The Perfect Present

by Karen Swan

  ‘I suppose because I believe that it’s memories that are the gift.’ She propped herself up on her elbows, her cheek resting in her hand. ‘It feels worthwhile, somehow, to cast devotion and adoration and friendship and everlasting love into silver and gold and platinum, because it means those memories and stories can be remembered for always and passed down like the treasures they are. Memories have to be remembered, Orlando. Above all else, they are what ultimately define us.’

  A beat passed between them and Laura felt suddenly embarrassed to have climbed on to her soapbox. Had she said too much? Revealed her scars? But she needn’t have worried. Orlando looked back at her, visibly moved by her passion. ‘Well, that and size-twenty-seven jeans,’ he said with the utmost, endearing, seriousness.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  ‘Hey, Laura,’ Kitty said, her hands laced around a steaming mug of tea, as Laura wandered distractedly back up the stairs. Orlando had fallen asleep on the table and Sasha was covering him with towels, putting several bundles on the floor for good measure, just in case he should roll off. ‘How’s Orlando?’

  ‘Sleeping off his lactic hangover,’ Laura smiled, coming over and leaning against the worktop, looking at Kitty in dawning horror as she took in her outfit – a blue and yellow romper suit.

  ‘Cuppa?’

  Laura could only nod as she watched Kitty – looking like Andy Pandy – pour a cup of boiling water straight from the tap. ‘How are you feeling this morning?’

  ‘Oh dear, I have to admit I’m missing the babes like mad today,’ Kitty mumbled, dunking the Earl Grey teabag several times. ‘Typical, isn’t it? I have the opportunity to sleep till noon and what happens? I wake up after four hours’ sleep, completely unable to drop back off. I’ll be kicking myself on Tuesday.’ She paused, very un-Kitty-like. ‘I do hope Joe’s being polite to my mother.’

  ‘Kitty, I have to ask: what the devil have you got on? Have you been raiding the kids’ wardrobes?’ she asked.

  ‘D’you like it?’ Kitty asked, delighted, doing a twirl. ‘It’s a onesie. I got it in town yesterday. All the kids are wearing them this season.’

  ‘Yeah, the kids . . .’ Laura quipped, just as Cat padded up the lower staircase.

  ‘Hey, the very person!’ Cat beamed, catching sight of Laura. ‘I was wondering where you were.’

  ‘Oh!’ Laura remarked in surprise. Cat had been looking for her? ‘I just had a massage. My muscles were pretty sore from this morning.’

  ‘How was the skiing?’

  ‘Ummmm,’ Laura pulled a face. ‘Terrifying!’

  Cat laughed. ‘I did feel for you. I almost died when I heard Rob getting up. It felt like the crack of dawn.’

  ‘It did to me too.’

  ‘How did you find the energy?’

  ‘Adrenalin did it all for me. I expect I’ll crash and burn big time now.’

  David, Alex and Isabella burst in through the porch upstairs, dropping snow in their wake. ‘Where were you?’ Isabella called down.

  Cat cocked her head apologetically. ‘This morning’s been a bit of a struggle.’

  David looked at Kitty. ‘What’s your excuse?’

  ‘Orly and I didn’t have the co-ordination to stand on skis. We decided we’d be better off sitting on the sledge. Sam not with you?’

  ‘Still sleeping.’

  ‘I know I ought to hit the slopes seeing as we’re going home tomorrow, but . . . ugh!’ Cat slid her arms along the worktop, resting her head on them so that all that could be seen of her was her hair and legs. ‘I think I’m only capable of stretching out on sofas today. We could put a film on.’

  ‘You can do that anytime,’ Rob scolded, jogging down the stairs in fresh jeans and a blue shirt.

  ‘Oh, don’t be mean, Rob,’ Cat pouted. ‘We can’t all be hard core, you know.’

  ‘But I thought we’d get the skidoos out today,’ Rob said.

  Cat groaned, Isabella sagged in her fiancé’s arms, and Kitty and Laura just smiled quietly at each other. A world where it was tedious to ski/skidoo/frolic in the snow on a hangover wasn’t their world.

  ‘Sasha and Gemma have organized a hog roast to be ready for us in Smez.’ Rob slung his arm round Cat’s shoulders, easily pulling her into him. ‘Think that can whet your appetite?’

