“Me?”
“Yeah, you!” Adrien looks ahead and adjusts himself for their approaching drop-off. “You walk around this world like it was made for you and you alone and completely take for granted all those around you, likemyself, who make it that way.”
“Oh, come off it, Adrien. It’s not like I don’t work my ass off for everything we have.”
Adrien turns to look at him, stone-faced.
“Okay,youdo help. A lot,” Sergio concedes. “And I couldn’t be where I am without you.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“Of course I do!” His words echo over the treetops, creating a more dramatic effect for his attempt to get out of hot water. “Look, Adrien,” he says gently as the chairlift deposits them at the top of the black diamond run. “Ever since Mom and Dad died, I’ve taken it upon myself to keep you and me together. I can’t bear losing you as well.”
To Sergio’s credit, this is true. Adrien took the death of their parents hard, but Sergio took it way harder as he was the reason they were out on that country road late at night on a quest to hunt him down after he’d run off with a local politician’s daughter to their East Hampton home for a weekend of juvenile amusement. “So, I’m sorry if I sometimes come across as overbearing. I like having you around.”
“Look, Sergio, I like being around you, too, and I don’t want anything to come between us …” He pauses and looks at Sergio. Adrien’s eyes are dark under his lowered brows, and the corners of his mouth are turned down. He takes a deep breath, and his exhalation sends a slow stream of condensation around him like smoke. “Which is why I think I have to quit working for you. I’m sorry.”
Sergio, stunned, says nothing. He’s left in silence to watch his brother head down the mountain, zooming away from him at an impressive clip. This isn’t the first time Adrien has quit. It is, however, the first time Sergio realizes he truly means it.
“Did you guys have fun?” Holden asks them once they find each other on the bunny hills.
Sergio doesn’t get a chance to answer as Henry is already calling his name. “Uncle Sergio! Look!” He zooms past him down the hill in a perfect miniature replica of his father’s crouched skiing stance. Perfect, that is, until he has to come to a stop that he hasn’t mastered yet. His solution is to flip forward, doing a complete somersault that lands him on his rump. “Did you see?”
“Yeah, Henry! I saw,” Sergio says as he skis over to him and pulls him back up onto his feet. “That was very impressive. You’re gonna be an Olympian like your dad.”
“Do you think I can be?” Henry asks, looking up at Sergio, who’s still holding his hands.
“Definitely. It’s in your blood. It’s what you are destined to be. If that’s what you want, of course.”
“It is!”
“Then you will,” Sergio assures, crouching down to click Henry’s skis off. He lifts him up with one arm, then grabs the skis with his free hand and starts skiing them to where Holden and Adrien are waiting, already unburdened of their skis by the lodge. Their demeanor is casual yet serious, and Holden claps Adrien on the shoulder, as if assuring him he made the right decision. Sergio doesn’t need to be there to know what they’re discussing. He wonders how long Holden has known of Adrien’s intention. By logic, he figures Adrien probably told Holden last night. But it’s possible Adrien’s been wanting to do it for longer.
Feeling unsettled, Sergio squeezes Henry a little tighter. “Can I ask you something, buddy?”
“Yes,” Henry says and rests his head on Sergio’s shoulder.
“You like me, right?”
“Yes.” He lets out a little giggle as if the answer is obvious.
“Am I still your favorite?”
“Mommy says it’s not nice to have favorites.”
“Okay, she’s not wrong. But you have a favorite toy, right?”
“No,” Henry says solemnly, lifting his head away from Sergio’s shoulder to look him in the eyes. “I don’t want to hurt my toys’ feelings.”
“That’s fair.” Sergio nods his understanding. “But you have a favorite food, right? Pizza has to rank higher than, let’s say, something like broccoli.”
“Nobody’s favorite is broccoli.” Henry’s face twists in disgust.
“Right!” Sergio agrees. “Broccoli is awful! So you can be honest with me, I’m your favorite, right?”
But Sergio doesn’t get the answer he was expecting. Instead, he gets inner ear damage as Henry excitedly screams out another name, “Jeremy!” and begins squirming in Sergio’s arms in an apparent bid to get down. So much for being the kid’s favorite.
With Henry squirming in his arms, Sergio sees the apparent primary subject of Henry’s affection. Jeremy is holding onto the guardrail as he ascends the steps towards the lodge, with Allison walking beside him and Rose leading the way. He stops in his tracks and looks around, obviously trying to find Henry. Eventually, his eyes locate him in Sergio’s arms. He lifts his free hand and gives a wave. His cheeks are flushed from the cold, and his hair comes out in wisps from underneath his grey toque.
