Snowbound Summer (2 page)

“Ron,” Kara said, encouraging him to give her his attention.

Ron wouldn't look her in the eye. “You don't have to help me,” he said as he reached in the trunk for another case.

“Ron,” Kara repeated.

“I don't mind making two trips,” he told her.

Kara covered his white hand with her darker one as he reached back into the trunk. She didn't ask the question she'd intended, transforming her growing concern about this increasingly bleak weekend into a more general inquiry. “Ron, what's wrong?”

Ron hesitated and Kara didn't like the expression she saw on his face. Usually Kara's boyfriend radiated confidence and good humor, but at this moment he looked disappointed and more unsure of himself than she ever remembered seeing. “I'm sorry,” he said.

Kara didn't precisely understand what motivated the apology. Despite his rudeness, Ron's father was actually on what for him counted as good behavior. And Ron's mother really hadn't gotten bad yet.

When Kara didn't answer, Ron continued. “It's just one weekend,” he reminded her. “And it's important to her. She's been married to a man who has hated her for forty years. Can we please just give her one weekend?”

Now it was Kara's turn to hesitate as a surprising blast of jealousy roared up inside of her. A little part of her consciousness buried in the back of her brain knew it was stupid on her part, but she didn't like Ron acting more worried about his mother than he was about her. The negative feelings stiffened her spine and kept her from letting Ron off easy. “You promised me—” she began.

“I know,” Ron interrupted her. “Believe me, I know! But I didn't think my sisters would abandon her on the first day, and you saw my Dad in there. It's even worse than at home...there he can go down in the basement to ignore her. Here...”

His voice trailed off and he looked like a lost little boy wondering where his parents were.

Kara did feel bad for him, but that didn't mean she was prepared to completely concede the weekend. That wouldn't be good for Ron and it certainly wouldn't be enjoyable for Kara. “You knew it was going to be hard,” she said. “You were the one who warned me how crazy it would be to force your parents to spend a whole weekend together.”

“I know,” Ron said, “but I, I don't think my mother really believed it would be like this. Did you see her face in there? They haven't taken a vacation together since we were kids and I just don't think she remembered how bad it would be.”

That's not our fault!
Kara wanted to tell him. What she said instead was, “You're not responsible for your parents’ crummy marriage.”

Ron didn't argue the point, what he did instead was to cleverly play on Kara's compassion by pulling on her heartstrings. “But it's their fortieth wedding anniversary,” he reminded her. “Could we make this our real gift to them?”

Kara didn't like the direction this conversation seemed to be going. “Ron, we can't fix your parents’ marriage in a weekend.” She should have stopped there but she was annoyed with him for dragging her out here and really didn't want to spend this weekend with his mother “We couldn't fix your parents’ marriage in a lifetime,” she finished.

The cool confidant Ron peaked out again for a moment, but Kara knew him well enough not to believe in it this time. He pulled her into his arms, trying to play her. “Kara, I know we're not going to
fix
my parents this weekend. Hell, let's be honest, nothing is going to make my father enjoy this trip.”

Except your mother dropping dead,
Kara thought unkindly.

“But if we just give my mother a little attention, maybe when she gets home she won't think this was such a disaster. Maybe all of this would be worthwhile if the two of you could become friends.”

Kara hugged him, surrendering to his embrace, not because she felt particularly close to him at this moment but because he suddenly seemed so young, naive and vulnerable. “Oh, Ron, your mother doesn't want us to be friends,” she whispered. “She wants you to break up with me and start going out with someone your own age.”

It was a cold assessment of the truth, but it stiffened Ron's back in her defense, instead of his mother's. “That isn't going to happen!” Ron told her. “Mom is going to have to get used to you being around.”

Kara appreciated that he hadn't denied his mother's intentions. In many ways, Ron was a remarkably honest man and he truly cared about her. She decided she could find it in her heart to compromise with him.

“I'll make you a deal,” she said relaxing her embrace and taking a step back away from Ron.

Ron's aura of confidence felt natural now. He trusted her, Kara realized, and now that he knew she would negotiate on this he felt certain they would figure out a way to do the right thing and still have fun. “I'm listening.”

