A Summer With Snow (Frosted Seasons #1) (26 page)

I lose focus of the garden as the knife falls from my hand; I watch it bounce across the kitchen floor. My heart races, and completely forgetting the salad, I dart into the hallway.

With fresh paint and wallpaper, Snow had insisted on covering the furniture, and wrapping up and boxing everything else. I look past the packed boxes to the picture frames, each one wrapped individually in sheets of brown paper. Pushing the boxes aside, I tear at the paper, shredding it between my fingers. I see photos of Mum and Dads’ wedding day, then
some of Jenny’s graduation. Ripping the next box open, I lift up a family picture of us all. I run back into the kitchen where the light is better and lean the photo against the tiles next to the window.

Rayne’s words are back in my head, about the kiss being owed to him… I squint at the picture and into a seventeen-year-old’s grey-blue eyes. Snow… My stomach lurches, and it’s as though I’ve been hit by reality. I close my eyes, remembering the straight face on his passport, and the name, Snow Rayne McKenzie that I read just before he snatched it from my hand. How could I possibly have forgotten? Breathing heavily, I slump over the breakfast bar.
If Rayne’s Snow, then who the fuck am I living with?

I think of the snide comments that were batted back and forth between Rayne and Snow, and realise they’re starting to make sense.

I manage to cook dinner, though the salad’s dissected rather than diced since my mind’s anywhere but on food. I hear the front door open.

“Darcy,” he shouts.

God, what do I call him?

Opening the oven door, goose bumps jump onto my arms.

“Look what I’ve got for you,” I hear, but I’m hesitant to turn.

Hearing little yelps, my curiosity gets the better of me, so closing the oven I peer over my shoulder. A small ball of white fluff is resting in his arms.

“She’s for you. I know it’s early, but I couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when I brought her home.”

I smile at the puppy.

“She’s lovely.”

I can feel myself softening, and I’m so close to running into his arms, but then reasoning takes over. I walk over to the sink.

“Darcy, what’s wrong?”

I pick up the disappointment in his voice.

“While you’ve been out, I’ve been thinking… This brother and sister thing, I just don’t think we’re going to work.”

“What? Everything between us has been great. Where the fuck’s this come from?”

I fall quiet. I’ve got to try and catch him out.

“If it weren’t for our past, we’d be fine…”

My heart drops as I see his reflection in the glass and realise he’s standing behind me.

“Darcy…”

I spin round.

“You know, don’t you?”

“Who the hell are you?” I shout into his face.

He bends, resting the puppy on the floor; she wanders around, sniffing the units.

“I think you ought to sit down,” he says as he pulls two chairs from beneath the table.

He sits opposite, dragging his fingers through his hair.

“It’s a long story,” he mutters under his breath.

“I don’t care how long it takes; isn’t it about time you stopped lying to me?”

“Darc, I haven’t exactly lied to you, it’s just the way you’ve chosen to interpret things.”

I raise my eyebrows, staring into someone’s eyes I feel I barely know.

“Really?”

“Really,” he replies. “There’s nothing I haven’t told you. I mentioned Rayne wasn’t my brother, that the Seasons Hotels were all his, oh, and you know about my acting. I said that Snow was my best role… I haven’t lied to you, I just haven’t elaborated.”

I look into a face full of pretence and empty words. I could almost shake myself at how easily I’ve been conned. But why would I have questioned someone I thought I knew so well and someone I thought loved me?

I narrow my eyes and stare back at him.

“Stand up,” I say.

The chair legs screech in much the same way as I’m screaming inside. I glare up at him.

I clap my hands. “You’ve played your part so well,” I spit out. “Isn’t it about time you do what every other actor does when the curtain is about to come down on them?”

He tilts his head, but I see no expression.

“This should be an easy one for an actor of your calibre … take a fucking bow.”

I’m surprised by what I’ve just blurted out, but more surprised still when he does as I’ve asked.

“You sarcastic git!” Even now he takes me for a fool. “Just get your bags and get out.”

“No, Darcy, not like this, please give me a chance to explain.”

“Five minutes and no more, but I’m telling you now, we’re over.”

