“So,” I say, nodding at her boots. “Your boots areLange, I know that brand. But the sweethearts in the rack? That brand is not familiar…”
“Lustiare Czech,” she nods. “They don’t export them much, as far as I know. But I genuinely love them, the best quality for the price.”
“You’re from Czechia. I knew it!”
“You’ve been listening to me talking on the phone?”
“And trying to figure out the language,” I say, mouth tugging up. “Don’t tell me you don’t do that.”
“Yeah, everybody does that.”
Suddenly, there’s silence, and the cabin swings as the wind gets worse. It’s getting cold inside. She sits on her hands to keep them warm, and shrinks a little in her seat. I only have a Lycra race suit under my jacket, but for some reason, I feel warm enough.
Yeah, Fabio, you and a pretty girl in one cabin. No wonder you feel like the seat is heated.
“Your friends told you something?” I ask, breaking the silence. “About why we stopped?”
“No,” she shakes her head. “They just said all lifts stopped. But no further info.”
“I’ll find out,” I say, more confident than I feel. I’m the star at this training base; if anyone’s going to get answers for her, it should be me.
I take off my helmet, place it on the bench, and pull out my phone. I dial the head coach. If anyone knows anything, it is Leitner.
“Hey, Roland, I’m stuck in a gondola. Any idea what’s going on?”
“Bad weather,” he says. “The resort’s shutting down. It might take a while.”
“Right,” I say slowly, not wanting to ask outright about what it means. Not when I know she listens to every word I say. “But they’ll restart the Preuggner jet, right?”
“No idea, Fabio,” Leitner says. “I’ll find out what I can and give you a call, ok? Hang in there.”
“Don’t see how I have a choice.” I end the call and look up at her.
Her eyes are wide. This is bad, she knows it, I know it. I paste on something like a cocky hero smirk anyway.
“They say we should hang in here,” I say.
She lets out a sound that’s more head-shake than laugh. “Are you playing a hero?” she asks. “Or are you truly not concerned?”
“I am concerned.” I shrug. “But we’re not falling down, and I’m stuck in a cabin with a beautiful woman, so why worry?”
Her eyebrows jump. “Isn’t that some kind of harassment?”
“I’d call it gallantry.”
That gets a real laugh out of her, quick and surprised. It rolls through the cramped space and sits warm in my chest.
“Seriously,” she says, sobering a little. “You have more experience in the Alps. Has this ever happened here?”
I pretend to think hard. “When I was a kid. A big gondola in Hintertux stopped because of the wind. We hung there for three hours until they pulled the cabins down.”
“Three hours,” she repeats, like she’s testing the weight of it.
“This is not a glacier,” I add. “It won’t come to that.”
“Pity,” she murmurs.
My eyebrows go up. “Pity?”
