Just Perfect (15 page)

“This is it.” Christine rose with Jonathan in her arms.

They all gathered in a semicircle, staring at the towering piece of artificial foliage that stood before the wall of windows with the mountains in the background. Dozens of white swans made from real feathers circled the branches, tailing yards of iridescent ribbon. Thousands of tiny white lights shone off hand-blown glass ornaments from Marino, Italy, in shades of pink, lavender, silver, and gold. Frosty glitter covered plum-colored balls and Waterford icicles dripped like diamonds.

“Yep.” Robbie nodded. “That’s a tree all right.”

“It’s pretty!” Charles exclaimed, his eyes dancing with reflective light. Christine had to admit, it really was beautiful. Even so, she would take one of Maddy’s trees covered in makeshift ornaments any day.

“I presume there’s a theme.” Robert Senior tilted his head, considering it the way he would an abstract painting. “Barbara always has a theme.”

“I believe she and the decorator called it a ‘sugarplum confection,’ ” Christine informed them.

“Hmm.” Her father pinched his lower lip. “Well, if she’s happy with it.”

“Speaking of confections…” Natalie sniffed the air. “Do I smell something baking?”

“Candles.” Christine wrinkled her nose. “The decorator lit sugar cookie-scented candles before she left. They’re driving me and the boys crazy with hunger and sent Mom to bed with a migraine. I blew them all out, but my stomach is still demanding ‘cookies’!” she said in her best Cookie Monster imitation.

Jonathan clapped at her funny voice, so of course she had to tickle him. What a darling boy he was.

“Well”—Natalie took the baby from his aunt— “we’ll just have to do something about that, now, won’t we?”

“You know how to make sugar cookies?” Christine asked hopefully.

“Get real.” Natalie rolled her eyes. “I’ll call that little grocer in East Village and have them deliver some packages of premade dough and squeeze tubes of colored icing. It’s not from scratch, but it is fun. We can have a cookie decorating party.”

“Works for me,” Christine decided.

“Would anyone care for a drink?” Robert Senior asked as he moved to the wet bar near the fireplace.

Christine and Robbie both said yes while Natalie headed for the kitchen with both the boys to fix their afternoon snack.

“That was quite a show you put on today,” Robbie said to Christine as they settled on the sofa.

“Did the crowd enjoy it?” she asked.

“I don’t know about that, but I did,” Robbie said. “I must hand it to you, sis, you know your stuff.”

“Did you think I didn’t?”

“Don’t get touchy. I’m giving you a compliment.”

“He’s right.” Their father handed her a glass of white wine, assuming that’s what she wanted, since that’s “what women drank.”

“I was quite impressed.”

Christine blinked. Had she heard right? A compliment from her father? “T-thank you.”

Her mind reeled as her father took a seat, crossing his legs and sipping his Scotch. She could count on one hand the times her father had praised her. Well, “praise” was probably a strong word. Given her “a nod of approval” would be more accurate. For him to be “impressed” left her speechless.

Her brother settled back with his glass of Scotch. “Are you still set on working ER?”

“Absolutely.” She straightened. “I really do love it.”

Robbie looked at their father. “Dad, isn’t St. James hunting for a good trauma specialist? They should consider Christine.”

“You know, you’re right.” Robert Senior nodded. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

No, of course not. Why would he automatically think of his daughter just because the hospital on whose board he served happened to be looking for someone with her qualifications?

He looked at her. “Would a position at St. James interest you?”

To work at her father’s hospital, among his closest colleagues? To have a chance to earn their respect? To really prove herself once and for all? She’d sell her soul!

She schooled her features into a bland expression. “I’d consider it. What are they offering?”

“I’m not sure. I do know they want someone with experience.” He sipped from his glass. “If you like, I could offer my recommendation.”

Her eyes stung unexpectedly. “You’d do that?”

“As I said, I was quite impressed with you today. Besides, you
are
an Ashton.” He toasted her.

A shaky feeling assailed her, so intense she couldn’t even return the toast. “Thank you.” She took a quick sip and set the glass on the coffee table, worried she’d drop it. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go see if Natalie needs help.”

She fled the room before she did anything completely embarrassing, like burst into tears. Her father, Dr. Robert Ashton Sr., was going to recommend her for a post at St. James Hospital.

This was everything she’d ever wanted!

Okay, so Robbie had been the one to prod their father by making the suggestion, but still, their father had offered to lend her the same support he’d given Robbie.

Joy so sweet it hurt expanded inside her.

For a second, she didn’t even care whether she outskied Robbie on the slopes tomorrow. This victory was enough. Then she laughed that notion off. After a lifetime of earing her brother’s dust, she hoped she trounced him!

They say patience is a virtue, but action gets things done. —
How
to
Have
a
Perfect life

Christine was late. Alec checked his watch, then scanned the rest area near the Union Park lift house. A good-sized crowd stood in line, waiting for a chair, while others sat at the picnic tables taking a break. But still no sign of Christine, which puzzled him. She’d been late a few times for her lessons, but never half an hour late. Was she confused about where they’d agreed to meet? She had looked more than a little dazed when he’d told her.

