LITMIR.BIZ

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pushed Charmaine off the mountain.” Nicola, her wet hair plastered to a thin oval face with a pointed chin, looked like a mere girl but her clear-eyed gaze was anything but ingenuous. “Did you?”

       Her directness caught him off guard. But in some ways it was easier to deal with than oblique looks and innuendo. Returning her gaze steadily, he replied, “No.”

       “Of course, you’d claim that even if you had,” she said matter-of-factly.

       He shrugged, pretending it didn’t matter one way or another. “True.”

       “Don’t you care what people say about you?”

       He’d rather they talked about him than discover the truth about Charmaine. “I learned long ago that people will think what they want to think.” He paused as Emily came back their way pushing a lumpy sphere of snow. “This discussion isn’t appropriate in front of my daughter.”

       “Of course.” Nicola scooped up more snow to pack onto the snow woman’s torso, sculpting it into an arm.

       “Will you be looking after Emily again tomorrow?” he asked.

       Nicola nodded. “Apparently the Christmas Ball is bigger than King Kong. June’s taken charge of half a dozen subcommittees.”

       “I’m not surprised.” He couldn’t hide a trace of rancor. “With her need for control she should have been CEO of some big company.”

       Nicola was silent a moment. “You don’t like her.”

       “She doesn’t like me.”

       “Why?”

       This was the oddest conversation he’d had in a long time. He shrugged. “It has to do with Charmaine.”

       “In what way?”

       Couldn’t she tell it was personal? Did she really think he was going to unburden himself about Charmaine after knowing her for twenty-four hours when he’d spent the past six years bottling things up inside, not confiding even in his family?

       He created a smoke screen by elaborating on a pet peeve. “June means well but she spoils Emily. She’s already given her enough presents for two Christmases and the holiday is still weeks away. I was glad you took over, even temporarily.”

       Nicola smiled. “I’m loving it. Emily’s a doll.”

       “She seems to have taken to you.” He paused. “I understand you and Charmaine were very close. Forgive me, but it seems odd when you and she are so…different.”

       “Like night and day,” Nicola said dryly. “Charmaine got all the boys—when she was around no one noticed me.”

       “Come on, I’ll bet a cute girl like you must have had swarms of guys hanging around,” Aidan said gallantly.

       “If I was so cute why weren’t you hanging around?”

       Flummoxed, Aidan stared. “Me? I didn’t know you—”

       “Existed?” She smiled wryly and turned to Emily who was trying to heave a large ball. “My point, exactly. Don’t worry, I got used to living in Charmaine’s shadow. It doesn’t bother me anymore.” She turned to Emily who was trying to heave a large ball of snow onto the base she’d made. “You’re making that snow baby all by yourself. Can I help?”

       “Yes.” Emily stopped and panted. “Put that on top. And it’s not a snow baby anymore, it’s a snow lion.”

       “I’ve heard of snow leopards,” Aidan said.

       “No, it’s a lion,” Emily declared. “Honestly, Daddy.”

       Nicola’s amused gaze met Aidan’s over his daughter’s head.

       “You’re not in high school anymore,” he said. “Are you married?” She shook her head. “Boyfriend? If I’m being too nosy just tell me to mind my own business.”

       “That’s okay,” she said easily. “I don’t have time for a boyfriend. This photography assignment will keep me busy for quite some time.”

       “Where do you go after here?”

       “Banff, Tahoe, Vail, Aspen—I can’t remember the entire itinerary. We’re covering all the major resorts in a coffee-table book for ski buffs.”

       “Pity it won’t be ready in time for Christmas.”

       She smiled. “It will be. Next year.”

       “What am I going to use for whiskers?” Emily demanded.

       Aidan turned only to find she was asking Nicola. One day, he marveled, and this quiet woman had completely won over his daughter. He watched Nicola help Emily gather needles from a clear patch of ground near the base of a pine tree and press them into the cat’s face.

       Leaving the child, Nicola got up and came back to where he was standing. “I’d better get going,” she said. “You look half frozen and your dinner is waiting.”

       “Why don’t you stay and eat with us?”

       “Thanks, but June and Roy are going to be home late and I told my aunt I’d make dinner.” She turned to Emily. “Bye, possum. See you tomorrow.”

       Aidan walked Nicola to her car, thinking back to the first part of their conversation and feeling the need to convince her of his innocence. He opened the door for her, but before she could climb in, he touched her shoulder, stopping her. “I loved Charmaine with all my heart.”

       Her brows came together in a puzzled frown, her searching gaze quietly alert. “Everyone loved Charmaine.”

       Aidan watched her get into her vehicle and start the engine. Although she hadn’t said so, he got the distinct impression Nicola was reserving judgment about him. He got that a lot from people he didn’t know and over the years he’d learned not to care. For some reason, it bothered him coming from Nicola.

      Chapter 4

      Nicola arrived home to a dark and empty house. Pushing aside thoughts of Aidan’s warm fire and delicious-smelling stew she peeled off her wet outer clothing and went to the kitchen to start dinner.

       June seemed to have every gadget known to man lining her granite countertops, but from the pristine condition of the appliances, Nicola deduced she rarely used them. Luckily the ingredients for one of Nicola’s small repertoire of foolproof dishes—spaghetti bolognese—were on hand. Nicola got out onions, garlic and mushrooms, had a look at the food processor, and decided a knife and chopping board were easier to clean.

       Aidan had been forthright about the rumors surrounding Charmaine’s death, she mused as she peeled the papery skin off the onion. Yet she had the feeling he was hiding something regarding Charmaine.

       Six years was a long time. Aidan was a good-looking man. Why hadn’t he married again? Nicola didn’t think it could be due to a lack of interested and available women. Was he still grieving? Or did he find it hard to move on because he was guilty?

       Tears from the onion vapors slid down her cheeks and she wiped her eyes with the cuff of her long-sleeved thermal shirt. She quickly chopped the mushrooms and green pepper and added them to the pot along with the hamburger meat and a couple tins of tomatoes. The big stockpot of water she’d set on the stove was boiling so she dumped in a package of dried spaghetti and gave it a stir.

       That done she ran upstairs to get a book to read while she waited for June and Roy. Her footsteps slowed as she passed Charmaine’s closed door. The cuckoo clock on the wall behind her ticked loudly in the silence. Why wasn’t Emily allowed in her mother’s old room?

       Nicola reached out and turned the handle. The room was dark and with no light on in the hall she could only make out the vague shapes of a bed and dresser, desk and chair. She felt for the light switch and flicked it on.

      

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