The Game by Jeanne Barrack Read Free Book Online Page A

He tried and failed to block the passionate cries emanating from the other room. And the bed banging.
    “Damn it to hell, that’s it! I’ve fucking had it. I don’t give a shit what happens. I’m telling Dave tomorrow that I’m gay.”
    Marcie got up from the bed and moved over to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. She leaned her head against him and sighed.
    “Oh, sweetie, are you sure? Can’t it wait until we get back to the city?”
    Frank shrugged off her hand.
    “And what if…what if somehow we don’t get out of here? What if the snowplow doesn’t get here in time?” He laughed. “I know that’s nuts. We’re not going to die here. People expect us home this week, and if we don’t show they’ll come after us, and the snowplow’s bound to come up here eventually.” He took a deep breath. “But if I let myself think I’ll have another chance to tell him, I’ll never do it. It’s gotta be now.”
    “And will you tell him you love him?”
    Frank sagged onto the bed. “I don’t know.”
    * * * *
    “That’s it. You’re catering my first gallery showing. If you can make crackers and honey taste gourmet, imagine what you could do with real food.” Marcie took a last swig of her lukewarm coffee and crumpled up her napkin.
    “Gallery showing? Your portfolio? Someone is hosting a show for you? Why didn’t you tell me?” Shari squealed, jumping up and hugging Marcie.
    “I was going to this weekend. It’s scheduled for the week after next. I still can’t believe it.”
    Dave grinned. “Guess I’ll see your work sooner than we thought. Congratulations, Marcie.”
    “Yeah, that’s fantastic. Have you selected the pictures yet?” Frank asked.
    Marcie swirled her coffee with her finger then licked off the tepid liquid. She made a face and then slapped on a happy smile.
    “Well, I did bring some 8x10s to look through while we were up here—just in case Frank and I hated each other’s guts, I locked him out of the bedroom, and wedged a chair under the knob to keep him from bashing it down.” She turned an innocent look on the three others. “Kidding. And you know we don’t hate each other.” She grinned. “I actually like him.” She sighed. “Gosh, lighten up. I brought them because, well, I wasn’t sure I’d picked the right ones, and I thought maybe getting some objective opinions would help me make up my mind.” She smiled tentatively. “I still can’t believe someone thinks my work is that good.”
    “We’ll look at them as soon as I clear the table. You go bring them in here. There’s better light and we can…there’s better light!” Shari’s voice broke. “The snow’s stopped completely. The sun’s coming out! It didn’t even hit me until now.”
    Dave strode to the small window by the kitchen door. He wiped off some of the grime and peered through the small patch of clean glass. “The sun’s shining so bright, the glare is blinding. If we’re lucky, the plow may get up here by tomorrow or Monday.” He took a deep breath. “We’d better hope so, because the snow is more than halfway up the window and the drifts are even higher.”
    “Shit.” Frank spat the word out.
    Marcie laughed bitterly. “Well, I guess that says it all.”
    “Hey, if the plow doesn’t get here by tonight, we’ll say to hell with conserving and make a huge fire. They usually send up helicopters after storms like this, just to make sure no one is stranded. They’ll see the smoke from the chimney, plow us out, and we’ll be fine.” Dave spoke with authority, managing to calm their fears for the moment. “Let’s look at Marcie’s photos.”
    * * * *
    “Well, those are the ones we all agree we like the best.” Marcie pointed to a stack of twenty-four pictures and then to a smaller pile. “And these are the ones we’re not sure of. I need twelve more to present to Josh. Any ideas?”
    “Let’s talk about why we’re not in agreement about them. Maybe we can see a