After a little fussing when they got off the ski lift, Bernhardt finally felt that he could go off on his black run, and she watched him skilfully ski away with the graceful, smooth ease of someone virtually born on skis. If she were entirely honest, she still felt a little bit awkward in the boots, managing the poles and the skis. But at last she was on her own. Kristian had given her an awkward, ‘shall I stay, shall I go’ sort of wave before he followed Bernhardt. Uta had given her a big thumbs up which did more for Mina’s confidence than anything. This was easy. It was a blue run. She knew what she needed to do, and now she was on her own, sudden excitement fizzed in the base of her belly. There was no one to see her make a fool of herself, she could go at her own pace and she could practise all the techniques she’d been learning without constraint.Blue run, here I come. With a sudden burst of elation, she clipped on her skis and looked down the slope. There were plenty of other people taking things slowly, zig zagging in comfortable S-bends at their leisure, as well as those, their skis pointing straight downhill, with kamikaze keenness. Her aim was to be somewhere between the two.
Her skis felt uneven at first and she practised her turns and snowploughing as a quick reminder at the top of the slope, glad that it wasn’t too busy yet. Gradually her confidence built and her turns became steeper as she allowed herself to face down the slope rather than cutting across. With that sudden moment of intuition, all her lessons, all the things the ski instructor had told her – bend the knees, lean forward, feel your skis – it all popped into her head and the instructions seemed to flow into her limbs. Her muscles responded and there she was, gliding over the snow, feeling her skis exactly like she’d been told and with that, she relaxed and the movements became even easier. Just think, if she hadn’t proposed to Simon, she might never have graduated beyond an indoor slope. It was the only rushing in that hadn’t turned out quite so badly after all. Everything else, she reflected, was in tatters but as she picked up speed, she felt her heart burst with happiness. She was skiing, proper skiing, and the feeling was just magical. A million times better than she’d ever imagined. To the moon and back better. This was heaven.
She met up with Uta at a restaurant at midday by chance. The mad, wonderful euphoria of skiing down real mountains, two runs in all, couldn’t compensate for her increasingly wobbly legs and she desperately needed a rest. Following her nose rather than really understanding the map, which made no sense to her, she took a couple of ski lifts and found herself at the top of one of the peaks with the extremely welcome sight of Heidi’s Hut.
‘Hey Mina,’ called Uta, who was at the terrace edge already enjoying a solitary beer.
‘Hey.’ She sank gratefully into a chair aware that her thighs were more than a little shaky, her smile at least three miles wide. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so invigorated. ‘I’ve had the most wonderful morning.’
‘Perfect conditions. You ski a lot.’
‘Mmm,’ said Mina, taking a tactical sip of coffee, a touch envious of Uta’s condensation-covered glass of beer.
They chatted for a little while before Uta rose to her feet. ‘Might see you at lunchtime.’
Mina laughed. ‘If I find the place.’ She waved the map.
‘Good luck, see you later.’
Mina enjoyed her coffee, pored over the map and decided that even though her legs had stopped trembling, she wasn’t going to push it. She decided to ski gently down to the ski lift and then if she’d managed to follow the map correctly, she could take the ski lift up and then ski a little way to the cable car station where she’d take a cable car to Bergstation Eggishorn at the top of the mountain. Easy, she thought, clipping her skis back on and pushing off down the slope. She took it steadily, feeling the gentle protests of her thigh and calf muscles, but the views and the swish of her skis more than made up for the slight fatigue.
This time she shared the ski lift with chatty, seven-year-old, Tara – at least that’s what she picked up from her limited German – who was on holiday,urlaubas she remembered from school, with herfamilie. Tara seemed content with her nods and smiles and her sole contribution to the conversation ofmein Name ist Mina.
At the top, no sooner had the bar across the front of the chair lifted than Tara hopped off like a cheeky sparrow with a backhanded wave and swooshed off away without poles, looking as if her skis were part of her body. See: it was easy. Mina lifted herself off the seat, attempting to emulate the girl’s confident departure. She did quite well at first, but then somehow one ski went one way and the other the opposite way, leaving her stuck in straddled position, bottom up and face down. At least she was no longer in the path of the ski lift, and hopefully no one would notice her here. Convinced her trousers might split at any second, if not something else, Mina tried to pull herself up with her ski poles, but her flabby muscles were in danger of giving way and her legs began to shake.
‘Would you like a hand?’ asked a cheery voice brimming with its usual laughter.
So much for hoping no one would see her.
Lifting her head to look up at him, she gave Luke a reluctant, self-deprecating smile. She must look completely ridiculous.
‘Please. I seem to have got myself a bit stuck.’
He dropped the snowboard he carried and stood in front of her. ‘What’s it worth?’ he asked with a teasing smile, those electric-blue eyes dancing with mischief.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Seriously, you’d take advantage of a damsel in distress?’
‘Every time.’ He grinned, still standing there not making a move.
She groaned and tried to glare at him but it was impossible, he looked so stupidly cocky and cheerful. Instead she laughed. ‘I’m glad you find this funny. I could split in two at any moment. I might never do gymnastics again.’
‘Ouch,’ he said, jumping forward and clasping her around the waist. With one quick, surprisingly strong jerk, he pulled her back upright. The momentum brought their bodies together and for a second their noses were almost touching. A quick sizzle fizzed through her body, and unable to help herself, she glanced at his lips and gave herself away. From the expression in Luke’s eyes, she could tell he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Instead of pulling back he kept his hands on her waist, his blue eyes searching her face, which she could feel turning pink. Her knees were definitely wobbly now.
‘Fancy bumping into you,’ she said, pulling back, slightly embarrassed by her very obvious reaction to him. She’d never felt this instant attraction to anyone, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. It was all very well to spontaneously kiss a stranger you thought you’d never see again, but this, well, she had no idea how to play things.
‘I keep telling you, it’s serendipity. Meant to be.’
‘Hmm, and there are only so many ski lifts on this mountain.’ She seized gratefully on practical truths, and if she hadn’t been laden down with her ski poles, she would have put her hands on her hips to emphasise the point.
‘You’re kidding. There are over 104 kilometres of piste up here. Definitely serendipity.’
She laughed at his dogged logic. ‘Yes, Luke. Well, it will be serendipity if I manage to make it down to the cable car station.’
‘You headed up to the top or down?’
‘Up, or least I’m going to try.’ She peered upwards to the mountain peak, squinting into the sunshine.
