Holiday Magic. Fern Michaels

contact the ski patrol and explain the situation.

      What was even worse, she’d have to explain to Stephanie that she’d lost her children.

      Chapter 5

      Candy Lee returned from lunch in the nick of time. Stephanie had managed to eat a few bites of her turkey sandwich between customers. She’d thought the lunch hour would be quiet, but she’d been wrong again. She’d been so bombarded with customers, she hadn’t had time to think. Good thing Patrick wasn’t there to witness her poor planning. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and smiled at a young mother waiting in line with two small children clinging to her legs. Amanda still did that at times. Stephanie didn’t mind, as she wanted to keep the girls sheltered for as long as she could given that the first years of their lives had been plagued by violence and fear.

      She looked at her watch. It was almost one o’clock. Melanie had promised to bring the girls by. Stephanie felt a shiver of alarm run up her spine but remembered this was Black Friday. The lift lines were probably as busy as she was. If they weren’t here in half an hour or so, she’d call Melanie’s cell to check on them. Both girls were natural-born skiers, and Stephanie knew from experience that once they were out on the slopes, it was quite a task to get them to stop for anything. Poor Melanie. She’d take her to dinner and a movie when the holidays were over. Just the two of them. They needed a girls’ night out anyway. Maybe she’d invite Grace to join them.

      So caught up with the customers coming in and out purchasing everything from lip balm to ski boots, Stephanie glanced at her watch again and was shocked to see that it was already after two o’clock. Worry caused her brow to furrow, but if there was a problem, Melanie knew to call her at the shop. Stephanie continued to ring up sales while Candy Lee restocked and refolded the pile of sweaters on the half-price table. If sales kept up like this, Stephanie might have to call Patrick and take advantage of his offer to send another Maximum Glide employee to her rescue. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she and Candy Lee could only stretch themselves so thin. Dreading the thought, she looked up as Melanie entered the shop and hurried to the back of the store. Her cheeks were reddened from the wind, her long blond braid hung haphazardly down her back, and her normal cheerful smile was nowhere to be seen. Emergency potty break, Stephanie thought as she walked to the back of the store.

      “I wondered what happened to you girls. I was about to worry,” Stephanie said. “Where are the girls? I bet they’re freezing.” As Stephanie was about to turn around and head for the entrance to tell her daughters to come inside and warm up, Melanie grabbed her arm and prevented her from taking another step.

      “Melanie!” Stephanie shrieked. “What’s wrong? Where are the girls?”

      Melanie looked down at the floor, where puddles of water had pooled around her ski boots. She shook her head from side to side, then looked Stephanie squarely in the face. “I was hoping they would be here with you. I’ve spent the past two hours looking for them.”

      Stephanie felt her heart plummet to her feet and back, then lodge in the back of her throat. She tried to speak but was unable to utter a single word. She shook her head, hoping she’d just imagined what Melanie had said, but the look on her babysitter’s face told her she’d heard correctly.

      Glenn? It couldn’t be!

      Melanie must have read her mind. “They’re on this mountain somewhere skiing, I’m sure of it; no way did their dad bust out of jail. They were so excited about going on the blue run, I think they simply forgot to wait for me at the appointed area. I saw them ski all the way down, then I lost sight of them for what couldn’t have been more than two or three minutes. By the time I got to the meeting point, they were nowhere to be found.”

      Stephanie felt as though she would simply die. Just die and be done with it. But she wasn’t a quitter, especially where her children were concerned. She’d been this route before and would do whatever she had to do to protect her daughters. She wanted to strangle Melanie, but her anger would have to wait. She had to find her children before it was too late. Just minutes ago, she’d heard a snow report, and it didn’t sound good. She’d heard a few customers saying they’d heard the lifts were going to close early if the snow report held true.

      Springing into action, Stephanie raced to the office, where she grabbed her old skis, poles, and boots. She knew this mountain like the back of her hand. If her girls were lost, she wasn’t going to wait around. She was going to find them no matter how long it took. She raced out of the office, shouting to Candy Lee over her shoulder. “There’s an emergency. Call Patrick and tell him to send someone over to help you. The girls are lost on the mountain!”

      Melanie raced after her. “Stephanie, you can’t go out in this weather. The storm is moving in faster than the forecasters anticipated. I’ve contacted the ski patrol, and they’re all out searching for them. They’ll need their mother once they’re found.”

      As Stephanie raced out the back door to the snowy parking area, she stopped to lay her skis down on the crusted snow on the path that would lead her to the lifts. She shot a quick glance at Melanie and saw thick tears streaming down her face and knew she was as concerned for the girls’ safety as she was. She leaned in to give her a quick hug. “I can’t not search for them, Melanie. They’re all I have,” Stephanie said as she buckled her ski boots and slid her boots into the skis’ binding. After she heard the required click letting her know her boots were fitted securely into her skis, she pushed away from Melanie, heading to the lift. She poled as fast as she could through the clumps of ice and brown slush. An injury was the last thing she needed.

      Arriving at lift number one, Stephanie practically soared to the chair, where she was met by a young boy of no more than eighteen. She’d seen him around but couldn’t recall his name.

      “We’re closing the lifts. Sorry,” he said as he stood in front of the chair Stephanie was preparing to get on.

      She shook her head. “No, I have to get up there. My girls are lost. The ski patrol is looking for them now.” Stephanie saw the look of indecision on the boy’s face. “Look, I won’t tell anyone you let me ride up to the mountain in these conditions. I have to get up there, please!” Stephanie shouted. Giant flakes of snow scattered across her cheeks as she stared at the boy. Apparently he decided her request was worth the risk because he went inside his minibooth, and the chair began to move slowly.

      A million thoughts went through her mind as the lift made its climb to the top of the mountain. What if they couldn’t find the girls in time? With the weather conditions worsening by the minute, they wouldn’t last long in this cold. Stephanie knew Ashley understood basic survival skills, as she’d insisted that Ashley take a junior mountain-survival class last year when the child had pleaded with her, telling Stephanie she was old enough to ski the green runs alone. They’d compromised. Ashley took the class and was allowed to ski certain green runs, but she had to take Stephanie’s cell phone with her. Why hadn’t she thought to get the girls phones of their own? They could have called for help. The reception on the mountain was excellent, so there wasn’t an issue about lack of coverage. Why in the world hadn’t she provided both girls with such a necessity? She remembered when she first arrived at Hope House. Grace had insisted she take a cell phone, saying she gave them to all the women at Hope House just in case they needed to dial 911. Why, why, why had she been so irresponsible? Money, she thought as she shivered in the bone-chilling air. She’d been so intent on giving the girls a home of their own, she’d lost sight of their other wants and needs. Ashley had asked for a cell phone months ago, and Stephanie had dismissed it, telling her she was too young for a phone of her own, saying it was an added expense that she didn’t need. How she wished she’d given in! As they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty. Little good it did her to dwell on what she should’ve done. Now all she wanted was to find both of her daughters safe and sound. She gave a silent prayer. Please let them be safe. I’ll equip them both with GPS if I find them safe and unharmed.

      The lift came to a slow stop at the top of the mountain. Stephanie practically jumped out of the chair. She whipped down the trail, making the twists and turns from memory, as the snow was coming down heavier by the minute.