The Dead of Winter (Seasons of Jefferson: Book 2) (25 page)

Spitfire racer, huh? Could be fun. Sounds like someone I might like to go to the prize party with.
“I’ll go talk to Pierre.”

“You’d better hustle. The paperwork needs to be turned in the next half hour.”

Making my way through the store, and back to the ski shop, I raise my hand to catch Pierre’s attention. He’s behind the counter, fiddling with a binding.

“Oh hey, Caden,” he cocks his head and dons his best holiday smile. “What’s up?”

“My dad told me to see you about changing my team for the Dash. My friend had to leave, and I’m kinda on my own. Are there any open spots?”

“You have good timing. Those two girls over there were just asking for a third person.”

Pierre snaps his head toward the boot wall, directing my attention to the two girls. My breath hitches when I catch view of wildly curly, brown hair. I follow her knit beanie down to her delicate profile. Long eyelashes, mocha skin, and button nose.
It’s her
. A tiny ball of fire surges through my chest. I can’t figure out what it is about that girl, but every time fate puts her in my path, a minor explosion of nerves sends my stomach flipping and my head spinning.

“What are the odds?” I whisper under my breath, amused that I’ve run into the feisty snow princess again.

Pierre looks puzzled at my response. “Something wrong?”

I bury my face in my hand, continuing to chuckle.
Seriously?
I pinch my lips to stifle the laughter, until I’ve composed myself. Then fixing my eyes on the curly head of hair to my left, I speak through my half grin, “You want to put me on a team with
Tangles
?”

No sooner does her nickname leave my mouth, than she whips her head around to catch my incredulous snicker.

Her eyes narrow in on mine. I watch her lips twitch. If I know anything about this girl, she’s thinking of her next brash comment. Before she utters a word, her friend, Jessie May turns around beaming. “Hey, I know you. You’re the guy from the snowmobile park.”

I can’t help but smile at the way her face lights up when she recognizes me.

Pierre steps out from behind the counter. “So, you girls have met Caden?”

“Caden?” She stares me down, studying what seems to be every inch of me. After a few seconds, a look of recognition crosses her eyes.
Maybe she didn’t remember me while we were pinned together on the mountain.
But, I can see now, by her expression that she’s finally put two and two together.
“The snowmobile park? He’s the benchwarmer from my last ski race.”
She’s not going to give me the satisfaction of acknowledging that we’ve met on more than one occasion.
I watch a small dimple pop in her cheek as her eyebrows smugly wander up her forehead. “The one who tripped me at Gate 13.”

“Tripped you? Coming out of that turn, you looked like a Yeti on skis. All I saw was hair and hands, flailing out of control. You know, you’re lucky I stopped you from snow plowing over a cliff.”
Go
g
et her, Woodley
. I nearly snort through my nose trying to stop myself from laughing at the image playing in my mind.

“Yeti? I thought it was Yoda?”

“Yeti, Yoda … take your pick.”

Pierre’s broad smile grows as his eyes bounce back and forth between the two of us.

“Well, at least I’m good enough to race,” she smirks, locking her deep chocolate eyes on mine. For a brief moment, her mesmerizing gaze stops my heart from hammering out its next beat.
Boom
.
Got me again
.

I feel the heat pound its way to my cheeks. I’m powerless against this girl. I have to look away so I can think. Scanning the room, I catch a glimpse of the counter. The broken binding Pierre is fixing crosses my line of sight.
She probably busted it during the crash at my gate
. My instinct is to shut her down before she detonates my last shred of dignity.
Should I call her on her crappy race?
I take a deep breath.
No, I don’t want to go there.
This banter between us is still playful, and I’m having a lot of fun with it.

When I decide to let it go, I look back toward the girls. Jessie May is eyeing Pierre with amusement. I watch him hand her a slip of paper. She nods with satisfaction. “This is going to be fun.”

“What’s that?” Tangles asks.

