Read How I Came to Sparkle Again for Free Online Page B

needed swim fins to cross it? Never again, pal. Go piss at your own house.”
    Hans walked out the back door.
    Lisa picked up the phone and dialed. “Tom Cat. Lisa. Do you copy? We’ve got a twenty-six in my kitchen. Over.” Then she hung up. “Watch this,” she said.
    Lisa and Jill both looked out the window as Tom bolted out of the trailer in flip-flops, long underwear, a parka, and a hat, followed by Stout, his German shepherd, and ran to Lisa’s back door, which she opened so he could run in without breaking stride.
    Jill sat on a stool rubbing her neck, which had been bothering her since she woke up on the pullout couch. Lisa greeted him by saying, “Twenty-six seconds. Excellent. Hence the name.” Then she turned to Jill. “Twenty-six is code for hot chick.”
    Tom faked an expression of disbelief and looked at Jill. “She’s lying. It’s code for neck injury. Good call, Lisa. It’s always good to be on the safe side. Clearly she needs help.” He moved behind Jill and began to massage her neck.
    Good God, Lisa thought. He wastes no time.
    Stout turned circles on the mat next to the back door, lay down, and began to snore loudly. “Thomas, this is Jill, Howard’s niece. Remember her? She helped you look for your tongue that time you thought you bit it off. She raced with me.”
    “Oh yeah!” He turned Jill’s stool gently to look at her. “I remember you!”
    Lisa continued, “Well, you remember she used to be a pretty decent skier. She hasn’t skied in years—long story—and she recently had surgery, but she is a nurse. Could you stick her in the first-aid room? If she was there, the rest of you could get in extra turns.…”
    Tom appeared to consider Lisa’s proposal and finally spoke. “Sure. I’m down a man. Travis is still in intensive care.”
    Lisa explained, “He was doing some avalanche control work at the top of Super Bowl. He was ski cutting—you know, where they ski across the slope to start a slide? And anyway, he went down with it. Jason was with him, right?”
    “Yeah, Jason dug him out while I got the sled, and then we got him down to the base where he could be airlifted. There was still some hangfire, so it was too sketchy to airlift him from the site.”
    Jill looked confused.
    “Hangfire is snow that’s left in place at the top of the slide path,” Lisa explained.
    “Very unstable,” Tom added.
    “Any updates on him?” Lisa asked.
    “Just that he’s stable now,” Tom answered. He turned to Jill and said, “Yeah, he didn’t get completely buried. His skis popped off. But he got slammed into a rock. Broken ribs, punctured lung, compound fracture of his femur, fractured pelvis. So sure, you’re hired. Meet me at the FAR—the first-aid room—tomorrow at one.”
    “Thanks,” Jill said.
    Tom turned to Lisa. “Hey, are we all on for the usual Thanksgiving plan? Same time, same place?”
    “We want turkey!” Eric shouted from the next room.
    “Turkey!” Hans chimed in, too.
    “Same time, same place,” Lisa answered.
    “How’s your neck now?” Tom asked Jill.
    “Better,” Jill admitted.
    But Lisa was cautious. “Jill, whatever you do, do not look directly into the snake charmers’ eyes. Tom, Hans, and Slick Eric have long philosophical discussions about who went home with the biggest boobs at the bar the night before.”
    “Lisa,” Tom said with offense, “honestly, these vicious lies really hurt.” For a moment, Jill believed him.
    “Oh?” Lisa began. “Vicious lies?” She opened the door to the broom closet. On the inside of the door hung game boards for Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders that had been there ever since Lisa could remember. “Look, Jill, Exhibit A of our arrested development. We’ve been playing this game for how long now?” she asked Tom.
    “Since I moved in about fifteen years ago,” Tom answered. He turned to Jill and explained further, “I was running low on funds and Lisa took pity on me and was feeding me. The