Charlie felt her face flush. “Well...”
“Good grief! You get embarrassed just talking about it. You really are an innocent, aren’t you?”
“Well...”
“Never mind, I think it’s adorable. I only hope you’ll remember you’re the one who asked me to do the kissing thing on this trip.”
“Oh, I remember, all right.”
“Good. Because after this trip is over, I’d like to be able to date you for real.”
“Uhmm, I don’t know... I’m not... I can’t really say...”
“I’m begging you to at least not hold it against me. Don’t decide I’m too aggressive. Remember the first night at your apartment? I didn’t even try to kiss you. Right?”
“Yes, but...” She looked at his pleading face and laughed in spite of herself. “No, I guess it would be pretty mean to force you to kiss me and then get mad at you for doing it.”
“Right. It’s a terrible hardship for me. The way you’ve coerced me into this explicit sexual contact. I’ll probably be scarred for life,” he jested.
“Okay. I promise not to hold it against you. But we’ll have to go back to the whole not-paying, not-kissing, going-out-as-friends thing.”
“Hmmm. I’ll have to think about it. You know, I’m still in love with your stepfather...”
JOSH KNEW HE HAD TO get a grip on his emotions. He couldn’t look like he was waiting anxiously for Charlie to come home when he wasn’t supposed to care about her. He certainly couldn’t act jealous when she walked in the door with Derek. He reminded himself it was a good thing for Charlie to be with Derek. It would help him convince Olivia that he was sincere about his marriage proposal. That he was truly offering her his heart. That Charlie wasn’t in love with him and he wasn’t in love with Charlie.
He schooled his face into an impassive expression as the door opened and Charlie entered followed closely by Derek.
“Aunt Charlie!” Jace ran across the room to slam into her with a hug. “I’ve been waiting to see your movie. Did you remember to talk to me?”
“Yes, I did. I talked to you all the way down. In fact, I’m going to let Derek upload the video and show it to you, while I go take a shower.”
Derek pulled Charlie in for a quick kiss on the lips, before she disappeared up the stairs without even glancing at Josh. Was he relieved or irritated? Irritated. Really irritated. She gave Derek plenty of attention, and she always noticed Jace. But she couldn’t even spare him the slightest look. And she willingly kissed Derek even though she’d fought off his own advances two years ago. And she hadn’t even bothered to let him know she’d made it safely down the dangerous off-trail ski run after her hike. Just because he was marrying Olivia didn’t mean she had the right to totally ignore him. Weren’t they still friends? After all, he’d known Charlie for two years. She’d only known Derek for less than two weeks.
Derek soon had the video uploaded and Spencer set up the computer to play the video on the flat screen television. Josh considered boycotting, refusing to watch Charlie’s video recording. But Jace grabbed him by the hand and pulled him into the den. “Come on, Uncle Josh. It’s starting now.” So he allowed himself to be led in front of the screen where he could see the helmet cam was aimed down the ridiculously steep and narrow chute leading down from the mountain peak before she began her run.
The camera started moving, lurching sickeningly down the slope as Charlie made jump turns to control her speed. She also started talking to Jace. Sometimes, she would whoop and yell in excitement, and sometimes she would throw out some bit of crazy skiing wisdom. “Jace. Always remember, being afraid doesn’t make you a coward. It means you’re smart. Smart enough to recognize danger. And you don’t ignore danger and plunge ahead. You have to learn how to challenge danger and beat it.”
She stopped for a moment, breathing heavily. “And anything worth doing, is worth doing well. So you always push yourself to do your best, whether it’s skiing, or some other sport, or school, or being a big brother.” She let out a long yodel as her skis floated above the ground for a while before she landed and continued to ski.
“And remember I told you it’s fine to make mistakes, and falling is a part of learning. But you’ll know when the time comes that it’s very important for you to do everything perfectly. Like right now, it would be very dangerous for me to fall. I can be careless at other times, and it wouldn’t be a big deal. But right now, it’s critical I don’t make mistakes.”
“And one more thing, Jace. I want you to know you’ve given me a whole new reason to be careful. To do everything perfectly.” She had a series of tight turns and then skied almost straight down, gaining speed before she left the narrow chute and entered a huge, broad bowl.
“Now that I’ve met you, I have to try even harder so I’ll always make it back to see you again. Because you are my very favorite, only, and best nephew! Woooooo!”
The video continued it’s nauseous, dizzying footage as she flew down the ski slopes until she finally reached the bottom of the mountain.
“That was so cool!” said Jace. “Wasn’t it, Uncle Josh?”
Josh stuck out his chin and folded his lips, but managed a terse nod of agreement.
“She’s amazing,” said Derek. “I had no idea how good she was.?
??
“That’s because you hardly know her,” Josh retorted.
“I firmly believe you don’t have to know someone very long before you recognize their value,” Derek challenged. “The important thing isn’t how long you’ve known someone. It’s whether you make good use of your time together.”