Winter Interlude (8 page)

His words and annoyed manner had her grasping for patience.
Okay. He hasn’t kissed me hello, even though it’s been a while since we were last together. Plus, he’s complaining about traffic.
Both only strengthened her resolve to get him to relax. In an effort to cheer him up, she began recounting her buying spree back east, happy to note after a couple of blocks he was smiling.

She had him laughing by the time they entered the entrance to the Bay Bridge. Her story ended at the same time he turned into the arena garage. As he drove up the ramp, she eyed him carefully, wondering whether to finalize their plans for the ski trip. No. Not yet. She’d wait until after the game.

After exiting the parked car,
Kate
took hold of Jame
s’
hand and pulled him along. “Let’s hurry. I don’t want to miss the tip
-
off.”

“
Kate
, slow down,” he said, laughing. “We have plenty of time.”

“Not if we want to get something to eat before it starts,” she said, relieved to see him finally unwind.

“Oh, that’s right. It’s going to cost me an arm and a leg just to satisfy your junk food craving. Where do you put it all?” he teased. His gaze took a suggestive trip over her body, going up, then down
,
and back up again.

“Just consider this a cheap date. You won’t have to take me out afterward.” Oh
,
how she wished James
w
ould be this easy
going
all the time.

“Sold.”

Once inside, James pulled the tickets out of his pockets and handed her one. “
Tell me what
you want and I’ll get it
—
you go sit down.”

“Two hot dogs with the works, nachos with lots of cheese
,
and a beer,” she rattled off. She looked at him and smiled. “I may want more later, but that should tide me over.”

“Got it.”
H
e
shook his head and
returned her smile. “I know you’ll eat every bite.”

“Of course I will,” she said, mirroring his teasing voice. “I’m a growing girl.”

“It’s amazing.”

“What’s amazing?”

“In
all the
years I’ve known you, you’ve never gained an ounce though you eat like a truck driver at times.” He turned a
nd
walked away, still shaking his head.

James returned with hot dogs, nachos
,
and beer, and for the next two hours
,
neither mentioned anything more serious than what the players were doing on the court. The game ended with a victory for her team.

E
ven the
stop-and-go
traffic on the way out of the parking garage didn’t mar Jame
s’
good mood. He was definitely relaxed.

On the drive back, he opened up a little more about his completed project and how smoothly his meeting went. By the time they neared her neighborhood, she decided it was silly to be worried, since
this
James was the man she’d come to love
,
not the other one who kept distancing himself with work. “We need to firm up plans for the weekend. What time are we leaving on Thursday?”

“I wanted to discuss that with you.” James cleared his throat. “I can’t leave on Thursday.”

“Why not?”
Kate
eyed him suspiciously. “It’s supposed to be a three
-
day weekend and I thought you were looking forward to skiing on Friday without the crowds. Plus, they’re predicting snow.” They’d bought their usual season passes together earlier last summer. While the money wasn’t a problem for him, it had been a chunk of change for her, which meant careful budgeting. Buying a pass in advance usually paid off
,
since in the past the two went up often enough to more than break even. But this year, he’d barely used his. “We’ll be skiing powder. You haven’t been
skiing
since before Christmas.”

In her situation
, she couldn’t afford to be so lax. Every weekend she didn’t go meant wasted money. Some people went on exotic two
-
week trips where
,
once it was over
,
it was over. S
now s
kiing was her exotic vacation that lasted the entire winter. Still, it bugged her that James kept
backing out
.

“I know, but something came up with work.”

Of course
,
something came up with work. Doesn’t it always?
Instead of voicing her first reaction, she countered
, “Your project’s done, James.
You’ve been
working nonstop for months
…
you need a break.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “The partners are having a meeting Friday morning.”

“Can you reschedule?”

“No,” he said firmly.

“Why not?” Her gaze narrowed. “You’re one of the head honchos.” He was a senior partner of Morrison, Morgan
,
and Stone, an architectural firm located in San Mateo, twenty minutes south of San Francisco.

