Page 14 of Mountain Trial

She opened the door to Bar Barracuda. It was dark inside―looked a bit like she imagined the inside of a pirate ship would look like, which she assumed was the vibe the place was going for. She looked past the bar area to find her teammates sitting at a large, rectangular table. Her eyes roamed around the rest of the bar, past the usual mojito-sipping tourists. She caught sight of several groups of male and female skiers she recognized from the slopes―she’d seen some of them training earlier that day―but none of them were in a wheelchair.

He’s not here.

Kat walked towards her teammates, trying to not look disappointed.

“Kat,” Jens said, standing up as she arrived. “You look lovely.”

She laughed. Jens was handsome, kind and chivalrous, and he could say this kind of thing to her because they were like brother and sister. Her relationship with the entire team was like that, in a way. Which made things easier, since Kat wasn’t looking to get close to any man. Or at least, she hadn’t been, until now.

Maybe I hit my head on the slope of Pylones.

She chose a seat next to Damien, facing the door. She hoped she wasn’t being too obvious.

“What would you like to drink, Kat?” Drake asked. In one hand, he held an empty glass of ice tea, or whatever non-alcoholic beverage he was drinking. She looked around the table briefly―although Barracuda’s specialty was rum, they all seemed to be drinking beer.

“I’ll have a pint of whatever they have on tap. Thanks, Drake.” Kat had a high tolerance to alcohol, and saw no reason not to indulge, once in a while. Tonight, she needed something to help her relax.

She sipped her beer quietly while the men discussed the mystery of the missing ski boots. “Damn, I’m sorry I missed this one,” Drake said. “Sounds like you guys had a great time this afternoon.”

“How’s Isolde doing?” Kat asked, a small smile playing on her face.

Drake paled. “Did she say something to you?”

She didn’t need to.

“Nope,” Kat said, taking a small sip of her beer. It felt cool and fine as it went down her throat.

Drake and Isolde had gotten married just last month, and today he’d taken time off to go with her to the doctor. It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what might be going on.

“Drake?” Damien asked. “Is there something you have to tell us?”

“Yes, dammit, there is! But Isolde made me promise I wouldn’t say anything until week twelve―that’s six weeks away.”

“Congratulations, Drake. The two of you are going to be amazing parents!”

“You’re getting this next round, right?” Gael asked, in his soft voice. The best climber in the team, Gael was a health nut, so he likely wouldn’t drink more than one beer before going home.

“Don’t worry, we can keep the secret for you until Isolde is ready to share,” Kat assured Drake. “At least most of us can,” she added, looking pointedly at Damien. “I’m not sure our boss will be able to stop himself from telling Tess.”

Damien and Tess had gotten married just months earlier. In one fell swoop, Tess had become a wife to Damien and a mother to Jamie, Damien’s seven-year-old son.

Drake laughed. “I wouldn’t ask him to. I’ll tell Isolde you guys guessed.”

They all brought their glasses together, looking each other in the eye.

“To you and Isolde! And to a growing family!”

Kat’s gaze went to the door. She sipped more beer, realizing she’d drunk more than half the glass already.

Slow down.

You don’t want anybody to have to take you home.

When she looked up again, Damien was leaning towards her.

“You seem nervous, Kat, and you keep watching the door,” he said quietly. His piercing blue eyes bored into her. “Are you okay? If you’re worried about Jacques―”

Kat’s first thought was amazement, because she hadn’t thought about Jacques once since she’d walked into the bar.