Winter Interlude (20 page)

~

I
n minutes,
Kate
had everything ready
.
She handed Paul a plate and they sat at the table he’d set
.

“This is delicious,” Paul said, after eating a few bites
.
“I appreciate the effort
.
Thanks
.
It’s always nice to have a hearty meal before a day of skiing.”

She felt a rush of heat spread from her neck to her hairline, pleased as much by his praise as by his appreciation
.
“I enjoy cooking
.”
She shrugged, ignoring the hum of awareness that surrounded them all of a sudden
.
“It’s just as easy to make enough for two as it is for one.”

“I know, but thanks anyway.”

Kate
took a deep breath and chanced a glance at him
.
His words sounded so sincere
.
Why was he being so nice
?
She wished he’d revert to the old Paul
.
She’d learned how to deflect his snide, cutting remarks
.
T
his Paul
, however,
was all new to her and very appealing
.
She certainly didn’t need the complications that
came with
finding him appealing
.
He was Jame
s’
brother
—
the same man who’d tormented her for years
.
T
hanks to her evening with
Paul
the night before, she’d spent too many hours
sleeplessly
reassessing her relationship with James, unable to dismiss the idea that he’d disappointed her once again
.
H
er camel’s back of patience
was
n
ear
ing
its
breaking point
.
She was tired of being disappointed
.

E
ven if
she and James
broke up for good, the thought of anything happening between her and Paul was just too much for her brain to imagine
.
Thinking about it
the irony of it
, she smiled, thankful to find some humor in the situation
.

Paul grinned
.
“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing
.”
The one word came out in a rush, after being caught with such a ridiculous notion
.
Paul belonged to her best friend
.
He loved her
,
for
h
eaven’s sake
,
and Judith loved him
.
She couldn’t stop an expression of guilt from forming, as more heat crept up her face
.

“It’s more than nothing
.”
He eyed her speculatively
.
“Daydreaming about James
,
are we
?”
When she didn’t answer, he chuckled
.
“Okay, I won’t pry
.”

T
he
understanding
look he
shot her
sent another wave of warmth spreading from her toes to her forehead
.
She glanced at her plate, which held her attention for the remainder of the meal
.
Somehow
,
she had to hold on
to her resolve of getting through the day without embarrassing herself.

Finished eating
, she stood and picked up her plate, relieved to finally escape
.
“I hope you mean to get an early start, because I’m almost ready.”

“Yeah,” Paul said, checking his watch
.
“I just need to grab my gear and load up the car
.
Looks like I’ll need chains.”

“Do you want help?”
Kate
asked him
when
he headed toward the mudroom, as she cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher
.

“No, it’s easier to do alone, but thanks for the offer.”

“I’ll get my stuff.”

Chains were definitely a necessity
.
T
he roads to Squaw Valley, their resort of choice, were barely passable
.
When they pulled into the
ski area’s parking
lot, it was still snowing
.
At that moment,
Kate
was thankful for the full
-
sized locker the Morrisons rented in one of the lodges
.

Paul parked the BMW and jumped out to help her before unloading the skis and boots
.
Loaded down with
equipment,
they
headed for the lodge
.

Kate
came out of the women’s room
wearing a red ski suit, a recent birthday splurge,
and walked up behind Paul, who’d also changed and sat on
a
bench putting on boots
.

Once ready, they
gathered the rest of their gear from the locker and
trudged
toward
the tram
.

“Look at all the powder,” she said, glancing
around
and seeing only snow as they waited in a short line
.
“It’s almost a foot deep already.”

Paul glanced to the west, where the storm systems came from
,
and shrugged. “Looks
like
we’ll have an awesome day
.”
He
retrieved
his cell phone
from a hidden pocket
and
pulled
up the weather page, then showed her the screen
.
“There’s a little clearing on the radar, but the system isn’t done dumping yet
.
We should ski as much as we can before it starts to get nasty.”

“Sounds like a plan
.
I’m ready and willing to ski till I drop
.”
She peered over at him and added, “I’m glad you’re here
.
I like the company
.
I ski alone a lot, so this is a treat.”

“Yeah, I hear you
.
I’ve experienced too many solitary days myself,” he said
.
“But you have to keep up, or you’ll be left in my tracks.”

She laughed
.
He was an expert skier
, b
ut then
,
so was she
.
“You seem pretty confident that I’m going to be following you
.”
Oh
,
yeah
.
This was going to be fun
.
She’d definitely give him a run for his money
.
He’d be lucky not to be left in her tracks
.
Her smile turned smug
.
“You might rethink your opinion, Morrison. You’ll be eating the snow from my turns
.”

Then, she hurried
to reach
the open doors on the tram, which had just landed
.
Seconds later, the doors closed
,
and the car carrying a throng of skiers started its ascent to the top of the mountain.

~

“
T
ry to keep up,
b
ucko
,
”
Kate
goaded, waving a pole in the air and racing ahead of Paul when he bent to tighten his boots
.
“See
ya
at the bottom!”

She hit
the rough terrain
and
she didn’t dare slow, instead releas
ing
her edges to increase her speed, knowing he’d
have to
work hard to catch up
.
It would be a battle of skills and wills, just like it had been most of the day
.
Her agility and size more than made up for his strength and endurance
.
O
n the straightaways,
however,
he was faster.

She sensed him behind her, narrowing her lead
.
Unable to risk glancing back, she let lo
o
se a little more
.
The path in front of her was visible enough and no one was around to impede her progress
.
She’d almost made it to the lift line when he edged ahead.

“I won.”

“No fair,” she said, laughing at his satisfied grin
.
The same grin he’d sported hours ago, after winning their first impromptu race
.
“You’re bigger than me, so you pick up more speed near the end.”

“You got a running start
.”

“So?”

“Concede,
Kate
.”
She followed when he skied to the lift and both waited for the next chair
.
Once seated, he turned to her and said, “I beat you fair and square.”