Free Snowed In by Rachel Hawthorne Page B

to get up close and personal with the island.” She rubbed her shoulder against Josh’s. “That would be okay, wouldn’t it? To have Ashleigh come along?”
    “Sure,” Josh said with as much enthusiasm as a senior being told he was being demoted to fresh-man.
    “I’ve never skied,” I said, trying to find a diplo-matic way to say no-way-no-how was I going on an outing with Nathalie and “her boyfriend.”
    “Oh, it’s easy,” Nathalie assured me. “Toddlers can do it. You can use Chase’s skis. He lives next door, so it won’t be a problem to get them, and he’s 100
    working at the fudge shop tomorrow, so he won’t need them.”
    “I don’t want to butt in . . .”
    She snuggled against Josh. “No problem. Think of us as the welcome committee. Really, it’ll be loads of fun.”
    Before I could offer another protest, Chase dropped down beside me. “Hey, what’s going on here?”
    “Just getting warm,” I said.
    “Ashleigh’s going cross-country skiing with me and Josh tomorrow. She’s going to use your skis.”
    “And what if I want to use them?” Chase asked.
    “You’re working. You can’t use them.”
    “That’s okay,” I said. “If you don’t want—”
    “It’s fine,” Chase said. “You can use them.
    We’ll work out payment Friday night. We’re still going out, right?”
    “You two are going out?” Josh asked before I could respond.
    “Yeah,” Chase said. “Is that a problem?”
    “Not at all. I just didn’t realize—”
    “No reason you should, dude. I don’t run my social calendar by you.”
    Was I sensing a little tension here?
    “I’ll walk you home,” Chase said to me.
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    “You don’t have to do that,” I said.
    “It’s no trouble.”
    “All right.” I pushed myself to my feet.
    “So my boyfriend and I will see you tomorrow, right after lunch,” Nathalie said.
    I almost asked if she knew her boyfriend had a name, and if she knew what it was.
    Josh looked at her funny, like maybe he was just realizing that she had this strange habit of never, and I do mean never, referring to him by name.
    “Sounds good,” I said.
    “Hey, are you guys leaving?” Shanna asked.
    Before we could answer, she added, “Don’t forget the hayride Thursday night. We’ll be by to pick up everyone around seven. Are you in, Ashleigh?”
    “Yeah, she’s in,” Chase said, winking at me.
    “Guess I’m in.”
    Everything was happening so fast, just when I was getting used to everything happening so slowly.
    I bundled myself up and followed Chase outside. I’d forgotten how cold it was. Especially when we turned the corner and the wind from off the lake hit us. I was thinking that buying fur-lined boots wasn’t enough. Finding some fur-lined underwear might not be a bad idea.
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    “Was something going on between you and Josh back there?” I finally asked.
    Chase gave me a crooked smile. “Nah. Not really. Just . . . you know.”
    Actually I didn’t know, which was why I’d asked. But it seemed rude to pester him about something he obviously didn’t want to talk about.
    “I mean, couples hook up when they’re kids, and then no one else gets a chance to date,” he said. “That’s all.”
    Was he saying that he wanted to date Nathalie?
    “But you didn’t hook up with anyone. I thought it was because you like fudgies.” He shrugged. “That’s what Nathalie thinks.” Did that mean it wasn’t true?
    “So, what do you think of island life so far?” he asked. I guess he could see that I was trying to figure out what he was really saying—and he didn’t want me thinking about it.
    “Love the fudge,” I said, grinning.
    He grinned back. “Yeah, it’s hard to beat.”
    “Everything seems to move slower here.”
    “You should see it during the summer.”
    “Do things speed up then?”
    “No, not really, but you can find more things to do. Horseback riding. Bicycling. Hiking. Lots of 103
    good hiking trails and caves to explore.”
    “I guess