Bitter Rose by Melody Carlson

Author:Melody Carlson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Navigators

fourteen

THE WORLD OUTSIDE IS WHITE AND BEAUTIFUL WHEN I GET UP THE NEXT morning. Really amazing! Even though I’m only going tree hunting, I try on several combinations of clothes until I decide on my favorite jeans and burgundy Gap sweater, which look great with this knitted scarf-and-hat set that Claire gave me for my birthday last year. Of course, I wear my snow boots and parka and even remember to stuff mittens in my pockets.

The plan is to meet at my house (I figured this was a good way to show Ned where I live, just in case) and try to be on the road by ten since it’s about a forty-minute drive to the tree farm. That’ll give us at least two hours to hunt down the perfect tree, grab a bite to eat, and get back here without being late to work.

Ned arrives just before ten. I invite him inside and ask if he wants a cup of coffee to take.

“Sounds great,” he says. I pull out a couple of travel mugs and we’re set.

“I’m not that experienced at driving on snow,” I admit as we go outside.

“Want me to drive? I’ve driven on snow a lot. I snowboarded all through high school and drove up to the mountains almost every weekend.”

I consider this. My dad has a strict policy: “No one drives your car but you, Magdela.” But then, my dad’s not exactly around to enforce this rule anymore. I look at my ’96 Neon, which I dearly love, and imagine how it would look if it slid off the road and hit something.

“Sure,” I tell him, “if you’re really good on the snow.”

“Yeah,” he assures me. “Trust me, I’ve never wrecked yet.”

Just the idea of wrecking is a little unnerving. I buckle my seat belt, but as I observe Ned’s careful driving, I begin to relax. This is going to be okay.

“Can you believe this snow?” I say as I look at the blanket of white. “It’s so beautiful. I hope it sticks around until Christmas.”

“I heard there’s another storm system coming in a few days,” he says as he gets onto the highway that leads out of town. “Could mean more snow.”

“Cool.” I sip my coffee and think that today is going to be perfect.

We talk all the way to the tree farm. Ned tells me about his mom and her husband and how they invited him to meet them in Hawaii for Christmas. “Mike has a condo in Maui,” he continues, “right on the beach.”

“Man, everyone else has all the luck. My friend Claire just told me that her parents are going to the Caribbean for Christmas break. Life is so unfair.”

“I think it all balances out eventually.”

“So are you going to go then? To Maui?”

“I gotta admit, it sounds really tempting.” He sighs. “But the thing is, my dad and his wife also have invited me to come stay at their place for Christmas.”

“Oh. So are you going there then?”

He just shakes his head.

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