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EMILY PULLED DEREK around the corner and out of the room while everyone was gathering their ski equipment for the day.
“Uhmm, I just thought I ought to tell you there’s been a slight change of plans.”
“We’re not all skiing together today? Or Charlie’s decided to keep skiing instead of boarding?”
“No, not that,” she waved her hand impatiently. “It’s about Charlie and you and Josh and Olivia.”
“What now? Charlie’s decided she doesn’t want me to kiss her anymore? I mean, I haven’t even done it that much. I don’t know why she’s so uptight about it.”
“No, this doesn’t have anything to do with Charlie. Well, it does have to do with her, but she doesn’t know it.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Charlie’s in love with Josh.” The words tumbled out of her mouth.
“Are you kidding me? We just talked about this last night. She swore she didn’t feel that way.”
“Well, the problem is Josh is in love with her, too.”
He ran frustrated fingers through his hair until it was sticking straight up. “You people are insane. I asked him. I point-blank asked him who he was in love with, and he said he loved Olivia.”
“I know. But that’s because he doesn’t know Charlie’s in love with him.”
“I thought my job was to convince Josh and Olivia that Charlie was with me.”
“Well, that was your job, and Charlie needs to think you’re still doing it. But I need for you to help me get Josh and Charlie together.”
He peered at the sky with his hands folded in prayer. “I’m not sure this free ski trip was really worth it.” His breath whistled through his lips. “So what do you want me to do?”
A voice behind Emily made her jump. “What are you two talking about?”
“Hi Mom! Nothing. We were just chatting.”
“Really?” said Anne. “Because it sounded to me like you were plotting about Charlie and Josh.”
“No, we weren’t,” Emily denied.
“I want in,” said Anne. “But you can’t tell Steven.”
Derek’s eyes were wide. “Do all women do this kind of thing? Or only the Best women?”
Grace rounded the corner. “We need to talk in another place. I could hear you in the other room.”
Hannah piped up behind her, “That’s because she was standing around the corner eavesdropping.”
“Are you in on this, too?” Derek asked Grace.
“Well, yes,” Grace answered. “Now that we’re all finally on the same side.”
“You were working against us before?” asked Emily.
Grace looked a little sheepish. “Sorry. But I had already figured out those two were in love. You just weren’t ready to believe it yet.”
“Quick! Everybody scatter!” whispered Hannah before she retreated to the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” asked Josh, striding up to the group. Emily thought he looked like he hadn’t slept well. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he had a decided scowl.
“We were discussing where we wanted to go skiing today,” said Grace. “Do you have a vote?”
“I’ll just follow along,” he muttered. “No one seems to care what I think anyway.”
Emily clamped her lips together to prevent a smile when Grace rolled her eyes.
“Hey Grace, I wondered if you might braid my hair for me?” Anne used her eyes to point upstairs.
“Sure,” said Grace. “And I think Hannah wanted her hair braided. Maybe Emily could braid hers.”
“Great idea,” said Emily.
“Great! Now we have to wait while you all braid your hair.” Josh hung his coat back on the rack, grumbling under his breath.
“We’ll be fast,” Grace assured him as she motioned Hannah and Claire to come up the stairs with her, followed closely by Anne.
Josh stomped away, leaving Derek with Emily. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Just go make sure Charlie doesn’t come upstairs. Do whatever you have to do to keep her down here. We won’t be gone long.”
When Emily reached Grace’s room, Anne was speaking, but she stopped when she saw Emily.
“Let’s see what her sister thinks. I was saying we probably need to use reverse psychology with Charlie. If she kind of thinks we’re picking on Josh, she’ll jump to defend him. You know, if he’s struggling with the kids, and we’re not helping. If Olivia complains about him. Stuff like that.”
Emily nodded. “That’s true. She’s such a softy, she’ll defend almost anybody. But if you try to convince her of something, she’ll fight you on it every time.”
“What about Josh? What’s the best approach for him?” Grace deftly braided Hannah’s hair as she spoke.