  Cat scowled prettily. ‘Not really.’

  ‘You’ll love it when we’re there. You know you will.’

  ‘I’m not the only one who’s tired, you know. Poor Laura’s shattered. She’s had hardly any sleep, thanks to you.’ Cat caught Laura’s eye and winked conspiratorially.

  Laura looked from Cat to Rob. She actually loved the idea of going on a skidoo, but Cat was clearly asking her to back her up in this. Cat was asking her to be a friend. ‘I am pretty tired,’ she agreed.

  She saw the disappointment glimmer instantly in Rob’s eyes. He saw her, if not as a friend, then certainly as a comrade. They’d broken new ground – quite literally – this morning. Breakfast had been a revelation of many sorts – personal, emotional, spiritual – and she knew that her siding with Cat was a slap in the face to all that. But what else could she do? She was indebted to them both.

  ‘Fine,’ he nodded, stiffening immediately. ‘So it can just be the men, then.’

  ‘Well, I’m afraid, boys, that there is no way I can join you even if I wanted to – which I do not,’ Isabella said, smiling coquettishly. ‘I ran into an old friend at Médran on the way back. I’ve arranged to see her in her hotel this afternoon. I’m sorry. I did not know there would be fixed plans,’ she shrugged.

  ‘Nothing’s fixed,’ Rob replied as Isabella plucked a cherry from the fruit bowl and sauntered off upstairs to change. ‘I just want everyone to have a good time,’ he said frostily, wandering over to the fridge.

  Cat arched an eyebrow. ‘Oh, baby, don’t sulk,’ she murmured, following after him and rubbing a hand across his shoulders.

  ‘I’m not sulking, Cat,’ Rob muttered irritably, staring unseeing at the contents of the fridge.

  She heaved a weary sigh, throwing all sorts of looks back at the assembled troupe. ‘Fine, we’ll go, then. Won’t we, Laura? When are they expecting us?’

  ‘Two hours,’ he replied stroppily.

  ‘Two hours!’ Cat exclaimed. ‘In Smez? Rob! Why didn’t you say so? We need to go now!’

  ‘What’s the point? I’ll just cancel it.’

  ‘Baby! I was only stringing you along. You know how I like to make you beg.’ She cupped his face in her hands, kissing him lingeringly on the mouth and arching her body into his. Laura saw how instinctively he drew her into him – forgetting them all – and she quickly looked away.

  ‘Guess we’d better get dressed, then,’ Alex said brusquely.

  They all dispersed to their rooms to change. Laura ran up the stairs feeling disquieted somehow. She quickly checked her phone – no missed calls from Jack – and climbed back into her thermals. She was just shutting her door when Rob came out of his room.

  He looked at her coldly. ‘Where do you keep going to?’

  ‘I just came up to get change—’

  ‘I mean when Cat and the others are around – what happens to you? She says, “Jump,” you say, “How high?” The person I was out on the slopes with this morning just completely disappears, and you become so . . . meek.’

  ‘I-I don’t know what you mean,’ she stammered.

  ‘No?’ he asked, marching past her.

  She watched him go, her heart pounding as wildly as it had on Petit Combin this morning. There had been a connection between them, alone up there – so strong it was almost visceral – but just like that, they were back to square one. Strangers again.

  Everyone was already suited up and waiting – Orlando and Kitty throwing snowballs at each other in the garden – by the time she worked up the nerve to come outside. All her excitement about doing this had evaporated. She shuffled outside, keeping her eyes down, noticing how the violet light made the snow appear t
o glow even more brightly against the shadows.

  Sam was up – finally – and in full roar. It was almost as if she had an On/Off switch: she was either completely comatose, or full-throttle, bossing everyone around and issuing orders. Currently, she was organizing the skidoo ‘teams’. She was with David; Rob was with Cat; Orlando was with Kitty. That left her with Alex.

  Laura watched as Cat slid into the seat behind Rob, resting her head on his back and hugging his torso with her arms. She looked at Alex, who was fastening his helmet, his eyes still, like an eagle’s, upon her.

  ‘What took you so long?’ Sam demanded, as though it was Laura who’d been sleeping in all morning and she was the one who’d already done several hours’ off-piste skiing.

  Laura took the helmet Sam was holding out to her and put it on.

