Love on the Lifts Read online

  “Sounds like a regular Prince Charming.”

  “He was,” she said, her cheeks turning red. “And I liked watching him ski. He’s really good. I was impressed. I’ll never be able to ski down a trail like that.”

  “Sure you will,” I said.

  “Today I didn’t actually ski on anything other than the bunny slope, but at least I graduated from ski class.” She jerked her thumb at Leah. “Klutz over here has to take the class again tomorrow.”

  Leah wiggled her eyebrows, not at all offended. “You bet. Ian is such a hottie. He’s Australian and has the most delicious accent. I adore it. He promised to give me private lessons if I don’t do any better tomorrow.” She leaned forward and whispered, “I won’t do any better tomorrow.”

  “He’s that hot, huh?”

  “His presence melts snow.”

  I laughed. “I’ve got to see this guy.”

  “Just remember that I had first dibs on him.”

  I watched the marshmallows bobbing in my hot chocolate. “I guess Brad hung around with Cynthia all day.”

  “Like a sliver of metal against a magnet.”

  I grimaced. “She’s too old for him. She’s gotta be like, I don’t know, twenty-four.”

  “At least,” Leah said.

  I wondered what Brad really saw in her, other than her tight pants and too-small sweaters.

  “Whenever she talks, she sounds like she’s on the verge of hyperventilating,” Allie said.

  I laughed. “She does take heavy breathing to the extreme.”

  “You wouldn’t have liked seeing the way she sat on Brad’s lap in your brother’s SUV, ‘practicing’ for tomorrow when you’d be with us and there wouldn’t be enough seats.”

  “Great,” I mumbled.

  My parents had given Sam the SUV when he’d graduated from high school. It gave him freedom that I didn’t yet have. He and his buds had been able to drive up while my friends and I had flown.

  Of course, we’d left from different destinations as well. Allie, Leah, and me from home, the guys from college. The university was about six hours from where we lived, so I completely understood Sam not wanting to come and get me, even if he had known I’d be there. Besides, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in a vehicle with him for fifteen hours, anyway. Fifteen minutes with him was a stretch of my patience.

  “I think I’m just going to have to give up on Brad,” I muttered.

  “Maybe not,” Leah said. “What’s Cynthia got that you don’t?”

  “Lots of curves.” I wasn’t totally flat, but my chest resembled hills, while Cynthia’s looked more like the Grand Tetons. And my hips didn’t exactly flare out, not that I wanted them to.

  “Look, we’re going to that party tonight,” Leah said. “We’ll all look our best, and before the night is over, maybe Brad will come around to noticing that you have a lot more to offer personality-wise than Cynthia. And you don’t have any trouble talking and breathing at the same time.”

  “I doubt he’ll notice me.”

  “Don’t be such a negative Nancy,” Leah said.

  I rolled my eyes. “Have you been talking to Aunt Sue?” Aunt Sue had all kinds of quaint descriptions: Sad Sally, Happy Hannah.

  Leah grinned. “Come on. So Brad spent the day with Cynthia—”

  “Let’s not forget that he also spent the night with her.”

  “Probably because he didn’t have a key and a way to get in. Give him a reason to want to be with you tonight.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  But I was also wondering if I wanted him that badly. Was he really worth it?

  “Hey, you girls walking, or riding back to the condo with me?” Sam asked.

  Allie popped off the loveseat. “Riding.”

  Leah got up, too. “How long are you gonna work?”

  “I’ll help with the late afternoon rush, then I’ll be back at the condo.”

  “Okay, we’ll see you later.”

  I sipped on my hot chocolate, contemplating what I might wear for the party. Most of my sweaters were bulky, designed to keep me warm rather than to show off the shape of my body. I thought about stopping by the Knitted Cable to see if I could find something that might prove a little more interesting to Brad. It was a boutique. All the stores in the village were labeled a shop or a boutique—they weren’t really big enough to be anything else. And they all smelled like pine and were as cozy as a fire in winter. I guess because most had fireplaces and it was winter.

  I heard a footstep and turned my head to see Joe standing there. I hadn’t realized he was still hanging around. I should have. I mean, I hadn’t seen him leave, but he just wasn’t on my radar. Not totally true. He was on my radar, I just preferred that he not be. After all, he’d witnessed one of my more humiliating moments.

  He held up a paper bag that looked like it contained a book. “I was browsing. Looks like I got left behind.”

  “Yeah, Sam already left with Leah and Allie.”

  “That’s all right. What’s a little walk after trudging up mountains all day?” He sat down on the loveseat across from mine. “Think you’ll go with us tomorrow?”

  “Probably. How did you enjoy the lessons?”

  “Didn’t take any. I know how to ski.”

  I felt myself blush. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “No reason you would know.”

  “So you’re not as mesmerized by all this as Allie and Leah are? No building snowmen for you?”

  “Sure, I build snowmen, and make snow angels. It’s the magic of snow. It’s gotta be done.”

  “You don’t agree with Sam that playing in snow is just for kids?”

  “The way I play in snow isn’t for kids. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”

  Those hazel eyes of his unexpectedly darkened, and I thought maybe he was thinking about things that would warm up a girl. Dangerous things.

  Now where did that thought come from? Brad was the danger, not Joe. Or at least I didn’t think the danger was Joe. But the way my heart was thudding against my chest, I suddenly wasn’t so sure.

  “Have you ever been to Snow Angel Valley before?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.

  “No, but I’ll be sure to come back. It’s beautiful country. I love being around mountains. I grew up on the Texas coast—flat as a pancake.”

  I hadn’t known that, either, but then we really hadn’t talked except for last night while I was making my pitiful attempt not to look like I was waiting for Brad. And we hadn’t delved into each other’s histories.

  “Where did you learn to ski?”

  “Wyoming, New Mexico, other parts of Colorado. My folks would take us every year.” He shook his head from side to side as though contemplating how much to tell me, how much I might really be interested. He gave a little nod like he’d made his decision. “I prefer rock climbing and mountain climbing, though.”

  “You and Aunt Sue should talk. She scaled Everest.”

  “We did talk. She’s a fascinating lady.”

  “She’s definitely that.”

  “Do you have any interest in mountain climbing?”

  “I like to hike snowy trails through the mountains, but it’s not the same thing.”

  “No, it’s not. When we were walking through town, I noticed that a little theater is showing Touching the Void. Have you seen it?”

  I remembered hearing something about the movie. The Last Buck Theater—which did, in fact, have a stuffed deer standing outside the entrance and only charged a dollar—usually showed movies that had already done their time on prime cable channels. The more obscure the movie, the more likely it would make an appearance at the Last Buck.

  “Wasn’t that a documentary about those two English guys who almost died on a mountain?” I asked.

  “Yeah, one had to cut the other guy’s rope when he was dangling over a crevasse. It’s really incredible that either of them survived.” He hesitated. “Don’t suppose you’d want to go see it?”