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Her voice shook. She could feel her face flushing like a shy schoolgirl. But at the same time, everything seemed to be making sense.
That answered her question, didn’t it? That gave her the words to tell Brian that she wasn’t following his rules. She wasn’t going to the Olympics, wasn’t joining Team Unlimited.
She thought back with amazement to how she had once compared Darius to Brian. It was true they were nothing alike—and now, she couldn’t be more thankful for it.
True, Darius didn’t sparkle like Brian. He didn’t wear a Rolex and four-hundred-dollar shoes. But he was solid, authentic, humble. Brian—well, once you got past that Rolex, there wasn’t much gold in him.
For the first time since she had left Avery, Addisyn started to feel light. A smile teased the corners of her mouth until she had to give in and let it tip her lips up. Suddenly, the humidity and mistiness, the darkness and the long walk, seemed to fade into obscurity. What did she care for any of it?
She’d come to Whistler to figure things out, to find what she wanted. Well, she’d finally done it. Here, alone, in the dark, silent night.
Her heart felt so light, she was sure it could have soared above the streetlamps, above the buildings, above the mountains—right up into the stars. A shiver of relief tingled through her, as if she’d finally reached a safe place in her spirit.
She didn’t know what was going on with Darius. She didn’t know if the two of them had any future together at all. But she wasn’t leaving Whistler. She wasn’t chasing the spotlight anymore. And most of all, she was not going to go with Brian.
Instead of going to Chicago tomorrow, she was going to tell Darius that she loved him.
WHEN ADDISYN AWOKEthe next morning, the rain had taken itself away, and only bright sunshine streamed through her window, onto the ragged carpet of a hotel room that had become a home.
Addisyn’s enthusiasm of the night before held true. She could feel a nervous fluttering in the pit of her stomach, but it was more excitement than anxiety. She glanced at the clock and grinned. In about five hours, Brian would get some news that would turn his world upside down.
She was so excited with what was about to unfold that she couldn’t concentrate on anything. If it had still been raining, she’d planned to try Darius’s house, but on a gorgeous day like this, he was undoubtedly taking people up Whistler.
She carefully brushed her hair and put on a knee-length summery dress over capri leggings. For some reason, she felt the need to look extra nice today—as if she were stepping into a whole new world.
A whole new world! It would be indeed, with Brian out of the way and her free to pursue her own life. The only question mark was Darius.
She was going to put her heart on the line this morning—unload all her baggage and ask for his help in sorting it. The thought was completely terrifying. Because once she let down the armor around her heart, it would be very vulnerable.
And who knew what was going on with Darius? Addisyn had never claimed to have her sister’s intuitive abilities, but she felt as though something was haunting him beyond the simple facts he’d conveyed. Whatever it was, it had torn them apart on the mountain. And she had to face the fact that it could strike again.
Darius could tell her he didn’t want to see her. He could listen to that voice of darkness instead of to her words. He could put his hands in his pockets and walk out of her life. If that happened...
She stopped herself. Darius couldn’t want to write her off entirely; he’d come by the coffee shop looking for her, after all. Somehow, on this morning, everything seemed possible—even a relationship with Darius. Nothing was too hard.
Addisyn didn’t feel much like breakfast, but she’d eaten a light meal, called Chelsea to let her know she was taking a personal day, and even done a good deal of pacing around her room by ten o’clock. She had decided that the time to look for Darius would be at noon at the climbing center. He’d be in between tours and ideally have some time to talk to her.
If she was catching the bus to the center, she needed to leave at eleven thirty, so that gave her an uninterrupted hour and a half to do nothing except alternately sit on her bed and wear ruts in the floor with her pacing. She was too afraid to go downtown; what if she ran into Brian? The last thing she needed was to bump into him right now. For starters, she wasn’t ready to face him yet, not with her future still so tenuous. Even more importantly, though, he didn’t need to know about Darius. She grimaced at the thought of how he would react. She knew full well just how jealous he was. He’d once pushed a janitor into the wall at one of the rinks where Addisyn had been competing, just because he thought the guy was looking at Addisyn too much. The janitor had never reported the incident, of course. Brian was much too important.
“God, help me today.” She whispered the prayer almost without thinking about it. Strange, she’d not thought about God in years, and now she’d offered two prayers in twenty-four hours. Maybe that was because she was becoming more and more convinced that God was listening. And she was also convinced that somehow, all of this hung on His reaction to her.
And Darius’s.
By eleven o’clock, her morning optimism had drained out of her. She wasn’t sure if it was the nearing time or her unoccupied mind, but somehow her mood was dampening. Seriously, what was she thinking? Okay, so Darius kissed her once. What did that mean? Nothing—especially given what happened immediately thereafter. And the coffee shop thing. Maybe he just wanted to apologize and ask to be her friend. Or ask her to stay out of his life altogether. For crying out loud, maybe he was just there to order a coffee—although he hadn’t.
And what was she going to do, exactly? Go up to him and beg him to love her? Beg him to put his arms around her and tell her not to go to Chicago?
By the time Addisyn was standing on the bus, holding to a swinging ceiling strap as the overcrowded vehicle lumbered downtown, clouds were beginning to roll over the sun. And one truth had risen to the surface of her swirling mind.
For whatever reason, what Darius said to her in their upcoming meeting would change her life. Her next move hung in the balance—able to be tipped either way by his response.
HE WAS THERE,just as she’d known he’d be. A friendly middle-aged guy working behind the counter directed her to a back storeroom.
Addisyn paused right inside the doorway. Darius was unloading boxes of something, probably T-shirts or souvenirs, throwing them around a bit recklessly, she thought. She cleared her throat. “Darius?” Her voice sounded weaker than she would have liked. There was so much riding on this moment.
At the sound of her voice, he jerked, dropping the box he held to the floor. He spun to face her, the look on his face a mixture of shock and pain—and—no, was it anger?
“I’m sorry to bother you at work.” Addisyn could hear the hesitancy in her words. Darius just shifted his weight, shoved his hands in his pockets, and stared at her with the greatest unconcern she’d ever seen on his face.