  ‘Ready?’ Alex asked, coming to stand in front of her. ‘Have you done this before?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Jet-skied?’

  She nodded.

  ‘It’s not dissimilar to that. Don’t worry,’ he said, smiling with his eyes. ‘I’ll look after you.’

  Laura nodded. The words didn’t sound as reassuring coming from him as they had from Rob.

  He swung a leg over one of the glossy black machines lined up in front of the chalet. ‘Sit behind me, like you would on a motorbike.’

  Laura swung her leg over and slid into the seat, trying at the same time not to touch him.

  He turned, an amused smile on his lips. ‘You’re going to need to get a whole lot closer than that if you don’t want to come flying off,’ he grinned.

  Laura slid forward an inch.

  ‘More,’ he insisted.

  She slid another inch.

  ‘More.’

  She tried again.

  Alex sighed, grabbed her behind the knees and slid her into him so that their bodies were rammed together. She gasped as he found her arms and wrapped them around him tightly so that her cheek was pressed against his back. ‘Much better,’ he said, turning his head back as far as he could.

  Laura saw Rob and Cat watching them and she gave a nervous smile. Rob looked angry with her still and she knew he felt she’d let him down.

  ‘Hold tight, everyone, and just follow me,’ Rob commanded.

  Everyone started up their engines. Cat gave an excited whoop, Sam punched her fist in the air, and Kitty copied them both, almost falling off in the process as Orlando suddenly pulled away.

  Laura heard Alex laugh as he revved the engines a couple of times as if warning her before seamlessly accelerating up the drive and into the trees. The cold air ripped over them like a tide and Laura wished she was wearing a balaclava under her helmet. She shivered, squeezing her muscles instinctively to promote blood flow, and felt Alex’s body react next to hers.

  The power of the machine they were sitting on was intimidating. Laura was used to moving fast over packed snow, but it was a different feeling entirely with 120 horsepower beneath her. The roads were perilously narrow, with the steep drops on one side protected only by a token meshing that would simply break a fall rather than stop it. But Alex was a masterful driver, and after ten minutes or so she began to relax, trusting in him after all and working with him. If he leaned left, so did she. Their wind resistance dropped.

  After a while, they emerged from the trees on to an open, flattish area, and drew up alongside Rob, David and Orlando, who had come to a halt. The men were clearly squaring up for a flat race. Sam, Kitty and Cat began screaming at their backs with delight, and Laura couldn’t help but submit to the adrenalin rush. She had never experienced the mountains like this before – she was completely and utterly hooked. The urge to give in to hysterical giggles was overwhelming, and a fight that Kitty had clearly lost.

  She tightened her arms around Alex’s waist. On Rob’s nod, the men revved the handle gears and the bikes accelerated wildly. Laura screamed happily, catching Rob’s attention and appearing to encourage Alex to go faster.

  David drew in front immediately, he and Sam crouched low, Sam’s hair streaming behind her like the Olympic flame as she looked back at the stragglers triumphantly. But neither Rob nor Alex was the type to accept defeat without a fight. Rob’s machine began to nose ahead as Alex and Laura pegged level with David and Sam. Ahead, in the distance, Laura could see a new treeline emerging. It looked to be a good few miles away, but at the speeds they were travelling – surely up to seventy miles per hour now – they’d be there in minutes.

  Laura felt Alex dip himself lower, so low that he was almost lying on the seat, his hands reaching above his head to the handlebars. She pushed herself down on to him, her body contoured to his completely, and they accelerated faster. They were in front now and she couldn’t help but look across at Rob and Cat, her cheek pressed to Alex’s back, as they pulled away definitively. It was like flying. It was like lying on a broomstick and letting magic do the rest.

  They were upon the trees first, Alex refusing to brake until the last second, determined that neither Rob nor David should steal a march on him in the dying moments. The skidoo skidded to a halt and Laura jumped off giddily, punching the air with her fists and doing a little snow dance. In the next instant, Alex – howling his victory – had leapt off too and was swinging her round, her feet off the ground as they cheered victoriously. Rob and David, despondent in defeat, were parking up their skidoos as Alex put Laura back down again. But as she slid down him, she caught the look in his eyes and knew instinctively what was going to happen. Without a word he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

  Everyone fell silent. The only thing to be heard was the sound of snow falling off the pines as squirrels jumped from tree to tree.

