Page 66

Shay winced. ‘I’m so sorry. Totally my fault. How ungentlemanly of me to be on top of a fine lady such as yourself, getting reckless thoughts and trying to headbutt you. Not the gold standard you deserve.’

He quickly rolled off her and got to his feet, steadying himself before he helped her up, to minimize the risk of more tumbling. From his pink cheeks and averted eyes, he seemed genuinely embarrassed – and Noémi was touched that he was trying to nobly take the blame. They both knew she’d instigated the failed kiss. Had he wanted it too, or was he keen to shake off such a clumsy oaf? Was the unexpected bashing of helmets a warning sign, or was a headbutt just a headbutt?

Shay busied himself with tying the tubing rings to ropes, presumably so he could pull them up to the top of the hill after they’d made their ascent. That seemed easier than wrestling them back up through the snow.

Noémi watched him discreetly as he worked, pretending to take in some particularly interesting shrubbery. She couldn’t help but notice how safe and organized he’d made everything, despite her once wanting to believe he was a fly-by-night pedlar of precarious antics. He’d carefully carved out downhill tracks through the snow, so there was no fear of whizzing off-piste. The area had been neatly cordoned off. He’d flattened a path back up the hill. She knew he was on top of getting paperwork, even if he must have called in some last-minute favours. Even the anti-kiss helmets prevented any bother.

Shay pulled his knots to double-check them, then looked up at her. Had he just caught her staring? She hastily checked her nails, realized she had gloves on, then looked away. Despite the hazards of ogling at him, she did feel safe in his company. And that much surprised her.

‘Are you ready for the stomp back up?’ he asked, striding to her side, his Snowdog tail swinging.

If he walked in front of her, she’d be so tempted to pull it. And perhaps to check out his bum in that snug white ski suit. On second thoughts, it would be more considerate to both of their bottoms if they went side by side.

He reached out a gloved hand, and she placed hers in it – because, of course, safety was paramount.

‘I’m ready.’

Chapter 37

‘The uphill trek is my favourite part,’ Shay whispered to Noémi conspiratorially, though there was no one else around to hear. ‘With all the fun of zooming downhill, dashing back up again doesn’t feel like such a chore. A sneaky way of keeping everyone active, hey?’

‘Sneaky indeed.’ She laughed. ‘Though why do you care so much about encouraging others to keep moving?’

He’d mentioned before that he’d had a health scare, but it hadn’t seemed polite to quiz him. It wasn’t like she was intent on telling him about the eczema in her elbow joints or that weird time when she couldn’t stop nervous burping.

‘Because I don’t want anyone ending up a lazy arse, like I was.’ He made to check his fitness watch, before realizing he was on a break from them.

Noémi tried not to spurt out a giggle. ‘You, a lazy arse? As if you’d ever keep still for long enough.’

‘Oh, but I used to.’ He kept his gaze trained ahead, the street and village beyond still out of sight. ‘Dangerously so. By the time I was in my twenties, my family had gone back to Ireland. I stayed in the UK, because I was at uni in Manchester, and because I’d lived in England most of my life. County Kerry is devastatingly beautiful – rugged Irish coastlines, lush valleys, charming little towns. But younger me thought the buzzing city, where I was studying business, was cooler.’

‘I can’t imagine you doing business studies.’ She squeezed his hand in jest.

‘And I bet you can’t imagine me smoking heavily, living off takeaways, and partying a bit too hard? Then spending most of my days on the sofa, feeling too hungover to study and failing my degree. Oh, and then getting a low-paid job in an office that made me stressed, too busy to look after myself, and excessively addicted to the office biscuits.’

She shook her head. ‘Wow, no. You always seem so disciplined.’

‘That was the harsh lesson learned from being rushed into hospital in my late twenties, thinking my heart was going to fail me for good.’

‘Oh crap.’ Noémi stopped and turned to him. ‘Really? That’s terrible. Do you want to talk about it?’

He shrugged. ‘I can’t pretend I’m not ashamed of that version of me who lived for kebab and chips, and watching shite on TV. But yes, sometimes I do talk about it. I’m linked to a charity for coronary artery disease in young people, and sometimes I go into colleges to share my ugly tale. Though it’s not easy to plan for that when I’m moving around and unsure where the wind will take me.’

‘What happened with your heart scare? Are you OK now?’ Her eyes felt heavy with worry for him, and she instinctively slowed her pace, before remembering he was the fitter one now. Perhaps she might confide in him about her relatively trouble-free eczema after all.

‘I was admitted to hospital with acute chest pain, vomiting, shortness of breath. I didn’t know what the hell was happening to me, other than it felt a lot like the onset of dying. I’d always been larger than average as a kid. But my unhealthy lifestyle had led to a build-up of plaque in my arteries. They put me on lifelong medication and warned me that if I didn’t give my lifestyle a serious and permanent shakeup, I may as well start saving for my funeral.’

He glanced briefly upwards.

‘I’m so sorry you went through that.’ She rubbed his arm. ‘Is that why you’re so determined to stay on the move?’

He went to check his watch again and tutted to himself. ‘Yes. Perhaps obsessively so – even if I hardly noticed until you pointed it out.’

One side of his mouth lifted into a smile. Was this the longest time she’d seen him without one? She missed it. Part of her wanted to tickle his ribs to bring his full cheesy grin back. But something told her he needed to talk, and she wanted to understand this side of him too. Even if he would soon be drifting on.

‘Anyway, look at us, getting all serious when there’s fun to be had. You don’t want to hear me chatting on about kebabs and heart failure.’

‘Is papering over the cracks with humour another thing you do?’ she asked softly.