“This jealousy thing is working awfully well. Maybe Derek should keep at it. Ow, Grace! You’re pulling!” Hannah scrunched up her face in pain.
“Actually,” Emily said, “I think that’s a great idea for Charlie, too. She gets so uncomfortable every time he kisses her, and I know good and well she’s comparing his kisses to Josh’s kisses.”
“Really?” Anne asked, braiding her hair behind her head. “How many times has Josh kissed her?”
“Only twice. But they were memorable, according to Charlie.”
“Since she came back to New York?” asked Grace.
Emily shook her head. “No. Two years ago. You remember the night of the first one. It was at your house. Remember when they went into the den while we were all at the dinner table.”
“No way!” laughed Hannah. “So he kissed her in our den? I thought she went in there to yell at him.”
“She did.” Emily chuckled. “But it backfired on her—they’ve just got chemistry.”
“I’m thinking we could also show Josh why he isn’t a good match for Olivia,” Grace said. “You know, she’s not nearly as athletic as Charlie. And it just so happens we were talking last night about leaving the slopes at noon today to go shopping in town.”
“I want to go,” said Claire.
“Me, too,” said Hannah.
“This is a great idea. Josh will think choosing to shop rather than ski is a sacrilege.” Emily chuckled. “And so will Charlie.”
“Have we got a general plan of action?” asked Anne.
Everyone murmured agreement and dispersed, with Grace promising to bring Olivia up to speed on their plans.
Returning downstairs, Emily spotted Derek examining a trail map with Charlie, who was holding Chloe on her hip.
“Where have you been?” asked Spencer. “We’re all ready to go.”
“I forgot to brush my teeth,” said Emily, giving him a kiss. “But I’m ready now. This is gonna be a great day.”
*
CHARLIE THOUGHT OLIVIA seemed to have turned over a new leaf. She was chatting excitedly with Josh, while hanging onto his arm. Charlie couldn’t hear what she was saying, but Josh seemed less than enthused at their interaction. Perhaps he was simply tired. He was carrying all of his equipment along with Olivia’s. Jace was struggling a bit with walking in his ski boots while carrying his skis and poles, but he stubbornly refused Charlie’s help. She smiled at his proud expression as he strained with the effort.
Charlie managed to catch up with Josh and Olivia, since they were making slower progress.
Olivia said. “Josh, do you want to go shopping with us girls this afternoon? We could use someone to carry all of our purchases.”
“You want me to go with you? And skip an entire afternoon of skiing?” Josh’s expression bordered on revulsion.
“It’s only half a day. I love shopping. You might as well get used to it. We’ll be going shopping all the time after we’re married.”
Charlie pushed past them hurriedly, not wanting to hear any more about their future together as a married couple. She wished them the best, but she certainly didn’t want to think about it. She was almost grateful when Derek joined her, since his company would distract her from the distressing conversation she’d just overheard. But Derek was acting extra affectionate, and she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with him, even though he was only doing what she’d asked him to do.
He slung his arm over her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her without breaking a stride.
“That’s not necessary,” Charlie hissed.
“Sure it is. They’re walking right behind us. Both of them saw it happen. It was perfect.”
As they rode up the gondola, Derek continued his possessive touching. He kept a hand on her arm or around her shoulder. He kissed her cheek and nuzzled her neck until her face must have been crimson.
“You’re supposed to be enjoying this. You look like I’m torturing you.” He chuckled in her ear.
“I think you’re going a bit overboard,” she complained in a low voice. “This is too much stuff in public for me. I think you can stop for now.”
“Emily said I needed to be more aggressive. She said last night, when I kissed you, it seemed to be a turning point for Olivia.”
“Really?” She cast a doubtful glance at Olivia. “Okay, if Emily said that, I’ll try to go along with it. But don’t do it unless you’re sure she’s watching.”
“She’s looking right now,” said Derek. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips, a slow lingering kiss. And Charlie felt... mortified. Derek’s lips didn’t rouse any passion in her, even though he was attractive and smart. Was Josh the only man who could spark a fire inside her? Maybe she’d simply built it up in her mind. After all, he’d only kissed her twice, two years ago.
