Snowbound Read Free Page A

supposed to get home? We came together. I don’t understand...”
    “Yes, and that’s the problem. You never do. I can’t do this anymore, I’m done. The room is paid for so stay, or don’t stay—that’s up to you, but I’m outta here.” He picked up his jacket, grabbed the suitcase and walked toward the door. Cassidy grabbed his arm to stop him, full-out crying now. “Rick, this isn’t funny, you can’t just leave me here. I’ll pack and go with you, I guess. Just give me a minute.” Easily pulling from her grasp, he looked at her with scorn. “I don’t want you to come with me. I don’t want you with me at all. I’m not just leaving you here, I’m leaving you period.” With that he opened the door and walked out, slamming it behind him.
     
    * * *
     
    Cassidy stood looking at the door for a long time, tears streaming down her face. She felt sick inside, and for a moment, thought she would actually vomit. She finally sat on the bed, but still stared at the door. Rick will come back . She knew he would. He was always bursting out in anger and then regretting it later. It was his thing, and she accepted it. She didn’t like it, but she accepted that it came with loving him. She’d loved him forever, it seemed, but it was so on-again, off-again with him. Sometimes she thought she deserved better. She was a good girlfriend and did everything he wanted to do. This ski trip was the first time she’d gotten her own way. She truly thought this time things were turning around for them. She remembered how excited she had been to come here. The brochure painted the Snowpeaks Mountain Ski Resort as the perfect place for couples or families. It was small and deluxe. It even had a four-star restaurant on site. It was forty minutes to the nearest town, and even then the town was so small you could drive through it in about five minutes. The remoteness of the resort in the Rockies was what Cassidy had loved. She thought it would be good for her and Rick to get away, maybe decide on their future together. For the most part they had been together for six years. The first two years had been great, but the last four the relationship had been on and off according to Rick’s whims. She had been in college and it was just as easy to have no boyfriend as to have one, so she hadn’t really bothered to make a big deal about it at the time. However, at twenty-five and having finished college, she was getting tired of playing these games. So she’d cooked up this trip.
    She hadn’t bargained on his moodiness happening the minute they arrived. The room wasn’t big enough, the weather was horrible, this was some remote area ... and on it went. While travelling he’d spent a large amount of time on his cell phone, until it stopped working in the last town they had gone through. Come to think of it that was when his mood had changed. Cassidy thought about that. His cell had lost reception, that's when he got all funny. Other than his parents, she had no idea who he was talking to since he tended to stop the car and walk while he talked, presumably to get better reception. Rick’s parents owned several French/Italian restaurants in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia and, as the oldest son, he was in line to one day take over all of them. To start he was just managing one of them, which was a stretch since he seemed to be gone more than he was there. He spent a lot of time at classic car shows or just doing whatever he pleased. Rick didn’t answer to anyone, especially to her it seemed. Lately , she thought, he had disappeared more often than usual.
    Realizing that it had been some time since Rick had left, she went in to the bathroom where she washed the dried tear stains from her face. Cold from sitting in her damp ski pants and sweatshirt, she ran a warm bath, added her favorite bath bomb that combined cocoa butter and lavender, and sank gratefully in to the water. Baths were always her place to escape and this was no