Be Mine (11 page)

Distracted from her own disappointment, Erica asked, “What’s the rush? Hot date tonight?”

Without looking up, Chad answered, “A dentist appointment tomorrow. Some people actually enjoy root canals and novocain.”

Sabina refused to rise to his bait. “I simply don’t want to impose on you people any longer than I have to.”

“She’s afraid she might have a good time.” Chad cut a generous piece of cornbread and slathered it with butter. “Maybe she doesn’t know being snowed in is an art in this part of the country, social life being what it is.”

Giggles swept Erica. “Remember two years ago when we played Monopoly all night? I had two hotels on every piece of property I owned, and more money than all of you and the bank combined.”

“I think that was when you got butter from the popcorn all over the money because you counted your ill-gotten gains every ten minutes. We had to buy a new set.” Chad grumbled.

Erica retorted, “You should have known better than to sell me Park Place so early in the game.”

“You cheated,” he said flatly, his eyes twinkling.

“Did not.”

“Stop your branglin’
,
” Clara intervened. “A body couldn’t tell which of you was grown up.”

“I’ve heard enough to know I’m not playing Monopoly tonight,” Sabina asserted. “Sounds as if you play for blood.”

Chad scooped up the last of his chili, promising, “I’m sure we’ll find something to do.
After
the game, of course. There are all kinds of ways to celebrate.” He rose from the table in one lithe movement. “I’m going to join Sock in Daniel’s room. I need to make up the sleep I lost last night.”

“Hmph. If you’d stayed home, instead of bothering Christian folk, you’d have gotten a decent night’s rest.”

Chad threw his arm up in mock self defense and headed jauntily out the door.

“Just like the pigs. Eat and take a nap,” his aunt said.

“He can’t hear you, Gran.” Erica turned to Sabina and explained, “She simply adores him, but she never likes to let him get too sure of himself.”

Sabina wondered what it would be like to be loved so much you could laugh off criticism. Her mother’s efforts to make her perfect hadn’t succeeded. She’d been adequate at ballet and pedestrian at piano, but had excelled in sports and in class. Her mother had taken the successes for granted and looked on the failures as lack of effort. Her father hadn’t noticed anything.

Until now, the fight to preserve the environment had consumed her idealism. Chad’s explanation of rural economics this morning still haunted her.

“I think I’ll carry my things back to my room and shed a few layers of clothing,” she said.

“Mind if I come along for some girl talk?” Erica fell in behind her.

Sabina soon discovered Erica wanted more than idle chatter. “I’ve thought about what you said. Tell me about your job.”

Later, Sabina wondered how Chad could be oblivious to his cousin’s obsession with taking over Calico. The girl already knew more about the work, the rules and regulations, and management than some people already in the business. All Erica needed was schooling and experience.

“I’m can’t encourage you, Erica. You’ll meet Chad head on over this.” She cared more than she’d thought possible. “I don’t want to be the cause of a family uproar.”
Or your disappointment if Chad sells Calico.

“You mean you don’t want Chad to think you encouraged me.” Erica sent her mentor a sparkling glance. “He’s totally hung up on you. Do you think he worried about
my
neck yesterday? Fat chance! He was shaken right down to his steel-toes over
you
. He wasn’t afraid the state would take revenge. That was just a good excuse.”

Careful to control her expression, Sabina said firmly, “You’re reading things into this, Erica.”

“Cop-out, Sabina. You two are wired whenever you’re together. Chad could’ve called last night about schedules. There’s a telephone over there on the table.
I
think he came because he thought he’d get a `fix’ from the sight of you,” she said, grinning cheekily.

The humor of the situation struck Sabina and she giggled. She still wasn’t accustomed to open discussions of private lives. “I . . . I’m not used to such bluntness, Erica.”

“You’ll learn. I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot of you around here.”

A loud thump on the door of the tiny apartment rescued Sabina from further embarrassment. “Come in!” she called, unwilling to drag herself from the depths of the couch.

Sock forced his way through the opening, wriggling in ecstasy as he threw himself on Erica’s reclining figure. Chad followed, looking rested and pleased with the world in general. “This is a textbook March blizzard. Either of you want to bet the roads will be clear by noon tomorrow?”

