down, you know, suck ice,” Candy Lee informed her.
Stephanie laughed. “No, I hadn’t heard that term, but do me a favor and try not to use it in front of the girls.” They’d seen enough in their short lives. Stephanie was trying her best to make up for what they’d witnessed. She wanted to keep them innocent as long as possible.
“Sure,” Candy Lee said. “Though they’ll hear it soon enough on the slopes. Especially from the snowboarders. They always cuss and spit. It’s so gross.”
Stephanie gave a small laugh. “I’ve heard them more than once myself. I just want to keep the girls away from anything…off-color, at least for a while. Now”—Stephanie glanced at her watch—“let’s lower the drawbridge and prepare for battle.”
At precisely seven o’clock, Stephanie unlocked the main door, where a line of shoppers anxiously waited to spend their money. Stephanie said hello to those she knew, greeted others she didn’t, then headed to the register, where she spent the next four hours ringing up ski jackets, ski pants, mittens, hats, and ski boots. It was almost lunchtime before they had a chance to take a break. Tallying up the morning sales in her head, Stephanie figured if this was any indication of how busy the season would be, not only would she be working overtime, she’d prove just how wrong Patrick was about her ability to manage the shop and turn a profit. Plus, she’d have a bit of extra cash, even after putting the down payment on her dream house in Placerville. She would use the extra money to purchase a new bedroom set for the girls.
They’d been without the basic comforts for most of their lives, and for this reason they were appreciative of any gift they received, no matter how large or small. They were good girls, and Stephanie found herself visualizing tucking them into a brand-spanking-new white-canopied bed in their new home. Plus she couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when she announced they would be adopting one of the pups sired by Ice-D. They’d begged for a pet for the past two years, but Stephanie knew it wouldn’t be fair to the girls or an animal if she were to bring a pet home to the small garage apartment. There was barely enough room for the three of them as it was. As the girls grew older, she knew they would want and need their privacy. A new home with three bedrooms, not to mention two bathrooms, would be pure heaven for the three of them and a pet. Angry that she’d wasted so much valuable time with Glenn, Stephanie figured she had to make it up to the girls, and a home of their own would be a good place for new beginnings.
Cheered by her thoughts, Stephanie felt a renewed sense of purpose. She could manage her life at last, but this time around it would be on her own terms. She didn’t need a man to take care of her. Look at where that had gotten her. Actually, Glenn’s jailbreak was the catalyst that had sent her in search of a better life. Stephanie had learned at an early age that life wasn’t always easy, but at thirty-two, she felt as though she’d learned enough about life not to repeat the mistake of allowing a man to have complete and total control of her life. After her mother flew the coop to parts unknown, when Stephanie was three, she’d been sent to live with her mother’s older sister, Aunt Evelyn, who’d loved her like her own daughter. While they hadn’t had much in the way of material things, Stephanie knew she was loved. Sadly, her aunt had passed away the year she graduated from high school. While grieving for the only mother figure she’d ever known, Stephanie had allowed Glenn to step in and control her every move. At first she’d enjoyed her newfound lack of responsibility as she’d spent most of her life caring for Aunt Evelyn, who’d been severely crippled with rheumatoid arthritis. However, her independence was short-lived. She and Glenn married right after graduation; he started drinking, and within a year turned into an angry, bitter, controlling man. Having no outlet for his anger, he made Stephanie into his punching bag. And as they say, the rest is history. Though this time around, Stephanie was writing her own story.
Stephanie had a job to do in the here and now, so she pushed all negative thoughts of her past to that little dark corner of her mind, where they remained dormant most of the time.
“Why don’t you take your lunch break now. We’re staying open until seven tonight. This might be the only chance you’ll have. Once the lifts are closed, I expect we’ll be swamped.”
Candy Lee looked at the Minnie Mouse watch on her wrist. “Okay. You want me to bring you something back? You have to eat, too,” Candy Lee informed her in that all-knowing teenage way.
“Yes, that’s why I brought my lunch with me. I knew I wouldn’t have time to go to The Lodge for lunch today. Now, go on and get back here,” Stephanie said, using her mothering tone.
Candy Lee grabbed her purse from beneath the counter, gave a quick salute, and raced out the back door. Stephanie watched her as she tore through the icy parking lot. Had she ever been that young and carefree? If she had, she couldn’t pull up the memory. She had new memories to make, and this time around they’d be the kind she’d always dreamed of.
Wouldn’t they?
Chapter 4
Melanie held a mitten-clad hand in each of hers. The slopes were always dangerously crowded the first day after Thanksgiving. If she let go of Ashley or Amanda, it would be very easy to lose sight of them. Stephanie had made sure to tell the girls to dress in their neon yellow ski suits; that way they would be easy to spot. Melanie glanced around her, seeing at least a dozen other young children dressed in the same neon yellow suits that her charges wore. So much for sticking out like a sore thumb, she thought. Melanie wouldn’t let the girls get too far from her sight no matter what.
“Auntie M,” Ashley said. Melanie laughed when Ashley called her by the new nickname they’d christened her with after she’d allowed them to watch The Wizard of Oz four times last week. “Can we ski on the blue trails today? Please? Uncle Max says we’re as good as most of the older kids, and their parents let them ski the blue runs.”
“Puhleeze,” Amanda echoed.
“I guess so, but not by yourselves. I’ll go with you,” Melanie stated firmly. “There are a lot of skiers out today, so we have to be extra careful.”
“Yeah, or we’ll get hurt, right? And then Mommy will have to take us to the hospital, and we’ll have to stay there cause she won’t have enough money to pay the hospital bill, right, Auntie M?” Amanda crooned in a squeaky voice.
At five-foot-nine, Melanie had to stoop in order to be at eye level with both girls. She wanted to wrap them both in her arms and tell them she would never allow that to happen. And she had the resources to keep that pledge, having inherited millions from her grandparents. Nor would her wealthy parents allow it. But Melanie knew how badly Stephanie wanted to make her way in the world on her own, so Melanie had carefully refrained from even hinting at her own financial situation.
Stephanie had told her more than once about her life with Glenn. Determined to provide for her children, Stephanie had rules she’d explained to Melanie when she’d first taken the job, and one of those rules was no financial help, no loans, no expensive gifts. Two years ago, Melanie’s parents, longtime supporters of Grace’s work with battered women at Hope House, had reduced the rent to something that Stephanie could afford. And to the best of Melanie’s knowledge, no one, including Grace, had ever breathed a word of this to Stephanie.
Melanie smiled at both girls. “Well, we won’t have to worry about that because you’re both such good little skiers, I can’t even imagine either of you falling down, let alone getting hurt so badly that you would have to go to the hospital. So let’s not even think about that. How about the three of us take the lift up to Sugar Hill, ski to Snow Zone where we’ll stop in and see your mom, then maybe grab a cup of hot chocolate at The Lodge?”
Both girls nodded in agreement.
They were both worrywarts, something Melanie wished she could change, but time more than anything else would help to ease the fear and anxiety both girls tended to feel. Again, given their start in life, it was a miracle they hadn’t suffered anything more than becoming overly cautious where their mother was concerned. Melanie wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to cope at such a young age had her life been as tragic