‘I can’t. Not like this.’
Madeleine sighed. She was being selfish. ‘Fair enough. Sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you. I appreciate you saying you want to get it out in the open, and you’ll know when it’s the right moment, I’m sure. It’s just that sometimes it’s easier to rip the plaster off, you know?’ The others looked completely confused about what the two of them could possibly have needed to stop to talk about beneath the bubble overhang, when there was so much snow waiting to be slid across. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s ski.’
She wasn’t sure if her boot hit a rock, or a lump of ice, but she hadn’t got more than a metre across the snow before her foot was going in an unexpected direction and gravity decided to enter from stage left, again. She ended up face-planting in the snow, her skis falling one way, poles the other.
‘Unbelievable.’ Rolling onto her side, she held out a hand for Rose to help her.
It took a moment before any help was forthcoming, however, because Rose was too busy trying not to laugh. It was one way to defuse the tension, Madeleine supposed. She’d long suspected she was a comic genius. It was just that sometimes her timing was a bit off.
Chapter 27
‘What are everyone’s afternoon plans?’ Clara asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Tania said, stretching herself out against the leather of the banquette she occupied in the corner of L’Avalanche restaurant. ‘There’s no rush to move, is there?’
An unexpectedly chilled-out response, Clara thought. Tania tended to have a rigid idea of what she wanted to achieve in a day, often had things planned with something approaching military precision. And with the approaching storm, the skies already clouding over as they arrived at the restaurant, Clara thought Tania would be feeling the desire to get in some serious skiing even more intensely. Gull’s presence seemed to be diluting her fervour– for the snow, at least. They sat opposite her, their thighs hard up against one another. The proximity hadn’t gone unnoticed by her, even if it wasn’t particularly obvious to anyone else in the packed restaurant.
Before Clara could comment on Tania’s lack of focus, Rose beat her to it. ‘Way too relaxed. I’m thinking alien body-swap. Who are you, and what have you done with the real Tania?’
‘I like it,’ Madeleine said. ‘I think it suits you, Tania. Plus, relaxed is my idea of a holiday.’
Tania ignored them, looking at Clara instead. ‘What do you want to do?’
In truth, Clara wasn’t sure it mattered. She was prepared to go through the motions and join in with whatever the group decided. ‘Honestly, I don’t mind.’
‘Well, like I said, I’ve got to head into the centre of Près du Ciel soon,’ Madeleine said, checking her watch. ‘Do you fancy joining me for a bit of retail therapy? Maybe a coffee and an inappropriate impulse buy or two?’
Clara nodded. ‘Sounds good to me.’
‘Rose is coming too, aren’t you?’ Madeleine tilted her head none too subtly towards Tania and Gull and raised her eyebrows. She looked a little like she was having a seizure, but Rose got the rather obvious message.
‘Yes, Maddy, I’m coming too,’ she said.
‘Will you be all right without us?’ Madeleine said to Tania, a grin forming on her face.
‘Do you play poker?’ Tania asked.
‘No,’ Madeleine said. ‘Why?’
‘Probably just as well.’ Gull huffed a laugh. ‘Yes, Madeleine. We’ll be just fine,’ Tania added.
‘We won’t be back at the lodge for quite a long time,’ Madeleine said. ‘And I’m pretty sure we won’t need to use the—’
Rose elbowed Madeleine as she stood. ‘You’ve made your point,’ she said. ‘No need to hammer it home.’
Madeleine began to smirk but didn’t finish her sentence. Clara stood, too, shuffling out from the seating.
‘Have a great afternoon,’ she said, gathering her gloves and turning to follow the other two.
‘Clara?’ Tania leaned forward, stretching a hand in her direction. ‘Are you sure you’ll be OK?’
Clara smiled. ‘Of course. Everything’s going to work itself out, you’ll see.’ She headed after Madeleine and Rose, who were already halfway across the main bar area. At the top of the small flight of steps separating the two areas, she turned in time to see Gull lean towards Tania, his fingers brushing strands of her hair from her shoulder before he shifted and whispered something into her ear. Something amusing, judging by the uptick in Tania’s expression.
Clara could have been a ghost, stood on those steps, watching but totally unseen. Remembering emotions, but sure in the knowledge that they would never be hers to enjoy again. She pulled in a deep breath and looked away.
Usually, lunch was nothing more than a pit stop. In fact, if Tania had her way, half the time she wouldn’t bother to stop at all, would just grab a sandwich and eat it in the bubble lift.
Today was different, though. Tania couldn’t remember the last time she would have willingly spent the whole afternoon in a mountain restaurant. But with Gull sandwiching her between his body and the corner of the bench seat, the last thing she wanted was to have to move. The combination of warmth and comfort laced with the undeniable frisson of excitement from his closeness was hypnotic. Plus, she told herself, Gull’s knee was bound to be giving him cause for discomfort and he needed to rest it, even if he was pretending it was all fine.
