This conversation is going to kill me.
An hour later, I clutched my ski poles in a death grip, scowling at the ski lift. It wasn’t the one my mother died on, but it might as well have been. All of those things were death traps, as far as I was concerned.
But when I’d met up with Val and her brothers, one eyelash-flutter from Val was all it took for me to agree to skiing. That, and her kid brother had attached himself to my leg like an octopus, begging me to join them. I’d thought we were going on the bunny slopes, which would avoid the need for a ski lift, but to my utter horror, Juanito declared he was ready for the big leagues. And when I saw the joy on Val’s face at her brother’s carefree happiness, how could I deny them anything?
So now I was standing in line for the lift with all the enthusiasm of a bear who’d sat on a cactus.
“Nolan, will you sit by me?” Juanito asked, tugging on my sleeve.
Okay. Nowthat, I could deny. The thought of being responsible for keeping the pint-sized human from sliding out of the seat while I fought off a panic attack was not something I was qualified to handle. It must have shown on my face, because Val swooped in.
“This one’s only a two-seater, so you’re with Diego this time, little dude,” she said, strapping into her board, looking cute in her signature vintage ski jacket and black pants with big side pockets. I tried to focus on that instead of the paralyzing fear twisting my insides. Placing a mitten-clad hand on my arm, Val gave me a serious look. “It’s okay if you’re not ready.”
I glared at the ski lift. It was a beautiful day, no wind, nothing but sunshine. Perfect conditions. And yet I was frozen in place. I’d long ago accepted my fear of ski lifts would be a staple for the rest of my life. ButVal loved riding, and I wanted to share this experience with her. After my conversation with Cressida, I’d realized she was right—at least partially. Val deserved the very best that I could give her. I was pissed off that aninanimate fucking objectcould have such a hold on me even after all these years, and I might never get a chance to do this with her again. So it was now or never.
I chose now.
“Let’s go.”
Val nodded with what I wanted to think was an impressed look and scooted forward on her board as the line inched up. Beside us, Austin breezed through the line for the ski school, a trail of kiddies in his wake. “Hey, Val,” he said in a familiar tone that I didn’t like. It reminded me that they had been dating, or whatever, before Val and I…happened.Are they still seeing each other?I didn’t think so but hadn’t asked her, andI needed to remedy that as soon as fucking possible.
“Hey, Austin. Good out there today?” She smiled at him and I had the absurd male urge to tear his eyeballs out for looking at her. I’d never considered myself a caveman, but Val brought out the possessive side of me. I couldn’t say I minded that too much.
“Hell yeah.” He shot a sheepish glance at the kids behind him. “Er, I mean, for sure. Fresh powder. Make sure to hit Cobra for me.” He waved and ushered his brood onto the lift.
I narrowed my eyes after his retreating figure until Val’s elbow in my ribs brought my attention back to her. “You trying to set him on fire with the force of your glare?” she asked.
“Do you think it would work? Maybe I should try harder.”
Val rolled her eyes and we moved up in line. Thankfully it was a long one. I had at least ten more minutes before I met my demise.
“You were facedown in my pussy earlier,” she said under her breath, “so I think it’s safe to say I like you, and you can stop scaring off all the men who so much as dare to look at me.” She settled her gaze on me. “I don’t want any of them. I want you.”
My inner caveman roared at Val’s claim. It was the first time she’d ever verbally admitted that, and it had me growing hard in my tight ski pants. I loved that her self-confidence was blossoming. The more I learned about her, the more I wanted to help her get through the hang-ups she had about herself so that when she looked in the mirror, she could see the amazing, kind-hearted, capable woman I saw. For the rest of my time at Hale’s Peak, I vowed to do everything in my power to show her just how goddamn vibrant she was.
Starting with getting my ass on this ski lift and facing—one of—my biggest fears so I could be beside her as she did something she loved.
“You look like you need a distraction,” Val said, glancing at me tentatively.
“Fuck yes, I do,” I said, then landed on the perfect topic. My current predicament had me dwelling on my mother and how I had some more leads to follow up on. “I wanted to ask you about something—Helene’s typewriter. I think it’s what my pen pal used to write the letters.”
“That typewriter is Helene’s prized possession. I swear she loves that thing more than her husband.”
“So she probably wouldn’t let just anyone use it.”
Val shrugged. “She keeps it in her stationary shop, so they’d either have to be a close friend or relative or have a key and know the security code. But as for someone she’d allow to use her precious typewriter who would also have knowledge about your mother’s accident? I’m sorry, Nolan. I really have no idea.”
“Hmm,” I said, tapping my ski poles into the packed snow. “So this person most likely used it without her knowing.”
“I wish I could be more helpful. You could ask Tess for ideas. She knows everyone in town too.”
I planned to do just that. “This has been better than anything Jason, my security guy, has done, so he might find himself out of a job. Thank you.” I filed it away to deal with later when I wasn’t sweating bullets.
Because we were next on the lift, and I wanted to puke.
“I couldn’t do this without you, you know,” I said to her.
At that, Val turned to me with a beatific smile that got my heart pounding like a teenager with a crush.
