Chapter 11 #2
“Is everything okay?” Simone asked, scanning the crowd outside the Roundhouse Lodge. She wondered if someone had gotten hurt again—until she spotted the rest of their guide group putting on their skis. Everyone seemed to be intact.
Margot stepped closer to them and lowered her voice. “Please don’t say anything to Thea, but I wanted to let you guys know in advance… I’m going to propose today.”
Simone’s eyes went wide behind her goggles. “No way!”
“Congrats, Margot,” Ryan added.
“Shhh,” Margot said, but she was beaming. “I wanted to do it today ’cause it’s our eight-year dating anniversary. The rest of the group knows, too, except for Thea. I was hoping you all could take pictures, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“We’d be honored to,” Simone said, grinning. She’d never been involved in a proposal before, and it was extra exciting that she’d get to watch two women get engaged.
Ryan nodded to let Margot know he was down to take photos, too. Margot quickly explained the plan. “I told Thea I was running to the loo just now, so lemme go do that, and I’ll meet you back with the others.”
“You got it,” Ryan said conspiratorially. When it was just him and Simone making their way over to the group, he whispered, “This is going to be amazing.”
“Amazing” was far from how Simone was feeling at the moment.
The knowledge that these two women were about to pledge their lives to each other had shaken her out of the spell she’d been under since they’d shared the beaver tail yesterday.
What if she could love another woman like that?
What if she never experienced sapphic love because she was hung up on a straight dude?
All she had to do was resist Ryan’s appeal for one more day. Then they’d be back in Toronto, not spending every waking minute together, and Simone could focus on meeting the kinds of partners she’d denied herself for so long.
When Margot returned to the group, she led them over to the Peak Express chairlift, a four-seater that carried riders to the summit of Whistler Mountain. Simone and Ryan rode the lift with Glen and Phoenix, and she was grateful that it wasn’t the two of them, alone.
“What a place to get engaged,” Phoenix said in awe, as they neared the top of the lift.
“No kidding,” Glen agreed.
Known to the locals as “the Top of the World,” the summit was all snow and rock, with no trees to obscure the spectacular view. The snow-covered mountains surrounded them like white-capped waves in an ocean.
Ryan pushed up the safety bar, and the four of them glided down the ramp.
Margot and Thea arrived a few seconds later, at which point Margot suggested they stop for photos before taking off on a run.
She led them to a lookout point, where she planted her rainbow flag in the snow.
She waved for Thea to come join her. “Babe, c’mere. We have to take an anniversary pic.”
Simone’s heart thudded with anticipation as Thea skied over to Margot. She had no doubt Thea would say yes. What worried her more was that she’d been sucked back into the same internal conflict as before: She wanted to pursue women, but Ryan Foley was disconcertingly attractive.
One more day until I’m back in Toronto, she reminded herself as she took out her phone and opened the camera app.
Margot got down on one knee and plucked a jewelry box from her pocket.
Thea squealed with joy. Margot eased off her mitten and slid the ring onto her finger.
She got to her feet and wrapped Thea in a bear hug.
Simone’s goggles fogged up; she was crying for them.
She was so incredibly happy for Margot and Thea—for the beautiful queer love story that was playing out before her eyes.
Maybe she was crying for herself, too—for all the beautiful love stories that might be awaiting her, if she only seized the chance to explore them.
AT THREE O’CLOCK THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON, Simone and her guide group joined the hundreds of skiers and snowboarders who’d gathered on the mountain with Pride flags in hand. Glen patted Simone on the back. “I’m assuming this is your first Pride march since coming out?”
She nodded. Her goggles were already fogging up again.
“Me, too! Well, sort of.” On her other side, Phoenix put an arm around her shoulders and lovingly tapped their helmet against Simone’s. “It’s my first enby Pride.”
“Look at us go.” Simone put her arm around Phoenix, too.
“Proud of us,” they said.
“Stop, you’re going to make me cry.”
“Go ahead and cry,” Glen chimed in. “This kind of thing didn’t happen when I was growing up. Makes me emotional, too, if I’m being honest.” He gestured at all the people getting ready to bear their flags down the mountain. “Just look at how unbelievably beautiful this is.”
On the word beautiful, Simone’s eyes flitted to Ryan of their own accord. He was helping a stranger attach a Pride flag to the back of their helmet. Her heart swelled as much for him as it did for the rainbow brigade assembled on the mountainside.
I’ll be home tomorrow, she thought, and then I can focus.
Meanwhile, two skiers were unfurling the biggest Pride flag Simone had ever seen—possibly the biggest flag she’d ever seen, period.
It was the size of her parents’ swimming pool.
An organizer with a megaphone explained what would happen next: that they would ski and snowboard as a group to the base of the mountain, and then the march would continue through Whistler Village.
With a round of cheers, they were off, streaming down the mountain like a rainbow avalanche, their flags billowing proudly in the air.
Bearing a flag of her own as she glided down the slope with Glen, Phoenix, and her other new friends at her side, Simone forgot about speeding up time—at least for a little while.