by Tamie Dearen
“What?” His eyes danced with excitement.
“My real name is Charlotte.”
“Like Charlotte’s Web?”
“That’s me. But I’m not very girly. I like to do a lot of outdoor things, and I like to compete with guys. So I decided Charlotte was too girly for me.”
“I like Charlie.” He nodded his head in emphasis. “You’re my favorite aunt.”
“And you’re my very favorite nephew. And my only nephew, too!”
Charlie was thrilled Jace caught on quickly during his ski lesson. Unlike most nine-year-olds she’d taught, he never complained about being cold and never whined about anything being too hard. She wondered if it was his personality, or if he was extremely motivated to please her for some reason.
At noon, Josh was waiting outside the restaurant at the base, anxiously scanning the slopes for a sign of Charlie and Jace. He waved when he spotted them.
“How did he do?” he asked Charlie.
“He was great! We’ll stay on greens today. But he’ll be skiing parallel by tomorrow, and then he’ll be ready to move on to some easy groomed blues.”
“Did you like skiing?” he asked Jace.
“It was fun!”
“I can take him this afternoon, so you can get some runs in,” Josh told her.
“Why can’t Aunt Charlie ski with us?”
“She probably wants to ski some challenging runs we’re not quite ready for. Don’t you want her to have some fun?”
“But she likes skiing with me. She told me she does.”
“I’ll catch up with you this afternoon and ski some more,” said Charlie. “Right now, I’m gonna hit some moguls and tree runs.”
“You’re not coming in for lunch?” Josh asked. “Everyone else is inside already.”
“I’ve got a granola bar and Snickers in my pockets and water in my Camelback. I’m good to go until supper.” She skated off toward the lift, calling over her shoulder, “Tell Emily I’ve got my cell phone on, and I’ll meet up with them after lunch.”
“Aunt Charlie’s a really great skier, isn’t she?” Jace said, watching as she skied toward the lift. “Is she better than you?”
Josh grinned. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
ANNE LOOKED UP AS JOSH and Jace approached the table. “Hey, Jace. Are you having fun skiing?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You can call me Grammy.” She pointed at Steven. “And this guy, you can call... What do you want to be called, Steven?”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to be called Grandpa,” he chuckled. “I’ve barely gotten used to being a dad.”
“How about Papa?” said Emily.
“I like it,” Steven smiled. “Papa Steven sounds fine. Where’s Charlie?”
“She took off by herself to run some blacks,” said Josh.
“Josh, if you want to, you can leave Jace with us, so you can catch up with her,” Grace offered.
“I bet Josh is looking forward to skiing with Jace,” said Anne. “But I’d feel better if she weren’t skiing alone. Derek, you seem to be a great skier. Would you be willing to ski with Charlie for a while?”
“Absolutely,” he grinned, standing up and pulling on his coat and gear. “I’ve already eaten my sandwich, and we’ve got a little friendly competition planned anyway.”
“You probably won’t be able to find her.” Josh scowled.
“Doesn’t she have her cell phone?” asked Derek.
“I don’t know. She probably doesn’t have it turned on,” said Josh.
“Yes she does,” Jace chimed. “Remember, Uncle Josh? She said to tell Emily she had her cell phone on.”
“I guess that means she wants to ski with Emily,” said Grace. “Maybe Emily and Spencer should go instead of Derek.”
“Do you want me to wait for you guys?” Derek asked Emily.
“No, you go on. We may catch up with you later.”
Anne smiled with satisfaction. Things were going well. She only needed to step in on occasion to help the process along.
GRACE WAS IRRITATED. She whispered to her sister, “Why didn’t you go with Derek?”
“I’m tired,” said Olivia. “And I’m not good enough to ski blacks—you know that.”
Grace sighed. She’d have to talk Charlie into skiing with them tomorrow. She couldn’t let her spend too much time alone with Derek. She pondered how she might manipulate things at the house that night to force Josh and Charlie together. Jace seemed to really like Charlie a lot. Perhaps that was where she should focus her efforts.
