Page 11 of Thaw My Heart
She catches me watching, and any visible enjoyment disappears from her face. “Yeah. So much fun.”
I can’t help but take the bait. “Well, if it’s so terrible, why don’t you go and entertain yourself elsewhere? I’m sure your cauldron needs stirring.”
Darcy’s jaw goes slack, and she looks at me like I’m the craziest person she has ever set her eyes on. “Excuse me?”
“Darcy!” Maya cries in exasperation. “Just stop!”
Darcy gawks at her. “You’re takinghisside?”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side! I just want the fighting to stop!” Maya doesn’t look nearly as happy as she did moments ago. In fact, she looks completely miserable.
The guilt gnaws at me like a parasite. I had thought that I’d matured so much since I left home. I thought I was an adult now—a man. But it’s clear as day that I’m as childish as ever. I’m bickering with Darcy like we’re a couple of toddlers.
“We won’t fight anymore, M, I promise,” I tell my sister. I give Darcy a look of warning that not even she would dare to oppose. “Right, Darcy?”
I can see her jaw clench even from a distance. I think she might deny me, but she gives a strained smile and nods. “Right, Cody.”
Maya nods, satisfied. “Good. That’s what I—” She cuts herself off with a strangled cry, and I don’t have time to process what’s happening before she topples over and rolls a little way down the hill.
“Maya!” Darcy and I call out. We slide to a stop, and I remove the skis from my feet and run up to my sister, breathing a sigh of relief when I see that she’s sitting up without any visible injuries. We hadn’t been going anywhere near fast, but things can still happen, and it would be just my luck to get Maya killed on her trip.
“Are you alright?” I ask her, panting slightly.
She touches her ankle and winces. “My ankle hurts. Bad. I-I think it’s broken.”
“Shit,” I hiss. I can see on her face that she’s scared, and I hate it. I shouldn’t have let her get hurt. “I have to take your skis off, okay? It might hurt a little.”
Maya screws her face up in preparation and nods. “Do it!”
I ease the skis from her feet and try to ignore the sounds of the pained whimpers she makes, even when I’m moving as gently as I possibly can.
Darcy sits next to Maya, and our eyes meet. For once, hers aren’t filled with hatred. They’re filled with worry. I have a sneaking suspicion that I might just look the same.
I give a brief examination of Maya’s ankle. I can’t see anything noticeably wrong, but she flinches every time I so much as brush against it, which is never a good sign.
“Come on.” I hoist her up and wrap her arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get you back to the hotel.”
As we make our way slowly down the mountain, Maya leans heavily on me, wincing with each step. Despite her pain, she manages to catch my eye.
"You know," she says, her voice strained but determined, "Mom asked about you again before we left."
I feel my jaw tighten. It's not that I don't want to talk to them, it's just... complicated. "Maya, is this really the time?"
She shrugs, then grimaces at the movement. "When is it ever the time with you? You should give them a call sometime, you know. They miss you."
I sigh, focusing on navigating the snowy path. "I've been busy, Maya. You know how it is here."
"I know," she says softly. "But it wouldn't kill you to pick up the phone once in a while. Just... think about it, okay?"
I nod, more to end the conversation than anything else. "Okay. I'll think about it. Let's just focus on getting you back safely for now."
I catch Darcy watching us curiously, and I wonder how much she's overheard.
I push thoughts of home to the back of my mind. It's easier to focus on work, on the present. The past is too messy, too painful.And the last thing I need right now, with Darcy here stirring up old feelings, is to add more complications to my life.
CHAPTER 5
DARCY
