“It just didn’t work out.”
In that moment, the trail diverged into two paths, and Dennis veered to the right. With a frown, Gavin called out, “Isn’t that way longer?”
“Road less traveled!” called Dennis.
Longer? Rowan didn’t want to be here longer. She didn’t wantto be here at all. She was tired, a storm was coming, and her emotions were all over the place, had been since her breakdown in the sauna and only aggravated by Dennis’s interference.
“I thought we were in a hurry to prep for Christmas Eve,” said Gavin.
“Notthatmuch of a hurry,” returned Dennis.
Gavin ran a gloved hand over his mouth but said nothing more. She struggled to speed up and try to get closer.
“Gavin,” she said. He glanced back. “There’s a storm coming. We really need to get back to the car.”
“How do you…?” He peered through the canopy, catching sight of the dark clouds. “Right. Dad, the weather’s turning.”
Dennis scoffed. “I know this mountain. We’ve got time.”
Gavin fell back into pace with Rowan. “It’s not all that much longer this way,” he offered, by way of apology. He glanced her up and down and must have noticed that she was looking worn down because he said, “Did you want to try again to adjust your stride?”
“No,” she snapped, irritation speaking first.
“Are you sure?” he asked, and his tone forced her to realize how self-defeating she was being.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s give this a try.”
“Your arms are good. Your trouble’s still mainly in the legs.” He leaned over to run his hand from her hip to her knee. “The momentum should come from the thrust of your hip and knee.”
“You’re telling me to focus on…thrusting my hips?” Her voice took a sly downturn. Gavin’s cheeks flushed pink, but he hummed in agreement.
Despite the distracting nature of the lesson, Rowan tried again with his suggestions. After a few awkward missteps, she moved along more easily.
“Uh, I think I actually got it?”
“I knew you would.”
They shared a smile and for a second, Rowan thought he might lean in to brush his lips against hers, but he shifted his gaze to his father as they returned to navigating the forest.
“Push and glide, push and glide,” Rowan whispered to herself, trying to internalize the lesson. “Push and glide, push and glide.”
The wind howled hard enough to crack a branch somewhere in their periphery. Rowan couldn’t help it—she yelped.
It was finally bothering Dennis as well. Gavin’s father looked back at her, voice tense. “Can you pick it up at all?”
Her simmering irritation flared into a high boil. Was he trying to say this was her fault? The wind battered her from the side, threatening to knock her off balance.
“I’m doing what I can,” she said, her voice tight.
Gavin glanced at her with concern and shook his head in his father’s direction. “If we push ourselves too hard and get stuck, we’ll be in a far worse position than if we go slow but steady.”
Dennis shook his head but said nothing more. Rowan shot Gavin a grateful look, and he nodded, returning to scanning their surroundings with wary eyes. The trees shook and bent with the rhythm of the gales, which sent enough snow cascading from their branches to create the illusion of a fresh snowfall. Despite the heat of overexertion, the wind froze the skin of her face in a numbing chill.
They only passed a few minutes more before there was another cracking branch—close enough this time to see it crash to the earth a few feet off the path.
“I’m going to move up and talk to my dad again,” said Gavin. “You going to be okay?”
She nodded and gestured him on, watching as he effortlessly sped up to catch the older man.
