Cabin Fever Read online

  "She hasn't had a ski instructor since she was fifteen, Connie, eight years ago,” Helen said with a frown.

  "I know.” She smiled. “I told her she was crazy. She said she thought she was in love."

  "Now that's crazy.” Jayne sipped her tea and smiled over the rim of her cup. “When it's love, you don't think that you're in love, you know."

  "Hey guys ... what are we talking about?” Kate breathed heavily as she pushed the door open and was greeted by everyone staring at her with wide eyes.

  "Nothing,” they said in unison and then all filed out of the room.

  She frowned for a moment and then shrugged it off as she walked over to the kettle, deciding that they were probably talking about Nick and the other two men.

  Pouring herself a fresh mug of coffee, she breathed in the bittersweet aroma and smiled.

  She could do this. It was just a few days and then they'd have the cabin to themselves again. Pushing off from the side, she headed towards the living room door.

  "So you guys coming skiing with us?"

  Jayne asked the question just as she walked through the door and she tried not to let it get to her. So, they would be coming skiing. It was just a few days. Besides, it might be fun to show her stepbrother up in front of his friends.

  "Sure,” Ryan answered and then smiled up at her as she walked in.

  "Great,” she said with a forced smile and sat down in the armchair. She noted that no one had bothered to bring any wood in or light the fire, and put her coffee down on the side table. She smiled at the room and then muttered under her breath as she went to get some firewood.

  Bringing it in, she put it into the grate and lit the kindling, wondering if this was how it was going to be for the next few days. She would run around after everyone while they all had a great time.

  She sighed as she watched the fire burning.

  It was just a few days, and then they would be gone and her real vacation would start.

  Until then, she just had to make the most of it. This was nothing new to her. She was used to making the most of a bad situation.

  Standing, she turned to face the room and smiled breezily.

  "So what are we waiting for?"

  Chapter 2

  The mountains stretched all around Kate, a three hundred and sixty degree panorama of breathtaking beauty. The high altitude air was clear but fresh, the icy wind stiffening her cheeks as it swept up the mountainside. It stung her eyes as she raised her goggles, letting them rest on her forehead, so she could see the scenery more clearly. Her eyes traversed the valley. It was swathed in deep green pine forests and punctuated by the rocky crags that rose from their depths. They were peaks that no one dared to set foot on, not even the local mountaineers. The sky was cloudy in the distance, but it didn't bother her; the ranger in town had promised her good weather.

  Bringing her focus away from the horizon, she watched the multicoloured people as they passed, their bodies hidden beneath thick padded jackets and waterproof ski pants, all puffy and protected from the freezing temperatures.

  Looking around to her left, she could see the mountain where her cabin was in the distance. It looked desolate from here, a cold, lonely place with patchy woods and two large peaks towering over it. She mused that if she was alone there, then it wouldn't seem so welcoming, but she always had her friends or her family with her when staying in the cabin.

  She drew her eyes away from the mountain and brought them back to the one she was currently on. The runs were as good as she'd remembered them, and having the guys around was actually quite fun now that she'd convinced herself to give in and go with the flow. Both Ryan and Jonathon enjoyed showing Nick up as much as she did. Their ridiculing of him was helped enormously by the fact that Nick seemed to be spending most of his time going down the mountain on his backside.

  Even Connie was skiing better than him.

  Standing at the top of the run, Kate looked down the familiar slope, charting the twists and turns that she could see and trying to remember the hidden dips and drops so she could avoid them. They'd been skiing on the baby slopes all morning and she'd decided that she was ready for the more advanced runs now. It still didn't ease the nervous excitement in her stomach. It had been a long time since she'd skied on this slope. The last time had been with Anton, her ski instructor, and she'd almost fallen over on one of the sharper bends.

  "Wanna try a board?” Ryan asked, coming to stand next to her.

  Her eyes moved to rest on the snowboard that he was holding and she thought about his offer. She'd only been snowboarding a few times and it had always been quite fun. The position of your body and the way you controlled it were so different from skiing, but she never took long to get used to it. The only thing she didn't like about them was the fact that she always felt that she had less control when she was on a snowboard. With skis, you had your poles to assist you. Snowboards were all about body motion and balance.

  Thinking it over for a second longer, she watched her sister merrily strapping her board onto her feet and then nodded.

  Live dangerously.

  She'd been craving excitement for the past three years and someone was finally handing her some.

  "Sure.” Kate took the board from Ryan and clipped her boots into it. She wobbled and held her arms out as she stood, trying to keep her balance as she struggled to remember how to snowboard.

  Ryan shot her a warm smile as he put on the other board. His smile quickly disappeared when the board slipped forwards. She reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, stopping him from falling onto his backside.

  He gave her a grateful look and then frowned at the run in front of them. “Maybe we should start on the smaller slope."

  "Come on, Ryan. Live dangerously.” She smiled as she pulled her goggles down over her eyes.

  Pushing off, she felt the rush of wind against her face as she began to gain speed. She shifted her body to and fro, keeping her balance as she made the first bend in the course.