“Try that again.” Charlie closed her eyes, ignoring the fact she was in public, and concentrating on Derek.
“Wow.” Derek pulled back, blinking his eyes in surprise. “That uhmm... That was nice.”
*
EMILY SMIRKED THE FIRST time Derek kissed Charlie on the gondola. Her humiliated expression and Josh’s stormy one demonstrated the plan progressing well. But something was different about the second kiss. Josh still appeared to be swallowing bile in his throat, but Charlie seemed a bit too enthusiastic. Emily shot a questioning glance to Derek, who answered with a perplexed look and a shrug. Perhaps Charlie had truly given up hope with Josh, and she was letting herself actually become attracted to Derek.
She heard her mom’s voice in her ear. “I think we’re letting things with Derek go a bit too far.”
“Yeah. I saw that. Any suggestions?”
“I only need one lift ride with her,” she said smugly. “And probably one lift ride with Josh toward the end of the morning, after Olivia’s had a chance to work on him a bit.”
“What are you going to say?”
“I’m simply going to point out some things they might not have considered. Nothing that isn’t true.”
“Okay Mom.” Emily chuckled. “But you’d better not let Steven catch you.”
*
JOSH TRIED TO CONCENTRATE on Olivia’s incessant train of thought. But it was difficult to ignore Charlie and Derek as they once again engaged in a public display of affection. It galled him to no end she’d been so prudish with him, but had evidently loosened up for Derek. If he’d had as many opportunities to kiss her two years ago, he was certain they would have been married within a few months. He was angry at God or fate or whatever had conspired to keep them apart.
“Are you listening?” Olivia asked.
“I’m sorry, I missed that last part. I was trying to remember if Jace had his glove liners.” Actually, he was thinking he didn’t realize Olivia talked so much. They hadn’t actually spent much time alone together, except when they were working at the hospital and discussing patient treatment.
“I was talking about the honeymoon. I was saying I think Vegas would be the perfect place to go. So much stuff to do—shopping and clubs and music shows...”
“I don’t know, Olivia. I’m not much on gambling.” Josh could think of about a million places he’d rather go on a honeymoon than Las Vegas. He didn’t really care for the crowds. He preferred active trips—skiing, sailing, hiking, and such. “What if we went skiing in Stowe?”
“Skiing is okay, but once a year is plenty. You wouldn’t have to gamble in Las Vegas. There are lots of shows to go see, and we can dress up. And if you don’t want to go shopping with me, Brad and Grace could come, and she and I could go shopping while you guys did whatever.”
“Brad and Grace? On our honeymoon?”
She lowered her voice. “Well, it won’t be a real honeymoon. It’s not like we’ll be having sex or anything. I guess maybe in a few years I’ll change my mind. I’m certainly not going to have sex with you when I think you might be thinking about someone else.”
“I wouldn’t think about someone else.”
“I don’t believe you. But it doesn’t matter, because I’d be thinking about someone else.”
“You would?”
“Of course I would,” she answered, glibly. “But don’t worry, I won’t be unfaithful. I did kind of wonder... I hope you won’t mind if I take advantage of these last few weeks of freedom before the wedding. I mean, after that, we’re stuck together forever.”
“You mean you want permission to date other guys when we go back to New York?”
“Well, sure. I told you there was someone else I liked. But it won’t change anything between us. I’ll still get married to you at the end of January. I’m glad you understand about me not wanting to be a mother. I mean, I love the kids and they’re really cute, but I don’t want to be around them all the time. Will it be okay if I eat dinner with Grace and Brad most of the time? I could be home by the time you put them to bed, and we could watch television together.”
“Uhmm, actually I don’t watch much television.”
“Awesome! That means we can watch all of my shows. Tuesday night is my favorite. Rodeo Drive comes on right before City Slickers. That’s a reality show about people who grew up in New York City who get stuck on a dude ranch together. And Wednesday night is this great Vampire drama, Blood and Blessings. Once you’ve seen a few episodes, you’ll be hooked, like me.”
