One Frosty Night. Janice Johnson Kay

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СКАЧАТЬ acting...strange. I tried to talk him out of going.”

      “Your mother didn’t go.”

      She made a face. “They weren’t speaking. How could she?”

      “Is she mad at you, too?”

      Olivia pondered his question for a minute and finally had to answer truthfully, “I don’t know. She doesn’t like me pushing for answers. But also...I was always kind of Daddy’s girl. A tomboy.” Like he didn’t know that. “More interested in the business than I was in clothes or homemaking.”

      From the minute she’d been old enough, she had worked part-time at the hardware store, full-time in the summer all the way through college. It’s why she’d been able to step in comfortably after his heart attack.

      As a wounded sixteen-year-old, she hadn’t been able to help wondering if she just wasn’t feminine enough to keep Ben’s attention. In Crescent Creek, his options had been limited, but once he was surrounded by beautiful college girls, the girlfriend he’d left behind would have been cast in new relief. A giraffe—tall, skinny, lacking enough curves. Better with a circular saw than she was with a mascara wand.

      Feeling impatient, she told herself it had been too long ago for her to still be wondering.

      “So your mother believes you were on his side.” Ben sounded thoughtful now. “Or thinks you’d be sympathetic to him on whatever their issue was.”

      “Issue?” she echoed. “That’s a mild way of describing something that would split them, of all people, apart.”

      “Maybe they weren’t as solid as they seemed.”

      “A few months ago, I’d have laughed at that suggestion. I know my parents.” More softly, she amended, “I thought I knew my parents.”

      “You know she’ll talk to you eventually.”

      “Do I?” Olivia sighed. “If she was only hurt, I’d agree, but she’s harboring so much anger. And that’s not like Mom.”

      This time he didn’t say anything. After all, he didn’t know her parents the way she did.

      She turned her head and really looked at him. “You haven’t heard anything, have you? You know... Rumors. If you have, please tell me. Don’t think I’m better off not knowing.”

      But he was shaking his dark head long before she finished. “I haven’t, Olivia. Not a word. People are feeling really bad for your mom.”

      She went back to staring out at the snowy landscape. “She wants me to help clean the house out. Get it ready to sell. I said, ‘Gee, that sounds like fun. Let’s have a garage sale, why don’t we?’”

      Ben gave a rough chuckle. “Bet that went over well.”

      “Oh, yeah.” Her mouth curved into a reluctant smile. “So that’s the story. Wow. Now I can’t decide if I’m hungry enough for that cheeseburger after all.”

      He laughed again. “Didn’t eat a bite at Guido’s, huh?”

      “I poked and stirred.”

      “Eat.” The bag rustled when he reached into it, and he even partially unwrapped the burger before handing it to her. “Go on. You’ll feel better.”

      Feeling calmer for no good reason, she did. Halfway through the cheeseburger, she felt the need to break the silence.

      “What you did for that girl... It was nice.”

      His shoulders moved. From his profile, she thought she’d embarrassed him.

      “If I hadn’t started that fund, someone else would have.”

      “Maybe. I’m not so sure. The thing is, you did it for the right reasons. In Guido’s I heard people talking, and it made me mad. It was all about TV coverage and feeling self-satisfied.”

      The skin beside his espresso-dark eyes crinkled. “You were already mad.”

      “Well...yeah.”

      “Damn, Olivia.” The timbre of his voice had changed. “I’ve missed you.”

      “Sure you did.” Appetite gone, she rewrapped the remaining half of the cheeseburger. “I really do need to get back, Ben. Thanks for listening.”

      She felt him studying her. Her skin prickled from her acute awareness.

      “Okay,” he said, in seeming resignation. He released the emergency brake and put the Jeep into gear. “I am sorry.”

      She bent her head in stiff acknowledgment, not daring to ask whether he was sorry about her present turmoil—or because he’d hurt her all those years ago. “Thank you.”

      Neither said anything during the short drive back to town. Only when he double-parked in front of the hardware store did she remember the lunch. “You should let me pay—”

      Ben’s expression shut her down.

      “Thank you,” she said again and hopped out, taking her drink and the leftovers in the sack with her.

      “Good seeing you, Olivia,” he murmured, and, once she’d shut the door and retreated to the curb, he drove away without looking back that she could tell.

      Her heart slammed in her chest, and she felt a yawning emptiness deep inside.

       CHAPTER TWO

      CARSON CALDWELL LEAPED to knock the shot away; then, when the ball soared over his head, he turned to watch it sink through the net. Whish. Really pretty.

      I should have stopped it, he told himself furiously. He’d hesitated too long, not starting his jump until the ball was already leaving Bearden’s fingers. Too late, not concentrating.

       This isn’t a game.

      No, but Coach was watching. If Carson wasn’t careful, he’d find his ass sitting on the bench tomorrow night when Crescent Creek played Arlington High School.

      He ran back down the court with the rest of the team, the sound of their feet thundering on the gymnasium floor. A shoulder jostled him hard, knocking him off balance. He flicked a glance at Coach, who paced the sidelines but didn’t see. A lot of this shit had been happening.

      Wham. The ball hit Carson in the chest and fell away. Finkel snapped it up and tore back down the court, making an easy layup.

      The whistle blew, echoing shrilly off the concrete block walls. “All right,” Coach called. “That’s enough for today. Hit the showers. Caldwell, I want to talk to you.”

       Oh, shit, oh, shit.

      Momentarily he was surrounded as they all walked over to grab towels and water bottles. There was another hard bump that had him cracking his shin СКАЧАТЬ