What a Crazy Way to Start a Romance!
MR. WONDERFUL
In spite of the fire beginning to hiss and flicker in the stone fireplace, I shivered and hugged my parka to my body. The musty smell of a cabin that’s been shut up between ski weekends filled my nose, and I thought for the tenth time since dinner in Truckee that I’d been a fool to come. Why had I come?
The answer to that question came rushing through the front door at that very minute, and the wind slammed the door behind her. My sister Phyllis, her face hidden behind the stack of blankets and pillows in her arms, staggered across the hardwood floor. Dropping her load on the couch, she looked up at me and beamed.
“Don’t you just love it?” she asked enthusiastically.
It was a hard question to answer The older sister in me wanted to reassure her that I did ‘love it.’ My other self wanted to scream out that I hated being 7,000 feet high in a strange cabin where I felt cold, miserable, and trapped. My better side won out, and I returned her smile.
“I just love it,” I answered sweetly.
“You do? I knew you would,” she said happily. She rubbed her hands together. The fire had stopped flickering and was only hissing now. Phyllis called to the kitchen, “Roger, come and fix this fire, and bring the hot chocolate with you.”
Ever at my sister’s beck and call since their marriage six months ago, Roger shouted back that it was almost ready.
“No cocoa for me, thanks,” I said quickly. “I’ve got a terrible headache. I think I’ll go straight to bed.” I pressed my index fingers to my temples the way I’d seen it done in a TV program about acupressure. As if I pressed hard enough I might make my blatant lie come true.
Phyllis looked sharply at me. “Oh, no you don’t.” She reached for my arm, but with her gloves on she couldn’t get a grip on my slippery sleeve. “Have I ever let you down?”
I didn’t answer, just stared at her in amazement. Had she ever let me down? Oh, just every now and then when “things” didn’t quite work out the way she planned. I was starting to get a real headache now thinking of all the men she’d set me up with who were total losers.
“Okay, Alison, okay. Maybe it hasn’t always worked out the way I planned,” she admitted, “But this is different.” She glanced at the kitchen and lowered her voice. “Brandon is adorable! At the office all the girls are calling him Mr. Wonderful.”
“Is this Mr. Wonderful as adorable as your downstairs neighbor, or the guy from your hiking club, or the captain of Roger’s bowling team?” At least she had the decency to look embarrassed. “This Mr. Wonderful is your last chance,” I threatened, “because your credibility is zilch with me! Nor more strange men, and I do mean strange.”
“You have to meet him sometime, and he should be here any minute,” she reasoned, ignoring my pointed references to certain men she thought were just my type.
I knew the disappointment of not having Brandon ride up to the mountains with us had hit Phyllis hard, and now she realized that I was trying to sneak up to bed without meeting him.
“I never said I didn’t want to meet him,” I pointed out. Although I’d sure thought it. She’d used up all her brownie points with me. She meant well, but sometimes that wasn’t enough to make up for all the hype. “You know me. I’m a morning person. I’m no fun at all at night. Just wait, I’ll be the first one up in the morning.” Knowing how Phyllis had been able to get her own way with those baby-blue eyes and chipmunk cheeks since she was two years old, I sent her a bright, confident smile, grabbed a pillow and my overnight bag and started up the stairs.
By the time I reached the loft, her voice had softened. Maybe she wasn’t really mad at me for flaking out so early. “It’s the one on the right.”
“Thanks,” I called over my shoulder, and pushed the door open with my hip. I knew
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