The past couple of weeks had been a little dull, if I was being honest. Not in terms of activity, but in the sense of being alone all the time. I’d gone from living with my best friend and having a close-knit community in Denver, to being completely on my own. I could talk to anyone, strike up a conversation without effort. Casual friendships had always come easily to me, but I’d never realized how hollow they could start to feel.
Frankie was different. She felt real. It was like there was this magnetic tug that continuously pulled me into her orbit. It was why, despite not having explored many of the bars and restaurants on Main Street, I continued to go to Marie’s night after night.
Without further build up, I tossed her board to the ground. “Which foot do you kick with?” I asked.
“What? Why?” Frankie looked from the board to me with pinched brows.
“Just answer the question,” I said.
She pretended to step up to an invisible ball and mimed a small kick. “My right,” she said.
“Perfect, that’ll be your back foot then. Here—” I kneeled down and patted the front binding. “Stick your boot in.”
It only took a few minutes to get Frankie strapped in and convince her to step onto the moving conveyor belt that would take us to the top of the very small, very flat bunny hill. She’d tried to convince me it might be better to practice on flat ground, but I wouldn’t hear of it.
Now we were at the top, staring about 200 yards to the bottom. She looked panicked.
“Is there a way to make that belt thingy go in reverse?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“Only way down is straight,” I said calmly. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Watch.” I started down the hill, leaning on my heels to slow myself down. “You can start with just standing up and leaning back.”
It was challenging not to laugh as Frankie stood up. She kept her butt as far back as she could, but her entire torso was bent over with her hands straight out in front of her. She moved the tiniest inch forward before letting out a squeal and abruptly sitting back down.
I covered my amused expression with my mitten. “Great start.”
She let out an aggravated huff. “Can you stop being so annoyingly patient?”
I shimmied forward and dropped to my knees in front of her. “What can I say? I used to teach kids. This reminds me of that.”
Frankie glowered at me. “Hilarious.”
My smile stretched even further as I gripped the middle of her board. “Alright. Let’s try that again.”
“I told you.”Frankie shot me a look that was equal parts misery and blame.
The strong smell of antiseptic surrounded us while we waited in the ski hill’s cramped medical room for the nurse to come take a look at Frankie’s wrist.
“Mattie is never going to let me live this down,” she groaned.
I ran one hand through my hair and watched as she cradled her left wrist in her right hand. The lesson hadn’t lasted for much longer than an hour before Frankie had fallen forward and caught herself with her hand. Even though hercry of pain had seemed a touch dramatic, I’d still insisted on taking her to the medic to get it looked at.
“Hopefully this won’t ruin your promising career as a professional snowboarder,” I joked.
“Very funny,” she deadpanned.
“Scootch over,” I said.
The thick white paper covering the bench crinkled as I squeezed in next to her and slung my arm over her shoulders. “I still maintain you were doing okay before you fell.”
She snorted and shook her head, her eyes facing the wooden door with a large anatomical chart of the human body affixed to it. Except this one was a skier, and all of the arrows pointed to the most common injuries.
“I sucked and you know it.”
Shehadspent more time on her butt than riding down the mountain, but that was typical for a beginner. And even through all the complaining, I had been able to see the determination in her eyes. Like a spark that couldn’t be put out. Typically, teaching beginner lessons was painfully boring. But I’d had more fun this morning than I’d had since I arrived in Key Ridge.
“I mean…I didn’t say you were a natural,” I said.
That got a breath of a laugh out of her.