“Honestly, I go to bed pretty early, since I get up in the morning to work out before I go to the hospital.”
Olivia screwed up her face in distaste. “I forgot you like to exercise. I hate most forms of exercise, except for fun stuff like Jazzercise or Zumba. Maybe we could go to some classes together.”
“Actually, I would need to stay with the kids while you go. I guess if you don’t want to be responsible for watching them by yourself, I’ll need to get some home gym equipment.”
“I’m thinking we’ll need a bigger apartment, too,” she said. “You did promise me my own bedroom, and I’m not going to want a ton of exercise equipment in the living room.”
Josh didn’t respond, as his mind reeled with all the ramifications of his impending marriage to Olivia. He’d been so intent on securing a wife to gain custody of the kids he hadn’t considered what life would be like after the wedding.
“If you don’t want to go to Vegas for the honeymoon, how about Disneyworld?”
“Disneyworld sounds likes loads of fun. And maybe we can drive pieces of bamboo under our fingernails.”
“Great! I’m glad you like Disneyworld. And we need to pick out china, too...”
He tuned her out for the sake of sanity.
*
THE MORNING WAS CLEAR, but cold, while snow was expected in the afternoon. Charlie forgot all her worries while they were flying down the slopes. She was enjoying the switch to a snowboard. All the men except Josh were riding boards instead of skiing now, although she and Grace were the only girls on boards. Josh still felt he could help Jace more if they were both on skis, but in Charlie’s opinion, Jace was progressing at a fantastic pace.
He was making smooth parallel turns and no longer reverted to a wedge on the steeper slopes when he was nervous. He was reveling in the attention and praise he received, not only from Josh and Charlie, but also from Anne and Steven. Most of the time, Charlie still took up a protective place in the rear behind Jace. This allowed her to observe and encourage him and to help him get up when he fell. However, Jace’s independence and pride were emerging, and he began to refuse help when he fell.
Olivia, Hannah and Claire, on the other hand, seemed to make a habit of falling, almost always leaving behind a trail of ski equipment on the slope, and lying in the snow afterward in helpless laughter while others retrieved their things for them. Charlie chuckled while Claire failed at her attempt to land a jump. Though she was only a few inches off the snow, she screeched with excitement and vaulted into a somersault after landing on the tails of her skis. Soon the slope was littered with skis and poles, and both her helmet and her jacket were packed with snow.
Jace loved the fact he wasn’t the one producing the spectacular falls and even managed to retrieve one of Claire’s poles, while spouting some advice about keeping her weight forward. Charlie was proud of her for at least attempting the jump, since both Hannah and Olivia seemed to be afraid to try anything challenging. Jace made it clear he intended to ski a black run before the end of the week. Claire was also planning to conquer at least one black diamond run, but Hannah and Olivia expressed no interest in attempting anything challenging.
The four sisters were so different from each other, with Grace and Claire, the oldest and the youngest, being the most adventuresome and athletic. Charlie complimented Grace on her skill with the snowboard and her rather fearless attitude.
“That’s because you’re so short you don’t have far to fall.” Olivia made the wisecrack, dodging the snowball Grace threw at her head.
Steven, as with every sport, was an excellent skier and snowboarder. Anne, wasn’t quite as skilled, but because of her extreme competitive nature, she always kept up with him and refused to allow any fears to hold her back.
Emily and Spencer were well paired. Spencer was naturally athletic and competitive, while Emily was a smooth, graceful skier, having skied every year since she was five years old.
Charlie had to admit Derek might have bested her on the snowboard if he’d spent half as much time on the slopes. But for now, she enjoyed the fact she could beat him in any race and out-jump him, throwing in a tail-grab or even an occasional three-sixty.
No matter what trick she accomplished, Derek would always throw in, “Yes, but you looked goofy.” This was his way of teasing her for riding ‘goofy-foot’, the term used for riding a snowboard with the right foot forward.
