CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Garrick
“I warned you,” Blue says as I tilt my head back and press the ice pack to my cheek.
She accidentally hit me with the handle of her ski pole. Hard enough to make my cheek swell.
I still have no idea how she managed it. The woman is an absolute terror on the ski slope and, if she wasn’t also in pain, with an ice pack on one knee and another on her shoulder, I’d think she did it all on purpose.
I never thought I’d say this about anyone, but Blue Porter will never be a skier. In fact, she should never be allowed on a ski slope anywhere ever again.
“I mean, I told you we should quit after the third time I fell off the chairlift.”
It’d been funny for the first hour, then it had been frustrating, and, finally, I’d had to admit defeat. “I should have listened.”
“I’m good at a lot of things, Garrick. I can shop all day and not break a nail, I can speak in front of an audience without a prepared speech, and I can sniff out a backstabbing two-faced liar from a crowd of a thousand good people, but I’ll never be good at any sport requiring balance.”
“I get it. You’re not an outdoorsy person.” It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I’d live outside if I could, but Blue is always going to be an indoor person. And I want a partner who’ll spend days and nights with me outside.
Which is perfect because Blue isn’t a potential girlfriend. She’s doing me a favor, and that’s the end of it. No matter how good she looks in a thong or how mouth-wateringly gorgeous her tits are.
No matter how much I enjoy her company, even when she’s socking me in the face with a ski pole. Or how much she makes me laugh.
“I didn’t say I hate the outdoors. I love to hike and the one time I went camping, it was a lot of fun. It might have something to do with the ‘shrooms, but—”
“Garrick, there you are.” My mother’s voice cuts through the ambient crowd noise of the lodge.
Blue stares at me, her eyes wide, her expression panicked.
One look at my mother’s face as she stands over me makes it clear she heard exactly what Blue just said.
I smile up at my mother like I can’t sense the tension. “How are the slopes, Mom?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Don’t you know? Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting in here all morning. And what happened to your cheek?”
“It’s all my fault,” Blue says with a self-deprecating smile. “I warned him I’m a terrible skier, but he insisted on trying to teach me.”
Mom’s eyes go wide. “You don’t ski?”
And my hackles rise. Mom’s being purposely obtuse. I already told her I was going to help Blue this morning because she’s a beginner. “Do you need something, Mother?”
Her frown deepens as she turns to me. “We’ve just finished lunch, and we’re hoping you’ll go to the back bowl with us. The snow is unbeatable over there right now.”
I glance at Blue. I really want to ski the bowl, but I don’t want to leave my fake girlfriend here alone. “Blue and I have plans for the afternoon.” I stretch and yawn. “I’m beat, anyway.”
“Our plans aren’t important.” Blue waves a hand. “Go hang out with your family. Have fun.”
“This is our vacation, too.” I shift to face Blue. “I want to spend time with you.” And I realize, oddly enough, I really do want to spend time with her. I want to challenge her and make her laugh. I want to show her around my family’s resort and tell her all my stories.
“I’ll be perfectly happy here.” Blue’s smile is warm, without any of the underlying hidden emotions I see beneath my mother’s polite smile. “I’ve got celebrity gossip to catch up on and plenty of people watching to do. I’ll rest up and be all ready to celebrate Christmas this evening.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. “I won’t be more than an hour. Two max.”
“She’ll be fine,” Mom says. “She’s an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, I hope.” She smiles at Blue. “If you want to go back to the house, just ask anyone who works here to send a car for you. I’ve informed them to expect a pink-haired guest of the family.”
“Mom, you go ahead,” I say, my teeth gritted. I don’t appreciate her tone at all. “I’ll catch up in a few minutes. If I don’t, just go on without me.”
Mom gives me a long look, then nods with a tight-lipped smile and walks away.
“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” I say. A part of me wants Blue to ask me to stay. I want to avoid my family and Blue is the perfect distraction. I also haven’t skied the bowl in a few years and would love to get out there.
Blue’s smile is relaxed, but the skin around her eyes is tight. “I’m fine. Seriously. Go have fun.”
“Text me if you need anything. I can be back here in twenty minutes, tops.”
She laughs. “Hurry before your mom leaves without you.”
To my utter surprise, I press a kiss to her smooth forehead before I hand her my ice pack, grab my coat, gloves, and helmet and hurry after my mother.
Hurrying in ski boots isn’t easy, but my mother must have been lingering because I catch up with her right outside the lodge. She already has her skis and poles. I grab mine from the rack and join her.
Most people my age snowboard, but I prefer to be on two pieces of wood. It’s what I learned on and what feels the most natural.
Mom’s smile holds a good bit of relief as I join her. “You made it. Your brothers will be thrilled.”
“Maisey’s not joining us?”
