Chapter Eighteen
Somehow, Amber managed to slip away from the community center unnoticed while everyone else was still working.
She felt doubly thankful that she had driven her own car this morning and left Penny at her friend’s house until later tonight.
She had raced up the mountainside, intent on the idea of taking a quick shower and leaving again before Michael arrived home—at the lodge. Although, there didn’t seem any point in attending the ball. Her heart wasn’t in it anymore. Not when she would be forced to watch Michael from a distance.
Her eyes blurred, making her blink to focus on the snow-covered road. But she could still see and hear him lashing out at her without giving her the benefit of the doubt. Without allowing her a chance to explain. His reaction shouldn’t have come as such a shock. Hadn’t he told her all along how he felt about his family?
And maybe, in the long run, he had done her a favor, helping her prove her bad judgment with her ex wasn’t just a one-shot deal.
She should have known she couldn’t trust herself, even when it came to Michael. Especially when it came to him.
Later, after her shower and with her hair slightly damp yet, she drove down the mountainside. Wanting to avoid any questions from her family, she went straight to the community center again.
Not a good idea. If she hadn’t been so upset, she would have realized Callie would be there early, too. Her sister took one look at her and tilted her head, indicating Amber should follow her.
In the back office, Amber took a seat on a visitor’s chair, being careful not to crease her dress. Her pretty hunter-green mini-dress covered with spangles that she had hoped would knock Michael into next year. So to speak.
I know what you hoped, but it didn’t happen.
No, he hadn’t had the happy reunion with his family that she had wished for him.
And it wouldn’t matter now how she looked when he saw her at the ball.
“You don’t answer your cell phone anymore?” Callie asked.
“The reception’s been awful.”
“So has communication around here. Why did you run out on us this afternoon?”
She smoothed the hem of her dress. “I wanted some time to think. I…I talked to Michael just before I left. About the missing money. He thinks Derek took it.”
“He might have.”
Amber’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“Derek’s a perfect clone of some of the students I’ve taught—cocky and overconfident and sure they’ll never get caught cheating. Or stealing. And that’s just what this sounds like. I found it mixed in with the checks we’d gotten for the auction bids.” She handed over a small rectangle of paper.
Amber swallowed hard.
On the paper in block letters was written: I helped myself.
Last night, she had stood frozen in the doorway near the dining area, unable to miss hearing the raised voices from Michael’s office. Seconds later, Derek had stormed out of that room…just after Michael had said Now it’s time for you to help yourself.
She had been so self-righteous this afternoon, explaining to him about his own family as if she knew them better than he did. But he had been right about Derek.
He had already felt guilty, though it had been her fault Derek had come to Snowflake Valley, not his. And now he would feel even worse, even more responsible.
“I’ll tell Michael,” she said, already dreading the conversation.
Callie nodded. “And I’ll report the theft.”
“Do you have to? Can’t we keep this from getting out to everyone?” She owed Michael that. He had hurt her…but at least he hadn’t done it publicly. And at least her family wouldn’t be the ones tying his name to the theft. “Please don’t report it, Callie. Michael already told me he’ll make up the loss. He’s going to give us a donation to cover the missing money.”
“He is?” Callie paused, then said thoughtfully, “I don’t like the idea of word getting out any more than you do. And if Michael steps in, we’re not short any of the money.” She nodded decisively. “Okay. I’ll run it by everybody at home. It’s nice of him to be willing to do that. Very nice.” She smiled. “Good men like that don’t come along too often, Amber. Don’t let him get away.”
…
Michael adjusted his shirt cuffs and glanced around the crowded community center. He’d been here for a half-hour already and hadn’t seen a sign of Amber. Not that he was looking for her.
Nick walked up to him.
“Where’s Amber?” he blurted. “Ah…and Lyssa and Callie?”
“I’ll bet I can guess which of those three you really want to find. But to answer your questions, all the women are in the back office.”
Discussing his offer to pay back the stolen money. He hoped. As he’d told Amber in the heat of the moment, it wasn’t the have to but the want to that drove him to make the offer.
He froze.
That simple sentence made him see so much. He wanted to replace the money. Not to protect Derek or even to save face himself. But because he felt he owed it to Snowflake Valley. And to Amber, her baby, and her family. Somehow, in just these few days, he’d gotten attached to them all.
An attachment he’d severed this afternoon, at least as far as Amber was concerned.
Nick nudged him with his elbow. “There you go, buddy. Your wish is granted.”
Amber stood in the doorway leading from the hall.
With one glance, his mouth dried and his throat tightened, and swallowing hard nearly left him choking. In this room decorated to the hilt with streamers and spangles and glittering New Year’s hats and noisemakers, she was the brightest, most beautiful sight in view. The green dress she wore was just snug enough, just short enough, just sparkly enough to make his imagination—and a few body parts—race to attention.