He leaves me filling the kettle by the sink and stands looking out of the window as he waits for it to boil.

“Guess you’re going to tell me the reason you’re such a fuck-up is down to your childhood? It’d be so easy for you to blame something else.”

He shakes his head. “No, you’re wrong. I couldn’t have had a better childhood; I had everything I ever wanted.”

“That figures,” I utter sarcastically.

I watch steam rise as he pours water into two red mugs and stirs.

“My dad stopped at home, he was the one who brought me up while Mum worked four or five jobs, trying as hard as she could to make ends meet. Any money she earned from overtime was saved to put me through acting school so I could pursue my dream. But at the time I couldn’t see it, I just wanted her to be there.” He slams his first down on the sink. “That’s just it, Darc, she was never there… She put her life on hold for me, and all I could do in return was hate her.”

“Why didn’t your dad get a job, give her a break?” I ask.

“Because he was a lazy fucking bastard, and quite happy to sit at home on his arse and turn Mum into a workhorse.”

He turns towards me, then goes to sit down with a mug in each hand.

“She was too busy to even make time to turn up at my audition; the movie meant so much to me, yet she wasn’t there… I was so angry. I rang, but she didn’t answer, so I left a voicemail. I said some really awful things, and just before I hung up I said she was a useless mother and that I hated her.”

I reach for my mug.

“We all get angry,” I say. “I guess at times we all say things we don’t mean. She’s your mum, I’m sure she’s forgiven you.”

He drops his shoulders.

“She left work early and ran a few speed cameras trying to make my audition… There was a collision, her and two other cars.”

I hold my hand to my mouth.

“Oh my God.”

“The drivers of the other cars got away with a few minor injuries, but Mum wasn’t that lucky. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. After she died, I collected her things, and when I looked through her phone I saw that she’d listened to the voicemail I left her. She died thinking I hated her … it was a wrong I could never right. I couldn’t live with myself. I started to drink and gamble, and in a matter of weeks ended up in a gang, on the streets. It was quite a while before I landed in rehab, but it was there that I met Snow. Though when I met him he went by the name of Rayne.”

“Why didn’t he use his first name?”

“He always associated the name Snow with Summer’s death, so maybe being called something else helped him forget.”

“Okay, I can buy that, but why did you steal his identity?”

“It was unintentional; I never meant any of this to happen. Rayne had his reasons… He couldn’t cope with the businesses, asked me to go abroad and sign a few cheques on his behalf. I was trying to help, but in doing so things spiralled out of control. Instead of standing in for him, I
became
him. I was Snow, the face of the Seasons Hotels. I even went as far as to change my name by deed poll.”

“What happened when he found out?”

“What do you think? He was pissed… He asked me to do one final thing.”

“The funeral?” I interrupt.

He nods. “I was never meant to fly back out to Mexico; he was taking over the businesses in his own right, and I was going to disappear.”

“So what happened?” I quiz.

He smiles. “You, that’s what happened.”

Looking back at him and seeing the way he holds me in his eyes, my heart can’t help but feel heavy. I want more than anything to give him another chance, but could I ever trust him? I feel something rub against my leg, and dropping my eyes I glance down beneath the table. The puppy sits with her head cocked to one side, and I’m hit by the nice things he does. I think of Rayne and realise I’ve spent the last ten years in love with someone who only really existed in my mind.

“So for starters, how about telling me your real name?”

“Gabriel Cole,” he says, reaching his hand across the table. “Pleased to meet you.”

I take it, but quite abruptly he lets go as his phone buzzes.

“Good timing, Chase,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Soz, Darc, but I’ve got to take this.”

He walks into the hallway, leaving me alone with a cool cup of tea and my thoughts. Maybe I can forgive him, learn to live with what he’s done. It’s not a decision I can make overnight, I need time. Even after everything he’s told me, the feelings I have are still strong … I still love him. I’m not going to call things a day, well not yet anyway; I’ll ask him to move out for a while, we’ll go on dates, build things up gradually. I need to get to know Gabriel Cole, the man with whom I’m planning on sharing the rest of my life. The kitchen door opens and Gabriel leans back against it, his face ashen, drained of colour.

My eyes widen. “What’s up?”