“We give your mother today,” Kara said. “And sometime tonight, you make certain your sisters know that each of them takes a turn for the rest of the weekend. If we do today, then Anne can have Saturday, and Kitten can take her on Sunday.”

“That seems remarkably fair,” Ron agreed.

“Just so long as your sisters understand how fair we're being,” Kara said.

Behind Ron, high in the sky, storm clouds could be seen moving in their direction.

* * * *

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Chapter Two

“Is everything all right?” Hanna asked as Ron held the door for Kara as she carried in two of her suitcases. “You took a little longer than I expected.”

Kara smothered the desire to make a sharp remark and reminded herself that she, too, had a difficult mother.

Hanna didn't wait for Ron or Kara to answer. She snapped out her husband's name. “Howard! Where are your manners? Get up off the couch and help Kara with her suitcases. You're going to make Kara feel like she isn't welcome.”

Fancy that,
Kara thought.
Hanna is worried that the misogynist might make me feel unwelcome

The only movement Howard Miller made was to open his mouth to snap at his wife. “And why would I want to—”

“Dad!” Ron barked, cutting off his father's sentence. “If you want us to go home, just say so, because if you finish that thought, we're
both
leaving.”

“Ron!” his mother protested.

If Ron was serious, Kara hoped Howard would finish his sentence. This weekend worsened every moment they stayed in this cabin.

Howard considered Ron's threat for a few moments and then adjusted his seat in front of the television.

“Howard! Take Kara's bags!” Hanna insisted.

Kara really didn't want the man touching them. “That's okay,” she said. “I don't mind carrying them. How far could it be?”

Kara's willingness to continue carrying her bags seemed to make Hanna apprehensive. “It's not necessary,” the older woman said. “Just put them down. Ron can get them.”

“It's really no problem,” Kara said. Since there was no stairwell in sight, she carried her bags toward the corridor at the back of the television room. “Which room do you want Ron and me in?” Even as she said it, she internally cringed. Living in sin was a huge
no-no
in her family—especially with Kara's mother. Despite Ron's assurance that it shouldn't be a problem, Kara felt awkward about sleeping with Ron under his parents’ roof—not that she had any desire to sleep alone either.

Without waiting for Hanna to answer, Kara began to look though the open doorways at the bedrooms beyond. All three had suitcases in them.

Ron caught up with her and looked just as confused as Kara felt. “Where's our room, Mom?”

Ron's father chuckled.

“We, um, didn't have enough of them,” Hanna confessed.

The revelation clearly surprised Ron—surprised and hurt him. “Oh,” he said, “I guess that's not a problem. Kara and I will get a room in the lodge.”

Even as Ron said this, his brain caught up with the implications of the idea and he smiled.

Kara smiled with him—the perfect excuse to get out of the cabin.

“I don't want you to do that,” Ron's mother said. “It's expensive and this is our party.”

“It's no trouble at all, Hanna,” Kara rushed in to support Ron's idea. “We completely understand.”

“It is a problem!” Hanna insisted. “But when the website said there were four rooms and a bath, I misread that to mean four
bedrooms
and a bath. And as you can see, that is not what the cabin has.”

“These things happen,” Kara said.

“You see, Hanna,” Ron's father interjected. “She's glad there's no room for them. She didn't want Ron to come to your party. She wants him all to herself. If she had her way, we'd never see him again.”

“Now that is not true, Dad!” Ron said. “I've warned you about this before! You're not allowed to be rude to Kara!”

However numerous his other faults, Kara had recognized the very first time she met Howard Miller that he truly loved his boy. It was more than a little bit sad because the parent that Ron seemed most attached to was his manipulative mother. Howard grudgingly accepted his reprimand and went back to sulking on the couch.

Kara stepped in to get the conversation rolling again. Anything would be better than staying cooped up in this cabin with Ron's parents. In the lodge away from the family she'd be able to relax and enjoy herself—and Ron. “I really don't see what else you think we can do,” she told Hanna. “There isn't enough room. You don't think we would sleep on the floor, do you?”

