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CHAPTER ONE
It was cold that day, colder than usual, even for Norway The sky was bright blue, the sun golden, the wind a gentle sigh
Wendy stood poised in the chute at the top of the ski run Exciteh her blood like a river of quicksilver She had never felt more alive
“E but theher poles into the snow and began her run down the slope Through the first gate Through the second, and the third, and
Too fast Too wide on the turn Recover, dah to make her lose control
She flew through the air, bindings never releasing So and bounced over it
This wasn’t supposed to happen, she thought with great clarity—and then she saw the treesand the rocks
After that, there was only blackness
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, welcome to John F Kennedy International Airport Please keep your seats until the captain brings the plane to a complete stop”
Wendy jerked awake A dream That’s all it was, just a drea to Cooper’s Corner for the first time in the nine years since the accident, and she’d had the dreaain
Welcome home, Wendy
Whoever it ho’d said you couldn’t go hoht
You can still change your mind, a little voice whispered All she had to do was turn around and head back to Paris, where she’d been living for the past seven years Yes, she’d given up her tiny flat in the Marais because she didn’t kno long she’d be gone, but she’d made friends Gabrielle or Celeste would be happy to let her sleep on the sofa until
Until what?
Wendy wasn’t about to regain the life she’d loved by teaching English to a bunch of French kids all day One of the supporters of the Aotten her the job when shein a stuffy classroom quickly lost its appeal even if yourlooked out over a sea of chimney pots She’d been born to schuss down a snow-coveredto do that again-ski and race and feel as if she were truly alive—she had to go home For a little while, anyway
The 747 lurched to a stop People unbuckled their seat belts, stood up, sought their carry-on luggage Wendy clutched the handle of her duffel bag and followed the other passengers fro toward Customs
Even if she’d wanted to change her plans, it was too late What excuse could she give? Her parents were expecting her, and herhome Only her father knew the real reason for her visit, and she’d asked hi to her mother Wendy would have to tell her the truth, but she’d do it face-to-face Gina would take it better that way
That’s what Wendy hoped, anyway
And then there was Alison, driving the fifty or so miles fro flight from Kennedy Wendy’s folks had offered to pick her up but she’d refused
“You guys don’t have to take the day off,” she’d said when they’d phoned the last tiet at school Besides, I haven’t seen Allie in years This e’ll have tiirl talk”
It was another half-truth Gina and Howard had visited her every six months, but she hadn’t seen Alison in nine years So, yes, it would be nice to spend soer to adjust, out from under her mother’s watchful eye, so much the better
Wendy reached the Customs counter and handed over her passport and declarations form
“Nothing of value to declare?” the Customs officer said
“Nothing,” Wendy replied briskly
Nothing the government would want to hear about, anyway Only Oprah or Ricki would lift an interested eyebrow if she said, “Well, actually, there’s a swar home so I can convince a doctor to perform an operation my own physicians call insane”
That kind of thinking wasn’t good This was her life She had to do what she thought best, and why have second thoughts now? The thing to do was concentrate on how great it would be to see Allie They hadn’t done anything except talk on the phone since the night before the ski team left for France
The saht Seth made love to her for the very last time
The thought was so sudden, so unexpected that it almost stole her breath away She uy, as holding out her passport, raised his bushy eyebrows
“Miss? You okay?”
“Yes I’htly, took back her passport and walked to the exit doors that led into the terminal
There was a sign just ahead She paused to check the directions for the connecting flight to Albany People brushed past her, everyone in a hurry to get soot to Cooper’s Corner, the sooner she could get started on the future
Once she’d reached the right ter ached so fierce The doctors had warned h
er that it would, after all the hours in the air Inactivity wasn’t good for bones that were held together with screws and steel plates Muscles didn’t like stretching themselves for the benefit of all that hardware, either
Not that she’d never had cramped muscles until the accident A weekend of hard, co as if a sadist had tied her in knots Seth would see her wince as she rubbed her calf or ankle, and he’d know she was hurting
“Here,” he’d say, “let me help”
She’d smile and put her foot in his lap—not easy to do in the confines of the cab of his old truck—and he’d knead her flesh gently, stroke her gently, and after a while a sensation that had nothing to do with pain would turn her bones to liquid
“Miss?”
Wendy blinked A ed man had risen from his seat
“Would you like to sit down?”
She wanted to Lord, yes, she wanted to Instead, she gave a thin smile “Thank you, no”
“I noticed” He cleared his throat “I, uh, noticed that your duffel looks heavy”
“It isn’t,” she said, trying to sound polite
Who was he kidding? What he’d noticed was the way she li back, tired of people’s good intentions, tired of wanting to scream and tell theirl who’d once been graceful, who’d flon snow-covered slopes and through the gates like a hawk after a dove
A sign blinked on The co
Not a ht, and didn’t slow her pace until she was on the plane and in her seat
IT WAS THIRTY DEGREES in Albany, with a windchill thatto the pilot’s cheerful landing announcement
Wendy looked out the s of the terantic mounds Fresh snow, from the pristine look of it There’d been a tiround just by the way the crystals reflected the light, especially on Jihest slopes in the area; compared with the mountains she’d skied in Colorado and Utah, Ji called a irl, discovered her passion for speed on its trails, and it would always hold a special place in
In what? Those days were gone Da her into a bundle of sloppy sentimentality?
An icy wind bit through her as she exited the terminal She shivered, put down her duffel and zipped her anorak all the way to her chin Her long, auburn hair hipping around her face and she put up her hood and tucked the unruly curls inside while she looked around in search of Alison
“I’ll ht outside the door,” Allie had said when they’d touched base a couple of days ago And then she’d laughed and said hoonderful it was going to be to see each other again “I can’t believe you’re co home!”
“It’s just a visit,” Wendy had answered, correcting her oldest friend the same way she’d corrected her mother Allie had said yes, sure, she understood that, but in a way that made it clear she didn’t believe it any more than Gina
Snow began to fall, big, fat flakes Wendy tugged a pair of gloves from her pockets and put them on
That was all it was A visit She was here for a purpose, and if she was successful, she’d be ready to begin life again in a place that was free of ht world these last years Not Cooper’s Corner, where everything would only be a reminder of what had once been She’d find a place where there were no ghosts, no shadows from the life she and Seth had once planned