A few hours later I was on the slopes. My legs felt stiff from the cold and exertion of the last few days, especially my knees. Tara had been right about that.
I had yet to see Blake that morning. Because I crashed so early the night before, I hadn’t run into him since the previous afternoon. During the morning lesson with the ski instructor, my eyes kept wandering over to the lodge doorto see if he would walk out of it. Nothing happened for a while until finally, Theo walked out of the lodge. I assumed he’d been looking for Tara, but I didn’t see her on the mountain that day where she usually was in the ski school zone.None of my business what he’s doing, I reminded myself. The next time I looked over, Theo was standing at the base, and it appeared he was watching me.Was he? That would be so strange. I tried to carry on with the instruction as we were working on our form, but I suddenly felt the urge to be performative.
Something I always felt with Theo was the need to be perfect. Blake had shown me just the opposite, and in fact, had embraced my flaws. That was the difference between the men; though one I was dating, the other was just pretending. It was beginning to feel the opposite.
After several minutes with Theo watching my every move, Tara came expertly swooshing down the ski hill, laughing loudly. She was with another instructor, which I knew by their matching jackets. He took his goggles off, revealing himself to be young, blonde, and clean shaven with a stunning jawline. I guessed he was about Tara’s age—mid-twenties. I could feel their chemistry from a distance. Theylooked like they went together, frankly—like they could be side by side in a clothing catalog.
Tara’s laughter came to an abrupt stop when she noticed Theo, and she slowly skied over to him. She looked much stiffer than she had moments before, before she knew he was watching—like she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been. But I felt for her because she didn’t even know that Theo was watching her. I wondered if she’d rather been with the hunk she was skiing with, as she looked so happy and carefree.
I watched their awkward embrace as they shared a quick hug. It seemed cold, but then after talking for a moment, Theo and Tara started gliding over to the chair lift. So, he had been waiting for her all along, not watching me. It sure felt like he was, though.
Immersing myself back into the lesson, we were about to take a run when Blake tapped me on the shoulder. He joined me on the chairlift, and I was tickled to have another few minutes with him one on one.
“I didn’t see you around last night. I ended up playing board games with members of your church until almost nine.Dang, watch out for Cammy while playing Monopoly—I think she prints her own money.”
“Oh? That’s awesome you played with them. Yeah, I totally crashed last night. I fell asleep in my clothes, makeup, and everything. Woke up at 4 a.m. wondering what century I was living in.”
“You must have needed it. I know I always sleep better in a cold environment. There’s something so special about a snowy mountain range. I often think that God is a man of the mountains, too. I feel like I’m closer to Him when I’m higher in elevation.”
I loved hearing Blake talk about God. He gave me something to think about as I had never considered the spiritual connection I felt there in Sage Mountain. “I’ve lived here my entire life and despite everything changing so rapidly the last few years, I can’t see myself leaving. Even with no job and no idea how I’ll cover my property taxes that have quadrupled, I must be addicted to the cold because nowhere else feels like home. I may have to leave, but where do you go from here?”
Blake pursed his lips together with bated breath, and I waited for his reply. “Colorado is pretty nice, if I say so myself.” He grinned at me ear to ear.
“I have friends who moved down there, and they say the same, but there’s no place like home. Besides, I’d be competing in a much larger market for jobs. I don’t know if I have the competitive drive like city people. And I’m sure you can see; I don’t handle rejection that great. But God has a plan for me, and I know He will guide me to the right place.”
“That’s right, Claire. What a relief it is to know that we aren’t the ones in charge around here.”
We both smiled, and the chair lift finally made it to the top, slowing down ever so slightly for us to disembark.
“Tips up!” The lift tech yelled from his booth, but it was already too late. Somehow my distraction got the better of me and my right ski caught on part of the platform, slowly tossing me from the chair onto the cold snow in front of me. A loud bell rang, alerting the fellow chair lift riders that there was an emergency, and the lift would be paused.
“You really know how to make an entrance, Claire.” Blake helped me get up and out of the way of the lift before giving me a once over so he could see my face. “Nothingappears to be hurt externally, no bleeding, no black eyes. You may need a walker down the line, possibly both eyes replaced, but I think we can ski out of here today.” He chuckled, and I groaned.
“Here we are again. Blake to my rescue,” I smiled as he unclipped my skis and set them off to the side. “I’m okay—just internally scarred because this is so embarrassing.” Peering over my shoulder, it didn’t seem like anyone was looking my way, which was a relief.
“Don’t worry about it. People are constantly wrecking as they get off the lift, go down the mountain... Once, a man fell down the stairs inside the lodge in his ski boots. He was totally fine—fell on his backside and just did the rumble down each step. Wow, did he have a good laugh after that one.” He lifted his brows and shrugged.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter. “You? You mean to tell me that you can be clumsy, too?”
He picked up a handful of snow and blew it in front of my face, each bit of it sparkling in the sunlight. “Occasionally, yes. But the real queen of clumsy is my mom. My father considered an ambulance being stationed outside their home just because it would make things more convenient. Her lastinjury was from trying to get up from a bar stool while realizing her feet were inside the rungs and somehow from there slid ten yards across the floor. We ran to the noise, only to find her under the Christmas tree.”
“It sounds like I’ll be in great company then.”
Blake motioned for me to start down the hill in front of him, and I did, putting all of my techniques into motion. “Is there anything you suggest I do to improve?”
“You have some great fundamentals. I’m guessing you’ve taken some lessons over the course of your life? From here, you just need to relax and practice.”
I let out a breath. Blake was so refreshing. He just wasn’t a critical person and so nice to be around.
Right before I got to the halfway point, Theo cut me off on skis, forcing me to come to an abrupt stop.
“What in the world!?” I yelled out to Theo, who didn’t stop.
Tara was close behind. I turned back to Blake, who was clapping.
“That was an incredible stop, Claire! And you didn’t even fall. Your lessons are paying off.”
Just then, my instructor, Trevor, appeared. “Sorry about that, Claire. I saw the whole thing; they know better than to go this fast in the beginners’ area. I think Theo is miffed because Tara just dumped him.”
