Lydia's Pine Harbor Christmas, стр. 26
The snow flew so fast and thickly that the road was one with the land around it. The only things keeping Lydia out of a ditch were the reflectors by the side of the road. She turned on the radio to catch the weather forecast, as if she needed someone to tell her it was snowing. Bryce has been right to insist on a train. His practicality was one of his best qualities. Lydia could never have driven to Bryce’s house in the storm. She exhaled with relief to see the sign marking the train station entrance. At last, she had arrived. Everything would be fine.
Almost on cue, her phone dinged. Of course Bryce would have calculated the time she needed to get to the train station and texted accordingly.
Bryce: Are you there yet?
Lydia: Yes, I’m parked and about to walk to the platform.
Bryce: Good! See you soon.
Bryce did everything right, which was a significant difference between him and Marco. Bryce made arrangements and followed them to a T, although Marco would have driven her to the station. Marco’s presence was more assuring. If anything happened, he would be there. Bryce merely arranged things on paper. No, that’s not fair. Bryce was home with his family. He was going to pick her up from the train station. Nothing was wrong with Bryce or his plans. The problem was that everything was right about Marco.
Lydia sat in the car, wondering if a relationship with Bryce was what she truly wanted. A holiday party was just one step in their burgeoning relationship, yet it felt like one step off a cliff. She couldn’t turn back.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Get out of the car and walk up to that platform.” Talking to herself didn’t speak well for her state of mind, but she laughed and got out of the car, lifted her bag, and walked resolutely to the train platform.
The train pulled into the station. The doors opened, and she stepped into the car. When she found an aisle seat, she hefted her overnight bag onto the rack above her head and sat. There, that wasn’t so hard.
Anxiety niggled at her, saying, There’s no turning back.
She tried to ignore it. She experienced the same sort of anxiety at the beginning of each semester. By the end of the first day, she was fine.
No, it’s not the same! She got up, grabbed her bag, and stepped out of the train car just as the doors closed behind her. As she headed back to her car, she tried with all her might not to think. Lydia just had a gut feeling. She couldn’t rationalize her way around it. She’d done what she had to do, although she couldn’t have explained it to anyone.
Her car was still warm inside, and she started the engine. Do it now and get it over with.
“Bryce, it’s Lydia.”
“Hi! You must be on the train.”
“No.”
But I thought you were there in the—”
“Bryce, I’m so sorry. I’m not coming.”
“But I just called to check. The trains are running just fine.”
“I know. It’s not the trains. I can’t come.”
His voice had an edge. “But I told everyone you were coming.”
“I know. Bryce, I think you’re amazing.”
“You’re breaking up with me.” He sounded stunned.
“I’m sorry. I really tried.”
“Does it take that much work?”
“I’m sorry. It shouldn’t. It’s no reflection on you. I’m just not—”
The call ended. He didn’t just hang up on me. It had to be the storm.
She couldn’t just leave it like that, so she called him again. “Bryce?”
No, he hung up again. So that was it. It was over.
Lydia took in a deep breath and exhaled, feeling as though she’d just escaped making the worst mistake of her life. She’d nearly yoked herself to someone with whom she had nothing common. In fact, all that had ever held them together were his feelings for her and her appreciation of his attention. But she didn’t return his feelings, and she never would.
Not only would Lydia survive on her own, but she would thrive. She might never have Marco’s love, but she would live her life—not Bryce’s or anyone else’s. If Bryce turned out to be her last chance at a long-term relationship, she would have no regrets. That realization felt like a weight had been lifted. Hey, Atlas. Could you hold this for me? I’ve got someplace to go.
In the half hour she’d been at the station, the snow had turned to sleet and ice. The slick road put her small all-wheel-drive vehicle through its paces. In the midst of the snowy haze thatching in the air, a deer leaped across the road before her. Lydia touched her brakes and started to fishtail but regained control of the car. Out of nowhere, another deer leaped in front of her car, and she managed to miss it, but the sudden maneuver sent her car into a spin. Terrified, Lydia gripped the wheel and tried to right herself. Despite the vibration of the antilock brakes, the car careened off the road and down an embankment.
Fifteen
For the second time that evening, Marco asked Mel to cover for him. “Yeah, sure—if you mean it this time.”
“Oh, I mean it.” To Theo, he said, “I’ve got to find Lydia.”
“Find her? She’s lost?”
“I’ll explain later. I’ve got to go.”
“Marco, be careful!”
On his way out the door, Marco said, “I will.”
Every bar patron who’d stopped by that evening had talked about the bad weather, though most of them had already gone home. As Marco pulled onto the road, it was even worse than he’d expected. The plows hadn’t been through, so it would take him forever to get to the station. The clock on the dashboard told him he had, at the most, five or six minutes to spare, which made his chances of getting there before the train left unlikely. But he was determined. Most sane drivers