“No,” Hanna assured her. “The grandchildren are going to do that. They won't mind—they'll think it's an adventure.”

“Then what?” Kara asked.

“There are two double beds in each room,” Hanna began.

Kara could not help but frown. “You don't expect Ron and I to
share
a room with one of your daughters and her husband, do you?”

“Oh, no,” Hanna assured her, and then hurried on to suggest something infinitely worse. “I was thinking that if we divided up by gender, we could—”

“No!” Kara hoped Hanna was perceptive enough to understand a final answer when she heard it.

Ron tried to make peace. “That's not your best idea, Mom,” he said. “There are three rooms. What are you doing with the master bedroom?”

“Why that's for your father and me, of course,” Hanna said.

Ron's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open most comically. “You and Dad are going to share a bedroom?”

“Well, of course, dear,” Ron's mother told him. She made it sound so natural, as if her husband hadn't spent the last twenty-five years sleeping in his lazy boy. “It's our fortieth wedding anniversary.”

Howard Miller snorted but he didn't actually disagree with his wife.

“So you see,” Hanna continued. “The only way for this to really work is for us to split the remaining two bedrooms between boys and girls. Anne and Kitten can share one of the beds so Kara will have at least that much privacy. You men can sort out the sleeping arrangements between yourselves.”

Kara could not imagine a worse idea. “I'm sorry, Hanna,” she said, “but that is not going to work.”

Hanna bristled at Kara's outright rejection of her plan.

Ron sounded less forceful than Kara would have preferred, but he said the right things. “Kara's right, Mom. This separate slumber party idea of yours is not a good one. Kara and I will just get a room in the lodge. We can still meet up with all of you for meals and on the slopes, but we're going to get our own room.”

“But what will the children say?” Hanna asked.

The question surprised Kara, given that Ron had clearly believed that sleeping together wouldn't be a problem. She wondered how he would respond. When Kara's sister had raised a similar objection, Ron hadn't seemed particularly concerned about the issue. Would it be different now that his mother was raising the concern?

“Why would they say anything?” Ron asked. “It's not like they don't know Kara and I are dating. And the older ones can certainly guess we're having sex.”

“Ron!” his mother snapped.

“Oh,” Ron asked, “hadn't you figured that out yet?”

His mother glowered at his sarcasm while Kara cringed. She'd be absolutely mortified if her boyfriend had said something like that to
her
mother and she certainly wasn't happy with the topic coming up in front of Hanna and Howard.

“I don't think it's setting the right example,” Hanna told him. “We're Catholic. We're not supposed to be sleeping around.”

Howard Miller's head snapped up and he stared at his wife with a look of such pure and intense hatred that Kara took a step back in alarm.

Neither Ron nor his mother noticed what had happened.

“Mom, I'm not going to tell you how to practice your faith,” Ron said. “That's between you and God. However, I
am
going to say that the world is changing, and living together isn't such a big deal anymore...even for a lot of Catholics. In fact, you might as well hear this now. I'm not planning to renew my lease this year. If she's willing, I'm going to move in with Kara. If she's not—”

“You're what?” the words slipped out of Kara's mouth before it even crossed her mind to try and censor them. She was simply that astounded by Ron's announcement.

Ron shifted his attention from his mother to her—his cocky grin back in place as he cupped her hands in his. “I'm ready to take our relationship to the next level. Sorry to spoil the surprise and break the news to you this way, but I'm hoping you're ready, too.” He squeezed her hands a little more tightly. “I love you, Kara. Don't you think it's time we figured out if you can handle my messy ways on more than a weekend basis?”

Kara didn't know what to say. The subject of moving in together might have come up once or twice, but Kara hadn't realized how serious Ron was about it. She hadn't even known his lease was running out. They had talked about kids a couple of times also, but even so, she hadn't really accepted in her heart that Ron was ready to up their level of commitment.

“That's a big step, Ron,” Kara said. “Are you sure you're ready for this?” She wanted to add—
You know I'm a lot older than you
—but with his parents present she couldn't bring herself to say the words.