Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“Fuck no. I’m not doing that. I thought this was the easy slope?” her voice cracked, eyes wide with fear.
“That doesn’t mean it’s easy for you or for anyone their first time on the lift. You just bend your knees a little and scoot off the edge.”
“It’s safe. I swear. You know me, I’ve checked into it. Now it’s time. Grab my hand and I’ll pull you,” Jake said.
She looked at me as if I was going to stop a maniac from flinging her off the ski lift to her doom. “It’s not the huge jump that you think it is. It’s more like sliding off the edge of the kitchen counter if you’re sitting on it. I swear.”
About that time, our daredevil brothers gave us a wave and hopped off the lift. It was our turn. “You can jump or we can pull you gently,” I said.
“Those are not. Good. Choices.” She said through gritted teeth.
It was like her whole body was locked up in resistance to the idea. Jake and I both took her by an arm decisively. The moment came for us to exit the gondola. We hauled her off and landed on our skis in the snow. We were both careful to stop and let her steady herself.
Our brothers were waiting for us off to the side. I was impressed that they hadn’t gone ahead down the slope to announce it was too easy.
“That was it?” she said, looking around incredulously.
We watched as the kids behind us on the lift, who looked about eight years old, jumped neatly to the ground and skidded off merrily down the slope. I checked in to see how she’d react, ready to reassure her if she seemed upset. But she was grinning. A small giggle broke from her and she gave a good-natured shrug.
“I guess I got stressed out over nothing. Let’s try this skiing thing out. Otherwise, I’m all dressed up with no place to go.”
It hit me again how much I liked this woman. Jake helped her adjust her grip on the poles while Ty gave her a couple of tips on her stance, sincere and patient as I’d ever seen him. She still seemed a little nervous, but with all of us surrounding her and encouraging her, she stood a little straighter and took a deep breath.
“Ok, how’s my stance?” she asked.
“Bend your knees a little more,” Ty said. “There, that’s it. Now, this is the beginner slope. There’s an instructor at the top over there and we’re going to wait for you and go down together.”
She nodded bravely. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to go ahead without me?” she offered.
“Never,” we all said at once and then looked at each other. “I swear we didn’t practice that,” I said with a grin. She was beaming, that smile, that warmth warring with disbelief in her eyes that anyone much less all of us would choose her over anything. We hovered around her while she made her way to the instructor who was helping some kids already.
The woman showed Jasmine how to stand, how to stop, how to fall properly. The whole time, Jasmine was serious and avid, wanting to learn to do it well. Eli elbowed me and I looked at him.
“You’re so proud of her, right?” he whispered. I nodded.
“Same, bro. Everything she’s gone through and she’s open to trying this and just letting it all go for a weekend,” he said.
“She’s a fuckin’ legend. Just look at her,” Jake said.
“If she backed out I was gonna demand a snowmobile and take her back to the cabin,” Ty said.
“You of all people had a backup plan?” I asked. He nodded.
Just then she looked over her shoulder at us, cheeks reddened from the cold, smiling and showing us her stance. She motioned for us to join her. As one, we moved to her side. It was about to be her first run on snow skis and there was no way we’d let her do that alone. On the count of three, we pushed off and went down the mountain together.
21
JAKE
After taking a couple of tumbles, Jasmine got her balance and had a great time. We did so many runs on the beginner slope that I lost count after a while. Her rosy cheeks and big smile won me over every time, even when I’d decided to tell everyone that I was cold and wanted to go back to the cabin. One look at her face, at the carefree joy she got from making a clean run, and I’d just suck it up even if my balls felt like they were freezing off.
At long last she said she was hungry. The car was waiting when we returned our equipment. Inside the fancy SUV were five stainless steel travel mugs of steaming hot cocoa with a splash of rum. She curled up on her heated seat like a cat and made a happy humming sound at her first sip of spiked cocoa. The warm liquid with its sharp afterbite of alcohol warmed me instantly, and I thought the resort really did think of everything.