42. Sloan
SLOAN
FOUR MONTHS LATER
Sloan had to give it to the Winnicks—they showed up for each other.
Even though she was certain, both from quiet asides and emotional tells, that none of them agreed with Kyle’s decision to participate in the SkyRun, every single one of them had come out to Jackson Hole.
And then some. Quinn’s parents had joined the crew, as well as Quinn’s brother, Aiden, and his wife, Isla.
While the rented house was big enough to handle the influx of people, as the morning of the race dawned, Sloan’s nerves weren’t.
Kyle had left the house before sunrise. They’d made love before he left, then he’d kissed her goodbye, and he’d gone to meet Dean, Thomas, Davy, and his crew over by the race site.
Then Sloan had gotten up to open the door for Cheyenne, who’d come into town for the race and brought the whole Winnick family donuts, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and juice.
She was going to make the perfect soccer mom someday.
But now, the silence was gone, and Sloan stood in one corner of the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee that had long since gotten cold, too nauseated to eat—not just because of the race—but because today was the day she’d prearranged with Penny for what she had planned.
Months of preparing. Months of finalizing every last detail while trying not to alert Kyle.
Not because she wanted to keep secrets from him, but because she knew he’d stop her if he knew.
And he was busy as it was, training for the race and filming the first few episodes of his show as test runs with his new crew in locations around Tennessee.
So, she’d relied on other people instead. Elle and her mom had helped Sloan go through every last thing in the storage unit, cataloging things and taking pictures.
Delilah, Quinn, and Kyle’s dad had moved the things Sloan couldn’t bear to part with.
Cheyenne had helped her list it.
And Penny had taken care of everything else.
For the first time in a long time, she had felt like a part of a real family. Supported and loved by people who accepted her for who she really was.
She took another swallow of coffee before anxiety wore away at her, but her brain felt fried by the amount of noise in the kitchen and adjoining living room. She wasn’t a morning person to begin with.
Isla seemed to catch Sloan’s expression as she passed her. “You doing okay?” she asked, lowering her voice.
Sloan breathed out, trying to keep her anxiety in check. “Yeah, I just”—she fanned herself—“I think I just need some air.”
Isla nodded, then looked over her shoulder toward the crowded kitchen. “Meet me out by the driveway in five minutes. I’ll grab Cheyenne.”
Taking slow, measured breaths, Sloan went to the mudroom and grabbed her coat, gloves, and boots. She smiled as she pulled the coat on, remembering when Kyle had given it to her in Vail last year.
Crazy to think how he was right there when I needed him.
She couldn’t imagine anyone more perfect for her—or the job.
And hopefully, today, she’d make it up to him. Even if things went perfectly with the race and this led to more sponsorships, he deserved this from her.
But please, please don’t hurt yourself today, Kyle.
She hurried for the side door, the cool outdoor air helping ease the pressure on her chest—but not by much.
As promised, within a few minutes, Isla and Cheyenne were out on the driveway. Cheyenne had her car keys in hand. “I thought a drive before we go up to the race might help,” Isla said with a sunny smile. “I told the others I was kidnapping you.”
“Don’t make that joke to my parents—they might call the cops on you like they did with Kyle,” Cheyenne said with a laugh as she unlocked the doors to her car. “Don’t mind the Cheerios on the ground,” she told Isla, who climbed into the back seat.
Sloan slipped into the passenger seat as Isla laughed. “You don’t have to worry about a few Cheerios with me. I spent half my life in Costa Rica, and pura vida is a way of life for me now.”
“Oh, I love Costa Rica,” Cheyenne said, her voice filled with genuine enthusiasm. “How did you end up married into the Winnick fold?”
“Not the Winnicks, precisely—the Camdens. Quinn and my brother, Callum, were best friends growing up. And obviously, Quinn married Elle and Callum married Liddy . . . and I married Quinn’s brother, Aiden.
It all sounds somewhat incestuous and weird, right?
” Isla smiled brightly and winked, leaning forward from the back.
“Any place you want to go before the big show, Sloan?”
Sloan checked her watch. The race started in three hours. She needed to meet Penny in a half hour.
Outside, the sky was bright, blue, and cloudless—reminding her of those first few days of freedom last winter.
“Actually . . . there’s this church I used to go to occasionally when I was here in the winter, staying with Cheyenne’s parents.
Not really to pray, but because it’s really beautiful.
The entire wall behind the sanctuary is a picture window that looks out over the Tetons.
It was a good place to go and quiet my mind. ”
“Oh, the Chapel of the Transfiguration? Totally. I love that place,” Cheyenne said, starting the engine. “Let’s do it.”