The sounds of cymbals crashing made him jump. The band’s drummer was calling everyone to order. He managed to drag his gaze away from Amber.
On the stage at the front of the room, Mayor Corrigan stood at the podium. “Well, I know you’re not here just to listen to me,” he said with a laugh. “We’re all ready to have fun tonight, so let’s get to the first and very special part of the evening. I have in this envelope the names of Snowflake Valley’s new Snow Ball King and Queen and their attendants.”
Michael shoved his hands into his pockets so no one would see him crossing his fingers. Not for himself, for Amber. He didn’t give a darn about wearing a crown. But she did.
The mayor ran through a few names, calling the runners-up to the front of the room.
He was surprised to note he’d met every one of those men and women this week.
The crowd suddenly hushed, which had to mean the mayor was about to announce the final names. Now, his throat felt so tight, he didn’t have the power to swallow.
As the mayor called the next name, the roar of the crowd nearly took the roof off the place.
With ringing ears and blurry eyes, he watched Amber walk to the front of the room to be congratulated. She bowed her head to accept her crown.
The jewels in the crown glittered. Her dress sparkled. Her face glowed. She looked as if she’d been born to be Queen.
Nick slapped him on the back. “Congrats, buddy.” At Michael’s questioning look, he laughed. “Boy, do you have it bad. Didn’t you hear the mayor call your name?”
He glanced at Amber, who stood tall and proud. She sent him a model-worthy smile. And her blue eyes seemed to look right through him.
Once he’d gone to stand beside her and receive his crown, the mayor announced the King and Queen would kick off the dancing for the evening. Michael bowed to Amber and held out his hand. When she hesitated, his heart dropped to the polished toes of his shoes.
Then she smiled, took his hand, and let him sweep her into his arms.
He took her around the dance floor as easily as he’d skated with her around the rink. But unlike that day, her body felt stiff and unyielding. He stared down at her, trying to find those features that had drawn him to her from day one. Her sparkling eyes, her genuine sunny smile, her light…
Now, the only bright things about her were the crown and the sparkly green dress. And they were just that. Things. Not his real Amber.
He began to speak, stopped, and settled for holding her in his arms. He had a feeling if he tried to talk to her, she’d cut him dead—with her ice-queen stare.
Face it. She’d accepted his invitation to dance only because she’d had to. Because she didn’t want to cause a scene or to destroy the magic this night meant to her.
Becoming her King couldn’t begin to excuse the way he had spoken to her this afternoon. Replacing the money Derek had stolen wouldn’t get him off the hook. He’d hurt her so badly she couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
He knew all that.
What he didn’t know was how he could ever make up for any of it.
When the song ended, she stepped back. “Thanks for the dance,” she said, her voice as brittle as her smile.
“My pleasure.” But obviously not hers.
Didn’t matter. His words were drowned out by the rush of congratulations from the dancers who crowded around them. By the time he’d gotten through the handshakes and hugs, Amber had disappeared.
All night, he caught only glimpses of her. He’d see her talking with her parents, helping her brothers and sisters restock the food and drinks tables, laughing with one group after another…
And never looking his way.
She didn’t come near him until the grandfather clock on the stage began inching its way toward twelve. Grateful he’d at least have this last dance of the night with her, he bowed and held out his hand again. She gave him a brilliant smile, but in his arms she felt as unyielding as she had before.
When this dance ended and the crowd began to chant the countdown, he turned with her to face the stage. Wanting her with him, he kept one arm around her waist. They stood so close he could smell the light perfume she wore and see the moisture filling her eyes. Of course she’d get emotional now. This was her night and she was Queen of the Snow Ball.
What he didn’t expect was his urgent need to ease her against his side. Holding her this close gave him hope the warmth of his body would somehow melt away the ice and bring his Amber back to him.
The clock struck midnight. The room filled with the sounds of applause, party horns, and cheers. Everywhere he looked, he saw handshaking and backslapping, hugs and kisses.
He turned to Amber. Her eyes were brimming, and he reached up in time to catch a stray teardrop with his fingertip, managing to stroke her soft cheek along the way. The shiver she gave left his hand shaking, too, and left him with no other choice—no other thought—but to kiss her.
As if she’d read his mind, she slipped free of his arm and fled into the crowd. In the crush of people on the dance floor, she disappeared immediately from his view.
Now he knew the worst. And it was all on him.
Not only had he hurt the woman he loved, he’d lost her forever.
…
The clock had struck midnight, and Cinderella had gone home with her Prince.