  Her eyes remained fixed on the run, but she couldn't miss Jonathon flying past her and doing a jump off one of the ramps in the snow. She laughed as Jayne looked as though she was going to follow and then barely scraped around the jump as she lost her nerve and tried to avoid it.

  Crouching lower, she tried to pick up speed so she could catch up with them and looked over her shoulder. Ryan and Connie were closing in, but Nick was lost at the back. His trousers and jacket were plastered with snow, a sure sign that he'd fallen over again.

  Rounding the sharp s-bend in the course, she giggled to herself as she watched the world flying by and revelled in the feeling of exhilaration that was flowing through her. It didn't get better than this—the danger, the speed and the excitement. This was what she'd needed for the past three years while she'd been stuck in a small office working for peanuts.

  She smiled across at Jayne as she drew level with her and then laughed again as her friend almost fell over from looking at her.

  Grinning at her friend, she overtook her and started to chase down Jonathon. He was so far ahead of her that she'd never catch him before the end of the run, but she was still going to try. She could tell by the way that he handled the snowboard and the course that Nick hadn't been lying when he'd said that Jonathon was a professional skier. She decided that it was more likely that he was a professional snowboarder. At every opportunity on the slope, he had been doing aerial tricks and he'd landed each of them perfectly.

  Dodging and weaving through the bends and the rough patches of the slope, she kept her focus on catching up with Jonathon, or at least closing the gap. She felt as though she was going faster than she'd ever done and the thrill of it was almost overwhelming. Her face was cold from the freezing wind that was blasting against her cheeks, but she didn't feel it because her body was flushed with adrenaline.

  Rounding a corner, her eyes widened as she saw another skier had fallen in the middle of the bend and she tried to dodge them. She squealed as
she saw the trees coming towards her and found she couldn't avoid a collision.

  "Kate!” Jayne shouted.

  Kate raised her arms to protect her face as she hit the solid branches of the pine trees that lined the slope.

  It was all a blur as her heart smashed against the back of her eyes.

  The next thing she knew she was staring blankly at the pale blue expanse of sky above her and she could feel the snow creeping down the neck of her jacket. She winced as she tried to move and then decided to keep still as pain rocketed through her body and her ankle throbbed madly. She gritted her teeth and fought against it, breathing heavily when it began to recede but left her right ankle still hurting.

  She attempted a smile as Jayne appeared upside down above her, quickly followed by Connie and Ryan.

  "Jesus! You all right?” Ryan kicked his board off and knelt beside her.

  She raised her brows and just pulled a face, her jaw steeled against the pain.

  "That's a no,” Connie said.

  When Kate saw the concern on her sister's face, she remembered the last time she'd fallen on a slope and had broken her ankle. All she'd been able to do was pull faces at her while she fought the pain. She'd never been one to look weak in front of strangers, but the moment she was in the air ambulance with only her family around her, she'd cried her eyes out.

  "Let me see.” Ryan carefully unclipped the snowboard from the one boot it had remained attached to and then looked at her. “Which one?"

  She moved her right hand.

  She winced as he removed her boot and then felt a little relieved as the cold hit her ankle and the pain subsided. Her fists clenched the moment Ryan prodded and poked at her ankle.

  "Don't think it's broken,” he announced just as Nick showed up and looked down at her.

  He cocked his head to one side and grinned at her as she scowled back at him.

  As Ryan tried to rotate her foot, she shot into a sitting position and grasped hold of it, crying out in pain. She swatted his hand away as she held her ankle tightly and gritted her teeth, cursing him silently under her breath.

  "Guess she's not walking back to the car,” Jayne said.

  Kate sat in the snow with a death grip on her sore ankle and a frown etched on her face as she thought about what her friend had said. Of course she wasn't going to be able to walk back to the car. She'd been lucky not to break her ankle.

  "Come on, princess,” Nick said as he bent over.

  "What are you doing?” She tried to push him away as he scooped her up into his arms.

  "It's not far to the bottom of the slope. I'll walk down with you.” Nick gave her a look that said he wasn't going to do anything nasty and then smiled when she relented.

  "Fine, just don't drop me,” she huffed and then watched over his shoulder as her friends gathered up her snowboard and boot and began to follow them down the slope.

  * * * *

  Kate gave Nick a restrained smile as he carried her into the cabin. Why did he have to carry her? Sure, he had the biggest build out of all the guys, but she was only a slim girl, barely five feet seven inches and definitely didn't weigh any more than Ryan or Jonathon could've carried.

  She glanced over Nick's shoulder at the others as they got the stuff out of the cars and brought it into the cabin, propping it up against the wall under the stairs.

  As Nick set her down on the couch, she tried to arrange herself into a comfortable position and then cringed as she moved her foot, causing pain to dance up her leg.

  "I'll get you some tea,” Helen said and disappeared into the kitchen.

  Connie went upstairs, returning a few moments later and offering her a warm smile as she held up a blanket. Kate smiled inside as her sister walked over to her and wrapped it around her shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze.

  "I'll go find the medical box,” Connie said.

  Kate winced again and managed to curl up on the couch looking thoroughly miserable.

  "You all right?” Ryan smiled down at her.

