“He gave you more encouragement because you needed it,” snapped Claire. “Anyway, we only skied one green and then the whole morning we skied blues. He said we’re both intermediate skiers, not beginners.”
“I’m proud of you. I was afraid you wouldn’t like it that much.” Grace beamed at her sisters.
“It was a lot more fun skiing the blues,” said Hannah.
“Yeah. All the hot guys are on the blue slopes,” Claire added.
“I noticed you always needed help getting up if you fell next to a cute guy, but you stood up just fine if a girl or an old guy offered to help,” said Hannah.
&nbs
p; “Ha! I learned that technique from you,” chuckled Claire.
Everyone ate quickly and headed back to the slopes. Grace pulled Olivia to the side before they parted ways. “This can still be a good move for you, skiing with Josh and Jace. Use this as an opportunity to get Jace to talk about Charlie. That should be a breeze.”
“Good idea,” said Olivia, her face brightening considerably.
JOSH WAS TRULY IMPRESSED with Jace’s skiing. He either had a lot of natural ability, or Charlie was an extraordinary teacher. He thought perhaps it was some of both. At any rate, Jace was soon racing down the green slopes, but appeared to be in control. Somehow, Josh wasn’t bored with the easy runs because he was so absorbed in watching Jace.
Anne and Steven followed along, laughing and playing on the easy inclines, with Steven often turning around to ski backwards, much to Jace’s amusement.
“Do it again, Papa Steven!” he yelled, and Steven would always oblige. Then he showed Jace how to sit back on his heels and dart between his legs as they skied.
“I want to show Charlie!” Jace said. “When is she coming back?”
Josh grimaced. Olivia had kept a running discourse going with Jace about his lessons with Aunt Charlie. He knew Charlie couldn’t devote every minute to Jace, and he hated for him to get his hopes up.
“You had Charlie all morning,” he told Jace in private. “You might hurt Aunt Olivia’s feelings if you keep talking about Charlie all the time.”
Olivia chose that moment to offer to look for Charlie. “I’m going over to the blue runs for a while. If I see Charlie, I’ll send her over here.”
“Wait, Aunt Olivia,” said Jace. “I’m sorry I asked about Aunt Charlie. I like skiing with you.” Jace watched her anxiously until she sagged.
“Okay, Jace. I’ll stay here with you.”
Anne gave an approving nod.
They skied until three o’clock, when Anne and Steven announced they were stopping for the day and going to pick up the little ones. Jace was attempting to hide his fatigue, but when Anne asked if he would help them, he jumped at the chance. Josh and Olivia skied to the bottom of the intermediate lift just as Charlie and Derek arrived.
“Where are the others?” asked Charlie, still breathless from her last run.
“They were skiing over here,” said Olivia. “But we just left the green area.”
Josh cast a longing look at the steep mogul slope to his left. “I think I’m going to do a few blacks. I’ll catch you guys back at the house.” He looked toward Derek, “Unless you want to come?”
“No way—Charlie wore me out. I’m going to need a lot of Advil tonight.” He chuckled. “I’m staying on blues for now. Anyway, the lifts close before long.”
“I’ll go with you.” Charlie’s golden eyes sparkled. Then she glanced behind her. “Or I guess I can stay with you, Olivia. I forgot you don’t ski blacks.”
“No,” Olivia smiled. “I’ll be fine. Go have fun, but don’t kill yourself.” She laughed, “And don’t kill Josh, either.”
CHARLIE WAS IN HER element. She loved skiing, and the conditions were perfect. The temperature had never risen above twenty-five degrees, and there had been several inches of fresh snow falling lightly during the day. The winds were calm, and now the sun was out. Nothing gave her a thrill like speeding down the slopes, with only the sound of the wind in her ears and her skis scraping the snow as she turned.
She led Josh to a great mogul run, a narrow slot between tree-covered slopes.
“Race you?” she asked.
“Not on my first black of the year. If we hurry, we can get in three runs before the lifts close. I’ll race you on the last run.”