Well, to be precise, her King. And she hadn’t actually come directly home with him. In her own car, she had gone to pick up Penny before making the drive up the mountainside. She’d arrived to find Michael had already gone upstairs. He’d called down to her, making sure she’d made the trip without any trouble. Not much comfort, but she held onto the idea that some part of him cared.
Now she stood in the middle of her housekeeper’s room listening to the early-morning silence. The lodge was so quiet, so still, she and Penny might have been the only occupants. But the sound of a door closing a little while ago had told her Michael was here.
Or maybe it meant he had left.
During the night, unable to sleep, she had gone downstairs and made a batch of quick bread. She had left the cake platter, covered with a napkin, next to the coffeemaker where he would find it. It was the least she could do. But why had she felt the need to do it?
“I should have followed my instincts,” she told Penny, who snuggled against her. “I never should have gone to the community center last night.”
What a mess, from her awkward dance with Michael to her teary-eyed escape from the center at midnight. Just like Cinderella fleeing the ball.
Only she’d left behind more than a glass slipper.
Her attempt at a laugh sounded more like a sob. How desperate could she be, trying to find hope in a hopeless situation? How pathetic had she seemed to everyone at the ball? And how was she going to live with herself…and without Michael?
After last night’s disaster, she couldn’t understand why she hadn’t woken up to messages on her cell phone. Not calls to congratulate her for becoming Snow Ball Queen. Or to sympathize with her for being a bad-luck Barnett sister. She didn’t expect those. But Callie or Lyssa, at least, should have reached out by now to offer support…if not to point out how badly she’d messed up again.
Another check of the phone showed that, for once, it had clear reception up here.
With a sigh, she told Penny, “I probably embarrassed our entire family so much, they still haven’t recovered. But I’ve made up my mind—I’m going to confess what happened with the electric bill. And until my next paycheck arrives, we’re moving back home.”
The last thing she’d ever wanted. But Michael wasn’t flying home until tomorrow, and she couldn’t bear to spend one more night at the lodge with him. Wherever she wound up, though, she knew where her thoughts would be.
So much for that New Year’s resolution to get over him.
As she grabbed her suitcase from the bed, she glanced through the window. No sign of Michael. No rows of footprints in the snow. No tire tracks. But the blinding whiteness left her with dazzled vision.
“Oh, no,” she whispered. Not now. Please. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
She was halfway down the stairs when the funny but familiar buzzing began in her head. Knowing dizziness would eventually follow, she moved directly into the living room and settled Penny in her playpen. Her daughter immediately let out a cry of protest.
“Sorry, baby. Mommy needs to sit down.”
“Something wrong?”
At the unexpected sound of Michael’s voice, she shrieked.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.
“Th-that’s all right. I know you didn’t.” She was careful not to move a muscle. But she couldn’t keep from groaning. Her shriek had turned the buzzing inside her head into a steady clang.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. It’s—I’ve got a migraine coming on.”
A silence followed her words. Any second now, she would hear his footsteps and then the slamming of the front door.
She had been a coward for trying to leave the lodge without seeing him. So, he’d broken her heart. But what happened to her need for independence? Where was her ability to stand on her own two feet? How could slipping away prove she was a good role model for Penny?
She took a steadying breath. “I should have told you this last night, but I…didn’t. Later on yesterday, Callie found a note mixed in with the checks in the cashbox.” She tugged the paper from her jeans pocket and held it out to him.
He took it without a word. A second later, he muttered a curse. He didn’t need to speak. She knew exactly what he was thinking. Exactly what she had thought when she’d read the note.
I HELPED MYSELF.
Michael had told Derek to start doing just that.
And indirectly or not, she had encouraged Derek to come to Snowflake Valley.
A pain shot through her temple. Groaning, she raised a shaking hand to her head.
Michael stared at her, then without a word, turned on his heel and left the room.
Her eyes misting, she swallowed hard and sank to the couch. “Baby, Mommy has to close her eyes. To take a nap, just for a few minutes.” To her relief, she saw Penny was already sleeping peacefully.
She pulled the afghan from the back of the couch, covering herself with it as she closed her eyes.
This was the worst day of her life, all over again.
This was the morning she had told her husband she was pregnant, and he had stormed out, leaving her even though he knew their argument had triggered one of her migraines. But why would he have worried about that, when he didn’t even care about their baby.
This was the afternoon later that day, when she had finally felt well enough to make a trip for groceries, only to come home to find the apartment empty of everything that had belonged to him.
She took another deep breath that ended in a moan.
No, this day was so much worse. Because she loved Michael more than she had ever loved the man who had left her.
But now Michael had walked out, too. And soon she would be the one leaving and taking everything with her. Everything…including her broken heart.