The memory of how she’d looked after he’d kissed her made him even more eager to see her again. Where was she?

Buddy let out an impatient whine. Once he had on his red vest, he was used to working, not standing around doing nothing.

“I know, boy.” Alec absently scratched the dog’s head, wondering if he was being stood up. Maybe he should ski down to the trail map, see if she was waiting for him there. But what if he passed her?

The radio he always carried while on duty crack-led, and Trent’s voice came out. “Ski patrol to 14B32. Alec, you there?”

Frowning, he pulled the radio out of his coat pocket. The last thing he wanted right now was a call that would have him skiing off to rescue some idiot who’d ignored the out-of-bounds markers, leaving Christine to think he’d stood her up. “This is 14B32, copy.”

“Ski patrol to 14B32. We have a situation at the Free Flyer lift house that needs your attention. Over.”

Situation? What the heck was a “situation”? “Copy ski patrol. I’m a little tied up. Is it something you can handle? Over.”

“No, I really think you need to handle this one personally. Over.”

“Can you give me more information? Over.”

“We have a skier by the name of Christine Ashton suffering from a case of acute panic disorder—”

“Copy that. I’ll be right there. Over.”

Buddy jumped into action when Alec pushed off, running at his side. They made it from the Union Park rest area to the Free Flyer lift house in record time. Alec skidded to a halt, but didn’t see any sign of Trent or Christine. “Hey,” he shouted to one of the lift ops. “I hear you have a problem?”

“Over there.” The liftie pointed to an area near the edge of the slope.

At first, all he saw was Trent standing with his back to him, but as he skied closer, he saw Christine sitting on a boulder. She had a bottle of water clasped in both hands as she stared straight ahead.

Trent looked over as he approached. “That was quick.”

Ignoring Trent, he removed his skies and knelt before Christine. Her breathing was entirely too fast and shallow.

“Hey, there,” he said softly. “What’s up?”

“I can’t get on the lift.” She blinked rapidly, but her eyes remained dry. “I can’t do it.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to.” Pulling off his right glove, he slipped his fingers under the cuff of her jacket to take her pulse. The rapid beat alarmed him. “We’ll just sit here for a while, okay?”

She nodded, swallowing hard as she battled back tears. Buddy nudged her hand with his nose, his brow wrinkled with worry.

Alec glanced over his shoulder. “What happened?”

“She froze up at the front of the lift line,” Trent explained. “Started hyperventilating and clutching her chest. The ops thought she was having a heart attack and called me. Chris insisted it was just panic and would stop in a second, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping. And I have no idea what triggered it.”

“She has a thing about heights.” Alec turned back to her. “You’ve been doing so great, though. What happened?”

The tears she’d been fighting welled up, filling her eyes. “You were always with me before. You weren’t with me today.”

“Oh, baby.” His heart clenched as he slipped onto the boulder beside her and pulled her into his arms.

“I’m sorry.” She ducked her head against his chest. With her helmet off, her hair brushed against his chin. “This is so embarrassing.”

Alec looked at Trent. “Hey, look, I got it, man.”

“She’s all yours.” Trent picked up his backpack and skied off, apparently grateful for the chance to escape. Alec almost smiled at Trent’s haste. They’d been through a lot of tight situations together, risking their lives to save others, but give them a crying woman, and Trent turned jittery every time.

Alec rubbed Christine’s back through her parka, hoping to soothe her as Buddy laid down at her feet. “So, tell me what happened. Did you do okay this morning with your brother and father?”

“At first I did.” She straightened and dried her face with her gloves. The wind and cold had chapped her cheeks. “Like you said, I’ve been doing really well, so I thought I was over this. On the first lift ride, I didn’t even hesitate. We all jumped on a chair together, and I thought, Okay, this is great. No panic at all. But then, I don’t know, halfway up…” Her breathing turned ragged again.

“Here, drink some water.” He coaxed the bottle up, and waited for her to drink. “Better?”

She nodded. “Halfway up, Robbie started teasing me the way he always does.”

“How’s that?”

“Saying things like, ‘So you really think you can out ski me, huh? Maybe we should do some jumps and have Dad score us.’ And I told him, ‘Yes, let’s do that.’ But then my dad sighed and said, ‘Can’t I just proclaim Robbie the winner now and enjoy the rest of the day without these useless challenges? We all know he’ll win anyway.’ ”

“What?” Alec shook his head in surprise. The father she loved so greatly and respected so much would say something that cruel? “Ouch.”

“Yes! Thank you!” Some color returned to her face.

“How does Dad not see how insulting it is when he says things like that?”

“So what happened?”

“Robbie and I insisted that we do the challenge. So we went to Miner’s Basin.”

“Good choice.” Alec nodded. That area had lots of places to catch some air. “How’d you do?”