I steadied the bench for Winnie as she sat down, and I easily filled the space beside her, so that the only place my left arm had to go was behind her. “Is this okay?” I asked.
She smiled with a nod as she let her shoulder lean into my side. “You’re like a radiator.”
“Or a pizza oven,” I supplied.
“This is great,” Gretchen said. “You two just talk and look like you’re enjoying each other’s company and give us a few fake laughs if you could. Winnie, if you could lean on his shoulder every once in a while, that would be good too.”
Luca squatted down between us, latching skis to our boots. “I love it,” he said. “Big snow bunny energy.”
Gretchen gave Ralph a thumbs-up, and we were off. The decades-old lines above us were rusted but intact, and I had toforce myself not to think too hard about what might happen if this thing just snapped under my weight. I was a Kansas boy. I didn’t really do heights.
“This thing is a little sketchy,” I said to Winnie.
“It’s not nearly as bad as this Fourth of July movie I did one time. I played a small-town girl who was supposed to climb down a Ferris wheel to stop the hero from leaving town forever. The hero, by the way, was the CEO of a corporate sno-cone chain that was stamping out all the mom-and-pop sno-cone stands.”
“That was a good one,” I said. “I was really sweating it when you climbed down the side of the Ferris wheel, but Nolan swore you had a body double.”
“No, sir. I do all my own stunts—or as many as they’ll let me do. To be fair, I was strapped into a harness and there were safety nets everywhere,” she said in a way that made me think there were some things about Winnie’s job she truly loved.
“Well, I believed every second of it. Did they get you to do the song they used for the montage, by the way? I swear it sounded just like you.”
She blushed as we began to move above the tree line. “Wait. Go back. You’ve watched my Hope Channel movies?”
“As many as I could catch,” I said. It was true. Winnie’s movies were the perfect thing to turn on when I was lying in bed with Bread and just couldn’t fall asleep. It was better than scrolling endlessly on dating apps or watching infomercials. There was also the fact that when Winnie’s face lit up my TV, I couldn’t look away. I stuck to her Hope Channel movies though. Seeing her inTreasures in Heavenwith her creep of an ex-husband was not exactly relaxing.
“Huh. So you’re a Hope Channel fan?”
I squinted. “I’m more of a Winnie Baker fan. Even your old TV show! I used to watchIn a Family Wayevery day after school. How many kids were in that family by the series finale?”
“Believe it or not, there were nine kids by the end. They started with three and added one per season, except for the time they added twins.” She smiled for a moment, before her plump lips slipped into a slight frown.
“What is it?” I asked.
She looked over her other shoulder, like it was easier to look away. “Are we just going to pretend like it never happened?”
I didn’t need any further clarification. “I don’t think I could even if I wanted to,” I answered immediately. “Winnie, look at me. Come on.”
She huffed as we caught a glimpse of a drone they were using to film, and then leaned her head against my shoulder. “I just—I don’t want to feel embarrassed. In fact, I refuse to.”
“Good,” I said as I beamed with pride at her determination and also at the sight of her curled into my side, our skis dangling in the air below us. “It was research and you fucking nailed it, Baker. A-plus! You’re like the valedictorian of orgasms.”
She made a face. “I wouldn’t go that fa—”
The ski lift wrenched to a screeching halt, and I instinctively threw my arms out in front of Winnie like my mom used to do when I sat in the front seat of her minivan and she was slamming on the brakes.
“Are you okay?” I quickly asked, my eyes scanning every inch of her, making sure she was all there and in one piece.
“I’m good,” she said through a gasp. “I’m good.”
“Let me see what’s going on down there.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Gretchen.
A robotic voice on the other end of the line said, “Please leave a message after the beep.”
“Dammit. I should have asked for the walkie.”
“It’ll be okay,” Winnie said. “They’ve got the drone up here, and it’s not like they won’t notice that we’re stalled and just hanging in midair.”
I nodded. “You’re right.”
