I still felt bad about what happened, but when those doubts crept in, I remembered what was at stake and that it was for the best. That keeping our distance was the better, smarter alternative. Except when we were around each other and she got going with her cutting and sarcastic comments, I found myself reacting in kind. We just got under each other’s skin in the worst way.
It was either love or hate, and I chose hate.
#
With April back in her room, and my winterwear hung up and put away, I took my stuff to the little room Jeremy and I would share. Unpacking only took a few minutes, so I wandered back out into the living room, noticing that April’s door was shut tight.
Fine with me.
I went to sit on the couch, but movement outside the large window caught my eye. It was almost full-dark out, so I couldn’t see what it was until I got right up to it.
“Shit.” I muttered.
It was the snow. I’d been seeing flashes of light reflecting off the huge flakes. It was falling thick and heavy now. Even worse than before, and I’d had some trouble on the steeper sections of the road as it was. Jeremy was probably less than halfway, and the second part was all uphill through the narrow, windy passes. He had a Jeep though, so he was in better shape than most. If April’s parents weren’t really close, they might be in trouble too.
This was bad. Really bad.
Worrying about things I couldn’t control wouldn’t help, so I grabbed my headphones from my bag and then dropped onto the couch to listen to music until someone got there.
It would all be fine soon enough.
CHAPTER THREE
April
I checked my phone for the fiftieth time in an hour. Still no messages or calls. And it was getting really late. My parents should have landed by now, and Jeremy should have been here too.
This sucked. The entire reason I had tried to get out of coming up here was to avoid interacting with Ryan. And yet we’d been alone together for two hours already, and I was going a little stir crazy in the small bedroom.
I was going to kill my brother when he arrived. He knew more than anyone how Ryan and I felt about each other. I didn’t care about whatever crisis he had at work, he should have been here to play referee.
I’d finished wrapping the last of my presents a while ago, and had nothing else to do. There was an ancient television and DVD player in the living room, but Ryan was most likely out there. The cabin didn’t have Wi-Fi, and although there was a barely serviceable cell signal, data was out. It was like being stuck in the 1990’s. In a room the size of a shoebox.
I really wished that I had remembered to bring a book, or work stuff. Anything to distract me.
I was absently filing my already immaculate nails when my phone finally buzzed. I saw that it was my mother calling, and grabbed it immediately.
“Where are you guys? Tell me you’re on your way.” I begged, sounding as desperate as I felt.
“I’m so sorry honey. We got into LAX just fine, but they delayed our connecting flight out to Denver,” she answered, sounding despondent. “The storm has gotten a lot worse than anyone predicted, and we wouldn’t have been able to land. Your father and I have been running around looking for other options, but there just aren’t any. It looks like we’ll have to wait until at least morning now. I knew that we should have left a day earlier.”
My heart sank. This couldn’t be happening. It was my worst nightmare.
Literally, I’d had dreams exactly like this before.
“Umm. It’s OK. You can’t help the weather or the airlines, mom.” I told her, trying my best to sound upbeat. She loved Christmas and being at the cabin with all of us so damn much, I knew it had to be killing her to miss any of it. “Just keep me updated and I’ll see you tomorrow. It’s only one day, right?”
“Of course. And tell Jeremy what’s going on, will you? And Ryan. I’m glad the three of you will all be together at least. It makes me feel so much better.” And I knew she meant it honestly.
I loved my mother, but she lived in her own little world. Jeremy and my father saw and acknowledged how Ryan and I acted towards each other, but for some reason my mother refused to see it. She insisted that we were just like brother and sister. Maybe we fought a little bit, but it was out of love. No matter how many times I told her otherwise. And she never understood how difficult being around him was for me. It was partly my own fault, because every time I tried to back out of this type of thing, I caved as soon as she got upset. And because I always came, my problems with Ryan couldn’t be that bad, right?
“Well, Ryan is here. But Jeremy got held up at work. He should be here any minute though. I’ll tell him then,” I told her, through clenched teeth.
“Oh, no. It’s so late. I hope he’s okay. I don’t want to bother Jeremy while he’s driving, but text me the second he gets there please. Otherwise, I’ll worry.”
I promised to check in with her later, as long as the cell signal held out in the increasing volatile weather, and we hung up. I sat on my bed, clutching my phone to my chest.
This day had gone from bad to worse, and so much further. My parents wouldn’t be here anytime soon, and now I was concerned about my brother getting here safely. And the only person I had for comfort was my mortal enemy.