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Evidently, Forrest found me amusing, because he started laughing as he moved closer. When he came to a stop mere inches away, his voice dipped low. “Are you ready to get started?”
Having him that close, our bodies facing one another, and those piercing blue eyes boring into mine, the only response I could manage was a simple nod.
Forrest held my gaze a few beats before he jerked his head to the side and urged, “Come on. Let’s go have some fun.”
If nothing else, I was grateful Forrest believed this was going to be fun. Granted, I didn’t think it was going to be a bad time, but I certainly wasn’t convinced it was going to all be fun and games for me. I wasn’t the one who strapped myself to a board and rode it like I’d been doing it all my life.
We made our way to the beginner hill, where I wound up not only having time to practice the basics with exceptional instruction from Forrest, but I also got to try out the chairlift, too.
Forrest had been great about helping me build my confidence on the board, especially when I picked up some speed. He taught me how to use the whole trail, connecting my turns and using my edges. After a while, I truly started to feel like I was getting the hang of it, like I might look like I knew what I was doing.
The one area that I still struggled with was the chairlift. While I managed to figure out getting on the lift seamlessly and without incident, it was getting off that was proving to be the problem. And when there were people ahead of us who were slow getting off the lift, I panicked that I’d run into them.
There was something to be said about Forrest’s patience as I tried to improve my skills when it came to dismounting the lift. The man continued to encourage me, no matter how many times he had to come to my rescue and catch me before I fell.
“Alright, I think I’m going to get it this time,” I declared, hours after we’d met up in front of the lodge. We were back on the lift, heading up to the top of the trail. I was determined to figure this out before the day was over.
“You know what to do, Daisy. I’ve got faith in you.”
Forrest’s words of encouragement were so nice to hear, filling me with warmth and putting a bigger smile on my face than I’d been wearing all morning.
As we made our final approach to the top, I got myself into position and took a deep breath. I held that breath as I lifted the tip of the board up to clear the bank, and at just the right moment, I stood and rode off the lift successfully on my own.
An overwhelming sense of accomplishment washed over me. I was so excited and wanted to celebrate, so I twisted my neck to look back at Forrest. That’s when it happened. The moment my eyes landed on his, I caught the edge of my board and somehow wound up flying forward over the nose of the board.
Pain radiated through my ankle as I cried out in agony. “Ouch!”
I’d barely gotten myself up to a seated position when Forrest was right there. “Are you okay? That was an awkward fall.”
My foot didn’t feel great at all. “I hurt my foot, but I just need a minute. I’ll be alright.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Forrest’s face twisted with concern. Though I didn’t like seeing him so worried, his expression gave me something other than the throbbing in my foot to focus on.
“Do you think you’re going to be able to stand on it?” he asked.
“I’m sure I can.”
When he looked at me expectantly, I had no choice but to get up and assess the situation. So, I unstrapped my foot from the board, stood, and took a few steps. It was definitely sore, but it wasn’t awful. “Good to go.”
He lifted a brow, an indication he wasn’t quite sure whether to believe me. “Maybe we should head into the lodge to grab some lunch, so you can take a load off for a bit.”
“I’m okay to go down the trails a few more times if you want,” I assured him.
Forrest shook his head. “No. Let’s go grab some food. We’ve got all afternoon to do more riding. It’d be nice to sit and talk to you for a bit.”
Surprised, I tipped my head to the side. “Really?”
Confusion washed over him. “Of course. Why would I make that up?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t going to stand there and tell him my life story and how people didn’t generally want to talk to me unless they needed something from me. “No reason. You just… you caught me off guard.”
“What can I say? I like to keep people on their toes.”
A moment later, Forrest and I were making our way to one of the smaller lodges at the resort, so we could grab some lunch together. When I took the time to consider things, I was actually very excited and grateful to have met him. If I hadn’t, the truth was that even if I could have convinced myself to come back out to try snowboarding again today on my own, I’d have been going to have lunch by myself. It was going to be nice to have someone to sit and talk to instead of having to be alone.
