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“She’s upset?” He peered harder, irritated with the cloud for blocking his vision.
“You know, you wouldn’t be able to see her anyway, even if there weren’t any clouds. She’s climbing so high up there she’d be like an ant. I guess maybe if you had binoculars.”
“How long will it take her to climb?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I think she said it would take a couple of hours. I only hope she doesn’t try to climb by herself.”
“She wouldn’t do that would she?” Josh asked, the weight in his stomach feeling heavier.
“I don’t know. She normally wouldn’t, but you know... since she’s upset and all...”
“Why’s she upset?”
“I really don’t know.” Emily shook her head and strained her eyes toward the high peak. “But she sure was upset... I guess it could be bad, with her crying and all. Probably fog up her goggles. Oh well, nothing we can do about it.” She smiled. “Might as well go have lunch.”
Emily managed to keep a straight face as she observed Josh’s normally tanned face blanch while he continued to stare toward Charlie’s mountaintop. How interesting he was so concerned about her sister. Perhaps everything was not as it appeared.
BRAD FELT LIKE AN ACTOR on one of those ridiculous television sit-coms. Josh had managed some alone time with Olivia in the morning, with his help. But in the afternoon, Olivia had managed to avoid Josh like the plague, even though they had all skied together in a large group. And he’d had no luck getting Derek alone with Charlie, since she’d skied all morning with Jace and then disappeared on a private trek for the entire afternoon. In fact, Olivia had managed to cozy up to Derek on quite a few of the chair lifts while Josh was occupied helping Jace.
He’d had an interesting conversation with Emily when they’d accidentally ended up alone on a long chair lift ride.
“So,” Emily said, “Josh is your best friend, right?”
“Well, yes. Except, I guess I should claim Grace as my best friend now. I think my wife is supposed to take precedence.”
“Yes, but I wondered... Does he talk to you about things?”
“Yes, he talks about some things, but not other things.”
“Has he talked to you about being in love with Olivia?”
“Uhmm, yes. As a matter of fact, he has.”
“You know... Josh said he loves Olivia and wants to be married to her. A real marriage. And not only because of the custody battle. An ‘until death do us part’ marriage.”
“Yes, I’m aware he said that.”
“Charlie believes him,” said Emily.
Brad didn’t reply to this statement, but simply nodded.
“And I believed him, too. Until today.”
“But you don’t believe him anymore?” asked Brad, cocking his head to one side.
“Do you believe him?”
Brad hesitated. He’d sworn to help Josh, and he couldn’t betray his trust. “I’m not certain my opinion is relevant.”
Emily smiled. “I see.”
“Are you also aware that Josh is certain Charlie doesn’t love him?”
Emily cocked her head. “How is it Josh is so certain of that?”
“Evidently, she’s promised to help him secure a marriage to Olivia. In Josh’s opinion, the offer precludes any possible affection on her part.”
“I see.”
