A Very...Pregnant New Year's. Doreen Roberts

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      Grandpa scowled at him. “Don’t mess with Mother Nature, boy. You’ll find out she has a mean hand.”

      “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Father, stop treating them all as if they were still toddlers.” Carol Parker, an attractive woman from whom Anne had inherited her thick hair and green eyes, gazed fondly at her four children. “Though sometimes I have to admit, it’s hard for me to realize you are all so grown-up. Especially now that we’re all together again.” She reached out and lightly pressed Anne’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re coming back to Grand Springs, darling. We’ve missed you.”

      “I’ve missed you all, too.” Anne sipped at her iced tea before adding casually, “I bumped into the Irvings in the foyer.”

      Her father groaned. “Oh, no, don’t tell me that awful woman is here. You didn’t speak to her, did you? She gives the place a bad name. I suppose she’s got that scheming son of hers with her? She never goes anywhere without him now that Wally’s gone.”

      “Now, Dan, let’s not let those dreadful people spoil our weekend.” Carol looked hopefully at Anne for support. “The best thing to do is completely ignore them. Pretend we don’t see them.”

      “I couldn’t agree more.” Secretly Anne thought that might be impossible, considering the lodge wasn’t that big.

      “Well, I’m glad Brad Irving’s here,” Sharon said, smirking at Elise. “I think he’s positively awesome looking.”

      “The sexiest man in town, that’s for sure.” Elise flicked her long blond hair over her shoulder with a careless hand. “I wouldn’t mind spending a night with him, I can tell you.”

      “That’s enough, girls,” Carol warned mildly. “You know how talk like that irritates your father.”

      “The man’s a damn crook,” Dan muttered. “How can you two talk like that about a man whose family stole your heritage? If it wasn’t for the Irvings, we’d still own that damn land, and I wouldn’t have to face bankruptcy to keep you two in college.”

      Sharon’s face burned as she reached for her water glass. Elise lifted her chin, and Anne knew her youngest sister was going to argue. She should have kept her mouth shut about seeing Brad and his mother, she thought, cursing herself for starting a familiar argument.

      “Well, it’s not worth much now,” Elise said, with a hint of defiance. “Now that they’ve closed down the spa it’s just empty buildings sitting there doing nothing.”

      “It’s still good land.” Dan set his fork down on his plate with a clatter. “I’m damn sure I could find something to do with it. Trust that thieving lawyer to let it go to waste. Too damn busy cheating people out of their hard-earned money, that’s his problem.”

      “Now, dear, let’s just forget about it, shall we?” Carol looked pleadingly at her husband. “I really would like to enjoy this weekend with my wonderful family, and for once forget the existence of the Irvings.”

      “That’s not going to be easy,” Sharon said, echoing Anne’s thoughts. “Brad will be on the midnight ski run. There’s only fifteen of us signed up, so we’re bound to bump into him.”

      “Cool,” Elise murmured softly, earning a frown from her father.

      “We signed you up for it, Anne,” Sharon said eagerly. “Paul’s going, too. It should be fun. I love skiing at night.”

      So did Anne, but the thought of racing down a dark mountain next to Brad Irving took the joy out of it. She smiled at her sisters. “I think I’ll pass. It’s been a while since I was on skis.”

      “I think you should all pass it up,” Grandpa James muttered. “You’re all crazy if you go down that mountain.”

      “You’ve got to go, Anne!” Elise cried in dismay. “It won’t be the same without you. There’s going to be a welcome-back party for the skiers and everything.”

      “Not afraid of Brad Irving, are you?” Sharon asked slyly.

      Anne felt her cheeks grow warm. “Of course not,” she said sharply. “If you really want me to go that badly, I’ll go.”

      Grandpa James shook his head. “Crazy,” he muttered. “Every last one of them.”

      “We’re bound to see Brad at the New Year’s Eve party, anyway,” Paul said, eyeing the huge tray of desserts placed on the table by an attractive waitress. “So we might as well meet the enemy on the slopes and beat the heck out of him.”

      Carol looked alarmed. “You’re not going to fight that man, are you Paul? I despise the Irvings as much as anyone, but I wouldn’t want to see you fight.”

      Paul grinned. “Relax, Mom. I just meant we’d all beat him down the mountain, that’s all.”

      “That’s if you get down,” Grandpa muttered darkly.

      Aware that no one was listening to him, as usual, Anne patted his arm. “Don’t worry, Grandpa,” she said softly. “I’ll keep an eye on them all.”

      “Tell us about your plans for the new year, Anne dear.” Carol picked up a dish of cheesecake and offered it to her eldest daughter. “I’m dying to know what you intend to do next.”

      “I thought I’d find an office to rent downtown,” Anne said, doing her best not to notice Brad and his mother seated at the opposite end of the room. Elise and Sharon might think that Bradley Irving was the sexiest man in town, she told herself, but personally, she couldn’t see it.

      Trust Darlene Irving to mention her aborted wedding. The thought of Jason didn’t enter her mind anymore until someone mentioned him. Actually, compared to the suave, confident man across the room, Jason was a wimp.

      The thought surprised her. She hastily reminded herself that, wimp or not, Brad Irving was just as much a womanizer as Jason, and infinitely more irritating. Then she deliberately put them both out of her mind for the rest of the meal.

      By late afternoon the following day, the clouds that had been gathering all afternoon had gradually thickened to a thick gray mass above the slopes. By the time Anne and her siblings joined the midnight skiers at the chairlifts, the wind danced through the branches of the pines and tossed mounds of snow to the ground below. A fine mist hung over the lodge, obliterating the night sky.

      Grandpa James had already retired for the night, but Dan and Carol had settled themselves by the fire to await the return of their family.

      Elise and Sharon chattered endlessly as they waited for their turn on the lifts. Standing behind them, Anne listened to Paul’s account of his work as a computer analyst without really understanding what he was talking about. Her attention was on a tall, blond man at the rear of the line, deep in conversation with a redhead who laughed at everything he said. Anne wondered if they were at the lodge together, then told herself it was none of her business. Though she did wonder how romantic a rendezvous could be if Brad had brought his mother along.

      Some of the guests had braved the cool night wind to cheer on the skiers, and would remain on the terrace to watch the descent. The team’s headlamps would provide a pleasing display of bobbing lights as they swooped down the mountain.

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