“Chase, he wasn’t his usual self.” He looks down at his feet. “He sounded shifty. I can’t be sure, but I think they may be setting me up. God damn it!”

I watch his hands clench as he hits the doorframe.

“Gabriel, I don’t understand, setting you up for what?”

“For fucking murder, that’s what!” he spits out.

“Murder!” I gasp.

It feels as though my last breath has been knocked out of me. My shoulders drop as I slouch down in my chair. Not knowing where to look, I gaze down at my fingers as they strum in my lap.

“Gabriel, start talking.”

“There was something I didn’t mention…”

I lean forwards.

“I’m all ears.”

He takes a deep breath. “You know how I rushed to get you off the yacht? Well, there was a good reason. We needed to get a flight and get out of the country fast.”

“Go on,” I prompt.

“Me and Rayne…”

“Oh God, tell me you didn’t!”

“Do you really need to ask? No, of course I didn’t. I may be capable of a lot of things, but murder’s not one of them.”

He looks up at the ceiling, like he’s remembering.

“As planned, we met in the dining room. The truth was meant to come out, you were meant to be there. We had words. Between us we polished off a bottle of wine; I opened another, drank that and started on the whisky. I remember we parted on bad terms and I finished my drink alone, stumbling back to our cabin. Chase called me early. I walked into the dining room, and there was blood, so much blood. He searched the yacht, but Rayne was nowhere.”

“People don’t just vanish…”

“That’s just it, Darc, I took Chase’s word, and it never crossed my mind to check for myself.”

“Why would you even think that of Chase? He’s your best friend.”

“Maybe it has to do with the small fact that Rayne is worth well over a billion… Money can buy anything or anyone. Chase has never been well off, so I’m putting two and two together and things are starting to add up.”

“I knew Rayne well; I can’t understand why he’d go that far.”

“Think how hard it would have been to fly from country to country, visiting each hotel and telling all his staff that I was only ever an imposter and he is the real Snow. Think of all the red tape and shit that would come with it.” He laughs. “I’ve done him an injustice; he’s clever, far cleverer than I have given him credit for. He’s sorted his life out, and now it seems he’s one step ahead, one big fucking step. I know what game he’s playing… If I’m had for murder, what do you think that’ll mean?”

I frown and sit quietly.

“Publicity, Darcy, that’s what.”

“Gabriel, you’re lying. I don’t buy any of it; the papers would be full of bad publicity, so what you’re saying makes no sense.”

He sucks in his lips. “You’re so naive! Lift those rose-tinted glasses you wear. Believe me, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. He called my bluff, told me he could double hotel bookings overnight, and by doing what he’s done to me, I believe that he can. So I go down for murder, and when he feels like it he decides to turn up. So the murder case is dropped, but I’m not off the hook, as he’ll have me for fraud; yet more publicity. So you see, Darcy, he has all ends tied up.”

I lift my hands.

“Where does that leave
us
… What now?”

“Chase and Rayne know where I live, so if my assumptions are correct, it’s only a matter of time before the police turn up. Darcy, grab the dog and a few things … we need to get out of here.”

“Seriously, after everything you’ve told me?”

“It’s up to you, but when I walk out of this house, you’ll never see me again. This time I won’t be coming back. I’ve disappeared before, it’s no hardship to do it again.”

My throat burns, tears stinging my eyes.

“You’re asking me to give up so much, but why should I, and how could I ever trust you?”

He steps towards me and I expect him to take a seat at the table, but he kneels down and reaches into his pocket.

“This is for you,” he says, lifting a blue velvet ring box and placing it into my hand.

He’s got to be joking
. I feel my palm go rigid around the box.

“It doesn’t work like this, you can’t buy me. The puppy’s lovely, but a ring?” I feel my eyes widen. “I hope it isn’t an engagement ring.”

“Darcy, just open the box.”

“After everything you’ve told me? I don’t want it! Put it back in your pocket, and I’ll pretend you never gave it me.”

“Open the damn box!” He laughs, gazing up at me.

I roll my eyes, look down into my palm and lift the lid. Though totally pissed off with him, I start laughing too.

“You judged me before you even looked… Can I slip it on your finger?”