  She just nodded dumbly and wished she could smile back.

  Her eyes followed him as he moved to the armchair and sat down in it. To her surprise, her stepbrother walked back in with some more wood for the fire and stoked it as he sat in the other armchair.

  Looking down at her ankle, she frowned as she noticed that it was swelling, and then sighed.

  So much for fun on the slopes. It would be at least a few days before she could ski again.

  "You need anything?” Ryan said.

  "I'm fine. I just didn't expect my vacation to start this badly.” She gave him a genuine smile as her cold body began to warm through from the heat of the fire and the blanket. It made it all not seem so bad. It could've been a hell of a lot worse.

  Giving Helen a thankful look, she took the cup of camomile tea from her and then breathed in the steam, noting from the sweet smell that her friend had loaded it with sugar. She smiled awkwardly at the room as Connie reappeared and everyone stood around watching her. She'd never liked being the centre of attention and everyone crowding around her was beginning to make her feel a little claustrophobic.

  Trying to ignore their proximity and the fact that she felt like a lab rat, she watched her sister as she carefully removed the sock on her bad foot.

  "Eww,” Jayne said as a rich reddish-purple bruise was revealed.

  Kate frowned.

  Connie offered her a sympathetic smile and took the roll of bandage out of the box. Wrapping it tightly around the ankle, she pinned it in place. She took out a small jar of painkillers and handed her a couple, motioning her to swallow them down with her tea.

  Kate did as instructed and then patted her sister's hand. “Thanks."

  "No problem.” Connie smiled broadly as she packed the medical kit away and carried it back upstairs.

  Staring at the fire as it crackled and popped, Kate couldn't help thinking about how this was going to put a dampener on everyone's holiday now that she could barely move.

  "So ... we still going out tonight?” Nick said and looked around at everyone while avoiding her.

  "Sure.” Jayne beamed.

  "Absolutely.” Jonathon shot Jayne a smile.

  "Count me in.” Ryan raised his hand.

  "Me too,” Helen said.

  "Me three.” Connie chirped happily as she came back down the stairs.

  Kate just looked at them and then at her ankle.

  They were leaving her?

  "You'll be all right here won't you?” Nick playfully punched her arm. “Only ... Saturday night ... can't let it go to waste."

  She just gave him an incredulous look and tried to get her head around what was happening. From where she was sitting, it looked as though her friends were ditching her, leaving her alone in the cabin, so they could go out and party without her.

  "I can come,” she said and tried not to wince too much as she put pressure on her ankle.

  "No, sis ... stay where you are. You need your rest,” Connie said and then mock pouted at her. “I guess I could stay too if you wanted company."

  Kate frowned at the fake pout on her sister's lips, knowing full well that she didn't want to stay and would kick up a fuss if she said that she wanted her to.

  She stared at the fire for a few moments, feeling everyone's eyes boring into her as she considered her sister's proposition.

  "Fine. Go. I'll be okay,” she said as she caved and resigned herself to a night alone. “I brought some books with me. I'll be peachy."

  Connie grinned as she bounced on the spot and then rushed upstairs.

  Kate sat on the couch and watched everyone laughing and smiling as they all hurried around getting ready to go out. She wished things were different so she could go too. The idea of spending the evening alone in the cabin was making her even more miserable than the idea of not being able to ski for a few days.

  She frowned and prodded her ankle, silently blaming it for all her troubles and then pouting to herself as s
he thought about all the fun her friends were going to have without her.

  As she went to sit up so she could go and retrieve her books from her room, Ryan put his hand on her shoulder.

  "Stay,” he said in a firm tone and she found herself doing as instructed. “Just say what it is that you want."

  She stared at him for a moment and then smiled as she realised that he was trying to be nice to her. Pushing her long brown hair out of her face, she tied it back loosely with the band that had been around her wrist and curled up on the couch again.

  "I'd like my books. They're in my suitcase...” She paused as she realised that she didn't want him going through her suitcase and seeing all her underwear. “Connie could get them."

  He smiled.

  She watched his hand as he gently patted her knee and then her eyes followed him as he went upstairs to find her sister. She sighed as she thought about how sweet he was being and how fun he'd been to talk to all day. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but every time he'd seen her alone he'd came over and kept her company, and now he was being Mr. Helpful. Plus, he rated quite high on the cute scale.

  Her eyes worked their way back to the fire and she watched the flames as they danced on the logs.

  But still, there was something missing.

  "Kate?” Ryan's voice broke into her thoughts. She looked up at him with a blank expression and then smiled as she took the books from him.

  "Thanks,” she said as she placed them down on the rug beside her and sipped her tea. He sat down in the armchair again and looked at her. Something about it reminded her of a dog that was trying to please its owner, always eager to make them smile, and she felt as though he was waiting for her next instruction or a reward. “Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

  As he stood up again and nodded, she felt oddly relieved. She reasoned that it was because he was lacking the infamous ‘it’ and subconsciously she'd already discounted him because of that reason alone. Besides, she'd had so many people prod, poke and stare at her over the past few hours that now she just wanted to be alone to revel in her misery and a good book.