“Jace, did you have fun with your Aunt Charlie? Is she a good teacher?”
“She’s awesome!” Jace said, enthusiastically. “And she’s taught like a million kids how to ski, and she says I learned faster than anyone. And she says tomorrow I’m going to ski pairing well.”
“Pairing well?” asked Grace, in confusion.
“Parallel,” Josh corrected. “She said tomorrow he’d already be skiing parallel and they could start skiing blues.” He gave Jace a pat on the back.
Steven handed them two hot chocolates.
“Awesome!” said Jace.
Josh elbowed him. “What do you say, Jace?”
“Thanks, Mr. uhmm, what was it?”
“Papa Steven,” Josh prompted.
“Thanks, Papa Steven.”
“Thank you, Steven.” Josh smiled. “Where are you skiing this afternoon?”
“Steven and I got a lot of runs in this morning, so we were planning to take it easy this afternoon and ski with you and Jace and Olivia.” Anne smiled as she spoke, but her eyes were on Olivia.
“Is Aunt Olivia skiing with us?” asked Jace.
“I’m sorry, Olivia. I assumed you would want to watch Jace ski,” said Anne.
Olivia’s cheeks reddened as Jace waited for her answer. “Of course I want to see him ski.” His face lit up with pleasure.
“You guys don’t have to ski with us,” said Josh. “We’ll be doing greens all afternoon.”
“Oh no—we want to ski with you. Don’t we, Olivia?” said Anne.
“Sure,” she answered, although her voice was less enthusiastic than her words. She sent an imploring look to her sister.
Grace whispered, “Just do a few runs and then meet us on the blues. Brad and I will keep skiing with Emily and Spencer. I’ll keep my cell phone on, and we’ll meet up.” She realized she had a formidable opponent in Anne Gherring. Anne was obviously trying to push Josh and Olivia together. She needed to counter Anne’s moves without revealing she had a different agenda. She’d have to plan carefully. But they were skiing six days, and this was only the first. She had plenty of time.
Hannah and Claire came up to the table, pulling off their outer layers, and stomping their boots, still covered in snow.
“Hey, guys!” said Hannah. She glanced about while freeing her auburn curls from the confines of her helmet. “Where are Charlie and Derek?”
“They left to do some blacks. How was your lesson?” asked Anne.
“It was great!” said Claire. “Our instructor was sooooo hot! His name is Barron and he said I was really talented.”
“That’s because he wants you to sign up for another private lesson,” said Claire.
“You’re just jealous because he thought I was a better skier,” Hannah accused.
“He gave you more encouragement because you needed it,” snapped Claire. “Anyway, we only skied one green and then the whole morning we skied blues. He said we’re both intermediate skiers, not beginners.”
“I’m proud of you. I was afraid you wouldn’t like it that much.” Grace beamed at her sisters.
“It was a lot more fun skiing the blues,” said Hannah.
“Yeah. All the hot guys are on the blue slopes,” Claire added.
“I noticed you always needed help getting up if you fell next to a cute guy, but you stood up just fine if a girl or an old guy offered to help,” said Hannah.
&nbs
p; “Ha! I learned that technique from you,” chuckled Claire.
Everyone ate quickly and headed back to the slopes. Grace pulled Olivia to the side before they parted ways. “This can still be a good move for you, skiing with Josh and Jace. Use this as an opportunity to get Jace to talk about Charlie. That should be a breeze.”
“Good idea,” said Olivia, her face brightening considerably.
JOSH WAS TRULY IMPRESSED with Jace’s skiing. He either had a lot of natural ability, or Charlie was an extraordinary teacher. He thought perhaps it was some of both. At any rate, Jace was soon racing down the green slopes, but appeared to be in control. Somehow, Josh wasn’t bored with the easy runs because he was so absorbed in watching Jace.
Anne and Steven followed along, laughing and playing on the easy inclines, with Steven often turning around to ski backwards, much to Jace’s amusement.
“Do it again, Papa Steven!” he yelled, and Steven would always oblige. Then he showed Jace how to sit back on his heels and dart between his legs as they skied.
