WHEN I WOKE UP A few hours later, I got a better glimpse of the full extent of the storm’s damage. We’d lost an entire row of hop trellises. One of my favorite pots had been shattered. Some of the fencing around the perimeter of the property had been knocked over by the winds. None of it mattered. Snow blanketed the farm. It fell in fat, puffy flakes. There was nothing more beautiful or calming than the first snow. I wrapped myself in my plush cashmere robe (another present from Mac) and tiptoed down the hallway.
The scent of a crackling fire and the sound of Mac’s and Alex’s voices greeted me. Lately, it had been hard to differentiate their voices when talking to Alex on the phone. His deepening voice sounded more and more like Mac’s every day.
“How was the slumber party?” I asked, entering the kitchen and attached dining room to find Mac and Alex camped in front of the fire under a pile of blankets.
“Sloan, you’re wearing the robe I got you. It looks good.” Mac gave me a suggestive smile.
If Alex hadn’t been there, I would have smacked him, but instead I ignored his blatant attempt to get under my skin. “Is the power still off?”
“Last time we checked it was.” Alex held up a box of granola bars. “Hungry? We raided the pantry.”
He wasn’t kidding. Cereal boxes, marshmallows, chocolate bars, bagels, and a package of cookies lined the hearth.
“I see that.” I walked to the fireplace and reached for a cookie. Then I made room on the floor near Alex. “How long have you guys been up?”
Mac stared at the cuckoo clock on the wall. Ursula and Otto had given it to us on our wedding day. “Not long. Maybe a half hour or so. When did you get home last night? We didn’t hear you come in.”
I munched on the dry cookie, wishing that it was a pine shortbread instead. “Late, well actually early, I guess,” I replied and then I launched into a recap of last night’s events. It was strangely cathartic to allow the details and the pent-up anxiety to spill out.
“Sloan, you could have been killed.” Mac’s face was as white as the snow falling out the window.
“No. We had Conrad outnumbered.” I crunched another cookie.
Mac scoffed. “What would you say to Alex if he told you that he snuck off after a killer in the middle of a massive storm?”
“Yeah, Mom, Dad has a valid point. You would kill me.” Alex made a slicing motion across his throat. “I’m going to have some serious cred with everyone at school. The other moms are making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and my mom is tracking down a killer in the middle of a blizzard.”
The power flickered on. Talk about synchronistic timing. The return of lights saved me from Mac’s and Alex’s reprimands.
Alex threw off the covers. “I’ve got to go get online and see if anyone’s up yet. Fresh powder means snow day!” He ran to his room.
“Thanks for staying with him last night, Mac. I was worried.” I picked up a couple cereal boxes. “You want a cup of coffee?”
When we were married, Mac rarely helped with housework, but to my surprise, he got up and helped me gather the remains of their breakfast snack feast. “Coffee would be nice.”
I made coffee while Mac folded the blankets and stoked the fire.
“We were worried about you, Sloan.” His voice was thick with emotion. “I know things haven’t been great between us, but I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”
Every so often in moments like this, I saw flashes of the Mac I had fallen in love with. “Thanks. I swear, I’m fine.”
I poured us coffee and joined him at the dining room table. Maybe it was because of our brief emotional connection, but I found myself asking him about my past. “Can I ask you something, and when I do, will you promise to tell me the truth?”
“Anything.” Mac’s brow creased ever so slightly. I had a feeling he was nervous that I was going to ask about his infidelity.
“Do the names Forest or Marianne mean anything to you?”
Mac’s face drew a complete blank. “No, why?”
“You never heard your mom or dad mention them or anything about my past?”
His round cheeks scrunched. “No. I don’t know anyone by those names, and I definitely never heard Mama or Papa talk about your past, other than the occasional mention of being worried about you. Why?”
If there was one thing I could count on from Mac, it was his inability to lie. When he lied, his already ruddy cheeks would turn crimson. He would slur his words together and talk in rapid-fire speech. I knew he was telling the truth.
“Honestly, I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I promise I will once I’ve had some more time to figure this out myself, and I might need your help.”
He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here.”
I appreciated the gesture. The old Mac would have pressed me until I relented. For the first time ever, I thought maybe Mac and I could end up friends.
“How’s the condo search coming along?” I pulled my hand away and drank my coffee.
“Good. I like the Blackbird Island place, but I want Alex to come see it with me before I sign a lease.”
I wanted to broach the subject of selling the farmhouse, but it didn’t feel like the right timing, especially since I had yet to tour the A-frame I was interested in seeing. April owed me a favor. Maybe I would drop by her office and see about arranging a showing.
Alex returned from his bedroom with a duffel bag of his snow gear. “Can one of you take me into town? I’m going to meet my friends, and we’re going to hit some of the cross-country trails since the lifts aren’t open yet. My skis are in the garage.”
“I’ll take you,” Mac offered, not only picking up our coffee cups, but washing and then drying them in the sink.
Alex went to get his skis from the garage.
“Why are you staring at me like that, Sloan?” Mac returned the coffee cups to the cupboard and wiped down the countertop.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you wash a dish.”
He looked injured. “That stings, but it’s probably fair. I’m finally realizing how much you did to hold this family together now that I’m on my own. I’m sorry.” His sapphire eyes welled with emotion.
“Come on, Mac, I’m being glib.” I decided to change the subject before things turned more serious. “Can I catch a ride with you? I’d like to stop by April’s office, and your beastly machine can probably maneuver over any debris.”
We piled into Mac’s hummer and drove into the village like old times. I caught Mac staring at me in the rearview mirror, so I kept my gaze on the winter wonderland out the window. Mac and I were going to have to sit down and work through some painful conversations about the house, finalizing our divorce, and his parents’ involvement in keeping me from my past. For now, though, it could wait.