Sisters In Love (Snow Sisters, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Twenty-One & Twenty-Two, Sisters in Love

Chapter Twenty-One

Blake wondered if everyone experienced life-altering crossroads, or if he was the only one who felt swept away with the avalanche of chaos in his life. He stepped onto the sidewalk, the icy air stinging his cheeks. Was he hallucinating, or had there been some sort of underlying romantic current running between him and Danica? He swore he saw want in her eyes. This celibacy routine must be affecting his senses or something. He zipped his coat and headed for his car.

The main road to AcroSki was backed up, so he took the back roads. When he came to the stop sign at the corner of Cemetery Drive and Nauget Street, he turned right instead of left. He didn’t think about where he was going. He didn’t intentionally head for Dave’s grave. It was as if the car had a mind of its own and he was along for the ride.

He parked in the cemetery lot, grabbed a scarf from the backseat, and wrapped it around his neck, covering his nose from the bitter air. He stepped from the car and stood in the wind, staring in the direction of Dave’s grave. There were three cars in the parking lot, though Blake saw no other people on the cemetery grounds. He didn’t know what he was going to do when he got there, but he was drawn toward Dave’s grave. He shouldered the wind, and a few moments later, he was standing above the freshly tilled earth. With his hands buried deep in his coat pockets, he stared at the rich, brown soil, a sharp contrast to the fresh, snowy carpet around the gravesite.

Blake looked up at the sky. “Dave? Was I a good friend? Was it my life that made you reach outside of your marriage, because if it was, buddy, I’m sorry. It’s not so great.” He heard the footsteps before she appeared beside him. He expected to find Sally, but instead was faced with the woman from the back of the church.

“Hi,” she said softly.

“Hello,” Blake said, and shot his eyes back to the ground, feeling awkward in her presence. What if Sally came by and saw them? Would she think he’d been lying and that he’d known about her the whole time?

“Dave was a good man,” she said.

Blake nodded, unsure how good of a man Dave had really been. “Were you a friend?” Blake couldn’t help it. He wanted to know if she’d cover up the affair.

She faced him, her wavy, blond hair tucked beneath a red, knit hat. Her brown eyes were painfully small. She wore red lipstick that matched the bright shade of her hat, and her long, gray, fitted coat hung almost to her knees. She looked like one of those little porcelain dolls that had their makeup painted on. She crossed her hands over her chest, warding off the wind. “Yes. You’re Blake, right?”

Surprised, he said, “Mm-hmm. Do I know you?”

She turned away again. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” She thrust her hands in her pockets.

Blake glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was a petite woman, no taller than his chest. “How did you know Dave?” he asked.

She kicked her rubber boot at a mound of wayward dirt. “We helped each other with things.”

“Things?” He was digging himself deeper into a hole he wasn’t sure he wanted to be in, but he needed to understand what went on between them, and why Dave would ruin his family for this woman.

“I knew Dave when we were teenagers, and we hadn’t seen each other for years, until I moved back here. Back home. We were…friends.”

Blake felt the heat of anger despite the brisk air. He turned and faced her. “Friends?” You’re not getting off that easy. “How is it that you know who I am, but I have no idea who you are?”