Free Steady as the Snow Falls by Lindy Zart Page B

She strove for calm as she replied, “What, all your detective work and you don’t even know my age?”
    Two red splotches appeared on his cheeks and he turned his head away from her view.
    “I’m twenty-six,” she answered, her tone quiet.
    “And have you written a book?”
    Beth’s face heated up, at odds with her cold cheeks, and it caused a burning sensation. “One or two. Nothing good,” she said vaguely, looking down.
    She studied the thick purple laces of her black boots. Her toes were turning into icicles. Beth hoped he wouldn’t ask any more about her previous book endeavors. Writing was about baring her soul, and when others couldn’t see how much of her essence was in her words, it stung. She’d asked Ozzy to read pieces of her work, and he’d always had an excuse. The one time he’d agreed, he’d acted like it was an inconvenience, and his input consisted of a shrug. Beth kept her expectations low. There were fewer chances of being disappointed that way.
    “How do you know if your work is good or not?” Harrison questioned.
    Snorting, she shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and bounced on the balls of her feet, the cold stripping away the layers of her clothes to pierce her skin. She felt naked, as if no barrier at all stood between her and winter. “I know.”
    A pause, a glance. “Why did you come up here?”
    “Why did you?” Beth retorted.
    “Fresh air is good for you.”
    “So is being warm.”
    He faced her, tall enough to envelop her whole. His eyes were brighter surrounded by the paleness of his skin and the white world around them. Dark chocolate, brimming with unsaid ideas and uncertainties. “Did you stay up all night Googling me?”
    Beth wanted to deny it, but she wasn’t good at lying, and she didn’t like it. She nodded, careful to keep from looking directly at him.
    “Find out anything interesting? Other than the fact that I was a linebacker for the Bears and I’m sick,” he specified.
    It felt like a trap. He was luring her in only to snap at her if she prodded too much. Beth shook her head. She wasn’t falling for it. The questions stayed inside her head, tormenting her. What happened to Nina, his girlfriend of six years? Did she go, or did he? What about his parents? He was cut off from everything, everyone. Everyone but her. That detail shouldn’t seem noteworthy to her, but it was.
    “How…” Beth scowled at her timidity around him. It faded at times, but it always came back. Her mettle ran in the opposite direction when she was in Harrison’s company. Straightening her shoulders, she started over. “How does your identity stay hidden? What do you do for groceries and other things you need? You completely stay out of Crystal Lake? I don’t understand how you can live out here without someone knowing you’re here.”
    “You know I’m here.”
    Her cheeks went unnaturally warm, and she didn’t want to analyze what it meant. “Besides me.” Oh, come on, Beth, let’s analyze. You feel special. Handpicked. Beth stared at the white ground so she couldn’t look at him. How easy her mind shifted as she spent more time with Harrison.
    “I shop out of town. I see a doctor out of town. My mail does not have my given name on it. My parents get me the things I can’t, and bring them to me when they can. I don’t go into Crystal Lake, no. It’s a pretty town, but I can observe its beauty without entering it. Anything else you’d like to know?” Mockery was in his tone.
    Yes. There were many, many more things she’d like to know.
    “You see your parents?”
    “From time to time, yes. They apparently didn’t get the memo that all contact with me is to be avoided.”
    Beth looked at him from the corner of her eye, and then she turned toward the house. He said the words without inflection, and that was a telling sign. He’d secluded himself, yes, but maybe he wasn’t as okay with it as he seemed. She wouldn’t be. If Beth were in Harrison’s