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“Why should I leave her out of this? You’re still in love with her.”
“I’m not. If I were, why would I want to marry you for the rest of my life?”
“I don’t know,” she said, banging her gloved hands on her helmet. “Why would you want to?”
“If I can prove to you I don’t love Charlie, will you give me a chance?”
“How are you going to do that, Josh? And has it occurred to you I might not want to marry you even if you didn’t love her. Has it occurred to you I wouldn’t want to hurt Charlie like that?”
They dismounted the lift, and Olivia followed behind Josh to the top of the ski run where he stopped, twisting his body to face her. He pressed his lips together. “So that’s it. You think Charlie’s in love with me? Well she’s not. She’s let me know in no uncertain terms she wants you and I to get married. She’s not in love with me—she never has been. So there’s no reason why we can’t get married.”
Olivia felt her patience snap like a brittle twig. Without a thought, she reached over and pushed him just hard enough to make him lose his balance and tumble to the snow.
“Josh, you’re an idiot.”
He stared at her, open-mouthed, as she turned and skied away.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Charlie told Emily. “I don’t think you’ll have any problem taking Jace to Josh. He’s skiing great now. He’s totally skiing parallel. He’s even starting to learn a hockey stop.”
“Where are you going, Aunt Charlie,” asked Jace. “Why aren’t you coming with us?”
“I’m taking a hike so I can ski some stuff off the trails. I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Be careful,” said Emily. “Don’t hike by yourself.”
“I won’t—I’m always careful. But I really need this.”
“I know,” Emily said. “Where are you going?”
Charlie pointed to the top of a peak to her left. “Up there, in the clou
ds. Hopefully the sun will come out by the time I get to the top.”
“You’re gonna climb all the way up there?” asked Jace with amazement. “And then ski down?”
“Yep,” said Charlie. “And when I get to the very top, I’m going to turn on this camera on top of my head, and I’m going to talk to you all the way down. And I’ll show you the video when I come home tonight.”
“Cool!” exclaimed Jace.
“See ya later,” Emily said.
WHEN JOSH SAW EMILY skiing down with Jace, he knew Charlie was avoiding him. Not that he cared. It was for the best, wasn’t it? Hadn’t that been his plan? His chest swelled with pride as his nephew skied toward him, making parallel turns.
“You look great, Jace. Are you ready to ski blues now?”
“Yeah! I already skied a blue. And I didn’t even fall except for one time and that was because there was a rut in the snow, Aunt Charlie said.”
“And what did you do with your Aunt Charlie? She didn’t come back with you.”
“She’s hiking to the top of that mountain,” he pointed to a peak that was totally obscured by the snow clouds. “And she’s gonna ski down with her camera on while she talks to me. And I get to watch the video tonight.”
Josh felt a lead weight settle in his stomach. He stared into the cloud as if he could somehow spot her and know she was safe.
Emily was watching him with unveiled interest. “She knows what she’s doing. She’ll be okay.”
“Sure,” Josh said. “I wasn’t worried about her—I was just checking out the clouds. I think it may snow again.”
“Good,” said Emily, sliding down to stop beside him. “I’m glad you’re not worried, and I’m not worried either. At least, not too much. I mean... I’m sure she skis fine when she’s upset. She’s a pro at this stuff. She won’t get distracted and make a mistake or anything.”
