Page 53 of The Only Way Is Up

They headed out of the cable car station into the sunshine, then clipped on all their gear and pushed off down the mountain. Ruby and Will went on ahead, leaning back on the edges of their boards as they expertly weaved in wide loops across the piste. Daisy stayed close behind Melanie, watching her soften her knees and push her shins into the front of her boots as she shifted her weight into the turns. She’d clearly paid attention in her lessons, and her skiing had a nice fluidity and rhythm to it. Already she’d got the hang of parallel turns, albeit Daisy could see the concentration etched on her face as she worked through the mantras she’d been taught. With more practise, it was easy to see that Melanie was going to be a lovely skier.

At the end of the first section the piste narrowed and flattened out a bit, so Melanie kept her skis parallel and let herself speed up, tilting her face to the sun and letting her arms drop by her sides. Daisy pulled alongside her, feeling the wind in her face and the exhilaration of being somewhere so quiet, pristine and beautiful. She hoped this wouldn’t be the last time she and Melanie ever went skiing together, but if it was, she realised she’d stored up enough joy and friendship from this week to keep her going for a very long time.

Will and Ruby were already waiting inside when Daisy and Melanie arrived at Helga’s, having bagged a table for lunch and ordered themselves hot chocolates. Daisy turned and waved at the waiter, who nodded and came over with a handful of menus. If he recognised her from the other afternoon with Christian, he didn’t acknowledge it.

‘How was that?’ Will looked expectantly at his mother, although it was obvious how she felt from the huge grin that almost split her face.

‘It was brilliant. I didn’t fall over once.’

‘She was amazing,’ confirmed Daisy. ‘Really impressive. Took that final corner like a pro.’

Will smiled proudly, then dropped a kiss on his mother’s cheek. Melanie looked shocked, then delighted. ‘What are we eating?’ he asked.

Daisy perused the menu. ‘Well, as long as it’s not your leftover salad, I’ll eat pretty much anything.’

Will and Ruby gasped and pretended to be offended. The previous night they’d made dinner from all the bits and bobs left in the fridge, and it had ended up being an eclectic salad featuring dried-up heels of cheese, scraps of cooked meat, cold pasta and shredded bits of stale garlic bread, garnished with black olives and served on a bed of moist Doritos. They’d all ended up laughing so hard that nobody was hungry any more, which was just as well because it had tasted foul. In the end Daisy had sent Will and Ruby to the village shop for crisps, popcorn and Haribos, which they ate while watching Paddington 2 on DVD. They’d all agreed it was one of their favourite meals of the holiday.

Daisy’s phone buzzed on the table, so she took a quick peek. It was Tom. She hadn’t heard from him since just before Christian appeared, and a swooping, sick feeling landed in her stomach. Whatever the message was, she couldn’t read it here.

She smiled at Will and stood up. ‘Can you order me a schnitzel and a beer? I just need to pop outside and deal with a few messages.’

Will nodded and smiled, a look of mild concern on his face, the one he usually saved for his mother. It was nice to be worried about, Daisy thought as she hurried outside, but right now, she’d give a great deal for her life to be less of a shitshow.

Daisy sat on the wooden bench under the eaves of the mountain hut and read Tom’s message, looking for any sign of humour or mild flirting.

Hey it’s Tom. I’ve got a plan for the classes if you want to discuss when you get back?

OK, zero flirting. Not so much as a winking smiley.

She watched the steady snowfall for a minute, a dull ache in her chest. He’d obviously seen the photos – they were everywhere – so it was hardly surprising. Daisy wished she could explain and apologise, but if her plan to keep him out of the press was going to work, Frosty Daisy was how it had to be. It was painful but necessary.

Daisy took a deep breath and composed a reply.

Hey thanks, can we catch up on Sunday? I know it’s close to Christmas so no probs if you’re busy/away.

She waited a few seconds, watching the dots that told her he was writing.

Sure – I can email parents on the 27th, then give it a push on the school Facebook page. We’ll need to apply for a DBS check for you – usually takes 48 hours. Is that OK?

Daisy had done talks and events in schools before and was pretty sure she had an up-to-date certificate stating she wasn’t a criminal or a sex offender, but it didn’t hurt for Tom to look.

Sure, message my manager if you need any details.

She added Katie’s email address. More dots.

OK. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Ouch. Tom was clearly upset with her. But honestly, who could blame him?

Daisy sat next to Ruby and watched her scrolling through the photos on Will’s phone, deleting the ones of her that didn’t make the grade. Ski wear and sunny mountains were actually pretty forgiving so most of them were allowed to stay, but there were a few where Ruby’s eyes were half-closed or she’d decided her hair looked sweaty and weird. Will had taken some amazing film of her snowboarding too: he had a real talent for video.

‘This is a great picture.’ Ruby tilted the phone to show Daisy a selfie of the four of them in the cable car. ‘Can I put it on Instagram?’

Daisy considered the request for a moment. ‘Actually do you mind if I say no? I don’t mind pictures of you and me, but I’d prefer no group photos if that’s OK?’

Ruby was quiet for a moment, scrolling through more pictures. ‘I want a normal job,’ she muttered. ‘Like a teacher or a lawyer or something.’

‘I’m not going to argue with that,’ Daisy replied.