Four minutes later, we pulled up to the Wildwood Ski Resort—a mountain staple. Attractions such as skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing offered an array of winter entertainment. Different lifts would take adventurers and families to different levels of ski routes from the bunny hill to the double black diamond runs. During the offseason, the Alpine Slide was the main attraction.
Wednesday afternoon around noon was the sweet spot, apparently. No lines for the ticket booth. No line for the slide.
Jamie’s head tilted up toward the mountain peak. I maintained my forward gaze, leading him toward the ski lift that would take us to the top of the slide.
“We’re going up there?” His voice was equal parts fascination and excitement.
I reached for his hand, not thinking about it. Dark brown eyes snapped to mine as our fingers interlaced. He held on to me and lifted the back of my hand to his lips.
I resolved to do this. Together, we sat down on the lift as the attendant nodded at me. Jamie didn’t let my hand go. He held on like we might never part, like everything would end if he did. Indulging him, I gave his warm hand a little squeeze.
“Amazing. Autumn, check it out.” He waved over the tree line.
“Uh-huh.” My gaze locked onto the man at my side. His eyes crinkled playfully as he took in the scenery. I felt us lift and didn’t move. One hand on the ski lift’s sidebar, the other holding on to the man who suddenly looked ten years younger. Fun and foolish and all mine.
“You’re giving me a lot of eye contact right now.” His amusement was clear.
“In order to know that, you’d have to be giving me a lot of eye contact.” I willed my voice to be steady, breath calm.
“Autumn, are you all right?” His eyes searched mine. I wondered if he could feel my clamminess. If not that, he definitely felt the shiver that went through me as the lift took us higher and higher.
“I’m just enjoying the view.” It wasn’t a lie. But not wanting to admit the reason I hadn’t been up to the slide in my time on this mountain.
Then I saw the recognition on his face that I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t think it would happen like this. I thought I’d get over it. But the last time I’d been on a ski lift, I’d been left up for an hour because the lift had stopped working. And I hadn’t gotten over that fear with age.
I glanced at my shoes and watched my toes as they dangled… Dangled. I was going to be sick.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here.” Jamie’s lips pressed gently to my temple, then my cheek. Calm enveloped me at his tender words.
I squeezed my eyes shut, and he took my hand. “Yup, I like you here.”
He shifted us closer. “I like being here.”
I couldn’t believe my stupid anxiety-ridden brain. Tempted to look around, to gauge how close we were, but I forced myself not to. Instead, I took a deep breath before focusing on him again.
“I’ll let you know when it’s time,” he said, not making a big deal of it. He really did know me.
After that harrowing experience, we made it to the top. I’d never been so happy for my feet to hit the ground.
With jagged reluctance, we finally unlocked our hands when we were told it was one adult per slide. But I held on to that warm feeling as he settled onto the toboggan. It was a sled-like cart with wheels and a single handle riders could use to go faster or slower. The slide was set up for racing. I lined up in my cart in the lane next to his, prepared to launch at the same time. Jamie’s smile told me this was a date he’d never forget. I settled into my cart, all fears gone. Turned out, I was only afraid of heights when I was on a wobbly, open-air ski lift. Being up on this devastatingly tall hill about ready to slide down the mountain filled me with the nervous kind of energy but not fear. Energy that made my stomach swoop and tumble, like it did whenever he smiled at me like that. We took off, and his smile swallowed up any residual nerves.
“I’ll be waiting for you at the bottom,” he called over to me, but he was underestimating my competitive nature.
I blew him a kiss before leaning back and slamming my control handle to make the cart go as fast as I could. His rapturous laughter told me he was close but not ahead of me.
My body jostled from side to side. Tilting my head back, I soaked in the rush of adrenaline, and everything felt liberating. A scream of elation left my lungs as I plunged down faster and faster. Adventure called, and I let it lure me. Laughter spilled unbidden the whole way down, even as my stomach rode high in my chest. My heart thundered, and dampness gathered in the corners of my eyes as I reached the bottom just behind him. I felt myself being pulled up, then out of my cart. He tucked me into his warm muscular chest and I took in his spicy scent. Insatiable, I looked up at him. His eyes were alight and full of joy.
“Again?” I asked, and Jamie nodded into my neck.
Threeridesdowntheslide later and my cheeks hurt from smiling. My voice was slightly raspy already from the yelling and cackling that came with each exhilarating plunge down the slide. Every time we rode up in the ski lift, our hands locked together, and Jamie’s lips coaxed me into comfort. I felt all the security I needed to try again, but I reminded myself that I couldn’t fall for him.
I hoped that wasn’t a fool’s errand.
He looked at me honest and open and like he might just have the same thought that neither of us was brave enough to whisper.
We settled into our seats beneath an ivy-covered pergola on the patio. Raphael’s Trattoria was where I’d chosen to go for the next part of the date. Raphael greeted us with a friendly wave, tucking his prematurely graying hair behind his ear before leading us out to their patio seating. The smell of fresh greenery and Italian food mingled pleasantly as we sat at the picnic-style table with the magnificent view of the mountain.
We placed our drink orders, and our server left us alone to get settled in. Bench seats were covered in crocheted pads for each of the tables. Our table was embellished with a brilliant maroon and yellow mandala-like pattern stitch, and carnival glass votives took the restaurant ambiance from nice to cozy. You’d never know that just last winter these tables were built with love and the proper amount of frustration by Jack, Simon, Lola, and me. Long hours and energy had gone into sanding and staining them the right shade to match the bar inside. We’d been happy to take on another way of expressing our love and loyaltyto this one-of-a-kind town. We’d always be there for our town, just like they were always there for us. Two years ago there had been a rough storm where we needed a sandbag barrier, and Raphael had used his truck to load, deliver, and unload them, saving our camp from potential water damage from a creek that ran near the mess hall.