Sabina looked at her watch. Had she and Erica been talking two hours? The blanket of white outside had wrapped them in a silent cocoon where time was suspended.

“I need volunteers to bring in firewood. Aunt Clara’s unearthing the popcorn popper and baking beans. We’re going to roast hot dogs.” Chad sounded as enthusiastic as a small boy looking forward to a day off from school.

Light dawned in Sabina’s mind as Erica set off in search of her coat and boots. “You’re enjoying this too much. Did you suspect the storm would arrive so soon?”

“The signs were there if you knew what to look for. Aunt Clara could have told you, if you’d asked.”

“You missed the game just so you could get snowed in?”

He didn’t even have the grace to blush. His little boy grin was disarming. “They’ll win tonight. I’ll see an even better game next week in the quarter semifinals, but the chance to be snowbound with you won’t turn up again, at least this winter.”

Before Sabina could recover from his frankness, Clara spoke from behind him. “The boy’s always been too ornery to live with honest folk.” She eased past him, a fat satin bundle in her arms. “I brought you this comforter in case the ‘lectricity goes off.”

“Aunt Clara, if that happens we’ll have to huddle in front of the fire for warmth. I personally volunteer to make sure Sabina doesn’t get chilled,” Chad said.

Reaching for the comforter, Sabina frowned at him. “I prefer this, thank you. After the way you tricked me into being stuck here, I certainly wouldn’t count on you to behave.”

“Met your match, nephew.” Clara said before she bustled back to her kitchen.

“Are you my match, Sabina?”

The light question belied the seriousness in his eyes. The walls of the room felt as if they were closing in, and Sabina struggled against the tug of his voice.

“Are we going out for wood or not?” Erica demanded from the dining room.

The spell broken, Sabina pushed past him. “You two bring it to the door and I’ll carry it to the fireplace. I’m not going back out into that mess again.”

“Fair enough,” Erica said. “Chad and I’ll bring the wood to the service porch. Put it in that tin wash tub in the den.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

 Later, Chad lounged to one side of the fire, pretending exhaustion from building the fire and watching Sabina’s graceful movements as she set out food.

 “Put the radio on, Gran. The game starts in five minutes.” Erica said, nearly dropping the meat in the fire in her excitement. “I hope Daniel makes so many baskets tonight the Celtics recruit him straight from high school.”

“Don’t get so het up. Last week he couldn’t hit Lake Erie with a broom,” Clara said.

Chad located the local station while the others filled their plates and settled about the room. It seemed natural, once he’d collected his own meal, to lower himself next to Sabina where she curled against a big cushion. The heady scent of jasmine blended with the piercing sweetness of the burning apple wood.

Sabina watched the flickering shadows of the flames on the paneled walls. There had been a beautiful fireplace in the home in which she’d grown up; she remembered fires during the holidays. Early each January her mother had removed the ashes and scrubbed the grate. “This is wonderful. My mother said soot and sparks made a mess. I must have been sixteen before I realized you could make a fire whenever you felt like it.”

“We have fires for no reason at all, even in July, if it’s cool,” Erica said, as if unable to comprehend otherwise.

Sabina’s admission was no surprise to Chad. Her passion for rules and regulations had to come from somewhere. But whatever her past, Sabina had merged into his family as if she’d lived with them all her life. “Quiet. There’s the tossup.”

By halftime Daniel had scored fifteen points. “This is no contest. We’re ahead by twenty points. I told you next week’s game would be more of a challenge,” Chad exulted.

 Erica eyed him slyly. “You act as if you’d planned the storm so you could keep Sabina here.”

Clara’s laughter completed Sabina’s embarrassment. Even as her cheeks flamed she realized there was no malice involved in the affectionate teasing, and Chad was laughing in response. He had edged closer, and she felt mirth shake his body.

“You’re just mad school was dismissed before the booster bus could leave,” Chad teased.

“No, I’m jealous because I have to watch you romance Sabina.”

“Hush, child.” Clara raised the radio’s volume. “The second half’s ‘bout t’ start.”

