanted to have a boyfriend. But I like Chase more. I just didn’t know it until he came over and we started talking to each other.”

  “I’m glad it worked out.”

  And I was. She’d thought having a boyfriend was more important than who the boyfriend was. So it was good that Josh had broken up with her.

  “So I guess we just switched boyfriends,” Nathalie said.

  “Not really. I mean, Chase was never my boyfriend and Josh…well, I’m not dating him.”

  “Why not?” She looked completely baffled. So did Chase.

  I swallowed hard, trying to decide if I should tell her the truth.

  “I don’t think I’m ready to have a boyfriend, and if I go out with him, I don’t think one date will be enough.”

  “How will you know if you don’t go out with him?”

  “Good question.”

  “You should at least go out with him once.”

  “You think?”

  She nodded. “When I’m not mad at him anymore, I can write a recommendation letter.”

  Which wou