Time instead to concentrate on the beauty of her surroundings, which was enough to catch the breath in her throat. The ground was covered in snow, as if someone had taken the time to weave a thick white duvet to cover the landscape and then sprinkled the bare branches of the trees with a dazzling glitter. It was beautiful—glorious—magical. The silence was broken only by the chime of the horse’s bells, the huff of his breath and the crunch of his hooves in the snow.
‘This is beyond incredible,’ she murmured with a sideways glance.
Ethan’s expression was unreadable, but the vibe she got from him was edgy—as if he too battled complicated thoughts.
Her words caused him to blink and give a small shake of his head. ‘I’m glad you’re enjoying it,’ he said. ‘Not too cold?’
‘Nope. The last time I saw snow was in London, and it had turned to slush before I could truly appreciate its beauty. This is spectacular.’
Now a genuine smile touched his lips as his gaze rested on her expression. ‘I hope you’ll like the next item on our agenda.’
‘Which is...?’
‘Sledging.’
‘For real?’
Excitement fizzed inside her and collided with a pang of emotion as a memory jolted her brain. Years and years ago she’d taken her siblings out into the snow. She’d carried Edie, who hadn’t been able to walk yet, Philippa had toddled beside her and Tom, aged just four, had raced ahead with a joyous whoop. They hadn’t gone far, just to a local park to watch the children sledge.
How she had yearned to have a go. But there had been no sledge, and she hadn’t wanted to draw attention to themselves. But it had still been a good day—they had made a snowman, thrown some snowballs, before Ruby had realised that there were some adults clearly wondering why they were unaccompanied and she’d quickly herded her siblings together and left.
‘Is that okay?’ A small frown touched Ethan’s face as he studied her expression and she did her best to erase the hint of wistfulness, the shadow of memory from her face.
‘It’s better than okay. I’ve never sledged before and I would absolutely love to.’
Ruby let the memory go with the silent hope that her siblings had had plenty of opportunity to sledge with their new family. Allowed the fizz of excitement to take ascendancy.
Minutes later the carriage drew to a halt and Ethan helped her alight. ‘Here we are. It’s a resort, but we have passes.’
They lingered for a moment to thank the driver and pat the horse, and then she turned and once again the scenery caused the breath to whoosh from her lungs. Snow glistened in the distant trees of the forest and crunched underfoot, thick and soft all at the same time—the way she had imagined stepping on clouds would be as a child.
They entered the resort and headed to the sledge hire desk.
The woman behind the counter smiled. ‘Would you like a paret, a disc or a toboggan?’
Ruby stared at the
options. ‘I’ll go for a toboggan.’ On the basis that it looked the safest. The paret looked to be a mixture of a tricycle without wheels and a stool, and the disc looked as if it might well career round and round out of control. As that was her current mental state, there was no point adding a physical element.
The woman smiled. ‘I promise they are all safe, mademoiselle. They are designed to be safe for children as well as adults.’
‘I’ll try the paret,’ Ethan said.
Ruby narrowed her eyes. ‘Show-off.’
That garnered a smile. ‘Think of it as research. It’s occurred to me that I could offer moonlit paret sledging as a part of a holiday package.’
They exited the building and she inhaled the tang of snow and pine, absorbed the bustle of people and the sound of laughter. Took courage from the happy vibe.
Until they reached the top of the slope.
‘Um...’ Ruby peered over the edge.
Suddenly the snow was reminiscent of clouds only in the way that if you tried to walk on a cloud you would plummet downwards. The ground was a turreted mass of white, under which surely there would lurk hidden dangers.
‘You worried?’
Daft. She was being daft. This was an official slope, suitable for tiny kids. All she needed to do was look around again and observe them.