But Josh... Josh was amazing. She hadn’t seen him on a board, but he was probably as good as she was on a pair of skis. She was itching to race him on a black, or maybe get him into a terrain park. Seeing how easily Jace had picked up the skill, she surmised athletic ability must run in his family. She wondered if his sister had also been athletic. What a shame Josh never got to know his sister, and no wonder he was so determined to make sure Jace and Chloe grew up together.
“Can I ride up with you?” Anne asked as they approached the two-person lift at the bottom. “We’ve hardly even seen each other this whole trip.”
“Sure Mom. Is this your way of telling me you want to try snowboarding again?” Anne had attempted boarding once in the past. But after one day of being flung forcibly to the hard ground onto her knees or her bottom, she swore never to try again.
“No, thank you. I’m happy to merely ski for the rest of my life. But I can’t wait to teach Ellis and Micah how to ski. I remember how cute you girls were when you were riding the lifts. Your legs were so short they stuck straight out in front of you and your skis were straight up and down. And we had to give you a boost to get you up onto the lift.”
“What are they doing at the child care? Do they just play in the snow?”
“You’ll have to go see. It’s so cute. They have a playground in the snow. And they put these little short skis on their feet and they just naturally figure out how to move around with them.”
“Awww, how adorable.”
“I’ve been thinking...” Her mom’s voice was tinged with worry. “I wondered if you might be willing to help Olivia a little.”
“Help her with what?”
“Well, you know... She doesn’t really like kids all that much. I thought maybe you could kind of take them off her hands some. I know she’s planning to leave all the actual parenting to Josh, but occasionally he’s going to be gone, and they’ll be her responsibility. Like, if he gets called into work at night. We’ve offered to help, but I thought you’d be a good backup.”
“Surely after a month or so she won’t be afraid to be left with the kids anymore. I mean, she’ll get used to it.”
“Well I suppose she could, but she doesn’t want to. To tell you the truth, I’m kind of worried about Jace and Chloe.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know how to put it... I’m afraid they’ll feel... rejected, I guess. Because I think they’ll be able to sense Olivia resents them.”
“She would never resent them. Olivia’s not like that.”
“Well, I don’t think she would do it on purpose, but this is obviously not the life she would have chosen. She wasn’t ready to be a mother, and these aren’t her kids.”
“But Mom,” she said, “When you love someone, you willingly make little sacrifices. I mean, if Josh loves those kids, she’ll love them, too.”
“It’s so interesting you should say that,” Anne remarked.
“Why?”
“Well, that’s exactly what I thought. I thought if Steven had already had some kids I would have loved them to death, just because he loved them. Just like Steven loved both of you. But Olivia... Well, I don’t want to judge her or anything, but I’m not sure she really loves Josh. I mean, at first I thought she was pretending she didn’t love him because she thought he didn’t love her. But now...” Anne clamped her lips tight. “Oh, Charlie—I shouldn’t have said anything. That was a terrible thing to say. Please forget I said it. I’m a terrible gossip, and I hate people who gossip.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I know you didn’t mean to be critical. You’re just worried.”
“No. Seriously. I’m sure she loves Josh in her own way, even if I don’t understand it. Everything will be fine. I’m sure it won’t end up in a divorce where Jace would have to deal with losing another mother.”
“A divorce?”
“Well, yes. You know, originally, they were planning to only be married for a year, but then Josh decided a divorce would be too hard on Jace. I just hope they can actually make this thing work. If only...”
“If only what?”
“It’s just a silly thought, and it doesn’t make any sense. Never mind.”
“No. What is it? I won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s just that... Now I know you don’t love Josh or anything, but you do seem to love Chloe and Jace so much. I was thinking you would make a much better mother for them. But see how stupid that is? You’d love the kids, but you wouldn’t be in love with Josh. That wouldn’t work any better than it would with Josh and Olivia. I told you it was silly.”
“Ha! Josh would never ask me, anyway.”
