‘You’d have known from one kiss?’ She was starting to sound like an echo chamber.
He gave her a cocky smile. ‘Oh yes.’
She glowered at him feeling that she was losing control of this conversation. ‘No more kissing.’
‘OK,’ he said with a loose shrug.
Again, like the other day, a contrary part of her was irritated by how easily he’d accepted it. He could at least have put up a bit of a fight. She rolled to one side to try and get up and fell back down, her skis sliding away before she could get to her feet. ‘I mean it, Luke. We have to stop this.’
‘OK,’ he said again, a small smile tugging at that attractive lopsided mouth, as if he knew something she didn’t. ‘Here.’ He held out a hand and reluctantly she let him haul her up, immediately making herself busy brushing herself down, dusting the snow from her ski jacket and shaking out her hat, before righting her skis and clipping her boots back into place with determined resolution.
‘Thank you. Shall we go?’ Her tone was brusque and back to business. She was desperate to avoid the return of the previous flirty vibes that had been buzzing like happy bees in high summer.
‘Remember how to slow down? I don’t want you taking me out again. I don’t think my heart can take the strain.’
She let out a reluctant laugh in response to the cheerful expression on his face, relieved that Luke was able to carry on as normal and not sulk or be difficult about her putting the brakes on things.
‘I promise I’ll keep my hands off you in future,’ she said with a teasing smile, although inside she meant every word.
‘Yes, you with your pointy elbows and knees. You’re a dangerous woman. I might not survive a full-blown assault. Anyone would think you didn’t like me,’ he said with the chirpy confidence of someone who knew the exact opposite.
She purposefully ignored him and fiddled with the zip on her ski jacket before adjusting her hat.
‘Shall we go?’ she asked with a brisk smile. Thankfully Luke switched back to being businesslike, which was a relief for her wayward pulse, which was still sputtering about with hormone-induced craziness.
‘Right, from now on it’s a lot easier. We’re going downhill for most of the way with one little slope and then it’s easy. Just remember to keep your body forward, and if you want to slow down take one of your skis out of the trail, roll your knee, and ankle inwards to turn the tip of your ski. It’s a half snowplough, like you’d do in downhill. Want to practise before we really get going?’
Much as Mina wanted to say she’d be fine, for once sense overcame bravado. She didn’t want to run him down. Twice was careless but a third time might look like an invitation. So she practised the manoeuvre a couple of times while Luke watched with no sign of itching to be off again.
‘You’re a very good teacher,’ she said, feeling a lot more confident in her ability to control her skis. ‘Very patient. I feel like I’m holding you up.’
‘We’re not in a hurry. This slope will still be here tomorrow, and the day after.’ He looked around the scenery, his face lighting up with sheer pleasure. ‘This is why I love cross-country skiing, there’s no hurry. You can take your time. Appreciate all this.’ He went quiet, lifting his head and staring at the view spread out before them. ‘Appreciate being alive,’ he added in a low voice.
She followed his gaze up at the majestic mountains crowned by rocky crags catching the sunlight and the two of them stood in the muffled silence of the valley looking up at a landscape that had been there for millennia. How much had this landscape changed in all that time, she wondered.
‘Unfortunately, as wonderful as the view is, it won’t keep body and soul together, and I’m starving.’ He looked at his watch and tapped the face with a teasing twist to his mouth. ‘I don’t want to miss coffee-and-cake-time. I might have to abandon you, if you can’t keep up. We’ve got an hour to get back.’
‘An hour.’ She pulled a face. ‘It’s taken an hour and a half to get here.’
‘I promise you, going back is a lot easier and quicker.’
He was right, and the downhill journey was a real pleasure. The speed they achieved surprised her, as well as how much she enjoyed whizzing along, albeit more sedately than yesterday, with the cold wind biting at her cheeks with icy teeth. In contrast her body felt warm and fluid, responding to her skis with perfect co-ordination. There was much more of a sense of being at one with her environment and in charge of her body, and a very different sensation to yesterday’s bursts of adrenaline and the constant awareness that one false move, bump, turn, or twist, and you could completely lose control and be at the total mercy of your fall. She grinned to herself, feeling an instant chill on her teeth but she didn’t care. She hadn’t felt this good for a long time.
As they crested a hill she saw Reckingen spread out below them, the lights starting to come on creating that already-familiar welcoming golden glow. Her heart missed a beat at the beauty of it. In just two days, she’d fallen in love with this serene, idyllic valley.
As they tipped over the edge of the hill it seemed to spur them both on, or maybe it was the lure of cake, and they sped up using their poles to push them faster and faster.
‘Hop off here,’ called Luke as they neared the place where they’d first started. With elegant ease that she wasn’t sure she was going to emulate, he lifted one ski out of the track, and then the next, and gradually slowed to a halt. Her legs were tired now but she managed the manoeuvre, albeit with elephantine clumsiness that almost had her falling, but she managed to stay upright and with a triumphant yell drew to a wobbly halt next to Luke.
‘That was awesome,’ she cried, her cheeks flushed and her adrenaline racing, bubbling with enthusiasm and endorphins. ‘Oh, I loved it. It was wonderful. Thank you, Luke, for taking me out.’ She threw her arms around him in a spontaneous hug, because that was just the way she was made, and grinned up into his face.
He hugged her back and their eyes met in a brief frisson-filled second before he said, his eyes sparkling with laughter, ‘There’s nothing quite like it. Makes you feel glad to be alive.’
‘Do you know, it really does.’ She glanced back the way she’d come. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so energised and full of life. Yesterday had been too full of excitement and trepidation for her to fully enjoy the experience. ‘I can’t wait to have another go.’
‘I’ll take you out again, if you like.’
‘That would be wonderful,’ she said, before she had time to think. It was only as she picked her skis up and slung them over her shoulder to walk back to the chalet that she remembered she was supposed to be keeping her distance from Luke.
