Chapter Thirty-Six
Kaylee
Kaylee stood at the bottom of the gondola with Josie and Rick, listening as Josie animatedly told him and Colin about the time she had gotten stuck on one of these things for over thirty minutes and how freaked out she had been.
“At least it’s not open like a ski lift. I watched this movie called Frozen, not the Disney movie, where the kids got trapped on the chair lift at a ski resort all weekend, and when they fell off it, they got eaten by wolves.”
“That’s super comforting,” Kaylee said dryly. “Thank God these are enclosed cars and not just a bench.”
The man working in the gondola stepped aside, paused it, and opened the door for them.
“Everybody in,” Rick said, hanging back to let Josie, Kaylee, and Colin get in the compartment first. Kaylee grabbed the back and sat down, gazing at a gorgeous view of snow, trees, and mountains.
Her stomach flipped as she followed the line of cable cars being pulled up the side of the mountain, trying not to think about what happens when the rope snaps. Damn her fear of heights.
Josie sat next to her, and Colin took the seat across from Kaylee. When Rick got in, Josie asked, “Have you ever been on one of these before?”
Before he could answer, she stood and flopped down next to Colin. “Why don’t you ride facing forward like Kaylee? Then you can get the full effect.”
Kaylee watched Rick as she imagined pulling Josie’s hair. He took the seat next to her, his cologne wrapping around her like a warm blanket, yet she ignored him, continuing to stare out the window as the gondola took off.
Kaylee could see Josie’s smirk from the corner of her eye.
When the three of them started talking, Kaylee tried to ignore what was said, mostly because she was trying to keep her nerves in check.
It looked like they were about to take flight as they headed straight up the mountain, and Kaylee’s heart hammered the higher they got.
For several seconds, panic settled into her stomach, and she wondered why she had put this on the list. There was a reason she was scared of heights, why she avoided things like this.
When Josie shot her a look, silently asking if she was doing all right, Kaylee just nodded.
The gondola kept stopping, taking several minutes to load and unload passengers, but when it reached halfway up the mountain, it stayed for longer than a moment, and Kaylee stared down at the specks of trees and people below.
A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck, and she closed her eyes, fighting back her panic.
“You know what my favorite thing about snow is?” Rick asked.
Kaylee didn’t answer him, but she listened as Josie engaged him. “What?”
“The way it comes down is so magical. It almost feels like time is standing still.”
“That’s really beautiful,” Josie said, her tone sincere. “Did you grow up with a lot of snow?”
“No, where I grew up, we hardly ever got snow, but when I got older, I liked to take trips up to Tahoe and into the Sierra Nevada mountains to go skiing and snowboarding.”
Kaylee whipped around, eyes narrowed. “Tahoe has a gondola that takes you up the mountain.”
“It does.”
“You said you’ve never been on a gondola.”
“I actually didn’t. Josie assumed and offered me her seat. I didn’t correct her.”
“That is a lie by omission, and you’re manipulating a situation again.”
“Well, yeah, when I want something, I’ll get it by any means necessary, and I wanted to sit next to you. Besides, I’ve never seen this view before, and wanted to get the whole experience of traveling up.”
The gondola started up again, and Kaylee realized that Rick had been trying to distract her so she wouldn’t have a full-blown panic attack.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“For trying to distract me.”
“Was that what I was doing?”
Kaylee huffed in frustration. “Never mind, no thank-you for you.”
Josie rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how I’m gonna get through an entire lunch with you guys bickering like this.” She looked straight at Rick and said, “Just so you know, I’m buying the most expensive thing on the menu after this little fiasco and for giving up my seat.”
“And I’m going to order whatever I want because I’ve been kidnapped and didn’t even get a choice to sit in the good spot,” Colin said, folding his arms over his chest and smirking.
“Deal,” Rick said.
Kaylee gave them each a suspicious look. “Why do I get the feeling that you planned this and I never stood a chance?”
They all stared at her innocently, but it was Colin who spoke. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”