Pierre sounds amused. “You’re all signed up.”

“What do you mean, all signed up?”

“You three are doing the Dash to the North Pole together,” he laughs.

Tangles and I look at each other with serious uncertainty as Jessie waves our registration slip in front of us.

The waving paper finally slows to a stop, when she realizes neither of us are smiling. “Are you sure this is such a good idea, Pierre?”

His eyes bounce around our triangle of faces, finally fixing on Jessie May’s. “I don’t know if you feel the electricity in here, but I sure do. This is perfect.” He chuckles, nodding toward Tangles and me, “And when you figure out how to harness the voltage those two are generating, your team is going to be unstoppable.”

Am I really that transparent?
I swallow hard, shove my hands in my pockets, and look away from the girls. My eyes drift back over my shoulder toward my dad.

Despite the fact that I’m currently trying to tune out of the conversation, I can still hear Pierre talking to Jessie May. “If we can convince them to compete, something tells me they’re going to need your help to succeed. You really want to do this?”

The sudden silence tells me that there’s a cunning exchange happening between the two schemers. “You’re in the driver’s seat, young lady.”

Ah, what the hell.
I shrug and turn back to face the girls.
A shot with them is better than no shot at all.
“I guess I’m in if you are.” I hold my fist out.

Jessie May smiles, bumps her fist against mine, and fades away with firework fingers.

“Hopefully you’re better on the street than you are on the snow,” Tangles grimaces, as she gently sets her fist against mine. My body reacts like a pinball machine. A fireball shoots from the point of contact, up and around my head, and finally exits my pounding chest.

After my brain has been rendered useless by the scorching streak of fire, I manage to fumble the words, “Let’s go rock the Dash, Tangles.”

Our fists are still connected when she looks me in the eyes and softly whispers, “It’s Avery.” I watch the pink blush spread across her mocha cheeks. With a softer, yet confident tone, she looks me in the eye and instructs, “Get it right.”

A barely visible smile plays at the corner of her lips. Amused at her ruffled response, I assure her with a silent nod, that I know exactly what her name is.

“Well, if you plan on rocking the Dash, you’d better get out there,” Pierre chuckles, mocking my awkward phrase. “You don’t want to miss the start.”

“You’re right. Let’s go win this thing.” I finally peel my pulsing knuckles from hers. “Let’s go, Jessie May. Let’s go, Tangles.”

I grab my partners’ hands and tug them through the crowded store. “See ya, Dad!” I fly past, looking over my shoulder. His happy eyes widen when he watches my team sweep through the crowd. I turn away from his silly grin and ask Jessie May, “You got the paper, Jess?”

“Right here,” she beams, waving them around in the air. “Let’s do this!”

We step out into the brisk air and cross the street to the town hall where droves of people are standing around the town Christmas tree. The mayor has begun to speak.

“Good afternoon everybody. On behalf of the Chamber, I’d like to thank you all for participating in this year’s Dash to the North Pole. It’s our town’s long-standing tradition to give back to our community in an event that serves those in need. As you know, you will be competing in a series of activities. These activities are meant to spread the joy of Christmas to those who are not so fortunate. This year, the top ten teams to successfully complete each task and cross the finish line will win season passes and coveted tickets to the Mt. Shasta Ski Resort New Year’s Eve party.”

Wild cheers fill the town center. Jessie May leans over to Tangles, shaking her head assuredly. “We’re going to win this for you, Avery. If anyone deserves a little Christmas cheer this year, it’s you.”

I can’t help but wonder why Tangles, of all people, deserves this more than the next guy, but I’m ready to do my part to make it happen.

I focus my attention back on the mayor. “Listen closely, take notes, do whatever you need to do. I will not repeat my directions.” I remember how this all went down last year. We missed a station, had to run back and complete it, and ended up losing to the Schack family by just a half a minute. Quickly, I pull out my phone to record the instructions. There’s no way I’m missing the party this year.