“Oh, you’re right. He’s much too proud. He would never, ever ask you to do something like that. And it’s a good thing, too, because you’re just the sort of soft-hearted girl who’d probably agree to a crazy proposal like that. And there you’d be, stuck in a marriage with a man you didn’t love. But at least Jace and Chloe would have a mother who loved them. Still, that wouldn’t make up for a lifetime of misery.”
“Don’t you think she’ll grow to love him?” Charlie chewed on her lip.
“I hope so,” said Anne. “But I know it would be so hard for me to love Steven if he didn’t love you and Emily. So I just don’t know how Josh will be able to love Olivia if she doesn’t love Jace and Chloe.”
Anne put a bright smile on her face. “But let’s forget all of that. The important thing is I’m going to get to help plan another wedding. Josh wanted a small ceremony with a few friends and family, but Olivia wants a humongous wedding, probably even bigger than Grace’s. I don’t know how they’re going to pull it off. And Olivia hasn’t even told her parents yet, because she knows they’ll be upset. Isn’t it all so exciting?” Anne asked as they departed the chair at the top of the lift.
As Charlie sat in the cold snow to fasten her boot to the board, she tried to put their conversation out of her mind. Her mother’s version of the situation wasn’t exciting at all. Charlie couldn’t bear the thought of Jace being hurt again. Surely her mother was imagining things. She must have misunderstood Olivia’s words. Maybe she could ride up with Olivia after this run and set her mind at ease.
“Come on, Aunt Charlie!” yelled Jace as he started down the slope.
Derek plopped down next to her on the snow. “Wanna cut through the trees at the top?”
“Sure,” she said, pushing up and hopping to start downward. I’m just going to put all this stuff out of my mind and enjoy the snow.
*
JOSH FELT ANOTHER SURGE of irritation as he saw Charlie and Derek emerge from the trees, laughing and whooping. He thought once again he didn’t care for Derek at all. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. What was it about him that was so annoying?
Josh watched as Charlie fell back on the snow to rest and Derek stopped on the hill directly below, facing her. When she tossed a glove-full of snow up at his face, he laughed and grabbed her jacket to pull her up into a kiss. Josh suddenly remembered exactly why he didn’t like Derek.
“Uncle Josh! Let’s go,” called Jace. “Grammy’s way ahead of us.”
“I’m coming,” He started after Jace with one last glance up the hill where Derek and Charlie were wrestling in the snow. He had to ski fast to catch up with his nephew, who was getting speedier on every run. Jace’s motivation wasn’t hurt by the fact Olivia and her sisters constantly gushed about how great he was every time he caught up with them.
“Am I better than you were, Uncle Josh, when you were nine?”
“I didn’t even ski for the first time until I was eighteen,” Josh declared. “So I guess you’re way better than I was.”
“And pretty soon I’ll be able to beat you.”
Josh chuckled. “If you start getting that good, I’m going to be fighting pretty hard to win.”
Near the bottom, the group stopped at a turn-off. Olivia announced, “We’re leaving early to go shopping. Who wants to come?”
All four of Spencer’s sisters opted for the shopping trip. But Josh wasn’t surprised when Emily, Charlie and Anne refused to abandon the slopes.
“I figure I can shop when I’m old,” Anne declared with a laugh. “I have to ski all I can, now.”
“Besides,” Charlie frowned. “The snow is great right now, and it’s not even that cold.” She looked totally baffled anyone would forgo a single minute of skiing for any reason whatsoever.
“No way.” Emily smiled. “Us Best girls have skiing in our blood, despite the fact we were all born in Texas.”
After the Marshall sisters departed, Brad said, “Next time down this run, let’s do the jumps and get some pictures while the sun is still out. We should get some awesome shots.”
Josh made a casual attempt to ride up with Charlie, despite his better judgment. But Jace pushed ahead. “Aunt Charlie. Can I ride with you?”
“Sure,” she said, forcing Derek to relinquish his place and inadvertently pairing him with Josh.
