A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) Read Free

was obvious he was
completely smitten with her. She wasn’t quite as taken with him it
seemed.
    “ Hi, guys, it’s good to
meet you,” I greeted them nervously. I wasn’t used to the friendly
small town thing. I usually tried to disappear at a school. I was
pretty good at it too.
    “ Emily’s uncle is the new
Doc over at the medical center. He works with my mom. I met him
yesterday,” she explained to the group. “I haven’t met your aunt
yet,” she turned to me.
    “ Aunt Rachel is opening a
boutique, down the other end of Colorado Ave. I’m headed there
after school, to help with the set up of the shop. Lucky me,” I
told them.
    “ You ski or board?” Burke
directed his question to me.
    “ Neither, but I do want to
learn to ski.”
    “ I’ll teach you. I’ve lived
here all my life and started skiing before I was three. It’s easy.
I prefer to snow board though. I’ll teach you that too,” he smiled,
happy to offer his services. “I already promised Dee I would teach
her when the time comes, you could join us,” Burke continued,
smiling at Delilah – aka Dee.
    It sounded like he was trying to cinch the
instructor’s position with her by making it a group thing.
    “ I’m Delilah. I moved here
last school year and just caught the end of ski season, but didn’t
get to try it,” Delilah explained.
    “ Where did you move from?”
I asked her, grateful that I wasn’t the only new girl in
school.
    “ LA, my parents were tired
of the big city thing. This is a really huge change for me. I’m
used to malls and clubs and beaches. Where did you live in Canada?”
she asked me, seemingly well informed of my back-story
already.
    “ Oh, an incredibly small
town there too. So, this is not so different for me,” I lied
convincingly. I was awfully good at it. I’d had years of
practice.
    “ I miss the sunny, sunny
days. I miss tanning at the beach. I fake bake here just for some
good overall color,” Delilah pouted, and any fool could see that
Burke was in love with this little fashion diva. He walked over and
put his arm around her tiny shoulders.
    “ Yeah, not much of a
tanner, as you can all see,” I laughed at the sight of my pale skin
compared to Delilah’s bronzed version, or even Summer’s lightly sun
kissed tones.
    “ Oh you look great,” Summer
chimed in, “the pale skin looks good with your dark hair and pale
blue eyes. You look a lot like your uncle, same hair, same skin
tone...”
    “ Let’s get to class,” Rusty
broke in, clearly bored, and started walking, pulling Summer along
with him.
    As soon as the bell rang, releasing me from
the confines of Telluride High School, I sauntered down the length
of Colorado Avenue, slowly making my way to the storefront
Catherine had rented for her boutique. This little town, surrounded
by mountains, has remained little touched by time. The cars and
trucks parked along the street were the only blaring evidence of
the true year.
    If I squinted my eyes and pretended to see
everything in sepia tones, I could be viewing a photograph taken
over a hundred years ago. As I passed the New Sheridan Hotel, I
tried to picture it as it was on its opening day. The colorful
storefronts and many hand painted signs were a refreshing change
from the ultra modern world in which we all find ourselves.
    My time-warp was broken by the sight of
Catherine, standing on the side walk just up-ahead, waving at me.
She was sporting a glorious grin, eager to show me the location.
She seemed to thrive on our new beginnings.
    I worked with Catherine every day after
school. James joined us after he finished work. It was during our
first night of painting that we discovered the Chinese restaurant
across the street. I ran over at six o’clock and picked up some
take-out for our dinner. We were immediately hooked and it became a
nightly routine. The three of us would sit on the floor, for our
Chinese picnic dinner, and talk about our hopes for life in this
town. Side by side by