They started driving and Sloan leaned back in her seat, letting Isla and Cheyenne fill the car with light chatter as she stared out the window, willing herself to relax, not to think about the fact that Kyle was out there, getting ready to do something that could be incredibly dangerous.
Something that might hurt them both if it went wrong.
But he’d asked her not to define him by his injury and coddle him. And he’d put hundreds of hours of blood and sweat into getting here.
She hoped he knew what he was doing.
As Cheyenne pulled up near the chapel and parked, Isla reached forward and squeezed her shoulder. “Do you want us to come with you, or would you prefer some alone time?”
“I think I’ll go alone,” Sloan said softly. “But thank you.”
“Of course.” Isla gave her an encouraging look.
“I love Kyle. He’s like the little brother I never had.
And I know what you’re planning—Elle and Liddy told me.
I know it means a lot to them and it’s really brave, but I just want you to know, as his bonus sister, I think you can change your mind if you need to, and the Winnicks will all love you just as much as they do. ”
“Thank you,” Sloan said, hugging her. Isla meant well, but this wasn’t the time to chicken out either.
She needed to do this.
“We’ll be right out here if you need us,” Cheyenne called as Sloan stepped out.
Sloan shut the door and headed for the chapel.
The snow crunched under her boots as she left the parking lot, the sound dry in the rising cold of the January morning.
Ahead, the wooden, log cabin structure of Chapel of the Transfiguration sat against a backdrop that was almost unfair in its scale.
The Tetons rose in impossibly crisp majesty against a sky so blue it looked freshly painted. Endless, vaulting winter blue.
The path narrowed, and each step brought a shift in her perspective: the chapel grew, the mountains rearranged themselves behind it, and the wooden structure slowly claimed more of her field of vision. She heard her own breathing now, the soft rasp of it, the thrum of her pulse.
The door handle was smooth from decades of hands and warm to the touch. A lot of tourists came to see the view, but she’d found refuge here too, at a time she needed it most.
Inside, the air was cool and still, carrying the scent of old wood.
The chapel was dim after the glare outside, her eyes needing a second to adjust. Light spilled in through the famous window behind the altar, framing the Tetons so perfectly it felt less like architecture and more like a deliberate act of reverence.
The floorboards creaked softly under her weight as she took a seat in the back row of benches, where she normally sat when she came here in the winter before. She clasped her hands, leaning forward slightly, her heart still unsettled, fears crowding her mind.
What if Kyle gets injured?
What if something worse happens?
She didn’t know if she could survive it. Maybe she would, but she would never be a whole person again, probably.
Sloan ran trembling fingers through her hair, tying it in a ponytail. She covered her face with her hands.
Then, even though she was out of practice, even though she wasn’t even sure if she believed, she choked out in a whisper, “God, please keep Kyle safe.”
The words didn’t linger in the air. The walls absorbed them as silence took their place. She closed her eyes, her chest so tight with pressure that she thought her heart might burst from it.
Maybe I should have told him what I was planning. Maybe he would have changed his mind—felt free to turn down the offer from Blue Ridge.
But he’d said he was doing this for him. And as hard as it was for her to accept that, not to object to something that frightened her so much, she wanted to be there for him in the way that he needed. She couldn’t keep expecting him to be the one who gave everything while she took.
Not anymore.
It’s my turn to sacrifice for him.
Sloan gazed straight out the window, her eyes settling on the mountains.
Kyle had always taken on more than he needed to for her. Even when they were teenagers, even when his mom had gotten into an accident and her mom was sick, he still allowed himself to be the one who had “less” to deal with.
She couldn’t hope to completely wipe away the way she’d hurt him when they were young. But she would never stop trying to prove to him that she loved him. He deserved that much. More, really.
She had to help him carry the burden.
He’d said he was fine after all that had happened—losing his grandmother, his career, his reputation—but she’d seen on his face that day she’d come from San Francisco how deeply he carried his grief.
And he still hadn’t dealt with Granny’s ashes.
That had been so important to him back in January, but he hadn’t mentioned it since reading that letter.
He’d lost his footing because of her, and she knew he was determined to use this event to prove himself.
But he didn’t need to prove he was strong. He needed someone to help him carry the weight.
Breathing out slowly, she said one more prayer—that what she did today would only help him and not hurt him at all. Because that was the last thing she wanted.
Then Sloan rose and went back out of the chapel. She pulled out the phone and called Penny as she walked slowly back to Cheyenne’s car.
“Hey,” Sloan said as Penny answered. “Is everything ready?”
“Yup,” Penny said, her voice surprisingly cheerful. “Margaret just got here and we’re just waiting for Ms. Larsen and the camera crew.”
Perfect.
Evan would make her pay any way he could for this, but hopefully Sloan’s lawyer would help. But it didn’t matter. The truth was all that mattered.
For Kyle.
For us.