Snowed In Read online

  “Come in,” Mom said, and then introduced us.

  “I brought you some warm spice cake,” Mrs. Evans said.

  “How sweet,” Mom replied. “Would you and Natalie—”

  “Not Natalie,” Mrs. Evans said. “Nathalie. I didn’t know whether to name her after my older brother, Nathan, or my younger brother, Leland, and so I combined the two and made up a name.”

  “How original,” Mom said.

  Nathalie and I looked at each other, and clearly neither of us could believe the inane conversation our moms were having. I felt an instant connection with her—and also a sense of relief. Knowing so few kids lived on the island had caused me some apprehension about moving. What if I didn’t meet anyone I liked? Would I live here without any dates or friends?

  Nathalie pushed back the hood of her coat, revealing red hair pulled into a ponytail. If she lived in Texas, she’d have a lot more freckles. Her nose turned up on the end. She was a little taller than I was and quite pretty.

  Mom took their coats, which left me feeling a little ridiculous—I was still bundled up. So I took off mine and helped Mom hang everything in the hall closet.

  “Ashleigh, why don’t you and Nathalie get settled into the parlor, while Mrs. Evans and I make some tea to go with this wonderful-smelling spice cake?” Mom suggested, before leading Mrs. Evans away.

  I looked at Nathalie. She didn’t even look cold. I had a feeling that I did. I still couldn’t feel my nose.

  “You know, if you spray Static Guard on your brush and run it through your hair, it’ll make it stop flying around like that,” she said, twirling her finger near her hair like she was trying to say I was crazy.

  “Thanks for the tip. I have a lot to learn about living in the cold.”

  “So, where are you guys from?”

  “Texas.”

  “You don’t sound like a cowgirl.”

  “I’m not. I’m a city girl.”

  “Why did you and your mom move here then?” she asked.

  “Mom was looking for something different.”

  She laughed. “Well, I’m sure you’re going to find it here. Isn’t Texas all desert and tumbleweeds?”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. “No. Not all of it. We have woods, mountains, hills, lakes, rivers. You name it, we pretty much have it.”

  “Not according to the movies. You know, they made a movie here once,” she said.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. They used the ritzy hotel that’s up on the hill, just up the road. Women aren’t even allowed on the grounds after five o’clock if they’re not wearing a dress.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  She shook her head. “No. Mom says they’re very traditional. I think they’re dumb.”

  “Gotta say I agree with you. So do they make a lot of movies here?”

  “Only a couple, but a lot of actors come here to get away from it all. I saw Heath Ledger once.”

  “No way! In person?”

  She nodded, then shrugged. “At least, I think it was him. My boyfriend didn’t agree.”

  “You have a boyfriend?”

  “Yeah, sure. Don’t you?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not really interested in having a boyfriend.”

  She looked at me suspiciously. “Why not?”

  I shrugged. “Just figure I have plenty of time to get serious later.”

  “Do you date?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure. I really like dating.”

  “I can’t imagine not having a boyfriend.”

  I smiled. “I can’t imagine having one.”

  She looked at me like I’d come from another planet.

  “So, do you want to sit in there?” I pointed to the parlor, realizing I never really imagined I’d ever invite anyone to sit in one. I mean, really, who had parlors these days?

  “Not really. I’ve never been inside this house. The Shoemakers didn’t have kids, so…” She shrugged as though that explained it all.

  The Shoemakers were the previous owners, and I guessed Nathalie was hoping for a tour.

  “Today’s the first time for me, too,” I said. We both laughed. I’d forgotten how hard it was to get to know someone. But Nathalie made it seem easy.

  “Where’s your bedroom?” she asked.

  “I was just about to take a look around and decide. Want to come with me?”

  “You betcha. Sure beats having tea with my mom. Her idea of exciting conversation is discussing Victorian lace.”

  I grimaced.

  She nodded. “Exactly.”

  As we climbed the worn wooden stairs, each of our steps echoed around us. The house had been built sometime in the 1880’s, and it sounded old, felt old. Okay, it felt haunted. The perfect setting for a horror movie.

  When we got to the second floor, it was like we’d stepped even further back in time.

  A short hallway to my right led to a couple of bedrooms that were separated by a bathroom.

  “Oh, totally awesome!” Nathalie said as she peered into one of the rooms. “I think all the furniture is antique. You must have paid a fortune for this.”

  Mom probably had, but, fortunately, money is one of the things that isn’t a problem for us. Dad is a big corporate executive. He and Mom split everything they’d acquired over the years right down the middle. Except for me, of course. If they fought about anything, I didn’t know about it. That didn’t make it any easier, and I can’t deny there were a lot of tears. But at least there wasn’t really any bitterness—or financial squabbling.

  Nathalie looked at me. “People really get into the old stuff around here. The Victorian Walk is next weekend. A lot of the houses are opened up for touring, and all the money collected goes to the Historical Preservation Society. I’m selling tickets if you want to go.”

  Looking through old houses really wasn’t my thing, but I was trying to make a friend here and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

  “I might. I don’t really know. I mean, I just got here.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry. Guess you need to find a bedroom before you start planning your social calendar.”

  Would I even have a social calendar here? Would I meet other kids? Would we hit it off? Would we want to do things together?

  “Anyway, I thought you said you’d never been inside this house,” I said.

  “Right. The Shoemakers usually closed it up and headed to Florida for the winter, so this one was never included on the tour. I’m guessing they decided to sell and stay down there?”

  “I think so.”

  “Fine by me. They were totally no fun.”

  “Do a lot of people leave for the winter?” I asked.

  Nathalie shrugged. “Some do. Most don’t. Most of our businesses rely on tourism, and since we don’t get many tourists in winter, some people will close up shop and head to sunnier places.” She laughed. “I sound like a Chamber of Commerce ad, don’t I?” She peered into another room. “So which one is going to be yours?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I went in the other direction, walking along the carpet that lined the floor. Quickly I looked into the four bedrooms on that end of the hallway. The rooms had canopied beds and lots of lace and frills.

  I figured this would be a popular floor for our guests, and I was looking for privacy. I’m not unfriendly, but I wasn’t sure how much I’d like living with strangers.

  At the end of the hallway was another set of stairs.

  “I’m going to check out the next floor,” I said.

  “I’ll come with you,” she said as she followed me up the stairs.

  On the next floor, we went in different directions, looking in the various rooms. “These aren’t that much different from the ones on the floor below,” Nathalie said. “Is your mom going to let you fix up your room however you want?”

  “I hope so.”

  “Let me know if you want to paint it. My boyfriend and I can