“I want to show Charlie!” Jace said. “When is she coming back?”
Josh grimaced. Olivia had kept a running discourse going with Jace about his lessons with Aunt Charlie. He knew Charlie couldn’t devote every minute to Jace, and he hated for him to get his hopes up.
“You had Charlie all morning,” he told Jace in private. “You might hurt Aunt Olivia’s feelings if you keep talking about Charlie all the time.”
Olivia chose that moment to offer to look for Charlie. “I’m going over to the blue runs for a while. If I see Charlie, I’ll send her over here.”
“Wait, Aunt Olivia,” said Jace. “I’m sorry I asked about Aunt Charlie. I like skiing with you.” Jace watched her anxiously until she sagged.
“Okay, Jace. I’ll stay here with you.”
Anne gave an approving nod.
They skied until three o’clock, when Anne and Steven announced they were stopping for the day and going to pick up the little ones. Jace was attempting to hide his fatigue, but when Anne asked if he would help them, he jumped at the chance. Josh and Olivia skied to the bottom of the intermediate lift just as Charlie and Derek arrived.
“Where are the others?” asked Charlie, still breathless from her last run.
“They were skiing over here,” said Olivia. “But we just left the green area.”
Josh cast a longing look at the steep mogul slope to his left. “I think I’m going to do a few blacks. I’ll catch you guys back at the house.” He looked toward Derek, “Unless you want to come?”
“No way—Charlie wore me out. I’m going to need a lot of Advil tonight.” He chuckled. “I’m staying on blues for now. Anyway, the lifts close before long.”
“I’ll go with you.” Charlie’s golden eyes sparkled. Then she glanced behind her. “Or I guess I can stay with you, Olivia. I forgot you don’t ski blacks.”
“No,” Olivia smiled. “I’ll be fine. Go have fun, but don’t kill yourself.” She laughed, “And don’t kill Josh, either.”
CHARLIE WAS IN HER element. She loved skiing, and the conditions were perfect. The temperature had never risen above twenty-five degrees, and there had been several inches of fresh snow falling lightly during the day. The winds were calm, and now the sun was out. Nothing gave her a thrill like speeding down the slopes, with only the sound of the wind in her ears and her skis scraping the snow as she turned.
She led Josh to a great mogul run, a narrow slot between tree-covered slopes.
“Race you?” she asked.
“Not on my first black of the year. If we hurry, we can get in three runs before the lifts close. I’ll race you on the last run.”
“Okay.” She smiled as she dropped off the ledge, skiing through the bumps with minimal upper body movement, her knees bobbing in a perfect rhythm. Josh followed behind and they made rapid progress down to the lift.
On the return lift ride, Josh asked, “You really love skiing, don’t you?”
“I do—It’s the best adrenaline rush. I actually miss being a ski bum.”
“I can see that. Why did you decide to go back to school? Why not just remain a ski bum? You’re still young.”
“Promise you won’t tell?”
“I promise.”
“I missed my family.”
“What? The super-independent Charlie Best gave up her life of freedom as a ski bum because she missed her family?”
“Now you see why I don’t want anyone to know. I’d never hear the end of it.” She hesitated. Could she be honest with him? Somehow she felt he would understand. “Being independent was okay. But being alone wasn’t fun. I mean, I had friends and all, but... but no one to really lean on. And after Emily got married... I felt like I lost my best friend. Not that she wouldn’t be there for me or do anything for me. And Spencer, too—he’s great. But she didn’t need me anymore, and she didn’t share everything with me anymore, and... I don’t know. I just felt alone.”
Charlie felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she blinked them away rapidly, thankful her goggles prevented Josh from seeing her cry. “Pretty lame, huh? I mean, for someone who always thought she was independent. I found out I was wrong.”
Josh was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “Actually, I can relate pretty well. I think I feel the same way. And when I finally found my sister and brother-in-law and had a chance to have a real family, I ignored them. And now it’s too late.”
