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‘Are you OK?’ he called, worried. ‘What were you thinking? You can’t go off on your own like that; it’s not safe.’
‘Well thank you very much for that life lesson. I wasn’t on a pleasure cruise. I thought I was going to die.’
‘When you face directly down the mountain, you go at the fastest possible speed.’
‘Again, information that would have been useful ten, or even five minutes ago.’
‘Are you hurt?’ he asked with concern, as Liv skidded to a stop, spraying snow in both our faces.
‘Nice fly-by babes,’ she said, ‘respect.’
‘All cool,’ I said, unbuckling my board. On a positive note, we were almost at the bottom of the mountain, which meant I’d survived lesson one and could head back to the chalet for cake.
I slid down the last part of the piste, half running, half skidding, as Liv and Xavier cruised calmly ahead of me and into the village. It had taken me an hour to do one run, twenty-five seconds of which were spent actually snowboarding. If you can call it that. Not ideal. Après ski was kicking off all over the resort, and the music cranked up as the sun shone bright on the horizon. Après ski was definitely more my thing than pre-ski and during-ski. I could happily live in the mountains and wear the outfit if I could just skip the life-endangering part of proceedings and go straight to the part where we drink beers at altitude.
‘It doesn’t need three of us to serve tea and cake for two,’ Liv said. ‘Normally, it’ll just be you two, but I wanted to introduce you to Rachael, the legendarypâtissierof Verbier.’
‘She is amazing,’ Xavier agreed, kicking snow along the pavement as he walked. ‘We come to her for specific special occasion cakes. Genevieve and Luca love them.’
The three of us walked in unison past the party bars and coffee shops, as the slopes started to empty out and everyone wound down for the day. There was no way we could miss Rachael’spâtisserie. It was wrapped in fairy lights and stood out like a beacon of calorific pleasure on the main drag, with a permanent queue of people waiting patiently for their sugar hit. The smell of chocolate and cinnamon made my mouth water and lured us straight into the shop where there was every type of cake you could imagine on show. Huge chocolate tortes covered in truffles and drizzled in white chocolate, enormous slices of black forest gateaux with turrets of fresh cream and cherries on top, a lemon meringue cheesecake decorated in tiny orange segments and iced buns piped full of toffee sauce. My hips widened slightly as I took it all in. A flurry of people served behind the counter, placing perfect cake after perfect cake into cardboard boxes and tying them with red ribbons, but one person was clearly in charge. Rachael was petite and elegant with a neat, blonde ponytail, fixed in place with a red, velvet bow to match the decor. Her eyes were constantly scanning the shop, looking for the next customer, the next job. She clocked Liv and Xavier and gave them a smile.
‘Bonjourmy friends,’ she said, thumbing a handful of notes into the till.
‘How ya doin’ mate?’ Liv said, nudging me forward. ‘Meet the latest addition to the family – Holly.’
‘Hi,’ I said shyly.
Rachael smiled, her green eyes sparkling. ‘Well, you couldn’t be in better hands than with these two,’ she said. ‘Welcome to the team.’
‘That’s good, as I’m new to all this. I need a bit of looking after.’
‘She nearly killed herself on the mountain earlier,’ Xavier said, ‘scared us both to death. We haven’t got time to keep recruiting new staff.’
‘We need one of your lychee and coconut cheesecakes to help us through the shock,’ Liv added, ‘and to show Holly what you’re made of.’
‘Good job you ordered one yesterday then, isn’t it?’ Rachael said, grabbing a beautiful box covered in red and pink bows and passing it over the counter. ‘Another one for the tab?’
Thirteen
7th December
‘Holly?’ Xavier hollered down the corridor, as I scrabbled to put my knickers and jeans on.
‘Just coming,’ I said, to keep him at bay. Where was my bra? I scanned the bedroom, as Xavier opened the door.
‘Argh, sorry, I thought you said you were coming,’ he said, retreating quickly and slamming the door before I could cover myself up. For God’s sake, couldn’t I tell a small white lie without paying the price of full-frontal nudity every time? I spied my bra hanging on the wardrobe door handle and slipped it on, with three long sleeved T-shirts, a cardigan, and my pumps. I hadn’t quite mastered the footwear situation, but I was getting better at the layers. I opened the bedroom door to an empty corridor and made my way upstairs to a sheepish Xavier.
‘What is it with you bursting in on me getting changed?’ I said, crossing my hands over my heart.
‘You said you were ready?’ Xavier shrugged, slightly pink.
‘I said I was coming, which is a good five minutes before I’m ready.’
‘Next time, say “I’m naked” and I’ll know,’ Xavier replied, a smile on his lips.
Genevieve padded into the hallway in a cloud of perfume, wearing coral ski pants and a forest-green jacket with matching headband.
‘Bonjour,Holly,’ she said, swooshing her silky hair. ‘How are you settling in?’
