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“Well, yes. You know, originally, they were planning to only be married for a year, but then Josh decided a divorce would be too hard on Jace. I just hope they can actually make this thing work. If only...”
“If only what?”
“It’s just a silly thought, and it doesn’t make any sense. Never mind.”
“No. What is it? I won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s just that... Now I know you don’t love Josh or anything, but you do seem to love Chloe and Jace so much. I was thinking you would make a much better mother for them. But see how stupid that is? You’d love the kids, but you wouldn’t be in love with Josh. That wou
ldn’t work any better than it would with Josh and Olivia. I told you it was silly.”
“Ha! Josh would never ask me, anyway.”
“Oh, you’re right. He’s much too proud. He would never, ever ask you to do something like that. And it’s a good thing, too, because you’re just the sort of soft-hearted girl who’d probably agree to a crazy proposal like that. And there you’d be, stuck in a marriage with a man you didn’t love. But at least Jace and Chloe would have a mother who loved them. Still, that wouldn’t make up for a lifetime of misery.”
“Don’t you think she’ll grow to love him?” Charlie chewed on her lip.
“I hope so,” said Anne. “But I know it would be so hard for me to love Steven if he didn’t love you and Emily. So I just don’t know how Josh will be able to love Olivia if she doesn’t love Jace and Chloe.”
Anne put a bright smile on her face. “But let’s forget all of that. The important thing is I’m going to get to help plan another wedding. Josh wanted a small ceremony with a few friends and family, but Olivia wants a humongous wedding, probably even bigger than Grace’s. I don’t know how they’re going to pull it off. And Olivia hasn’t even told her parents yet, because she knows they’ll be upset. Isn’t it all so exciting?” Anne asked as they departed the chair at the top of the lift.
As Charlie sat in the cold snow to fasten her boot to the board, she tried to put their conversation out of her mind. Her mother’s version of the situation wasn’t exciting at all. Charlie couldn’t bear the thought of Jace being hurt again. Surely her mother was imagining things. She must have misunderstood Olivia’s words. Maybe she could ride up with Olivia after this run and set her mind at ease.
“Come on, Aunt Charlie!” yelled Jace as he started down the slope.
Derek plopped down next to her on the snow. “Wanna cut through the trees at the top?”
“Sure,” she said, pushing up and hopping to start downward. I’m just going to put all this stuff out of my mind and enjoy the snow.
JOSH FELT ANOTHER SURGE of irritation as he saw Charlie and Derek emerge from the trees, laughing and whooping. He thought once again he didn’t care for Derek at all. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. What was it about him that was so annoying?
Josh watched as Charlie fell back on the snow to rest and Derek stopped on the hill directly below, facing her. When she tossed a glove-full of snow up at his face, he laughed and grabbed her jacket to pull her up into a kiss. Josh suddenly remembered exactly why he didn’t like Derek.
“Uncle Josh! Let’s go,” called Jace. “Grammy’s way ahead of us.”
“I’m coming,” He started after Jace with one last glance up the hill where Derek and Charlie were wrestling in the snow. He had to ski fast to catch up with his nephew, who was getting speedier on every run. Jace’s motivation wasn’t hurt by the fact Olivia and her sisters constantly gushed about how great he was every time he caught up with them.
“Am I better than you were, Uncle Josh, when you were nine?”
“I didn’t even ski for the first time until I was eighteen,” Josh declared. “So I guess you’re way better than I was.”
“And pretty soon I’ll be able to beat you.”
Josh chuckled. “If you start getting that good, I’m going to be fighting pretty hard to win.”
Near the bottom, the group stopped at a turn-off. Olivia announced, “We’re leaving early to go shopping. Who wants to come?”
All four of Spencer’s sisters opted for the shopping trip. But Josh wasn’t surprised when Emily, Charlie and Anne refused to abandon the slopes.
“I figure I can shop when I’m old,” Anne declared with a laugh. “I have to ski all I can, now.”
“Besides,” Charlie frowned. “The snow is great right now, and it’s not even that cold.” She looked totally baffled anyone would forgo a single minute of skiing for any reason whatsoever.
“No way.” Emily smiled. “Us Best girls have skiing in our blood, despite the fact we were all born in Texas.”
After the Marshall sisters departed, Brad said, “Next time down this run, let’s do the jumps and get some pictures while the sun is still out. We should get some awesome shots.”
Josh made a casual attempt to ride up with Charlie, despite his better judgment. But Jace pushed ahead. “Aunt Charlie. Can I ride with you?”
