one
HOLLY
“Are we there yet?I’m hungry!”
“Soon, sweetie,” I replied automatically, hoping I wasn’t lying.
I was more than ready to be there. The snow was coming down. Noelle was starting to get fidgety, and her whining was getting louder.
“It’s taking forever,” she complained dramatically.
My daughter. My six-year-old drama queen. She could be sweet as pie one minute and sassy as hell the next. But I loved her. Damn, did I love her.
I tightened my grip on the wheel and focused on the road. I wasn’t used to driving in snow like this. A snowstorm was predicted, but it arrived early. I’d hoped we’d make it to the ski lodge before it set in, but luck wasn’t on my side. No shock there really. It never was. Especially not these days.
Outside, everything was white. The fields on either side of the road were buried in snow, and the tree branches drooped heavily under the weight. The light was fading fast, and I wasn’t sure how much further we had to go. I cranked up theheating and slowed my pace. As much as I wanted to be there already, it was more important we got there in one piece.
“Mom! I need to go to the toilet,” Noelle whined again, and I rolled my eyes.
“Can you hang on a little longer, sweetie? We’re almost there.”
I couldn’t remember seeing a sign and hoped I wasn’t lying. Even with the heat blasting, I was cold and everything ached. We’d been on the road for hours. Dad had offered to fly us up, but I wanted my own car. I needed my own car. He was bringing wife number three, and she wasn’t the nicest person. I needed to make sure we had an escape if we needed it.
My phone rang, connecting through the car speakers.
“Hi, Dad,” I mumbled, preparing for the lecture coming my way.
“Holly! Where are you? There’s a blizzard,” Dad’s voice boomed, and I found myself sitting up a little straighter.
I was thirty-four years old, yet being scolded by my father still stung. You’d think I’d get used to it, but I never did.
“I know it’s snowing. We’re in it.”
“Well, where are you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Have you passed through Evergreen Lake yet?”
“I don’t think so.”
I squinted as I slowed to a crawl, trying to read the sign.
“You don’t think so? Holly! You were supposed to be here by now. Nikkie booked a table for dinner.”
Nikkie. Great.
I sighed heavily.
Nikkie was wife number three and was about as opposite to my mom as anyone could be. Where my mom had been sweet and kind and baked cookies with me, Nikkie was cold. She’s more about appearances than substance and I was under noillusions that she was with my dad for all the wrong reasons. She was more in love with his bank account than the man himself, but he couldn’t see it. And he wouldn’t listen, so I let it lie. There was no point picking a fight I couldn’t win. It would only hurt us all in the long run.
Spending Christmas with them, though, if it hadn’t been for the guilt trip Dad had laid on thick, he didn’t want to disappoint Nikkie who wanted to spend the holiday as a family, Noelle and I wouldn’t be here. Instead, we’d be at home, bundled up by the fire in our pajamas, drinking hot chocolate, stringing popcorn, and watching Christmas movies. Instead, we’d packed up our presents and were heading to a fancy ski lodge for the holidays. Dinner would be in an overpriced restaurant, and our room wouldn’t have a tree. Not a real one anyway. I’d snuck a three-foot fake in my luggage. I was determined to make sure Noelle felt the Christmas spirit, even if it upset them.
“I’m sorry. We had to make a few stops,” I explained, leaving out the fact we stopped to enjoy the trip. We’d stopped for pie at a diner on the side of the road that claimed it had the world's best apple pie. Then we stopped to play in the snow. We’d made snow angels, thrown snowballs, and built a snowman. We laughed until our fingers were numb and our noses cold. Life was too short to miss out on the fun, and Noelle and I knew that all too well.
“Well, you’re late!”
I felt my blood pressure rising and we hadn’t even made it there yet.