Her heart clenched at the pain he couldn’t hide. She put her hand on his arm. “Josh, I’m so sorry. But you’re going to have a family now—a real family. You and Olivia and Jace and Chloe. And all the Marshalls will be your family, too. And Mom and Dad, and Emily and Spencer. You’ll have lots of family.” She felt so selfish for complaining about her own situation. She’d always been secure in the love of her mom and sister and grandfather. She’d never been truly alone like Josh. He needed this marriage to Olivia. He deserved to have the security and love of a family.
IT WAS IN THAT MOMENT Josh knew for certain it was Charlie he wanted to make his family with. It was Charlie he wanted by his side raising Jace and Chloe. It was Charlie he wanted to have his children. And he wanted more than anything to hold her, to be the one she could lean on. The impossibility of his situation weighed him down like a heavy mantle. He knew she didn’t feel the same way. She wanted him to marry Olivia. He had to face reality... Charlie could never be his. She hadn’t even mentioned her own name when she cited everyone who would be there for him.
“And you?” he said. “You listed everyone else but you.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll be your family, too. I mean, I love Olivia, so I’ll practically be your sister. And I... I love the kids already. I’ll help all I can.”
His sister. She would love him like a sister. Was that it? Was that really all that was possible? Could she ever feel more for him? He tried to read her expression, but her goggles covered her eyes and she moved her scarf to cover most of her face for protection against the sudden burst of cold wind as the lift emerged from the trees into an open area high above the slopes.
He summoned his courage. Maybe he could ask her how she felt. Or he could admit how he felt about her.
“Charlie...” He struggled to find the right words. “I wanted—” His words dropped when the chair lift jerked to a stop.
“Oh!” Charlie cried, clutching the bar as the chair bounced up and down on the cable. “Oh, man! This is a terrible place to get caught. It’s freezing on this windy part!”
“Hopefully, it will only be a few seconds. Maybe someone fell getting off the lift.”
They sat quietly, waiting for the lift to start. Somehow, Josh knew his moment was gone. He couldn’t say anything about his feelings for her. If she realized he’d asked Olivia to marry him without being in love with her, she’d probably despise him for it. She would feel like he was trying to use Olivia. And why shouldn’t she feel that way? It was true. He felt like an awful heel, himself. But Olivia was
still his only hope for gaining custody of the kids. Charlie wasn’t in love with him—he knew it in his head. He had to stop wishing for something that could never be.
After several minutes of swaying in the freezing winds, he finally noticed Charlie was shivering. “Here,” he offered, putting his arm around her shoulder. “Let me block the wind.” She snuggled against him, and he pulled her against his chest, using his other arm to block the wind from her face.
“Better?” She nodded and moaned something unintelligible. The sun had disappeared and the snow began to fall again, the wind pushing through the folds of their coats and whipping the cold flakes against any exposed skin. Even in the freezing cold and their bulky gear, it felt wonderful to hold her. He knew she was miserable, but he almost wished the moment would never end. After what seemed an eternity, the lift started, and they soon arrived at the top of the lift.
“This is our last run, now,” he said. “We lost too much time on the lift.”
“Yeah, and I got so cold, I’m ready to get home anyway. Hot chocolate and the hot tub.” Her voice was cheery despite her obvious discomfort.
Josh followed her down the steep bumpy run, admiring her graceful form. They skied onto the trail that wound past the house and took off their skis to walk the last fifty yards. He hated the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over them, and strove to make light conversation.
“Jace had a great time in his lesson this morning. I can’t thank you enough.”
“I loved teaching him. He’s not like most nine-year-olds. He doesn’t complain about anything, and he tries so hard.”
“Yeah. I’m lucky. He’s really a great kid. I hope I don’t mess him up.”
“You won’t. You’re a great dad already. You love him and he can tell. But you know, you should talk to Steven about him. He was about the same age when both of his parents died, and he grew up living with Gram.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“I’ll bet at some point Jace is going to act out a little. Right now he’s probably trying really hard to earn your love, so he’s on his best behavior. But I’m betting later on, when he’s more secure, he’s going to be pretty angry about losing his parents.”