“It’s the only time everyone can meet, and it’s important. Besides, I planned to leave right after the meeting. We’ll still have Friday afternoon and the rest of the weekend together.”

She turned and
looked blindly
out the passenger window, her thoughts suddenly jumbled. Her plans were going south fast.
It would be torture to s
pend an evening with Paul and Judith as a
third wheel, s
o much so she
might
decide
against going up early.
What if Judith and Paul decided to cancel, making it a moot point?
On the practical side,
she’d already
arranged for someone else to cover her at
her
shop
. By keeping to her original plans, she’d knock out another awesome powder day on the slopes
—a
n
uncrowded one
,
at that. But
she’d be
skiing alone…again.

She glanced back at him and pleaded, “Are you sure you can’t leave Thursday night?”

“I’m sure. Let’s plan another three
-
day weekend if it means so much to you.”

Fat chance of that happening.
By then
,
he’d be involved in a new project and have another reason to cancel. “You could rearrange your meeting if you wanted,” she accused, not backing down this time.

“Quit pushing,” he barked.

Kate
froze, staring mutely at him.
There was no hiding
the fact his actions and words had stung.

A d
eafening silence hung in the air until he sighed. “You’ve been up there plenty of times by yourself before, so why not now?” he finally asked, his voice and manner softer. “It’s only one night.”

“Paul will be there.”

James turned onto her street. “So? He’s not that bad.”

Her jaw dropped a good inch. Easy for him to say when he wasn’t on the receiving end of the guy’s razor wit. “I’d rather not deal with him alone if I don’t have to.”

“You should’ve thought about that before you invited him.” When she remained silent, he added, “The house is big enough that you don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. Just stay in the guesthouse tomorrow night. I’ll break away as soon as I can on Friday.” Though he was attempting to smooth things over, she noted a bit of tension in his eyes.
F
rustration came out in his long sigh. “I’m looking forward to getting away for the weekend.”

Her hurt slowly dissipated. He was trying, which
helped
. “Okay,” she said, nodding. “I guess I can head up alone.”
S
he’d done so many times. Besides, if it did snow, she’d regret missing the opportunity to make first tracks down the mountain in fresh powder, something diehard skiers like her lived for. And she
had
vowed to make friends with Paul. With Judith
there
, it would be easier.

“Can we cook in Friday night and go out Saturday?” James slowed the car. “This way we can be more flexible. The restaurants are always so crowded.”

“Sure. I’ll hit the store after skiing. What time do you think you’ll be there?”

“The meeting should be over by ten,” he said, pulling into her apartment driveway, leaving the motor running. “So let’s plan on two…three at the latest, depending on traffic.”

“Okay, we’re on.”
Kate
heaved a relieved sigh, happy he was cooperating with at least part of her plans. But the mood only lasted until it became obvious he meant to drop her off and not spend the night. She sent him a questioning look.

“Cut me a break here, will you? I have an early appointment with a new client in the morning, and I still have about three hours of work left before I can meet with him.”

Yep, he was definitely backing off.
Kate
now recognized the signals. He
was
using work to distance himself.

He turned to stare out the window, avoiding her gaze, and said,
“
I’ll give you a call.”

She grabbed the handle, shoved the door open
,
and glanced back at him.

He didn’t move.

“Sure, no problem,” she
choked out
. She
hurri
ed
out of the car and headed into her building as fast as her feet
w
ould carry her before she lost it and told him where he could stuff his demanding workload.

“Damn the man!” she thought, brushing a tear away and feeling him slip away even more.

~

T
he next evening
,
Kate
watched from the lobby’s glass door of her apartment building for Judith. When her dark green Murano pulled to a stop, double
-
parking beside another car, she ran and jumped inside.

“Right on time, I see,” Judith said, letting her foot off the brake.

“Thanks for driving.” She reached for her seatbelt.

“No problem.”

Kate
grimaced
as she fastened the buckle
,
remembering her news. “Oh, by the way, James isn’t going up until Friday afternoon, so I’m on my own tomorrow.”