Page 20 of Snowed In With You

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Fletcher and I had showered together, ‘To save time,’ I’d argued. He’d just grinned and climbed in and by the time we came back down again, Rob and Tanya were waiting.

My brother’s face was as coolly impassive as usual and I shot Tanya a questioning look to try and work out how worried I needed to be, she gave a light shrug in response. Great. Rob held my coat out to me, ‘I thought it might be nice for us to all go fora walk to the lake, now that it’s safe to leave here again. Not–’ he muttered under his breath, ‘that it looked like you two were having much trouble staying occupied.’

I shrugged my puffer coat on and my eyes met Fletcher’s as we walked out of the front door. ‘Do you think he’s going to murder us and dump the bodies in the lake?’

‘Don’t be silly,’ Rob said from behind me and I jumped, ‘the lake is still frozen.’

I wasn’t sure whether or not that was a comfort.

It was nice to get out of the lodge, just me, Fletch and… my brother. Tanya had stayed behind in the warmth, waving us off after claiming she felt a little nauseous, and I looked behind regretfully, half-wishing I’d done the same. Except, that would leave Fletcher alone with Rob and that did not seem like a wise (or fair) decision right now.

Rob had the right idea though, it was almost mild outside – or as mild as Alaska in the snow could be – it was snowing very lightly and I pulled my gloves out of my coat pocket and slipped them on. I wanted to move closer to Fletcher, huddle in his warmth and share a kiss to chase away the cold. My brother cleared his throat and I realised I’d been stuck in place, staring at Fletcher for a couple seconds too long. My face burned as I quickly moved forward to join them, there were footprints in the snow and that brought me a little relief because it meant that there would be other people out at the lake, saving me from an otherwise awkward excursion. Plus, Rob couldn’t murder us if there were witnesses, right?

The lake was beautiful. It was completely frozen over and a few people were ice-skating over on the far left ahead of us but I hesitated on the edge.

‘It’s definitely safe, right?’

Fletcher wordlessly offered me a hand and I threw a cautious look Rob’s way before taking it and letting him lead me out.It wasn’t too slippery, surprisingly, most of the ice was covered in snow, so we could walk out and enjoy the view of the mountain face opposite and the copse of fir trees capped with white. Fletcher’s hand was warm through my cotton gloves and I smiled at him. It was funny really that I’d thought Fletch looked the part of Cali-boy before, but here on the lake I realised he looked more at home against the back-drop of the snow.

I could feel Rob’s eyes on us as we walked around the lake, chatting and laughing and I raised my head to look at him challengingly. My brother and I used to get along amazingly, and sometimes we still did, but more and more I felt like he saw me as a problem or a burden to be carried. Doing wedding prep together was the first time in a long time that it seemed like he’d seen me for me and not the teenager he remembered.

‘Does he seem a little too chilled out to you?’ I asked Fletcher in a low undertone and he glanced back to where Rob stood, taking a photo of the snow on his iPhone before making a noncommittal hum. ‘I mean, if you had a sister and Rob went behind your back and slept with her, wouldn’t you want to tear his head off? Or am I just being paranoid?’

‘Maybe he’s just hiding it really well,’ Fletch suggested with a quirk of his lips.

‘Rob passing up on a chance to ridicule me and my life choices? I don’t know… Quick, he’s coming over, put your arms around my waist!’ Fletcher looked startled but immediately did so and I relaxed into the warmth of his arms as my brother came to stand next to us.

Rob tilted his head, ‘so, what, are you guys a couple now or something?’

And just like that, my brother took the upper hand once more. I looked to Fletcher, his face unnervingly close to mine and he looked at me. I licked my lips and he cleared his throat as we both looked at each other and then away. This was not aconversation we’d managed to have yet after only just deciding to do… whatever it was we had done last night. Here Rob was, charging in and asking us right here and now to define the relationship. I shot him a glare and he looked at me as if he couldn’t imagine what I was upset about.

Then Fletch’s hand closed over my hip, the warmth sending a bolt of desire through me and I looked up at him in surprise.

‘Yeah man, if you’re cool with it I think that’s where this is headed – I need to take her out on a proper date first though.’ Fletcher’s eyes were warm as they met mine and I bit my lip to stop the smile from overtaking my face.Okay, so maybe Rob didn’t quite win that one.

I gave a quick laugh at the brief look of surprise that sped across my brother’s face, ‘Yeah I guess Rob and Tanya’s wedding doesn’t really count as much of a first date.’ As soon as the words were out I wanted to kick myself, the widening of Fletch’s eyes told me I’d made a mistake and the small frown twisting Rob’s mouth made me feel ill as I waited for his response.

My brother was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. He took in the look of horror on Fletch’s face and the abject guilt likely written across mine and let out a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. ‘This,’ he said, gesturing between the two of us, ‘Didn’t just happen for the first time in the lodge, did it. That’s why you were mopey after the wedding, Fletch, and why you were acting like you were heartbroken by that guy you met-up with like one time. God, at my wedding?’ Rob shook his head but still didn’t seem as mad as I had expected. ‘Could you two be any more of a cliche? I mean, the groomsman and the maid of honour?’

A lick of anger made its way through my body and I suddenly couldn’t hold back any of my old hurt as his condescending words hit me. ‘Huh, that’ssofunny Rob, because I’m actually just trying to recall when I asked for your opinion. Or why you’d think I care about it. God knows you’ve proved over and overthat you think you’re so much better than me, so why bother inviting me on this trip in the first place? Just so you can make me feel more inadequate?’

Rob’s dark eyes were wide and Fletcher’s hand squeezed mine as I blinked away a stupid rush of tears and shook my head. ‘I’m going back to the lodge.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ Fletch said gently and I couldn’t look at him, knowing the soft, pitying look he was probably wearing would only cause the tears to come back and I didn’t want to cry, damnit, I wasmad.

Rob followed us at a sedate pace and the short walk back to the lodge was silent except for our heavy, chilled breaths and the crunch of the snow under our feet.

Tanya had clearly spotted us coming from one of the windows and met us at the door, the big smile on her face withering as she took in our expressions. We knocked the snow off our boots without a word and my eyes fell to the patch of floor that had still been sticky with hot chocolate when we’d left. It looked like Tanya had cleaned it up and I gave her a grateful smile as I hung up my coat and sat down in front of the fireplace.

Someone sat down next to me on the sofa and I turned around, expecting it to be Fletcher, but it was Rob. I immediately twisted myself back to face the fire, not having anything more to say to him.

‘I didn’t know you felt that way,’ he said eventually, ‘that Imadeyou feel that way. I’m nothing but proud of you, Sara. You’re my sister and I just… I just wanted what was best for you.’

I felt some of the ice coating my heart crack and I let loose a sigh, ‘You have a terrible way of showing it.’

‘Yeah Tanya says I need to work on being more ‘emotive’.’

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