The men sat together in awkward silence for the first part of the lift ride until Derek broke the ice. “Are you upset with me or something? Because I’m getting some hate vibes every time you look at me.”
Josh tamped down his anger, knowing he had no reasonable explanation for it. He attempted to make his expression pleasant. “No, I’m sorry—I’m a little tense.”
“But you still mean what you said night before last? You’re in love with Olivia, and I’m free to date Charlie?”
Josh couldn’t quite make himself say it, so he grunted and nodded his head.
“I just wondered, because Charlie seemed pretty ticked off when I told her what you said.”
“You told her what I said?” Josh practically growled at him. “That was between us. You weren’t supposed to tell her.”
“Well, you didn’t tell me that. And she seemed so concerned about whether or not you were in love with Olivia, I just felt like she needed to know for sure.”
“She was concerned about that?”
“Oh yeah, she was really worried. I almost thought she had a thing for you. I can see why you’d choose Olivia over Charlie though.”
“You can?”
“Of course. I mean... Charlie’s a lot of work. It’s really hard to know what she’s thinking. And she’s so competitive—I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, obviously she needs to be tamed a bit. She’s a little too dominant for her own good. Not that I won’t look forward to having a little tiger in the sack someday, but—” Josh’s gloved hand shot out to connect with Derek’s helmet. “Hey! What was that for?”
“You’ve already been warned not to talk about Charlie like that,” Josh spoke between gritted teeth. “Another word, and I’ll take my gloves off and your helmet as well before I knock your teeth into your head.”
“I don’t think I said anything bad if I’m talking about after we’re married,” Derek defended. “Right?”
Josh almost choked. “You’re thinking about marrying Charlie?”
“Well, I know it’s going to take some work. But yes, of course I am. I mean, this is just between us. I haven’t talked to her about it yet.”
“But you hardly know her.”
“If you think it takes a long time to realize she’s special, you don’t know Charlie as well as you think you do.”
Josh fell back into silence, trying to process Derek’s words.
“So we’ll probably end up being friends, you know.” Derek’s smile split his face. “In a month, you’ll be married to Olivia, and hopefully, not long after that, I’ll be married to Charlie.”
Josh stared at him, speechless. He tried to imagine this future reality. He and Olivia having Charlie and Derek over for dinner. Charlie and Derek holding hands, touching each other, in love with each other, married.
Derek continued, “I know you’ll have Jace and Chloe, but I’d be ready to start having kids with Charlie pretty soon. I hope she wants a lot of kids, because I want a big family.”
Josh felt nauseous, picturing Charlie, pregnant with Derek’s child. Derek pushed his goggles up and lifted his chin to soak in the sun’s warmth. Josh’s eyes were riveted on Derek’s relaxed and happy face as a sense of helpless rage built inside him. He struggled with a sudden strong urge to toss him off the ski lift.
Anne waited for Derek at the top of the run. He sat on the bench next to her while he buckled his boot onto the board. “Mrs. G, you were so right. That worked like a charm.” He laughed. “But I want you to know I risked my life for you on that chair lift. When I started talking about getting married to Charlie, I really thought he was going to kill me.”
“Who was going to kill you?” Steven rode over on his board, sitting on Anne’s other side to lock his boot in.
Anne panicked. “He was talking about... uhmm...”
“I was telling your wife about racing Josh yesterday. I thought he was going to kill me, but he just barely beat me. I think I could beat him if we were both on boards, though.”
Derek gave her a surreptitious wink.
*
THE LONG GROOMED BLUE with a series of steep hills was set up perfectly for making jumps. Previous skiers and boarders had shaped a small area on the side of each hilltop into a lip to provide a bit more loft.
They leapfrogged down the run. Two people would ski ahead with the camera, setting up down the hill and signaling the jumpers when the coast was clear. Steven, Derek, Spencer, Josh, and Charlie all took turns making jumps. With enough speed, they could clear a significant distance. Josh managed to do a spread-eagle and Charlie performed a tail-grab. They made four sets of jumps before the clouds rolled in, bringing with them snow and decreased visibility.