Mom looks away as we walk toward the lift together. “The kids were tired. They went home to rest up for the party later.”
“How’s Maisey doing?”
“She’s fine.” Mom doesn’t say another word until we’re on the gondola that will take us to another lift that will take us to a spot where we can hike up to drop into the bowl.
Of course, we get a gondola car to ourselves. It’s one of the many perks of being the owner of the resort.
I think I’m in the clear and am preparing to make the requisite small talk when Mom leans forward. “Please tell me you aren’t serious about that girl.”
I was always that kid who took criticism from my parents to heart. I took it to heart, then said ‘fuck it’ and did the complete opposite of whatever they wanted. “You don’t even know her. Blue is a good person. She’s kind and funny and ambitious. All of which you’d know if you gave her a real chance.” The idea that my mother could find fault with Blue as a match for me is mind-boggling.
Mom’s eyes widen. “You’re serious about her.”
“It doesn’t matter if I’m serious about her or not. You don’t know her well enough to suggest she’s not good enough for me. Unless you’re judging her based on her pink hair or her lack of wealth, but I’ve never known you to be judgy like that.” She honestly never has been to my knowledge. When I was a teenager, she would have been happy for me to date anyone if it would have kept me out of trouble and in school.
“I know she doesn’t like to ski.” Mom purses her lips and leans back in her seat. “Can you imagine a Riverton with a partner who doesn’t like to ski, or at least board? She’d be miserable living here.”
My mother is old school enough to believe skiing is far superior to boarding, even though three of her sons are avid snowboarders. “I’m not a Riverton anymore.”
Her gasp and hurt look make me regret my words almost immediately. I’d just assumed my father would have discovered that in his research of me and that he’d have told my mother.
“What I mean is,” I say gently, “I don’t get onto the slopes very often anymore, and I’m not working for the business. It won’t be a problem for me to have a partner who doesn’t like to ski.”
Mom smooths her ski pants with her gloved hands. We’re close to the top and I figure that’s the end of the conversation, but I’ve forgotten how much my mother likes to have the last word.
“You’re not working for the family currently, but you are still a part of this family and someday, you’ll be back here. You need a partner who loves this mountain as much as we do. A partner who spends her time productively.”
The gondola opens on those last words. A shot, I’m sure, at Blue for reading celebrity gossip. Mom gets out of the gondy car before I can answer.
Which is probably for the best. As annoyed as I am, I’m not likely to say the right thing. I get that Mom just wants me back in the fold and she thinks the right partner will bring me back to them. She’s wrong, but her heart’s in the right place.
I wish it would be in the place of wanting whatever makes me happy instead of just thinking about what she wants, but that’ll never be my mother. She’s warm and loving, but she’s also the kind of person who goes after everything she wants with blind determination. She’s convinced herself what she wants is best for me.
Trying to convince her otherwise would be a waste of time.
The next lift is a standard chair that takes us higher into the mountains. Mom talks about the season, how much snow they’ve gotten and how visitor numbers are looking, like we didn’t just have a fight about the woman I’m dating. Pretend dating.
That’s Mom. She’ll let it drop for now, but it’ll never be forgotten.
I listen, glad to hear that the business is doing well, and take in the views. I feel the beauty of this place down to my soul. Yuletide is only twenty minutes away, but Sugar Valley will always feel like home.
Today, even the branches of the pine trees are snow-covered, the mountain peaks in the distance lit by a bright sun, the sky a brilliant blue without a cloud in sight.
The lift carries us over the bra tree, where skiers have for years thrown bras, beads, panties, and whatever else they feel like tossing there. Today there’s a pair of neon pink boxer shorts hanging from a branch.
I chuckle at the sight. “Some things never change.”
Mom sighs. “And some things do. I’m going to miss this place.”
I swing my head to look at her, shocked, but the lift has reached the top. We disembark, and I grab Mom’s arm and pull her to the side before she skis off. “Are you moving?”
Her eyes widen. “Why on earth would we move?”
“You said you’re going to miss this place.”
Relief brightens her expression. “When we retire. Your father has some idea of seeing the world, so we won’t be here as often.”
She skis away, and I follow a moment later, feeling off my axis. Hudson told me they were retiring, but I can’t imagine them not here.
Whether or not I want to admit it, my parents are getting older. As much as they drive me crazy, I’m an adult now with a life of my own. Maybe it’s time to let go of a lot of my shit if it means I get to see more of them.
I almost fly past Mom before I realize she’s stopped and waiting for me. She lifts one arm, ski pole in hand, and waves me over. “This way.”
“We can’t get there that way.” I know this resort like my face. All the slopes and runs, even the out-of-bounds back country runs my siblings and I did when we were on our own, are imprinted forever on my memory.
Mom’s grin is effervescent. “We can now. Come on.”
