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Hudson
Matt doesn’t really need me anymore. He’s figured out his kinks by now, but he’s paying me, so I show up on the halfpipe, give him a couple of things to work on, then we usually end up heading to the slopes to shred a few runs or to the lodge for a drink.
“I’m exhausted,” he says after his fifth run. He lies down on the top of the hill as we stare down at the halfpipe. “You should go for a rip. When’s the last time you rode the halfpipe?”
I don’t deny it’s tempting. Watching the young kids trying shit and the excitement when they land a trick makes me envious, but then I think about Adley. And I think about not seeing her grow up because of something stupid I did. “Nah.”
“Hey, Matt,” two women say in unison, waving at him as their eyes eat him up.
He just gives them a halfhearted wave. “Either I’m getting way too fucking old, or women these days are looking a lot fucking younger.” His gaze follows the women as they put their snowboards in the snow and sit to watch people on the halfpipe.
“It’s called jailbait, and you are old.”
He tosses some snow at me. “I remember when I was just coming up, and Grady Kale was the old fucker at the Winter Games in Korea.”
I nod, remembering. Although Matt is just as cocky as he was then, he’s matured a lot. But I think every kid as good as Matt, especially at such a young age, is cocky to a degree. They earned their right to be. And I think you need to be in order to launch yourself toward danger at the top of the mountain. You have to believe you can pull it off.
“Now you’re the Grady, and there are younger versions of you.” I gesture toward the halfpipe.
“Truth.” He stares at the guys and girls who are more than a decade younger than him. “It’s sad as fuck.”
“It’s not bad, you know.”
He glances at me as though he doesn’t know what I’m referring to.
“Stability. Domestic life as you refer to it. There’s a peace to growing roots.” I can’t believe I’m actually admitting it since I never wanted to settle down in one place. Not once in my life. Even if I met someone, I’d hoped they’d want to travel the world like I did.
Matt shakes his head. “You’ve been brainwashed.”
I realize there’s no getting through to Matt. He’s lived the lifestyle longer than I ever did, and maybe if Palmer had never gotten pregnant, I’d be telling some other guy the same thing Matt is telling me.
“But I’ll tell you one thing, Palmer is great,” Matt says. “She’s so easygoing. You hit the jackpot as far as baby mamas go.”
If he only knew how high-strung Palmer can be about certain things. He’s never seen her lose her shit. Being a parent can do that to you. Like when Adley was an infant, and she wouldn’t sleep for multiple nights, or when we tried to wean her off the pacifier, or when we potty trained her.
I never knew how much patience being a parent required, and sometimes you just need a time-out. But Matt wouldn’t know anything about that. And if I’m honest with myself, I like it when Palmer gets a little crazy and needs a break because I like being her Superman and swooping in to save the day. I’m sure to some people that sounds bad, but it goes both ways. I lose my shit too, and she’s always the one to help me.
“Yeah, she’s great,” I say.
“I have to ask again because we’re going on a date tonight, and I just…I can’t shake the feeling that I’m interfering, getting myself in the middle of something. That maybe there’s more between you two?” He arches an eyebrow.
This is my chance to tell him to back off. That since he entered the picture, I’ve become a jealous bastard and am currently blowing up my own relationship because I’m hyper-focused on the two of them. But Palmer’s not mine, and I can’t take this away from her. Plus, there’s still Theresa to consider.
“Nah, man, it’s cool.” He studies me for a beat, and I play off my discomfort with a laugh. “I swear, it’s cool.”
“All right, then tell me where to take her. Someone at the hotel told me some restaurant named Terra and Mare downtown is the one to go to?”
I forgot that Matt has no idea who Palmer is in this town. If he ever planned to stay long term, he’d learn what her family means to this town and all the different hands that would be in their relationship. I don’t even realize I’m laughing until Matt speaks again.
“Is it a shit place?” he asks, not understanding.
“It’s her uncle’s restaurant. Go there, and you’ll be in Buzz Wheel that night and be inundated with her family members wanting to know what’s going on.”
“Seriously? At Glacier Point, the owner came up to me, and when I said I was here to train with you, he said he was Palmer’s uncle too.”
“She’s got a lot of aunts and uncles plus over twenty cousins. Most of them live in Lake Starlight for at least part of the year. Her one cousin is Easton Bailey.”
His eyes widen. “The Chicago Colts player?”