“I can’t believe that came up so quickly,” Anne complained.
“We can still take pictures,” said Charlie. “We’ve got one more good jump. I’ll just set up a little closer to the landing.”
“I want to do a jump,” said Jace.
Josh looked to Charlie for her opinion. “He can do a jump, if he doesn’t go too fast. Let him go last because he’ll flatten out the lip when he goes over it.”
“I’ll go, too,” said Emily. “Just a slow one like Jace.”
“Okay,” said Charlie. “I’ll try to get it a shot of it.”
Charlie went down to set up the camera, and Anne skied below to watch. Charlie took off her board and set it end up in the snow as a warning. She could see the spot where previous jumpers had landed and checked to be sure there weren’t any dangerous ruts. Then she gave the all-clear sign, and they started down, one by one. First Derek, then Spencer, and then Steven.
Josh gave clear instructions to Jace so he wouldn’t start too high up the hill, before making his own jump. Charlie couldn’t help the way her heart swelled in admiration as she watched him do a double-twister and land perfectly. She was fairly certain she’d gotten pretty clear shots of the jumps, despite the cloudy, snowy conditions.
Charlie moved farther up the hill to get a picture of Emily’s jump. She came at a much more cautious pace, and squealed as she flew into the air. Even at a slow speed, she made it half as far as the others before her skis touched the snow. She pumped her hands in the air in triumph as she landed perfectly and kept her balance.
Charlie moved a bit farther up in preparation for Jace’s jump, while all the others waited below. She tried to yell instructions at him, but he couldn’t hear her. She had to wave her arms broadly to signal the all-clear, due to the poor visibility. She hoped she would get a good picture of his first jump.
When Jace flew into the air, he got an amazing amount of loft because he was so light-weight. He landed almost as far down the hill as Emily, and wavered a bit, but just managed to keep his balance. Down below, everyone was shouting and jumping up and down in celebration of Jace’s successful first jump. He came to a stop just above the spot where the other jumpers had landed. When he turned around to beam proudly at Charlie, he lost his balance and fell over.
Charlie could hear him cackling with laughter as he struggled to move skis that were stuck above him. The heel of one ski was buried in the snow.
“Do you want help?” she called down to him.
“No,” he said, determinedly. “I can do it—I don’t need help.”
He got the ski loose and performed a rollover to get his skis below him. He sat up and got his skis perpendicular to the slope, but was still struggling to stand up by himself. From the corner of her eye, Charlie noticed someone on the slopes above her. It was a snowboarder. Descending. She could see him dimly through the heavily falling snow. He was barreling down the slope toward the jump. Instinctively, Charlie knew Jace was sitting exactly where he would land. The snowboard was on a direct path to hit Jace and there was no way Jace could move fast enough to get out of the way.
Without thinking exactly how she was going to save him, she started yelling and running toward Jace. She was above him and to his side. She ran as fast as she could in her bulky snowboard boots, knowing she couldn’t afford to fall, praying she would reach him in time. In time to grab him and tumble out of the way before the board impacted with his head or his neck or his spine.
She was close, but not close enough when she saw the snowboarder rise off the jump. She had dimly hoped the lip was flattened from Jace’s jump. But as he hurtled through the air toward Jace, she knew she only had one chance.
She leaped.
*
AT FIRST JOSH WAS CONFUSED when he saw Charlie running downward toward Jace, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Move! Move! Move!”
Had Jace injured himself? He’d looked perfectly fine when he toppled over after landing his jump. Josh and the others were standing well below Jace, staring up the snowy slope, trying to comprehend what had Charlie so upset.
Then Josh saw it. A man on a snowboard flew off the lip of the jump, plunging at a high rate of speed. Straight toward Jace.
Charlie was running toward him, but she couldn’t possibly get there in time. She was too far above Jace. Josh braced himself for the collision as he watched the scene unfold with helpless horror. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Suddenly, Charlie flew sideways, directly into the path of the snowboard.
The sound of the impact was sickening.
