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.By the time Mike arrived at his office the waiting room was full and Nicole greeted him with a stack of charts.“Typical Friday ‘I need to get well before the weekend’ stuff,” she said.He nodded.People might let their kids limp along all week with symptoms, hoping they’d get better on their own, but the prospect of a weekend wiped out by illness drove them to the doctor, hoping for an instant cure he was rarely able to offer.He worked steadily all morning, snow forgotten.At noon he retreated to his office to wolf down the sandwich Peggy ordered from the deli down the street and was surprised to see a near whiteout outside his window.Traffic to the resort would be a nightmare.Any sane person would stay home.But he had a little girl and a woman who were looking forward to this weekend.And he’d spent his life driving in the snow.If they took it slowly, they’d get there fine, but the sooner they left, the better.An hour later, the school called.“They’re releasing classes early,” Peggy told him.“Taylor wants to know if she can ride the bus to Darcy’s house.”“Yes, that’s a good idea.” He had Taylor’s ski gear and suitcase in the car with his own things.He could swing by Darcy’s without making the extra trip back to his house.At two he took another break and checked the highway department Web site.Plows were keeping the major highways clear and though traffic into the high country was moving slowly, it was moving.“Heavy snow is expected into the night,” the site in formed him.“How many more patients?” he asked Nicole.If he could wrap it up here, they could get started well before dark.“Two.Nothing major.” She smiled.“We’ll have you off to your romantic weekend in no time.”“I’m taking my daughter skiing, Nicole.”“And that dancer is going along to babysit?” Nicole laughed.“Have a good time, Dr.Mike.You deserve it.”“Mrs.Jankowski is on line one,” Peggy interrupted them, no humor at all in her expression.“She says Brent is ill.”Mike took the call.“I’m so sorry to bother you on a Friday afternoon,” Sarah Jankowski began.“I wouldn’t have called, but the school sent Brent home today with a horrible cough and he says he’s not feeling well.”“How long has he had this cough?”“Well, he coughs some all the time, you know.Since that last bout of bronchitis it’s almost like a habit with him.But this is different—deeper.And he says it hurts.”“You’d better bring him in.”“It’ll be a bit before I can get there, with this weather.”“That’s all right.I’ll wait.” He hung up, sighing.So much for getting away early.But he couldn’t let Brent go the weekend with a possible return of his bronchitis—or something worse.He let Peggy and Nicole know Brent was on his way, then picked up the phone again and punched in Darcy’s number.“Hello,” she greeted him.“Taylor phoned and said she’s taking the bus to my house, so we’ll be ready when you get here.”“I have an emergency patient coming in, so I’m going to be late,” he said.“I’ve been monitoring the traffic and weather reports and while things seem to be okay now, as it gets dark they’re bound to get worse.I was wondering if you wanted to take Taylor and head on up to the condo.I’ll follow in my car when I wrap things up here.”“Oh.” Pause.“Are you sure you don’t want us to wait for you?”“I’d feel better knowing you and Taylor were safely out of here in daylight.I should only be a couple hours behind you.That is, if you’re okay driving in the snow.”“Oh, yes.I did a birthday party during the Blizzard of 2003, and you’d be surprised how many people still show up at a restaurant when the weather’s bad.It’s like no one wants to get trapped at home, so they all head out.”“It’s freeway almost all the way to Breck, so you should be fine.” He gave her directions to the condo.“Taylor knows it well, so she’ll help you find it and show you where to park,” he said.“I’ll be up there as soon as I can.”“I’ll look forward to it.”Simple words, but there was an extra heat behind them that sent a shiver of anticipation through him.Damn Brent’s cough.He hated to be away from Darcy one moment more than necessary.DARCY STOOD at her front window, watching a world covered in white.The snowflakes were smaller than they’d been this morning, more powdered sugar than feathers.She’d been truthful when she told Mike she had plenty of experience driving in snow, but she hadn’t told him she dreaded going out in it.It had been snowing the night Pete and Riley had died—a storm much like this one, not a full-out blizzard, just steady, heavy snowfall.She hadn’t thought twice about driving to the party where she was the featured entertainment.She would never know what possessed Pete to head toward his buddy’s house in the mountains.If Darcy had been home, she would have kept Riley with her.If she’d known Pete was drinking, she would have taken his keys.If only…A small figure materialized in the snow, struggling up the driveway.Darcy opened the door and ran out to greet Taylor, taking her backpack and ushering her into the kitchen, where she helped her out of her parka and snow boots
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