I shrug and follow, hoping she’s not losing cognitive function in her advanced age.
When I see the shiny new lift in a part of the resort that used to only be forest, I stop short. Mom laughs at my expression.
“When the hell did this happen?” Growing up here, the only way to ski the back bowl was to hike up. It was a pain but also a great way to keep out less experienced skiers.
“This is the first year it’s operational.”
“It was my idea.” Hudson skis up, his smile as wide as my mother’s. “Makes a day on the bowl a hell of a lot easier.”
I just stare at the lift. I’d imagined this place never changing, like it was frozen in time until I came back.
“Last one up is a loser!” Mav shouts as he skis past us and into the lift line. Not that there’s anyone in line. Riverton Resort covers over 3500 acres and has 200 trails. Even at our busiest, the lift lines stay pretty short and right now, two weeks before the Christmas holiday, is not a busy time for the resort.
“Come on,” Hudson says. “Let’s see if you still got it.”
I look over at Mom and she waves me off. “Go with your brother. I’m sure your father won’t be far behind these two.”
“He’s bringing up the rear with Cal,” Hudson says.
“Don’t tell me Cal convinced Dad to try boarding.” Cal is a devoted snowboarder and the only reason he or Dad, for that matter, would be bringing up the rear is if Dad’s finally trying it out.
Hudson’s expression is grim as he skis toward the lift. “Dad’s on skis. He’s just slower than he used to be.”
Somehow, being back on these slopes from my childhood, I’d forgotten Dad isn’t the athletic man he used to be. If it were anyone else, I’d be surprised a man in his condition would be out here today at all, but I doubt anything short of being in a coma would keep Dad off the slopes.
“Bite your tongue,” Mom says.
I laugh with Hudson as I follow him to the lift, but it feels hollow. How much have I missed?
“Where’s your woman?” he asks as soon as we’re seated and headed up.
I take a moment to enjoy this new view of the mountain before I look over at my brother. “She’s back at the lodge. She’s not ready for the bowl.”
He nods. “How’d the lesson go?”
“Not great. She’s got the worst balance on skis of anyone I’ve ever seen.”
His brows disappear beneath the lip of his helmet. “You should take her out to do something else. Don’t make her sit in the lodge all alone after a miserable morning.”
“Mom thinks I should dump her for not being into the family sport.”
Hudson snorts. “Mom thinks we should all be single and do whatever she says for the rest of our lives.”
“You’d date a woman who can’t ski?”
His expression turns wistful. “I’d date anyone who’d put up with my long hours and overbearing family. I like Blue. She’s chill and she’s funny. You need more of that in your life.”
I stare at him. “The family trouble maker needs someone chill and funny? I thought you’d say I need someone to keep me in line.”
“Nah. That’s what Dad would say. You were always getting into trouble, but you never seemed to have fun with it. It was more like you were trying to prove something. You need someone who has your back, which she obviously does, and you need someone who can help you realize you’ve already proven everything that matters, and it’s time to have some fun.”
“She’s mayor of Yuletide. She’s driven and ambitious. I know she can seem like a party girl, but she’s—”
He holds up his hands, ski pole straps around his wrists. “Dude. I get it. She’s great. But she can be ambitious and also fun. She can be serious and also the kind of woman who reminds you to let go of the last of your fucks and have a good time for once in your life.”
We get to the top of the lift, ski off, and I forget Blue, my family, and everything except the swish of the snow under my skis, the cold wind in my face, and the feeling of working muscles that have gone unused for far too long.
I get back to the lift right behind Hudson, laughing for the sheer joy of an amazing run.
This time, there is a line, and it’s all my family. I look over at Hudson. “What did you mean when you said Blue’s proven her loyalty?”
He grins. “Theo was talking smack about your guide business, saying it was small time and not going to last. He thinks you’ll be back here begging for a job before Easter.”
“Fucking Theo,” I say. He’s the oldest of our crew and a die-hard Riverton loyalist. He was adult enough to see me as a fuck up when I was going through my rebellious teen years.
Hudson and I take our seats on the lift. “Yeah,” he says. “But Blue spent like twenty minutes setting him straight.”
The shock hits me right in the sternum. “What did she say?”
“That your business is thriving, that all she hears from the tourists is what an awesome guide you are and how your operation is the most well-run, about how it brings money and tourists into Yuletide. She stopped just short of saying you have a huge dick and are an animal in the sack.”
I don’t even grimace at his joke. I’m too shocked. “She said all that about me?”
“She did. I never thought you’d be the first of us to get married, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to make me eat my words. You’ve got a good one, man.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I really do.”
I ski the bowl with my family, but I don’t go back to the lift. I keep skiing until I get to the bottom of the mountain and the lodge where Blue’s waiting for me.