  Laura pulled away, looking up at him breathlessly, realizing they had an audience. She saw Kitty’s shocked expression first, then Sam’s narrowed eyes, Cat’s impassivity, David’s embarrassment, Rob’s anger. More anger.

  Alex winked at her. ‘You’re my lucky charm, Laura-the-jeweller.’

  ‘Alex, you prick!’ Sam shouted, stomping over to him and thumping him on the arm. ‘What the bloody hell about Isabella?’

  ‘What? It was a winner’s celebration. It’s allowed,’ Alex laughed, rubbing his arm.

  ‘That had nothing to do with the race and you know it!’ Sam bellowed. ‘You’ve been sniffing around her all weekend. Don’t think we don’t all know what you and Isabella were fighting about last night! Just you keep away from her! She’s got a boyfriend, all right?’ Sam ordered. Laura was stunned to realize that Sam was actually on her side. ‘Are you okay?’

  Laura nodded, dumbstruck.

  ‘It was just a kiss!’ Alex protested.

  ‘It was not going to stop there as well you know!’ Sam shouted, turning back to him. ‘I’m keeping my eye on you, understand? You might not like your fiancée very much, but I do. Got it?’

  Alex rolled his eyes.

  ‘Here. I’ll go on the skidoo for the rest of the way with Alex,’ Cat said calmly. ‘You go with Rob, Laura.’

  ‘I’m not some kind of sex pest who has to be segregated from her, you know!’ Alex argued as Cat vaulted on to his skidoo.

  ‘Sure about that?’ Cat asked, giving him another punch on the arm for good measure.

  ‘He’s such a randy sod,’ Sam muttered, stalking back to David, who was looking very disapproving of the whole episode.

  Rob sat impassively as Laura walked over, unable to meet his – or anyone else’s – eyes. She slid on to the seat as innocuously as she could, but body contact was inevitable. Compulsory.

  ‘We’d better get a shift on if we’re going to get there in time for lunch,’ Rob said to everyone, starting up his engine. Laura felt the vibrations travel through her as she miserably laced her arms around him, as rigid as a tightrope. For a day that had started on the top of the world, it was rapidly, both literally and proverbially, going downhill.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Laura hunkered down on the log next
to Kitty, a generous helping of apple strudel in her bowl. She needed the sugar rush. Breakfast on the glacier had been hours ago now, and her body felt utterly depleted. She was also desperate to lie down and go to sleep. The paltry two and a half hours she’d snatched from the night were making themselves known.

  ‘Blimey, that was a turn-up for the books, wasn’t it?’ Kitty murmured to her, helping herself to a second slice. She nodded towards Sam, who was talking intently to Rob and David.

  ‘Mmm. An unexpected ally.’

  Kitty paused a second. ‘Was he good, though?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Alex . . . I mean, obviously I’ve known him too long to have those kinds of feelings about him, but I’ve always sort of wondered in the back of my mind . . .’

  Laura shrugged. ‘He just got carried away. There wasn’t any kind of emotion behind it other than triumphalism.’ But that was a lie. The heat that had surged between them in those few moments had practically left scorch marks in the snow. He was a phenomenal kisser.

  ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong,’ Kitty said quickly. ‘Joe’s my man and I love him to pieces. I just can’t help wondering sometimes, that’s all,’ she sighed. ‘There’s never been anyone but him, you see.’

  ‘Alex is trouble, Kit. End of story. He didn’t give two hoots about his fiancée or my boyfriend back there.’

  ‘Are you going to tell Jack?’

  Laura shook her head quickly. ‘There’s honestly nothing to tell. It meant nothing. He may as well have bitten me.’

  Kitty laughed. ‘You’re no pushover, Laura Cunningham, I’ll give you that . . . I need more custard. Save my place.’

  Laura watched her go. She knew she had put on a good show, but she didn’t feel anywhere near as confident as she sounded. Alex was her last interview out here – how could she shut herself away in a room with him now? She watched as he said something to Sam, making her laugh and throw a raisin at him. They were friends again.

  ‘Hey,’ Cat said, noticing her sitting alone and coming to sit beside her in Kitty’s seat. ‘Having fun?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ Laura smiled quickly.