Glancing down at my phone, I see a notification from Officer Marnia. It’s a missed call.
On Christmas Eve? She’s probably just checking in.
I think I’ll call her when we’re done here
. I quickly enter my passcode and open my recording app. I press the red button just in time to catch the first instructions.

“You will be given a set of seven tasks of goodwill. To avoid congestion at any given station, each team will complete these tasks in a different order. If you look at your registration paper, you will notice an address in the upper right hand corner. This is the address of your first station. Upon successful completion of your first task, you will receive a gift from the giving tree, a signed document stating you have completed the station, and a card by the coordinator with directions to your next activity. This will continue until you have completed your seventh and final task. Your last good deed is to deliver your bag of wrapped gifts to the assigned destination and rush back here to the North Pole.

The first ten teams to successfully complete this challenge will be declared our winners.” He sets his hand on the pole, as if to assure us it can be done. “Good luck making the top ten,” he nods. “Are my contestants ready?” The eager crowd roars around me. “Five, four, three, two, one.” The words, “Now, dash away all,” ring through the air in conjunction with the loud blast of a fog horn.

TEAMS HUDDLE TOGETHER. SOME WAVE
their papers to their teammates. Others scatter about the streets, running this way and that. Tangles, Jessie May and I look down at our paper, searching for our first address. I look up at the top, right hand corner and recognize the street name instantly. It’s in the same shopping center as my dad’s store. “It’s down by the movie theater!” I cry out, pumped that our first station is within running distance.

Avery scans the streets, “If we’re lucky we can catch the back of a caroling wagon and hitch a ride down.”

“Good call, Pey … Tangles.”
Crap. She’s still seeping into my thoughts. “Get out of my head!”
I mentally scream at myself.
I can’t believe I just slipped like that. Hopefully Tangles didn’t catch it. I don’t feel like answering any questions tonight.

Jessie May’s eyebrows draw together as she questions us incredulously, “The caroling wagon?” She shakes her head like we’re out of our minds. “Yep, you two are lucky,” she giggles. “You happen to have a true leader on your team.”

“Why thank you.” I tug at my jacket collar and wag my eyebrows.

She snickers playfully. “I’m not talking about
you
. I’m talking about
me
. Lucky for you, I’m going to get us ahead in this race. I know these streets like the back of my hand. Come on.” She tugs at my sleeve. “I have a shortcut.”

We jog down Mount Shasta Boulevard until we reach the railroad tracks. A few yards into our icy trek, my foot slips from beneath me, sending me stumbling into Tangles. “Careful there.” She grabs me before I fall to the ground. For someone who doesn’t seem to like people in her space, I’m surprised when she doesn’t let go. “I’ve got ya, Happy Feet. You can do this,” she giggles, as she helps me recover my balance.

God, she’s cute
. Holding her tightly, I work to regain my footing. I find myself securely locked to her arm, my feet dancing beneath me. We’re close. So close I can feel her heat.
What’s that smell? It reminds me of cupcakes.
I lean in closer and realize it’s swirling from beneath her winter coat.
It’s her.
Vanilla.
Her scent unlocks my senses, and sends a warm explosion to my chest. I can’t think. The combination of heat and perfume has me fizzy inside. The warmth continues to crawl its way up every vein in my neck. I feel the blood pulsing at the base of my ears. Against the freezing December air, my face feels like it’s on fire. I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time. I’m distracted by her touch. My thoughts are drawn to it like a magnet. She’s warm. Soft … but
strong
.

“What are you doing?” A hand to my forehead, finally frees me from my smell-induced daze. “Are you sniffing me?” I become aware of my position. I find my nose being pushed from the crook of her neck.

“My favorite dessert. Vanilla cupcakes. Have you been baking?”

Her mouth pulls down into a questioning grin. “Seriously?”

The next thing I know, my teeth clap shut as Tangles lifts her hand to my chin and closes my mouth.