Chapter 1

It was early in the morning and Laura was already on a roll, "I told you this wasn't a good idea."

Mr. Steele closed the trunk, and the whole limo bounced with the hard slap. The suitcases were resting inside, which meant fortunately that one of the battles was already finished. They rounded the back of the car, and he opened the door for her. Instead of getting inside she stood standing there; her arms folded, her left foot tapping the floor and her eyes piercing his face.

"I couldn't get out of it, Laura. You know how it works. Once one of the Holt women starts to speak, a wise man stays calm and remains quiet. That's exactly what I did. I listened to the Holt woman, and politely agreed to her suggestions."

She disentangled her arms and turned her hands into fists, "You politely agreed to her suggestions... what a gentleman!" The mock in her voice was more than notorious. "May I remind you, I'm the Holt woman you should try to agree with, your wife. Not my mother."

He gave her a sided glance, "I agree."

"Not now!"

"Okay, I don't."

"Are you trying to be funny? Because you are not."

"I agree?"

She began to move, "This is nonsense. Get into the car." They both sat in the back of the limo; a respectable space remaining between them. Looking straight to the driver, Laura decided to finish the useless exchange, "To the airport Fred."

The trip was in silence, but Laura's head was anything but quiet. The fact that Abigail invited both her daughters and their families to spend a long weekend at Lake Tahoe was at least inopportune. They were really busy at the office, still working over an unusual amount of cases after an unusually occupied February. But of course, her mother didn't give her a chance for the negative response allowing her to use work as an excuse. In fact, she even didn't try to listen to Laura`s explanations; Abigail purposely avoided the sinuous talk with her daughter calling Mr. Steele by her back and politely convinced him to step into the plan. And he gave up easily, without even asking Laura; his wife.

"I shouldn't have let Frances did that Christmas thing with you. Now my mother and sister are aware that you are the less difficult strategy to get their way against my own wishes." She didn't look at him even for a second. The dull view of Los Angeles traffic was more appealing at the moment.

"At least we are flying there, Laura. Just imagine a car trip, listening Abigail talking the whole way from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe."

Laura didn't respond. The thought about Abigail talking through a long car trip didn't sound nearly dramatic compared to the desperate situation. Of course, Abigail would be talking through the whole ride, but the most irritating thing was that she will also be questioning her and making motherly suggestions about every one of Laura's usual actions not only along the entire trip but through the whole long weekend. And she was already tired on advance.

The first class flight to Sacramento and its welcomed amenities helped to soften her temper a little. Once they arrived at the Rental at the airport to pick up their car, she even allowed him to be the one behind the wheel for a change. She'd be the guide this time. It would give her more time to cool off enjoying the sightseeing until their arrival at the family gathering. The map was opened resting on her lap when she tried to break the last minute's silence with a distracting comment, "Frances and Donald must be there already. They left Tarzana yesterday in the late afternoon after Donald's workday, taking advantage of the children's tiredness. She was convinced the kids will behave in the car. I really don't want to be in her shoes, you know. It's a long way from LA."

"I agree."

She turned her body towards him with intent, "Are you going to agree with me the whole weekend, Mr. Steele? Because if you are; I will reconsider my dialogue lines to break your resistance getting concealed answers from you. And I don't need to remind you that the situation would turn from safe to dangerous in a blink."

After considering her words for an instant he shook his head, "I don't agree."

"You don't agree…" She was getting tired of his game. "Argh…" Noticing the conversation wasn't taking them anywhere she inhaled and exhaled and decided to drop the subject. She neatly folded the map, and after considering that being upset with each other wasn't going to take them anywhere, she laid a hand on his thigh adding a different touch to the moment. "Turn to the right at the next exit. The cabins are three miles away," she tried a fake smile at him, "Welcome to Lake Tahoe, Mr. Steele."

Just at the very moment they made the second turn, their destination was in sight. They both noticed at the same time that there wasn't any cabin involved, but an undoubtedly impressive house. It was a three-floor state with a spectacular stone and wood front, surrounded by beautiful threes splashing different fresh green touches to the landscape. A second noticeable thing was that Laura's nephews were eagerly running from the hills behind the house straight towards the car and an agitated Frances eagerly following them suit. That was the less impressive part of the view for Laura.

"This wasn't what I pictured when Mother invited us to spend a weekend in a cabin near Lake Tahoe. I was expecting at least more than a corridor between us." She found her voice weakening as a result of a mix of surprise, fear, and angriness.

Mr. Steele sensed Laura's uncertain mood suddenly contagious under the circumstances, but tried to keep the spirit up even realizing it was meant to be a hard task, "Remember Laura; it's just a weekend. No one died after spending a weekend with the family. Just three days and voila, the challenge is over and we'll be back in LA. It should be a piece of cake."

"Why do I feel already indigested if I didn't have a bite of the delectable temptation yet, Mr. Steele." She got off the car, breathed deep and muttered herself, "Icy calm, Laura, icy calm."