The Saddest Song - By Susie Kaye Lopez Page 0,43

then came to a stop and opened a door.

“This is your room Rainey! Max, you are here, “she pointed to a door across the hall. Max opened his door while I went through mine, and I was immediately enchanted with what I saw. A king size bed was covered in white ruffled bedding, a red and black throw folded artfully at the foot. The bed looked on to its own fireplace, already burning, and a chaise lounge in that same red and black plaid was in front of the window. The view was the same as the downstairs, the lake and snow covered mountains looking like a postcard in their perfection.

“Rainey, here’s your bathroom,” I turned and Sophie gestured to a door, and then opened the walk in closet and pointed to a small fridge. “This is stocked, help yourself. I will leave you to unpack and see you at lunch. Gran will call you on the intercom.”

“Thank you. This is unbelievable.” I smiled, overwhelmed, and when she closed the door I sank into the down cushions of the chaise lounge and laughed.

Max

I shared Rainey’s awe of the home we were in. I kind of wished my mom could see it. I took a mental note to take a few pictures with my phone. My room was directly across from Rainey’s, a more masculine version, I later saw. The bed was covered in denim and plaid, and there was a window seat with matching cushions. A fireplace, big screen TV, bathroom, walk in closet, and view of the mountains. The only thing missing was my guitar, which was in the truck. Colin and Ethan had said they promised not to bring theirs this weekend. Their girlfriends wanted all of their attention. I thought it was funny their girls were jealous of the music.

I hung up a couple of my shirts and a jacket and then opened my door and started to knock on Rainey’s. It opened before I made contact.

“Oh!” she startled, backing up. “You scared me. I was just coming over to see your room.”

“Sure, come on over.” I turned and reopened my door. “After you.”

“Do you have a fridge in your closet too?” Not waiting for my reply she looked for herself and took a bottle of diet coke, twisting the lid off and taking a sip.

“I can see Sophie’s influence,” she laughed. We had been around Sophie long enough to know she was never without a diet coke.

An intercom beeped making us both jump and we could hear Gran say, “Lunch is served!”

We rushed downstairs and joined everyone at an enormous pine dining table with long benches on either side. We all sat down and Gran and Sophie started passing out bowls of chili and platters of cheeseburger sliders. There was a lot of talking and laughter and I winked at Rainey when I caught her eye. She looked so relaxed, like a new version of herself. We both could feel closer to normal here away from all that hurt so much. It was like a breath of fresh air.

We all pitched in to clear the table and then Gran kicked us out of her kitchen and told us to go have fun. Thanking her we piled in to two cars and headed over to the ski slopes. The snow was still coming down and it was cold, but we had all come prepared and before we knew it we had been out for a couple of hours. When Rylee suggested that the girls head back ahead of the guys, Rainey immediately looked at me. She knew I was ready to head back too, but I wouldn’t let the guys down.

“I will see you back at the house,” I said. She looked up at me, her nose red from the cold, snowflakes sticking to her eyelashes.

“You sure? You can come back with us,” she frowned.

“I’m sure. Go on, I’ll see you in a little while.” Rylee and Colin were kissing on one side of us, Sophie and Ethan on the other. I smiled and kissed her on her frozen nose.

The three of us waved to them and went to catch the ski lift.

Chapter 17

Rainey

When we got back to the house, the girls and I warmed up in front of the fire and Gran brought us a tray filled with steaming mugs of hot chocolate. The snow had been coming down steadily all day and I was glad to be inside. I hoped Max was having fun. I