The outcome of the game was never in doubt, nor was the winner of the poker game which followed. Chad had a mountain of chips, while the others nursed several small stacks. “Too bad we’re not playing for money, or even pieces of clothing,” he said smugly. He gathered the colorful plastic heap from the middle of the table with a careless gesture, his eyes golden and teasing.

“What a thing to say to your aunt!” Clara’s eyes sparkled.

“Why, Aunt Clara, you’re a good looking woman. Jonas mentioned it just the other day. Should I ask his intentions?”

Though her color heightened, Clara protested his statement. “That Jonas. If you’re goin’ t’ make up stories, I’d best get on up t’ bed. I hope Daniel can get home tomorrow.”

Obeying the hint in Chad’s eye, Erica yawned widely. “I’m going up too, Gran. Why does doing nothing make a person tired?”

“Close the draft before you come up, Chad. Don’t keep Sabina up too late.”

Chad’s hand shot out, staying Sabina’s attempt to rise. “Don’t worry about a thing, Aunt. I’ll even tuck her in.” He flinched as Sabina’s shoe made contact with his shin.

Wrenching her arm free from Chad’s warm fingers, Sabina said, “If you leave him here with me, you may have to bandage his wounds in the morning.”

“He’s always been able to tend to himself, dear.” The words floated back over Clara’s shoulder.

“I love bloodshed and violence. Can I stay and watch?” Erica asked.

“Go to bed, brat,”

Sabina wanted to run. The evening had been a delight; she couldn’t remember laughing so much. Now Chad’s firm declaration of intent and Clara’s unexpected aiding and abetting made her nervous.

 Chad rose from the card table and wrapped his warm fingers around her wrist. He tugged her to her feet. “No need to panic. I just want to talk, and maybe snuggle a little bit, until the fire dies down. This is a good night for snuggling, and it may be my last chance for a while. The snow’s stopped.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to get home tomorrow?”

He framed her face with his hands, looking at her intently. “Are you really that eager to leave?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Her eyelids fell, the spread of lashes dark against her cheek.

“What’s waiting for you that’s better than this?” Chad brushed his lips over her forehead.

When she failed to respond, he grazed lower, inhaling her fragrance. Each touch of his lips was like a tiny shock. Sabina pulled her face away and buried her face against his chest.

Chad looked down at the curving bell of hair which separated above the slender column of her neck. He bent forward to kiss her exposed nape.

He staggered backward as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him deeply.

It was Chad who broke the kiss. Not in his aunt’s house. For the first time, Chad realized his midwestern morality was alive and healthy.

His movement startled Sabina, and she moved from his embrace. “I . . . I don’t know what came over me. Let me go, Chad. Please.”

Sabina freed herself and he reached for her, clasping her chin lightly. “Sweetheart, I don’t know why you’re apologizing. I’ve never been kissed like that before in my life.”

She said seriously, “I . . . never give in to impulse. In fact, I’ve never
had
an impulse like that.”

Chad smoothed the worried frown from the smooth expanse of her forehead. “Then maybe it’s time you did.”

“There was something about the way you kissed my neck. Do you know no one ever did that before? Not even my fiancé
.
”

An ingrained self-protective instinct made Chad pull away as he spoke. “Your
fiancé
”

“Oh, not any more. Not for over six years.” Sabina said. “What if I’d said I was still engaged and that he was a bad-tempered professional football player?”

Chad threw his arm around her shoulder, drew her to his side, and led her into the cozy den. A hissing bed of embers playing counterpoint to the moaning wind outside. “I’d have been hunting my passport and a plane ticket to Siberia. We have to talk.” He sat her firmly at one end of the couch and placed himself at the other end, leaving the middle cushion to serve as chaperon. “There’s nothing sinful about kissing. I’ve always enjoyed it.”

“I don’t know what came over me.” Sabina said seriously, as if pondering her uncharacteristic behavior.

“I want to know more about you. This evening is the first time you’ve let out more than a peep about yourself. On the other hand, you probably know enough about me and my family to write a book.” He slid the base of his spine to the edge of the couch, stretching his legs toward the fire. “You have a brother. Where did you grow up?”

Sabina’s mind went blank. Then she stammered, “In . . . in Golden, Colorado.”

“There, that was easy, wasn’t it? Are your parents still there?”