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Jace had heard the same and wasn’t surprised at all. He swirled the water left in his cup and took a drink to stall. “Yeah, exactly like that singer Iluminada,” he muttered.
“Wait. Are you serious?” Her eyebrows shot up and her voice was full of shock. “You were married to someone famous?”
“Technically I was more famous than her back then.” He hoped she didn’t think he was bragging but it was true. One of the three reasons Iluminada had married him. “I was sponsored by K2, Red Bull, and Klim. I was making great money and was a top Olympic hopeful. I had a lot of impressive friends, great connections, and was getting some decent media attention.” He grimly shook his head. “Do you really want to hear this?”
“If you’re okay telling me, I … would like the truth.” She studied him so diligently he felt like he was on trial, but she didn’t have any censure in her eyes for him being a “hormone-driven idiot” as his brother had called him when Ammon had tracked him down six weeks after the marriage debacle and finally convinced him to give up searching for his wife and come home.
He drew in a breath and plunged through the story quickly. “She’d just come from Argentina to pursue her music dreams. I went crazy for her accent, her looks, her voice, her charm. She was four years older than me and at twenty I thought I was so mature dating an older woman.” He rolled his eyes. He should’ve realized that she was an expert at manipulation. “We were immediately inseparable. I wouldn’t …” He looked down and cleared his throat. “Have sex before marriage. So she, um, claimed she couldn’t resist me and talked me into marrying her within a week.” His neck burned. It was humiliating how easily she’d played him, but back then he thought waiting a week to marry her was too long. “Little did I realize that was just a convenient excuse to get married so she could use me.”
He met her gaze again and could see her eyes were wide and full of both sympathy and understanding. She wasn’t leaning away as if she didn’t trust him any longer. He appreciated that, though he was embarrassed to be sharing his mistakes and failed marriage.
The silence stretched and she finally asked, “How long did you stay married?”
“Longer than I should have.” He’d given Iluminada what she wanted. Media attention, money, and most of all a green card. “She disappeared a week after the wedding, with the marriage license, all the cash in my wallet, and my credit card. I went crazy trying to find her, following the trail of credit card bills for over a month. I missed several of my key Olympic trial races, lost the backing of all my sponsors when they each tried to call, text, and email me and I blew them off, and I upset friends and family and everybody who cared about me.”
He pushed a hand through his hair. “As a stupid twenty-year-old, I couldn’t see clearly at all. Iluminada’s hits to my credit card and my own waste of money chasing after her had drained my savings by the time Ammon found me.” He loved his brother and would be forever grateful for him. “He straightened me out, hugged me, prayed for me, and told me to come home. The prayer and Ammon being there helped me wake up and see clearly for the first time in two months. I cancelled the credit card, gave up looking for her, and went home.”
He took a drink of his water.
“Did you find her?” he asked.
He shook his head. “Even though everyone else knew that she’d ditched me, I couldn’t stop thinking maybe she’d been kidnapped or was in trouble or something, even though she kept posting to social media.” He rolled his eyes at himself. “When she appeared on America’s Got Talent a few months later, it finally sank in that she had just used me and ditched me. Our grandpa had gifted the ski resort to Ammon and me a few years before, and had passed away while I was gone training. I wanted to be here for my family like Ammon had been. Ammon thought I’d want to go back to racing and he would’ve supported me wholeheartedly, but it just wasn’t my path any longer. I focused on working hard and developing the ski resort with Ammon. Exactly seventeen months after our wedding day, the divorce papers came in the mail. She got her green card out of it.” He shrugged. “There were mountains of paperwork and a small fortune in fees and licenses that she surprisingly agreed to pay so she could receive the main thing she married me for, but I won’t bore you with that mess.” He’d probably gone on far too long already.
“Jace.” Ayla stared at him. “That’s such a tragic … love story.”
“It’s not a love story.” He shook his head. “It’s been over ten years now. It hurt then and sometimes still does.” Obviously it did, or he would’ve moved on and trusted someone again. “But I don’t believe I truly loved her. I was infatuated with her and manipulated by her, but our relationship was one-sided, all me loving and chasing after her. My parents have true love and it’s unselfish, lasting, and inspiring.”
“My parents are the same.” She smiled softly. “And it makes it even sadder that you went through something so awful.” She paused and he waited, hoping she’d share what she had been through as well. From her comments, he knew at least one man had hurt her deeply, he knew she’d lost someone to death, and he wanted to help salve the pain and heartache he’d seen in her eyes. He thought they shared a deep connection because of their shared pain. He hoped she’d trust him and spill far too many details like he had. “I’m sorry for your heartache,” she said, but she didn’t reveal anything about herself.
“Nah. Don’t be sorry for me.” He grinned as if it didn’t matter. He’d healed and was fine, but he still lacked trust in his own judgment and in beautiful women he got beguiled quickly with. Like her. Yet there was something unique about Ayla. “Just means I learned a lesson.”
She studied him and asked softly, “What lesson is that?”
“Don’t trust beautiful women.”
“Ah,” she gasped out, pushing at his arm. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
He laughed. “Sorry. I was teasing. But truly I learned I need to slow down and make smart decisions, not get caught up in a whirlwind romance ever again.” Yet wasn’t that what was happening here? He was far too interested in Ayla, and they’d only have days together. It was silly and not practical and very unlike him.
He saw the flash of disappointment in her eyes before she looked down at the table and then took a drink of her water. Disappointment filled him too. This was just a quick relationship no matter how different it felt to him. He and Ayla would have fun and she’d disappear by the end of the weekend. He hated that, could already feel the pain of her leaving coming, but had no idea how to change it. The fact that he was intensely drawn to her would only make it worse when she left.
Before she could respond to his whirlwind romance comment, or he could amend his statement, which he was safer not doing, Thor and Shelly Delta walked up to their table.
“Hey, man,” Thor called. He was always happy and teasing.
Jace stood, shook Thor’s hand and gave Shelly a quick hug. “Date night for the old married folks?”
“That’s right.” Thor winked at Shelly. “And after the date is even more fun when you’re married.”
Jace grimaced, especially because of their recent conversation. He gestured to Ayla. “This is Ayla Thurston. She’s from California and here learning to ski. This is Thor and Shelly Delta.”
“Delta?” Ayla asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Thor reached up and tipped his head forward as if he had his cowboy hat on.
“Hi, Ayla,” Shelly waved.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Ayla said.
